I am back in Dublin after over two weeks break. It was sorely needed, and now feel invigorated and ready to take on the new year 🙂 Some of you guys have been following my holidays through my vlogs. I must say the vlogs has become something I really enjoy working on, and it comes across in the videos as well. It even seems to be adding a new perspective into my songwriting, as I do think how the music could be used in the vlogs. Exiting times 🙂

I must say, even though it feels great to be back in Dublin, I already miss Warsaw, it’s a great city and I hope my travel vlogs do justice to it. But I’m sure I’ll be back there soon enough. For now I am back in the Porterhouse with Sliotar and the new week will have me back playing the sessions as well. January is a quiet time for most of us, but it is a nice contrast after the hectic shows before the christmas.

But as I talked about in this weeks quick tips, January is a great time for a new start. Time to get organised and take on the world (so to speak.) I am not sue yet, what the year hold for me. Right now I am busy playing in Dublin, songwriting, vlogging and blogging. Some of you also remember that I need to move by the end of the next month. Not all the details are in place yet, so the all keep me busy as well.

Time away from home, once again held some valuable lessons:

1. I think the biggest lesson of the week for me has been the realisation of how often we hold onto the past, just because we are scared of the unknown. But the great ranges in our life only come when we step out of our comfort zone.

2. Haters always hate, but their aggression can also show us goodness in other people.

3. Also the best response to haters is not to respond at all, but the temptation to be nice to them is overwhelming 😉

4. The iPhone 6 battery lasts about 10 minutes in -14c

And now onto this weeks blog posts. This weeks song “Time Takes Its Toll” looks at how for many of us it is hard to let go of the concept of our childhood home:

Time Takes Its Toll

This weeks vlogs started with our New Years eve celebrations:

Vlog 51 New year fireworks

This week I did four part quick tip series on how to make the most of the new year:

Quick tip 256 Fresh start

Peter and Wiola’s two beautiful kids had me wrapped around their fingers. Check it out in the second vlog of the week:

Vlog 52 Movie star in making

The new year motivational quick tips continued on Tuesday, and we talked about getting organised:

Quick tip 257 Get organised

One of the first really cold mornings in Poland I made the mistake of holding my iPhone in my hand during the run. Check out here what happened:

Vlog 53 iPhone battery lasted 10mins

In Wednesday’s quick tip we talk about making a plan for the new year:

Quick tip 258 Make a plan

Thursday’s vlog was a fun one to film. My girlfriend and her sister went of to spend a relaxing night in a  spa hotel. Me and Peter decided to have some fun with the kids:

Vlog 54 When the adults are away the kids go to play

And this was the last one of the miniseries of new years motivational quick tips:

Quick tip 259 Make the New Year count

This vlog features the coldest run of my trip. I am hoping to track the extremes of my runs in 2016, so -16c in Warsaw is the coldest at the moment. Check out my frosty beard:

Vlog 55 The coldest run so far

In Fridays quick tip I talked about the importance of an album cover image in today’s music streaming world:

Quick tip 260 Impactful album cover image

And in the last vlog of the week, I started a series on my tips on how to get fit for the new year, with as little effort as possible 😉 I also take you around Warsaw for one more time in the beautiful winter lights:

Vlog 56 Do you want to get fit in 2016?

And that’s the first week of 2016 in the bag. Let me know what you think of the vlogs, blogs and the music. It’s your feed back that helps me to make it all better 🙂

Little bit of house keeping. If you enjoy what I do and would like to support me, please consider pledging on my Patreon page. By pledging even $1 a month you get access to my Patreon feed, where you get to ask me questions, communicate in a more direct way and you get to see most new vlogs day before the rest of the world does. So do me a favour and visit the Patreon page HERE.

When the festivities die down, we are left with January everyday life. So keep your eyes open for the good things around us and make the best of this cold and dark time of the year. Until next week, keep safe and be nice.

J.P.

The author J.P. Kallio is a singer songwriter
To get EIGHT of his songs for free go HERE