I hear a lot of talk about how people shouldn't "waste time" watching TV every night.  LOST?  The Office?  Desperate Housewives?  Extreme Makeover Home Edition?

That's all a waste of time, folks.  You should be out doing something "worthwhile".

Wait.

What exactly is worthwhile?  Is reading 65 blog posts instead "worthwhile"?  Is watching movies instead "worthwhile"?  Is reading a book instead "worthwhile"?

I want your opinion.

Is watching TV at night a waste of time?  Or is reading blog posts all day a waste of time?  Or is reading a book before you go to bed at night a waste of time?  Why or why not?

Many of us live in a world where Mondays suck.  They're the start of something horrible - the week.  They're the end of something amazing - the weekend.

I've never understood this (and still don't).  The argument is usually that people hate their jobs.  I don't buy it.  That's the same as looking forward to retirement.

I view Mondays differently.  I view Mondays as a window to opportunity.  We have the entire week ahead of us as a blank slate, ready for us to do what we wish with it.

Am I crazy?  Or is hating the week and loving the weekends just pointless? Why do you live for the weekends?

I started Beyond The Pedway with a Flip Cam, a laptop, Final Cut Express
and knowledge of video production.  (Those are Amazon affiliate links by the way.  Which means if you're starting your own web series, you can get all this cheaper than anywhere else).

While Beyond The Pedway isn't exactly Charlie Rose (yet), it's grown into more than I could have imagined when I started it 10 months ago.

That's pretty cool.

This post isn't about me, though.  And I'm definitely not saying Beyond The Pedway is crap.

This post is about us.  It's about you.

We have the opportunity today to become media creators and have very little stand in our way.  Whether you're Kevin Pollak or a sketch comedy group in Chicago, you can launch your own web series.

Or start your own podcast.

Or write your own book.

But if the tools are more accessible to everybody, and everybody can create anything now, does that mean more crap starts popping up?  Does the simplicity of creation result in more media that just sucks?

Our kids will grow up with the ability to stream hundreds of thousands of movies and TV shows instantly in their living room.

Our kids will grow up with the ability to hear a song in the theater before Jim Gaffigan comes on stage, open up the Shazam app on their iPhone, find out what song is playing, and instantly download the song on their phone.

Our kids will grow up in a world where meeting a person who doesn't have a cell phone is totally weird.

Our kids will grow up with access to all the information of the world at their fingertips - literally.

Our kids will grow up paying all their bills online and buying stamps only for those rare instances where they have to send a paper check - in the mail.

It's mind blowing, really.

What excites you most for our kids as they grow up?

Are you my friend?

How exactly are you supposed to answer that question?  What if your definition of friend is different than my idea of a friend?

Have we exchanged cell numbers?
Have we ever played pool together?
Do we text regularly?
Have we gone bowling?
Do we chat on Gchat ever?
Do we ever email each other?
Are we Facebook friends?
Do we say "my brother" or use his actual name?
Do we chat on Twitter ever?
Do we both like the Ninja Turtles?

Does any of this matter?  Should we just say we're friends?  Is that too much of a commitment?

What does being friends mean to you?

Jacob loves cooking and has always wanted to open his own restaurant.  He prepared by working at a variety of restaurants all around town in various positions, read lots of entrepreneurial blogs and books, and met with those he considered great mentors.

Two and a half years later, Jacob opened his own restaurant.  After six months, Jacob's restaurant became the go to place in town.  The place was busy, always.  The more people that came, the more the word spread.

Jacob loved it.  His dream was becoming reality day by day.  He worked for himself, was pulling in a handsome income, and loved "working" as much as he did.

Five and a half years later, Jacob woke up one morning confused.  Something was off.  He was still pulling in a great income, he still worked for himself, and he still loved "working" so much.

Or did he?  That was it, Jacob thought to himself.  His passion was no longer passion; it was routine.

At what point does passion become routine?  When does doing what you love so much become just another pattern in your everyday life?  Is it possible for passion to always remain passion and not become routine?

Imagine you own a music production firm.  You create jingles for clients of all sizes for radio and television.

In fact, your composers create the best jingles anybody has ever heard.  There's nobody as talented as the composers at your firm.

But your sales team sucks.  You've had zero clients in the past six months and only two clients in the six months before that.  Your composers are now just as good at twiddling their thumbs as they are writing music.

On the flip side, your biggest competitor has the best sales team any firm could ask for.  They're signing clients faster than Starbucks is building stores.

But their composers are terrible.  You're convinced a cat dies every time a jingle these guys create is played.  Actually, probably two cats.

What's more important - the talent or the sales team?  Is one more important than the other or are they equally important?

As the saying goes, keep plenty of irons in the fire.  The more you've reached out, the more chance for opportunity.

On the flip side, you could instead concentrate on keeping the right irons in the fire, and not worrying about the irons that have little chance of generating opportunity.

How do you know which irons are the right ones and which are the wrong ones?  Does it help to throw'em all in at once and figure out which work the best over time?

When we're young, we experiment.  We explore the unknown world around us by trying new things and learning from what happens.

If we touch the stove and burn our finger, we learn not to touch the stove again.

If we start walking and fall, we remember what helped us walk and concentrate on that.

When we're young, we fail before learning how to succeed.  That's just human nature, right?

A lot of people criticize those who advocate this idea of failing a bunch before succeeding.  They think we should concentrate on succeeding, not failing.

I don't think we're concentrating on failing in these situations.  I think it's just natural that we fail and learn from our mistakes.

What do you think?  Is it natural to fail a lot in order to learn to succeed?

Things have been slow here, mostly due to an increasing focus on my Chicago web series Beyond The Pedway.  That focus continues with the launch of the Beyond The Pedway newsletter on January 7.

I'm going to be exercising my writing skills more with the newsletter, so if you enjoy my writing/style here, I encourage you to subscribe to the newsletter.

Also, if you're simply looking to get your company more involved with web video, I invite you to subscribe.  Every Thursday morning, you'll get tips, ideas, and techniques on how to tell your company's story with video on the web.  My goal is to share my knowledge and what I do through Beyond The Pedway with you every week to equip you to use online video for your company.

If you're a small business looking to get creative, web video is a great place to start.

Ready to join in the fun?

This post is part of the Guest Blog Grand Tour over at Life Without Pants – an epic two-month journey of over 50 guest posts. Want to learn more about Matt Cheuvront & see how far the rabbit hole goes? Subscribe to the Life Without Pants RSS feed & follow him on Twitter to keep in touch!

I’ll admit, I am a sucker for the holiday season. My fiancé and I were driving down the road last week, looking at all of the houses covered in Christmas lights, their yards littered with Nativity Scenes and inflatable snowmen, and somehow, all seemed to be right with the world.

I’m also a sucker for traditions – Putting up the Christmas tree while watching “Christmas Vacation”, Black Friday shopping with my family, grabbing my Gingerbread Latte on the first day Starbucks introduces the almighty “red cup”  for the holiday season.

The smart companies, for the sake of example in this post we’ll go with Starbucks, know that this time of the year is all about tradition – and they’ve established themselves as a part of the holiday routine. To that I say, BRILLIANT!

There’s this aura about Starbucks that has me entranced. Their coffee doesn’t always taste great, they don’t have the charm of a small independent coffee shop, but where they lack in some areas, they make up for in customer service, convenience, and TRADITION.

I was having a conversation with a coworker – someone who religiously picks up her Vente Carmel Macchiato every morning before coming into the office – She told me that it wasn’t so much the coffee itself – it’s the “experience” that keeps her coming back for more. It’s having your gloves and hat on and holding that red cup.

It’s comfort and tradition in a paper cup. It’s snowy weather and family and bonfires in every sip. It works.

Do you “buy into” tradition? What are some other examples of “comfort buys”?

Winter makes you appreciate your garage thirty times more than in the summer.
Winter makes you realize you love sitting on the couch next to your spouse in your warm, warm house.
Winter makes you really happy because it's the holidays.
Winter makes you really sad because it's the holidays.
Winter makes your comforter seem ten times heavier and twenty times warmer.
Winter makes the carpet in your bedroom heaven for your bare feet.
Winter makes you want to stay in bed a half hour longer just to stay warm.

Amaing how the simple change of tempature can change your whole outlook, isn't it?

My wife jokingly asked me yesterday if I would go to our 10 year high school reunion (which isn't for another 4 years or so).  I said I wouldn't because everybody I want to keep in touch with from high school I'll go ahead and keep in touch with.  And those I don't want to I won't.

And, jokingly I added, who needs high school reunions with Facebook nowadays?

Wait. That's not a joke. That's true.

How many people from high school (and/or college) are you friends with on Facebook yet don't keep in touch with otherwise?  Do you troll Facebook for the specific purpose of learning about others' lives?  Babies being born, career changes, starting graduate school, new boyfriends and old girlfriends, last year's Christmas parties, vacations in Miami, the good old days.

Who needs a high school reunion?

We'd all show up and have nothing to talk about.  We'd probably whip out our iPhones and Blackberries and check Facebook.  Because that's how we keep in touch.

Is Facebook the end of the high school reunion?

Context is king.

We live in a "me" centered land, buried in a "why" minded world.  We want to know "why" something will relate to "me".  We don't care how inspirational your blog post is or how funny your commercial is or how useful your business book is.

We simply care about why it relates to me.

After all, if there is no context, is there any meaning?

I think I've become a snacker.  Someone who consumes a little bit here and there throughout the day, rather than having a few solid, bigger meals.

I'm not talking about food.  I'm talking about information.  I like to snack on information.  And I'm unsure whether this is a good or bad thing.

Back in the day (which was a Wednesday), I used to read entire newspaper articles in the morning at the kitchen table.  Well, as long as they were on the front or back pages.  But I would read the whole article, because I enjoy reading.

Nowadays, I've caught myself reading half an article online and than skipping to another site to read something else.  I've read two full books in the past year.  Two.  But I've read hundreds of blog posts, online newspaper articles, tweets, Facebook status updates, Flickr photo captions, etc.

I snack now.

What's going on here?  Are we substituting full meals of information with lots of snacks?