The world according to Fames

Hello Planet Fames!! I've done it yet again! It have been far too long since my last blog, and for that I apologize! First I want to wish everyone reading this, a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing, recharging, and safe time with your friends, family, and all your loved ones! :-) Know you you are loved, cared for, and valued beyond measure by me! I am so very thankful you are in my life! :-) If you can't tell, I am feeling pretty damn good! I am happy to report, that I am starting to feel like my old self again! I've talked about it a little, hinted at it, I've even given tips on how to do self care. I think it's time I put the cards on the table, and get honest with everyone. I feel I can do this now, because I am finally starting to feel like my old self again! My name is James, and I have been struggling with "burnt out". I've probably been feeling this way since March of this year, but I have been too..proud.....

Good morning Planet Fames! I sincerely hope that everyone is doing well, and making sure to take care of themselves! I know, I know, it's been over a month since I posted one of my "weekly" blogs. I will start off by apologizing for that. As the title of this blog suggests, sometimes, life gets in the way of the things we want to do. That isn't intended as an excuse, more as an explanation. Well, that, and I am going to tell you a little bit about what has been going on in my life. As most of you that know me are well aware, I work a lot. Some would say I work far too much... usually, I would disagree with that, but lately I have been under enough "extra" stuff at work that I have to agree. Between multiple new clients, current clients growing, industry changes, and even changes within current clients, I have been burning the candle at both ends. Hell, I've basically thrown the candle into the fireplace and used a flamethrower on it! HAHA! Whil...

Good morning Planet Fames! I hope you all had a great week, and are enjoying a much deserved weekend with friends and family! This week's blog, I am going to step away from our series discussion on addiction and mental health. I have had something on my heart for a few days now, and I just feel like this is God message that I need to share. I promise to come back to the series next week. There has been a lot on my mind, and on my heart recently. As most of you that know me, know, I am a very private person. I don't like to share things that I consider personal, or my emotions and feelings, with others. Lately though, there have been a lot of....challenges and struggles that either I, or people I care about, have been going through. So much so, that my heart and my soul have been heavy... No, I am not going to share what these things are. One, because a lot of them are not mine to share; and two, because that isn't the message that is on my heart this morning. I kn...

Good morning Planet Fames! I hope you all had another great week and weekend! Where does the time go?!? Can you believe it's already September 17th?! It's crazy! Make sure you are taking time for yourself, and the things that are really important in life! If you don't, you'll wake up one morning and wonder where the time went! First, I'd like to address last weeks blog. We dove into the topic of treatment, specifically Alcoholics Anonymous. I may have been a little "harsh", in some peoples opinions, and that was intentional! Again, I am a fan of AA! While I admitted it isn't the "program for me", I think for some people it is a life saver. I love the social aspect, the simplicity, and the accessibility. While I believe that AA has flaws, as does everything, I am not against it. I believe if a program helps just one person, that program is worth exploring! The reason I may have come across as "hard" on AA, is because I believe ...

Good morning Planet Famers! I hope you all had a good week last week, and a great weekend! It's Monday morning though, so time to get back into reality and the swing of things! As you know, and can probably tell from the very unoriginal title of this blog, I am doing a series on Addiction. Well ultimately it will be on Addiction AND Mental Health, I just don't want to write that out everytime! HAHA! These are my thoughts, feelings, and opinions on the subjects based on my personal and professional experiences dealing with them. While I may include a statistic, or site a source, ultimately they are my opinions. You should not take anything I write here as gospel truth, as your truth may be different than mine. Nothing here should be construed as medical or therapeutic advice. If you are struggling with addiction or mental health issues, please seek out professional help! Don't take my blog, which is intended only as a means to begin a dialogue on these subjects, as treat...

Greeting Planet Fames! I hope you are all enjoying a fun, and safe, Labor Day weekend! What can I say, I must be excited about starting this series! I'm actually getting the blog out on the day I originally said I would! haha That said, I want to remind everyone that while I encourage debate, questions and conversation, personal attacks will not be tolerated. I also want to say that while I may include some facts and statistics, this blog is about my thoughts, opinions and experiences. You may think, feel, believe differently and that's OK! I may even be...wr...wrrr....wrong, in my opinion. (God that was hard to type! haha) The point is to start a dialogue, and to help educate and remove the stigma on  this topic. Viewer discretion is advised, as I may get just a little...real for some of you. So please don't be offended. OK! So where does one start a blog series on Addiction? I've given it a lot of thought over the past week, and I really believe that before we c...

Good morning Planet Famers! I hope you are all having a good start to your week! First, I am not even going to bother apologizing at this point for the late blog, because it seems that Monday or Tuesday morning is a far more achievable deadline! haha At this point, I guess I am going to go with: "Try to post a new blog by Sunday, but the actual deadline may very depending on the current situation." How's that for a political answer? A deadline, that doesn't actually mean anything! HAHA maybe I have a future career in politics! Nah...I'm too honest... I'd never get elected... OK, now that's out of the way! I've gone back and forth since I started blogging again, about whether I would bring up the topics of addiction, mental health, treatment, or basically anything dealing directly with what I do for a living. As most of you know, and if you don't...do you live under a rock? lol I own and founded JDS Consulting Inc. We are a relatively small ...

Good morning Planet Famers! Once again, I missed my Sunday deadline! haha I apologize! This week, I actually have a legitimate reason though! I was a little preoccupied with getting ready for the 2018 NCAAD, National Conference on Alcohol & Addiction Disorders, being held at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim California! If you are in the area, and can come by, please do! Conference started yesterday, and goes until Wednesday. JDS Consulting Inc. Co-sponsored a booth in the KIPU Pavilion with Neuvaunt Corp. ANYWAY! Back to the planet! I want to talk about "The Unexpected Journey" this week. First, I should start by explaining what I mean by that. When we are kids, at certain points in our lives, we get asked what we want to be when we grow up. Then as we get older, we get asked again at various different points in our development,  junior high, high school, college, and so on. Some of us, though admittedly few, give the same answer throughout our development. I am remi...

Good morning Planet Famers! I hope you all had a great week, and of course an even better weekend! I apologize for the delay in posting again! Life just seems to be ever getting in the way! Work has just been so busy, and it's all..well mostly good! Any problems or issues right now are certainly good problems to have! New clients, new projects, completely new ventures, and or course life is always happening! Let's just say I am not a person that is "lacking something to do"! haha That said, it brings me around to the topic, or rather the subject matter that brought this topic to mind. My Hope is that you might find a little tidbit of wisdom or perspective that you can use for your own life. Or at the very least, get you to think about your own life and perspectives. As I mentioned, I have been pretty busy! Work has been just crazy, and while I stated that the problems I have are all "good problems", they are often still problems. Taking on new client...

Greeting once again Planet Fames! Once again it looks like I owe you all an apology. My blog is late, and while I know you all understand how "life" can get in the way, I wanted to start off by apologizing for my tardiness. I promise to try harder, to keep my word and have the blog posted by Sunday! That said, this week I am at a loss for what to write about. I have started this blog 3 times, get about 3 paragraphs in, then delete it all because I don't like the direction it's going in. This tells me, that I need to spend a little bit more time processing and formulating my topic. SO, I am just going to leave it here for now, and I promise you all a better blog this weekend! Again, sorry it's late, and sorry it isn't much this week! haha Next time will be better! Thanks everyone!

Greeting Planet Famers! First, the elephant in the room. I know I said I was going to do this weekly...but life happens! I went out of town last week, back to Nebraska, and while I was there I just didn't have the time at first. Then I hurt my back to the point I was basically stuck in bed on Wednesday, and in the house all day Thursday! Not how I wanted to spend my trip...I went to see mom and dad because they were finally both feeling great and not in the hospital! Figures...I end up hurting myself. I guess that's kind of been the trend to far in 2018. Here's to the last 4 months being hospital and injury free!! The good news is, I am back to feeling 100% physically. I was going to write my blog on Friday, and then on Saturday, and then on Sunday, however I've been in an interesting headspace and I just didn't know what I wanted to say. On top of the health issues with mom and dad, and then me hurting my back, there has been a lot of emotional struggle this ye...

Good Morning Planet Fames! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! You know I usually add something like "I hope you had a chance to recharge your batteries" or "I hope you all had a chance to relax and are ready to take on the weekend". That's the topic for this blog actually. What does it mean to recharge your batteries? What does it mean, for you to relax so you can take on the weekend? That's right people, this weeks blog is talking about the concept of self care, and what self care looks like for you and for me! I can admit it. My name is James, and I am a workaholic! I guess you could say I always have been. I am one of those sick and twisted individuals, that truly enjoys working. No matter what job I have had at the time, I take a great sense of pride and self worth from working and doing a job to the best of my abilities. Now that I am self-employed and running my own company, I can honestly say it has gotten much more intense! HAHA On a lite ...

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Planet Fames! I hope you all have had a better weekend than I have. Not that my weekend was horrible, because I was fortunate enough to be reminded of the wonderful and supportive friends and family I have been blessed to have in my life. Without them, I think this weekend could have been much worse...so a special thank you to those that helped me get through it! You know who you are! This brings me to the topic of this weeks blog. I want to talk about, and hopefully start a dialogue or at least give a better understanding of body image, eating disorder, and my struggles with body dysmorphic thinking. I am going to ask that everyone reading this, please be kind. As those of you that know me understand, I am a very guarded person. I don't share what I am really feeling often, so this is hard for me to do. Sharing something this personal and leaving myself vulnerable like this makes me extremely uncomfortable. I say this, and offer a preempti...

Welcome back friends! I can't believe it's already been a week...I guess it's true what they say, time flies when you are having fun! I hope you all had a good week, and are taking the time this weekend to recharge your batteries and ensuring that you are getting some self care. While I had several ideas on topics thrown out, I decided to go with something that has been on my mind for a few weeks now. It seems to me, that a lot of people out there struggle with toxic relationships with others. I'm not just talking about significant others, but friends and acquaintances...basically relationships of any kind. We all know at least one. As I start to dig into this topic, I am sure you will each start to think about a specific person you know. Someone who is always on the outs with a "friend" or the one that is always in a bad relationship. The one that is constantly complaining about their friend or boyfriend/girlfriend, and what they are doing wrong. If I may...

Hello there! Welcome to my blog, and welcome to "Planet Fames"! I'm excited to try and get into this whole blogging thing. I'm not sure if you can see on the page or not, but I tried to get into blogging back in 2008. It did not go well! haha I basically posted like 3-4 times, and then didn't post again until 2011! There were probably only 10-12 posts total before, and thankfully I was able to delete them so you don't have to suffer through them! (WHAT was I thinking?!? lol) So I am just kind of winging it here, but hopefully as I begin doing this more often I will develop more of a structure and a style to the blog. Until then, I kindly ask you to be nice to me! 😊 I welcome feedback and participation, so if you have any thoughts or recommendations I welcome them! I thought I would start my first blog with a little background on me, such as who I am, what I do, and why I thought blogging was a good idea. I also thought the first blog would be the best...