April 2021 Resolutions
So it’s a week and a half late with this and that’s fine. It’s April and always a busy month for me so this is my monthly resolution post. There aren’t many changes to show anyway.
The intermittent fasting has been going great…except when I accidentally almost pantsed myself in a gas station getting out of a truck. I need to bring my belt down two notches (it already needed one notch because I guess I bought one size too big). I feel better so I’m going to continue the 12-12 fasting. I’ve been able to be more disciplined and some days goes as much as 18 and 20 hours off.
Looking to the gig change, I see a friend doing it and it’s slow moving so when I pull the trigger, it won’t be an immediate change, which is probably better for me anyway. I don’t want to shock my system too much, but I have also started focusing on a transition, any transition. I decided to go the rest of the way in on Spark Plug Strategies. I can operate it from anywhere and I am truly free of location while running it with the exception of possible in-person client meetings. Some people still like the old fashioned touch and I actually prefer it. Skype and emails will serve the majority of clients though. Spark Plug Strategies is a full-service website design and design company I have been working on for a couple years so I can do everything from building your website to managing your social media and designing company letterhead. I just need an internet connection and iPad or laptop to stay in touch with clients and my design teams. There’s no reason for me not to go forward with it. I ordered business cards for it and plan to be fully functional on SPS by May 1st.
I also decided to add a blog piece during the month and I did. I really enjoyed writing Filth Fifteen and got a lot out of it personally so I decided to do two this month, one for sure. I have two quasi-related thoughts bouncing around in my head right now.
The book, Do You Have a Pen, is coming along slowly. I did create blank blog pieces on my website here to post each of the main chapters on when we have a countdown I will make sure everything is ready first before I do the countdown this time the pieces will comprise the first or second draft version of the book with some parts omitted the grammar will be horrible and there is gratuitous use of the word “that.” All of those issues will be fixed before it is published.
In essence, there’s not many changes from my last month’s resolution but I am feeling positive about this one. Next month might be a seemingly big change.
Picture a young Michael Beebe, fresh out of La Porte High School in ’93, diving headfirst into the world of hospitality with a busboy gig at the old La Porte Holiday Inn. That hustle led him to an Associate of Science from Purdue-North Central in ’95 and a Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management from Purdue-Calumet in ’97 (those schools are now merged into Purdue-Northwest, by the way). Michael’s early career was a whirlwind—running a 140-room hotel in Indianapolis, where he learned the ins and outs of the industry but realized it wasn’t his true calling. What did spark his passion? Teaching. He found himself thriving in front of students at Ivy Tech Community College and Lake Michigan College, sharing the art and science of hospitality management. Oh, and he also moonlighted at WIMS radio in Michigan City, juggling both on-air and behind-the-scenes roles with his signature high energy.
Politics? That’s been Michael’s sidekick since he was 18, registering to vote with a fire in his belly to make a difference. He threw his hat in the ring for La Porte County Council in 2010, where he got a crash course in the power of social media marketing. Undeterred by not winning, he campaigned for Indiana’s General Assembly in 2012 and took another shot at the County Council in 2014 and 2016. Though he hasn’t clinched a seat yet, Michael’s relentless drive to serve shines through. Lately, he’s been pouring that energy into helping other candidates who champion personal liberty, amplifying their voices with his knack for strategy.
Here’s a twist: Michael once co-owned a tattoo shop, despite having no ink himself. As the business manager and marketing guru, he leaned hard into low-cost, social media-driven campaigns to put the shop on the map. That experience fueled his love for digital marketing, and now he spends his free time crafting websites and boosting businesses online—a true labor of love.
These days, Michael’s living the dream as an independent contracted transporter, crisscrossing the country while getting paid to soak up new places and cultures. When he’s not exploring, he’s parked somewhere scenic, laptop open, building his digital consulting company, Spark Plug Strategies, or penning his thoughts. He even wrote a few books.
Based in La Porte County, Indiana, Michael’s embraced a “decentralized laptop lifestyle,” blending work, travel, and passion projects into a life that’s as dynamic as he is.
This will be a short and easy one.
Like most people, I suck at New Years resolutions. Times Tribune’s Jerod Mills wrote, “Studies show that only 8% of Americans who make a New Year’s resolution actually keep them all year and 80% have failed by the start of February.” So being February first, 92% of us gave up already. That means we are all failures and have to wait around another year just to make another feeble attempt at weight loss. Well crap! Now what? Hit that all you can eat buffet and then go home and cry as you eat a whole tub of Ben & Jerry’s to yourself as you sob tears of failure on the kitchen floor.