I thought the reply was something that anyone can benefit from, regardless of age or occupation, so I’m posting it on my blog.  I suggest you share this- someone will appreciate it.

It’s a patented multi-step process that took me years to perfect, but I’ll share it with you, ’cause you seem cool.

Step 1: Wake up

Step 2: Stretch

Step 3: Look in the mirror (optional) – and ask yourself “What do I feel like doing today?”

Step 4: Do that

Step 5: Did you like it?

Step 6: If yes, figure out how to make money off of it.

The bottom line is that people are full of shit. The people that say you’re supposed to go to school, get a degree, then have a career for 40 years doing that… are all miserable. Most people hate their life. They go to work, go home, watch TV, go to sleep. *vomit*

You can make money doing ANYTHING. If you’ve studied marketing, then that’s wonderful… now apply it to something other than “how to make money online” — you can help a local business get traffic, help improve their copy and design, and voila… now they make more $ than before. Get testimonial & get percentages. Or take friends that make stuff, and help them sell it online. MLM’s a biatch… I despise it… but I know many multi-millionaires from it… I’m just pouty ’cause I didn’t make money when I tried it before knowing marketing.

Think about branding. Think about marketing. Think about PR. It’s all about spin. how do you position something.

Perfect example- http://www.littlemissmatched.com/

What happens?

Little girls start going to school and showing off their mismatched socks… it becomes cool. Now everyone wants mismatched socks. They have hundreds of prints. You buy… you get what they send you… you show it off to your friends, and y’all compare.

Show me someone else (other than Hanes or Gold-Toe) that’s made millions off of socks… and at $9 per sale.

Get it? THAT is marketing. Not just making sales letters.

Great skill to have… but it’s just a tool… like a pencil. You can do anything with it. You can draw, you can stab someone, you can keep a door open, you can use it as a hole-puncher, you can set it on fire, you can play pencil-peg (a game where you keep hitting each other’s pencil until one of them breaks — lame… but as more interesting than my 7th grade science teacher).

Using Copywriting you can increase someone’s sales, control people’s behavior, make yourself seem more personable, make someone’s day, make someone out to be the bad guy, help a cause… the possibilities are endless.

When people talk of “Hackers” they generally are misusing the term. I think a hacker is someone that understands how something- or pieces of something – works, and then find other uses for it. In this regard, I am a hacker. So… learn skills, combine them, and do what other people aren’t doing.

Might I point out something? You asked “how you knew what you wanted to do with your life?” and then went on to speak about having no idea what you want to do career wise. Are the two the same?

So often when I ask people about who they are, they tell me what they do.

Sad.

You are so much more. You are your hobbies, your passions, your interests, your friends, your experiences, your hopes, your dreams, your failures, your successes, and so much more.

If someone asks me what I do, I say that I travel the world completely based on who’s couch I’m crashing on next… meeting incredible people, seeing incredible sights, learning about myself and the world, taking great pictures, helping people, solving problems, and telling many bad jokes.

Their response is usually a small delay, followed by “Uhhh… how do you pay traveling like that?” “Oh.. that… well, it depends on what I’m in the mood for, but… I do business coaching, business consulting, life coaching, photography, videography, video editing, motion graphics, 3d animation, print design, copywriting, pay per click advertising, search engine optimization, and a bunch of other things… how much time do you have? Or… better yet, why don’t you tell me what the biggest challenge you have in your business or life is, and I’ll come up with the proper solution for you?” (For a few references check out http://CouchSurfingOri.com/services)

Did you notice the difference between who I am, and what I do?

The two overlap… sure… helping people requires skills… photography’s in both. Both depend on my creativity and voracious appetite for learning… but… we are so much more than our jobs!

Now then… As a child, what did you want to be when you grow up? What are the things that when you do them, the entire day flies by, and people have to remind you to take breaks and eat? What are the things that when you watch them on Television (or Youtube/Hulu / movies / etc) you are on the edge of your seat, and find your pupils slightly dilating, perhaps you are slightly licking your lips?

One last tip- meet as many people as you can. Ask them about what they are passionate about, and ask WHY they are interested in those things. What do they enjoy the most. What sucks. Why did they end up doing this, as compared to the things they’ve done before. What is involved in doing this thing? Can you watch? — Maybe Google / Youtube it when you get home…. You’ll quickly find out what fascinates you.

Remember… money is just a means to keep on living… the more you have, the more you can do, sure… but… people who work at McDonald’s are in it because they need money. I doubt they are really THAT passionate about feeding Type 2 Diabetes to the people, while inhaling grease particles, or that they love the uniform that much. Then you got your millionaires in high stress jobs that hate themselves, and have no time with their significant others.

Then… you got the people that don’t make that much money, but do what they love…let’s call them artists. Read the book Flow, and watch the movie or read the book The Peaceful Warrior.

I think I’m going to repurpose this answer into a blog post, because I think many people can benefit from the answer.

Jason  is funny, and fearless, and smart (He has experience in selling magic tricks at bars, he was a PI, he is a marketer and copywriter… many of these things combined let him be confident, and know how to read people, and know what to say…. plus he has more street smart than most people I know– and that’s a lot of people), so he was a natural at this. Here is his first show!

I was lucky enough to get to be there in person to show support for a friend. There’s not much better than being able to show support for your friends in their big dreams. Jason is also the only other person I’ve ever met who’s taken shrooms and gone to a stripper club (his experience sounded way more painful than mine).

Anyways….not only was he funny, but his marketing superpowers are able to help these comedians– Louie Anderson and Kyle Cease. Jason has been out to Vegas a few times since to hang with Louie. How cool is that?

So… as I started this post with, Jason gave up the peace, quiet, and beauty of La Jolla to go to LA to work on comedy with Kyle Cease. I know he’s going to crush it!

The other day Jmo posts “Check out this spoof that we just filmed for Rebecca Black’s Music Video, Friday” –And he posted this video.

Ok… cute… funny…. but I didn’t see the original, so… I googled it, and here’s what I found…. Good luck watching the whole thing- *shiver*

I couldn’t watch the whole thing.. But heck, I’m not her demographic, right? I think it’s intended for teenagers. This girl is in 8th grade after all.
Well, at the time of writing this blog post (Saturday the 19th, 11AM CST), she is approaching 22 million views!

I watched it all the way through at a later attempt. Now, I’d tell you what I thought, but someone already said it word for word, so I’ll embed that! (Language warning)

I think Kingsley said it all, but how did I find his video? Well… People on facebook were commenting about Jmo & Kyle’s spoof, “have you seen this guy?”

His video – at the time of this writing – has over 2 million views!

So, here’s the point of my article:
We all know by now what a Meme is. An idea that explodes into popularity and takes on a life of its own, being adopted into popular culture…. for example, the Budweiser Wazzzzup (which actually didn’t do that much for selling beer… it is considered a failed campaign), currently Charlie Sheen is a meme, Starwars Kid, Double Rainbow (And I can never get enough of the Double Rainbow Autotune remix)….

Oh heck… speaking of Charlie Sheen being a meme, I just posted this video the other day on Facebook, ’cause my friend Espree Devora gave me a bag of Tiger’s Blood. – which goes right with the point of this article.

Rebecca Black has become an instant Meme. Her song begot spoofs, covers, and spoof images. This took the 80′s/90′s bands years to do…. The technology just wasn’t there to spread ideas like wildfire.

So now because of all the infrastructure that got laid down due to the dot com boom, everyone has wireless and broadband internet. Because of the human desire for the latest and greatest, and corporation’s desires to capitalize on that, we now have broadband internet on our cell phones, and tablet devices. This is what makes it possible for people to take a photo, video, or soundbite and turn it into a worldwide sensation…. while we’re sitting on the crapper!

Additionally, there is a braid made of multiple threads that is what really amazes me. Computers have gotten so small, fast, and efficient… information can spread so fast…. this combination has allowed for massive growth in education and jobs for programmers of all sorts. So now a booming market is in programs to do anything you can think of. Notable here – record, remix, and edit music and video.

Also, since the internet now gives us such a massive selection in any product that we want, user interface and elegant design are now standard parts of a product’s design… or at least are largely responsible for a product’s success or demise. You can learn a lot about this trend in Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind”

Just look at Apple for example. Everything they do is so elegant. I just got to unbox an Imac… it was sleek, only had 1 cable, barely took up any room…. There’s a reason that people wait in line for 8 hours to get the latest iPhone or iPad.

As much as I like to bash Apple, the more I study them, the more I realize that they are absolutely brilliant, and they already have changed the course of humanity, and will continue to do so. I can bitch and moan about them, but they deserve every penny they get.

Daniel Burrus’s must read book, Flash Foresight talks about trends – dematerialization, advances in speed, product intelligence, and more… So, that’s why smart phones these days can do more than a computer could do 10 years ago, but cost less, and can fit in our pocket.

So, now you have tiny devices (iPad) that have massive computing power, a massive selection of software that is designed to be easy and elegant to use, and you can now sit by a lake, edit a video, and post it on to the web. And when I say edit a video, I mean, create a broadcast-quality masterpiece.

Add to that mix that the younger generation take to new technology (Did you know that 80% of children under 5 years old are already using the internet?), and the fact that all these kids are growing up on shows that make singing and dancing a part of their lives (Hanna Montana, iCarly, VicTORIous, and countless others) and you have this incredible tsunami of content creation…. that Rebecca Black was just hit by.

The new generation is ready to express themselves… and unlike any previous generation, today’s teens were raised with the easy-to use technology to let them create, and remix content, and put it out there for the world to see. Justin Bieber is a perfect example… but today’s culture is about remixing.

It’s not just kids… they just help spark fires faster. Kyle Cease and Jason Moffatt are an example of grownups (if you want to call them that) that jumped onto the viral train.

You have to be quick if you want to catch a train. Another week, and nobody’s going to care about Rebecca Black’s song “Friday”. Notice we haven’t heard anything in a while about Baloon Boy (I jumped on that one, and made some Baloon Boy shirts, and even a “top 5 Baloon Boy Tattoos” spoof) — some people do it for fun, some people do it for their grasp at fame.

All in all, it’s just what people do these days…. Is it mean? Well…. she made the song to be famous, and it worked. She’s got her world-wide fame… even if it’s for sucking… and she’s quickly moving up on the charts. On the Itunes top 100, she’s already at 19 (at the time of this writing— I predict #1 in another day or 2) — passing up songs by Katy Perry, Usher, Cee-Lo, Enrique Iglesias, Ke$ha, Bruno Mars, Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Pink.

In Rebecca Black’s Good Morning America Interview (posted at the bottom of this article), she says hat the hurtful comments did make her cry some…. but I predict she’s going to cry all the way to the bank.

Rebecca has talent… this particular song is just auto-tuned, and the lyrics are practically insulting:
Kickin’ in the front seat
Sittin’ in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which seat can I take?
—-
Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin’)
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today
Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after…wards

So…. I think she has a bright future if she leverages it.

I think this Ted.com talk really explains what’s going on:

I do think that copyright law is going to have to change, otherwise you will not see remixes that have Rebbeca and Ice Cube together, along with clips from the Friday movie. And this is how people express themselves now.

I recently spoke at SXSW (South By South West- a massive event in Austin, TX) and I gave my 7 keys to happiness… I’m not saying what they all are in this post, ’cause I’m sharing my presentation in a few days…. but, I will reveal that point number 5 was to share. Share everything with the world! If you don’t want to share the going-ons in your life, then share your talent or hobby.

I said that what’s the worst that could happen? You get one ass-hat who says you suck? So what? What about all the people that think you’re awesome? What about all the people that wish they had the balls to post as you did? And let’s say you’re epically bad….. and everyone shares it in a viral fashion, like the Double Rainbow guy, or the Sunny D and Rum, Yum Yum lady…. Then you’re famous. You can leverage that and get a book deal, or a recording contract…

While I poke fun at this horrible song, I don’t poke fun at Rebecca… whom I see having a very very bright future. Kudos to her for having the balls to post it, and for keeping it up despite all the nay-sayers…

He who laughs last…. thinks slowest.

Every person that tries to bring her down, is only letting more people know about her song, and thus is growing her notoriety. It’s like back when I was working at One Model Place and we’d have photographer contests. Many photographers would go and vote “1″ on other photographers’ images… thinking that they are bringing down their scores.

In actuality, the contest was not based on average score… but rather the overall score. So every single point helped, and all these guys that were trying to hurt their competitors were actually helping them.

So… in summary….. Share your talent with the world. You’re likely to get remixed and laughed at…. but who the hell hasn’t been mocked when trying to do a great thing? The Wright Brothers were certainly mocked, as was Thomas Edison…

You survived yesterday, you survived today, chances are good you’ll be around tomorrow. Shit happens, and there is often a price to pay to get to greatness.

That aside, here’s some more awesome Rebecca Black spoofs and covers, and her interview…. But I bet by the time this posts, new ones will have already arrived on the web.

Here’s an amazing cover that makes the song not be annoying…. Epic Mullet Guy covers Rebbeca Black’s Friday-

Wow! That’s talent! Poor guy has that much talent, and only 162,000 views in 3 days. Poor thing.

This one was a blast Mashup with Friday the movie AND a mix with Ice Cube

I used to go to Raves– so this Dubstep version caught my attention…. it’s pretty well executed-

Bob Dylan version-

This kid did a cover, and got 146,000 views so far– ’cause RyanSeacrest.com posted his video.

Fried Eggs (more original than many of the others)

Emo-

Heavy Metal-

Using Video editing to make a dance video to match-

BeatBox

One of the better spoofs (audio and video wise) “Saturday”

This guy’s cover is pretty decent– makes it sound like a mix of Pink Floyd, The Cure, and some other bands

Friday– an acting masterclass

Pop Rock- (not bad… think Dashboard Confessional) –

Accoustic and Banjo cover!

This Meatloaf Version is awesome

Another dramatic, but talented cover-

Hitler finds out it’s Friday (This friggin clip gets spoofed for every meme! The one they did of Hitler Finds Out Baloon Boy Is A Hoax was the best!)

This kid deserves to be made fun of even more than Rebecca does:

These guys did a decent acoustic set- and had fun with the video:

Rebecca’s interview on Good Morning America:

If you want to kill time, go look up Rebecca Black Friday on YouTube…. hint– you’ll find a whole other set if you try things like Rebecca Black Friday Piano Cover / Rebecca Black Drum Cover / Rebecca Black Dance Party / Rebecca Black Spoken Word—- each one of these has dozens of covers in that genre.

This girl has started an entire industry! I think it’s amazing. If nothing else, you can make a drinking game out of it

I guess my friends and family are used to hearing what new goal I am going to go after now, “I’m going to be a 3D animator!  I’m going to be a photographer!  Now I”m running a printshop!  I’m going to design jewelry!  I’m a marketer!  I’m a video editor!  I’m going to play the guitar! I’m writing a book!”  So… Breakdancing may not be a big stretch for them, especially after stunts like Bull Poker, or Cliff Jumping, or Skydiving, or all these other things that I’ve done.  But… this is different, and I’m telling you why so maybe you can find that thing that brings you alive.

My good buddy Craig Allen and I were on a Skype video call, and my good friend, his roommate at the time, Katie Brown jumped in as well.  Apparently, they had just seen a movie on NetFlix called LXD.  Here is part of the call (with some Tiesto music added by me for good measure)

Have I mentioned how much I love my friends

Ok… here’s the official trailer, now that you’ve seen Craig & Katie’s version:

I watched it, and I was on the edge of my seat with that “Holy shit! How do they do that?!” feeling. I watched it, and Jason Sherfey (whom I was couchsurfing with at the time) and I had break-danced our way to breakfast.

It’s not like every movie affects me like that. Sure, you watch Indiana Jones (the original ones) and you want to get a whip. You watch Superman, and you want to get a cape, and fly. But you forget about it after a while. I noticed that after watching that, despite usually being mild on the dance-floor, I would start improvising some breaks… and contrary to my expectations, nobody laughed — except that time in downtown San Diego with Mitch Sanders and Jaime Mintun, when I accidentally kicked some poor girl in the head… but that’s another blog post to be written, about mastery being built up over time… incrementally, and with practice.

I watched The LXD a few times, never tiring of it. But it wasn’t until 2 months ago, when I was in Austin, staying with Craig, and working on a project day and night that I realized I need to learn to breakdance.

Between writing, making the appropriate web design, creating mobile phone ads, facebook ads, and all those fun split testing thingies that we needed to do, we were up and working most of the day… and I would be up at night, since I’m nocturnal. Craig likes to have movies on, though, he’s not even paying attention to which one is on… just that they are on. My attention span is not as forgiving… I pay attention to what movie is on, and what’s going on, despite that I get the work done.

One night Craig was out, and I was in charge of movies for myself. I didn’t care for what Mr. Allen had lined up on the Netflix Que, so I started flipping through, and on a whim I found Planet B-Boy.

This time I noticed that I had dropped all the work I was doing, and watched intently.  I even felt that my pupils were focused, and my heart was beating faster. I was having an adrenaline rush without having to jump out of a plane, wait for a bull to hit me, or travel 140MPH on a motorcycle.  I was doing it out o the comfort of the living room, and the instigator was this movie.

I realized that I can watch this stuff all day long.  I used to study Capoeira (A Brazilian martial art that resembles dancing, with lots of flips, kicks, and is performed to music), but while I wasn’t that great at it, I loved to show up to class, because I could watch those that were great do their thing. Every place I’ve seen breakdancing or Capoeira demos, I’d stop to watch.

So… if just watching it gives me a rush, what would being good at it do?  What would it be like to clear out a swatch of dance floor, and do something like this with some friends:

Now, I have my little nagging voices in my head…. I mean, these guys that are competing are all younger than me, way more flexible, and it seems they all have a 6-pack… which I’m sure is a side-effect of dancing so damn much.  But, I’m not looking to compete, I’m looking to have fun, have a new way to play with others, challenge myself, express myself, and like drawing and telling jokes, this is something that comes from the inside… I just want to do it.  Reason need not apply.

So… what is it that when you watch it, you get amped up?  If there is such a thing, maybe you should get involved in it. Yes, people may judge you… but would you rather be unhappy and not judged, or would you rather be free, happy, and have some people think you’re an idiot because they are too scared to chase their own dreams?

Do it!

Apple thinks you are a tool

Apple is the king of marketing and creating hype.  Their technology has changed the world.  Their style has made technology simple, and pretty.  And now, they think that we are all fools. Me personally, I am waiting for the youtube itunes video of the person who came up with this latest scheme getting executed by firing squad.

Yesterday had all the tech sites wondering what Apple will announce today, as their home page announced with poor grammar that “Tomorrow is just another day.  That you’ll never forget.”  I gotta admit, with all that they’ve done, I too was curious what their announcement will  be.  What will they have people lining up around the block for this time?

Apparently, all the hype was to announce that the Beatles are now on iTunes.  Seriously?  That’s it?  That is worth shutting down the Apple home page for?

For those who were not aware of it, all the Beatles albums have been available for sale at your local record shop for decades.

The entire discography (the whole collection) AND a bunch of rare stuff that you can’t even buy have been floating around the web for ages, and for free, on Torrent Sites, so it’s not like you couldn’t get mp3s of your favorite Beatles song.  In fact, those sites have their content in higher quality than iTunes does.

There was this one site called Oink.Me.Uk – which got shut down (and in January of this year, the owner of the site was declared not guilty), because all the record companies attacked it.  Why were they so afraid of that site? Because the quality was way better than their offerings.  The selection was way better than theirs as well.  Oink had really high standards.  It got the collectors to encode and share their private stash at high quality.

If you’re a huge Beatles fan, and you want the collection, then buy the CD and encode it to FLAC – a lossless compression.  Get Vinyl, now that has a rich sound!  Even play it on CDs… fine.  Whatever.  But, don’t spend your hard earned money on iTunes!  At least if you buy the CDs you have a pretty box!  You have something to show!  With iTunes you have a medium quality mp3…. that’s locked to your computer!  So… you can’t even buy this as a gift!

Yeah… here’s a story for you! This girl took me on a date to this concert, and the next day bought a song on iTunes (Stolen, by Dashboard Confessional) just to send to me (awwwww)…. except that I couldn’t play the damn thing ’cause she bought it on her computer.  Can you imagine how that feels?  To buy someone a present, and they aren’t allowed to open it?  Well…. that’s called DRM – Digital Rights Management- I wrote about DRM and what you can do about it.

I respect an artist’s right to make money.  But guess what?  Most of them don’t!  The reason is not because of people downloading… it’s because the record labels hardly pay them anything.  They make their money on touring, tshirt sales, that kind of stuff… not off of record sales.

This (NOT safe for work / kids — language) hilarious animation came out when Metalica was bashing people for downloading their stuff at the time when Napster came out.  Napster is now another tool for buying music… but back in the day, it was like Limewire– a tool for finding and sharing files.  P2P (Peer to peer) sharing — which is what Torrent Sites are these days.  These tools have many legitimate uses by the way.

So… Yes, I think it is pathetic that Apple fans will wait in line for 12 hours to buy a $600 phone that’s going to be replaced next year… or break the 1st time they drop it.  Actually…. what I have to say about it can’t explain it any better than this incredible video:

Yeah!  That’s right!

So…. Apple, thanks for making the iPod.  It’s really rad!  I appreciate having a stylish player to carry my content with me where ever I go.  I think it’s great that you buy up every 5th billboard in every major city to show people holding ipads.  But damn dudes, why blow your wad on announcing that you have a few more tunes on your music store?  I hope this is a giant flop.  I think it’s insulting, showing how the whole world talks about anything that Apple does, even if it’s something so trivial.

And for the record… my iPod Touch was acting up this morning, completely ruining my jog!  Thankfully the people from Brooks set up small pavilions on the trail, and had people do 1 minute challenges for prizes.  I just wanted to see what it was about, so I tried to eat a spoonful of cinnamon in 1 minute.  That’s harder than it sounds!  That cheered me up

So… yes, I was pre-bitter about Apple before I even saw their misuse of brand power.

You see, there’s a chapter in my book called “Ditching Heavy Baggage” — and it’s about how in order to keep living my passion (traveling, meeting new people, learning all I can, finding mentors, having a blast, taking great photos, having adventures, changing peoples’ lives) I had to get rid of people that were weighing me down (hence the baggage metaphor… get it?  I travel, and it’s extra weight).

I’ve heard – and then had proven through experience- that you are the sum average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. This applies to everything: health, weight, happiness, success of relationship, stress levels, positivity, wealth, activity level, motivation.

I generally use positive phrases these days.  I say “wealth”, not “how broke you are” because I’d rather measure the positive things. I guess it’s a bit like “The Secret” – though, my gripe with that book/movie is that they left off one major chapter “Do something!”  ”Take MASSIVE action!” — though… having a pretty vision board is a good start.  I do believe in the law of attraction… I believe more in the law of gravity, but…. you need to know what you want, otherwise you’re a lot less likely to get it.

My posts are inspired by what’s happening in my life, or the conversations I have.  Today (after waking up at 3am from my 5:30pm nap that followed a super productive day where I skipped sleeping last night) I had a conversation with one of my couches in Atlanta.  My friend was on his way to South Carolina.

(Cut  & Paste from Skype chat)

Why you going to SC?  Hurricane looting?  Kite Surfing?  Visiting your Mom?

Nah…. my buddy steve came to visit in ATL and his buddy owns a race shop…atv’s dirtbikes street bikes…so he brought some 4 wheelers to ride….he wrecked while he was here so he is in the hospital with broken clavicle and scapula, ruptured spleen, and a flap of flesh hanging off his skull….so I am driving his truck and trailer back to SC for him.

My buddy has recently had a child, and things are not good with him and the girl.  He’s gotten a new job, which I am thrilled to say is in marketing (and he’ll be the first one to tell you that that is because of my influence over the years). I met him when he worked at Gold’s Gym (which I have a blog post to talk shit about that place!). I mentored him a bit, ’cause he’s a good kid with a similar passion for adventure and photography as me.  We’ve gone hiking, and then climbing power poles that are on the ledge of 1,500 foot cliffs.  We’ve jumped off of (much smaller) cliffs into rivers. I introduced him to marketing, and coached him in his sales technique, and all of a sudden he went from “the guy who is just an assistant behind the counter” to “the guy that broke every sales record for all 8 local branches of Gold’s, despite having a hidden location.”

The manager at that Gold’s was not particularly responsible.  No one at that gym was really motivated. It was “just a job”.

My friend quit finally.  I was glad, because those people were not a particularly great set of people to have in his 5 people that influence him. Notice, I was one of the people, and I pushed him forward to get more sales, and to compete with himself, not the lazy people that are there.

I’ve given free consulting with a very precise action plan to many people when they’ve told me their goals, dreams, or problems.  Yet, they didn’t do anything about it. Some have followed my steps, and have gotten  great results.  Though… some people listen too well… like Rob, who posted a picture of his ass on Facebook when I said “hah! great picture, you should make that your picture!”- although…. people who do listen, rather than overthink everything, can get much better results.  Ready, Fire, Aim.

So, why do most people not take action? They think their friends will make fun of them.  If you’re hanging out with a bunch of people who go drink every night, and they ask you out to the bar, and you say “Hey guys, I’m going to skip out tonight… I want to practice my sales presentation in the mirror for 3 hours, then video tape it (or… whatever the term is these days….flip it?), and see if I’m pre-addressing every objection….” they might tell you to do that later, or “why would you do that? You’re already kicking ass without practicing. Do it tomorrow, that one chick with the big boobs coming out tonight… you should come!”

The line you get may be different… that was a hypothetical example, but you know what I mean, because it’s happened to you!  You wanted to do something good for you ( start a raw diet, stick to a budget, stick to a training regiment, meditate, take a class….), and all of a sudden you weren’t quite fitting in with your friends, so you dropped whatever it was.

It’s called a comfort zone.

We get used to how things are, and a change is a threat.  We may want the change, but part of us ( our lizard/reptilian brain) starts trying to protect us….. “What if you get hurt? What if you’re not good at it? What if your friends laugh at you? What if you lose your friends? What if it doesn’t work out, and you don’t get the job?!?!?!” -

You succeeding at your goal is also a threat to your friends, because it means that you may ditch them, or that they will have to improve their standards… both are threats to their comfort zone. And thus loving friends and family are the number one killers of dreams.

I surround myself with positive and driven people who want to (constantly) improve and enjoy their lives, and thus we infect each other with motivation and support for our goals.

Instead of “Come on… do that tomorrow, let’s get plastered tonight!”  I may say “You’re working on outsourcing all your tasks?  That’s awesome!  Ok… well, we’re going, but before we head to the bar, let me give you my copy of Michael Gerber’s E-Myth and E-Myth Revisited!  He’s all about systems, and if you’re outsourcing, you should make a system of every task, so that you can give it to every person that will do it, and they’ll be able to do it!  Think McDonald’s!   Also, you should use Jing, and record the doing of every task… then they can see exactly what you do, and you can narrate it… then you’ll have a library of all the tasks!”

That’s why I like the world of Internet Marketing.  Most people have their own schedules, are positive, always learning new things, share knowledge with each other, and work hard.

My buddy that I mentioned earlier is young.  I figure he won’t listen to everything I say, and that’s fine… at 21 years old I didn’t realize the things I know today.  But, I reminded him this…..

(Cut  & Paste from Skype chat)

my buddy steve came to visit in ATL and his buddy owns a race shop…atv’s dirtbikes street bikes…so he brought some 4 wheelers to ride….he wrecked while he was here so he is in the hospital with broken clavicle and scapula, ruptured spleen, and a flap of flesh hanging off his skull….so I am driving his truck and trailer back to SC for him

that’s nice of u– have a good audio book to listen to while u drive those hours? (Was going to send him one)

hmmmm….. just a reminder:  You ARE the sum average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

if all 5 have suspended licenses, chances are you’re next. and that tapplies to wealth, health, etc…

steve is smart the other guy is an idiot…

Steve’s the one with broken everything

point taken

My friend’s life is currently hectic. His relationship is beyond volatile right now. He left a job that the hated with Coca Cola… which I predicted he’d hate, as it was mindless, and with small results.  That’s a comfort zone thing…. we’d rather have “a  job… for right now… just so I can pay my bills, and then I’ll save up, and then I’ll be able to make that thing so I can get that other job that I really want to have!”  He finally got a gig that involves his brain, where he can measure and create his own results.

I’m not his parent (or anyone’s), nor am I yours.  I’m not calling his friends losers, as I don’t know them all.  I’m not calling your friends losers.  I am saying that you should monitor where your life is compared to where you want it to be.  What’s missing?  Are you truly happy?  Do you have a relationship you like?  Do you have the gig you like? Are you living where you want?  Are your friends positive and supportive?

After you evaluate yourself, take a look at the 5 people you hang out with the most (significant other included if you’re married or dating).  Are they happy?  Are they successful (however success is defined to them)?  Do they like where they live? Are they healthy?

If most people you spend your time with are stressed out, obese, divorced, and broke… then that’s probably what you’ll see in the mirror.

I lost 30 pounds in a month by trying a raw food diet!  Ok… it was 28 pounds, but 30 sounds better  It was a very difficult thing to go from eating meat and potatoes, and never even having side salads or any salads…. to 100% raw (I did have 1 glass of Vodka during the excusrsion).  I was able to do it because the people I was traveling with on a 6 week road trip were Craig & Suzanne… both of which ate healthy, shopped at Co-Ops, and knew how to prep raw food.

The last week was the hardest, because I was alone.  After we finished rock climbing in Yosemite, we parted ways.  I went to San Francisco to visit my family, and they went back to Austin.  My family – like most – is not into raw food.  They prepped and ate all my favorite meals around me… schnitzel, brisket, home made ground burgers.  They had these, while I made salads, or almond butter with seaweed sandwiches, etc…  My mom even kept trying to get me to eat their food!  What the hell?  I told her I was doing 30 days, and that it was difficult, and yet she kept trying to make me stray from my goal!

I love my folks… and they’re at the gym almost every day, and they tell me that they eat very healthy.  But, they both keep complaining about their weight.  They don’t lift weights as I’ve recommended for them.  They swim, exercycle, and walk the elipticals.  It’s just like having a camera, and taking pictures doesn’t make you a photographer…. going to the gym, and eating healthy doesn’t mean that you’re in shape, or en route to results.   It’s better than not doing anything at all… but if you’re not getting the results you want, you’re doing something wrong.  Bring in an expert that works with others like you, and has gotten them the results that you want.

Mom figured I was skinny from my diet, so why don’t I use up this family time to eat home made food.  My goal didn’t matter…. just as most of yours do not really mean anything to your friends.

So, if you’re NOT where you want to be… who is?  Why aren’t you friends with them?  Why not see if you can help them out with something?  Why not join some Meetups (meetings from Meetup.com) and find others that have your same goal.

If you get a workout partner that doesn’t show up, or doesn’t threaten your life because you’re thinking of flaking on the training session… then you have someone who isn’t serious, and should fire them, and find a new one who is serious.

My chapter that I mentioned, “Ditching Heavy Baggage”, talks about how I’ve had to train my parents to stop being negative and tell me how my idea won’t work.  It’s about how I don’t really speak to all my old friends anymore, because my priorities are much bigger than just going to the next party or rave.  It’s about how there are some people whom I will no longer respond to their calls, emails, or texts… and will delete their voicemails without listening.  It was hard to do, but I can be happy the way that I define it now.

We all have (or… in my  case, had) that friend who is always having it rain on their parade.  Every “So… what’s new?” leads to a depressing conversation about how work sucks, their girl is cheating on them, they just got injured, they got a ticket, etc….  I support my friends when they are down.  But… if they are ALWAYS down, I’m done!  You can call me a shitty friend when you read that… but none of my friends will tell you that I”m a shitty friend… If your life is seriously THAT broken that all you have to say is bad news every time, maybe you should seek professional help.  Or… more realistically, you need to do the thing that changed my life– start taking personal responsibility.

Yup, that’s right.  The economy doesn’t matter, and the president won’t bail you out.  YOU have the power to evaluate your situation, and improve it.  Hours cut back at work?  Turn a hobby into a business.  No money for food? Barter someone food for a skill or item that you have.  There is ALWAYS a solution!  There is ALWAYS something you can do.

If I decide that I want to make a photoshop training course (which I did decide, and am working on), my friends say “That’s awesome, you’ve got so much experience in photoshop, your work rocks, you should totally do it! How are you marketing it? I bought that one course on making videos that convert really well, want it?  Want to set up a mastermind to review your strategy and make sure everything’s in the right direction?” They call me to check how that is progressing, and bust my chops if I make excuses.

They’re busting my chops now ’cause my book isn’t done yet.

I said I wanted to do more public speaking, and someone wrote an amazing letter about me, and within 2 hours, I got invited to be a speaker at the 140Conference. I have a month to prepare a presentation that will kick extreme ass!

THESE are the kind of people you want in your life.  These are the people you want in your 5 people you spend the most time with.

Hey, it’s your life. I’m not judging you. Who gives a shit if people are or will judge you? They’re going to do that anyways… we’re all people.  It’s actually a survival mechanism from the cave days…. but, if there is something you want to do/be/have, you are responsible for it. If the current group of people you have are not pushing you towards your dreams, you may want to consider getting a new set of friends.

Couchsurfing has been my savior.  I got to meet so many incredible people, discover internet marketing, find those few places (like Austin and San Diego) where I feel at home…  My life has become a force of change, for myself, and for those I interact with.  Because I keep changing who I’m staying with, and where I’m staying at, my life is always changing, as is the group of 5 people I spend the most time with…. but I make sure that as it changes, I only fill it with amazing people whom I respect, look up to, can learn from, and enjoy their company.

So… who are your five people?

4th of July pic from Wikipedia

4th of July / Independence day… a day where 234 years ago we told the Brits to suck it. It doesn’t seem to mean that much as a holiday these days.  Most holidays don’t seem to mean that much. This one is an excuse to play with fireworks – or break the law in certain areas to get the fireworks – over eat BBQ food, get drunk, and occasionally catch an orchestra.

This year I’m in the middle of a health kick, so I don’t care about the BBQ food.  In La Jolla, it was cold today, so I didn’t feel like taking people up on their beach BBQ offers.  For some reason I was really tired, so slept a lot during the day (my neck still hurts, and my head’s a bit foggy.  Glad it’s my day off P90x).  I did walk outside to watch the fireworks for a few minutes, then yawned and walked back in.

Why? Because in 2007 I ate shrooms at Burning Man, and watched a (literally) 1,000 foot fireball come out of an oil derrik, followed by probably about 40 minutes of the most amazing fireworks I’ve ever seen!  Since then, nothing compares.  These were not the skimpy one firework at a time stream that you see in most fireworks show… these were hundreds of them at a time…. the sky was filled with them!  Like most things at Burning Man, these were done by artists who put everything into it… and probably didn’t have nearly as many fire-safety ordinances as most cities.

This year’s fireworks sounded about the same to me as a bag of popcorn getting ready in the microwave.  I went inside to hang with Webber, whom I was informed ahead of time hates fireworks.

I just don’t feel this holiday anymore. This year, to celeebrate independence, the United States has decided to pass a new law that suspends the 1st ammendment.  Yup, media is not allowed to get near anything having to do with the oil spill.  The United States of BP will now arrest you if you try to show the world how they’re killing the planet.

That pisses me off, and not just because I’m a photographer, but because this proves some more that the United States has gone from claiming independence from Brittain to becoming the world’s biggest bully.  I’m not going to blog about the middle east bullying for oil.  Seems a lot of it has to do with oil, eh?

This site has a good article on the new rule.  As far as where things are going, 1984 (a reference to the book by Orwell, not the year before I came to the USA)…. Big Brother Is Watching…. the government in Orwell’s book figured that if you control men’s minds, you control the truth.

You can listen to 1984 for free at this site: http://www.archive.org/details/George-Orwell-1984-Audio-book

There was a bill just passed by the Senate Committee… the thing we call the “Internet Kill Switch” (Google it)- which lets the government decide when and how to turn off the internet… but now passes the power from the president’s hands, to a committee’s hands as well.

Photographers and journalists (and anyone else) are not allowed anywhere near the BP “cleanup”…. that’s a semi media blackout… but that bill as far as I’m concerned will probably pass, and let the government shut down blogs that feature footage that wasn’t supposed to get out.

What I’m wondering is why people aren’t using the equipment that was used to make Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth – This is one of the clips that talks about it.  Sure… it’s expensive, and the coast guard may try to arrest you or crash your chopper into the water, where no one will know the wiser, and the oil that leaks from your wrecked chopper is nominal compared to the non-stop mileage of oil that BP’s unleashed… but… if you do succeed– which you can certainly do at a larger distance than 65 feet (can you believe they originally wanted 300 feet?) — you’ll capture amazing footage of all the oil-soaked birds, etc….

I can (and often do) write for hours… so, I’m actuallly going to stop now, and go work on my book instead.

My points though for tonight’s post:

1. If you have something that’s too good and rare, it will destroy normal moments for you (i.e.  fireworks are now lame after the fireworks at Burning Man)
2. BBQ tends to be bad for your health… I still love it though, so the best way to stay healthy is to not to put yourself in situations where you’re surrounded by what causes your problems (i.e. if you’re a drug addict, don’t go to a rave, or your dealer’s house)
3. Independence day seems like a joke these days, because we are heading towards a complete lack of freedom…. but enjoy your 3-day holiday weekend!

Small add-on:  Since I offered a link to 1984 for free (yes, I post on Facebook / Twitter WHILE I write blog posts), someone gave me this fun piece of conspiracy theory, The Obama Deception.  It’s been a little while since I watched a good conspiracy film, and how can you not believe everything they say with those awesome narrators they have, and that awesome background footage…. and perhaps also that much if not all of it makes sense.

I’m  warning you in advance, this is not your mother’s book review (takes me a tiny bit to get warmed up)! It has a lot of really personal stuff from my life as I reflect on the book, and is discussed in my fun (and language filled) manner.

Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse is a book that does not fit in my normal reading list. As with all things in my life, this too has a fascinating story and reflection.

It all started with Jaime.

Have you ever known someone… you knew who they were… you’ve spoken before… you’ve got many friends in common?  Sure you have.  In my case, this is Jaime Mintun. I met her in March of 2009.  She was one of the keynote speakers at Stompernet 7.  I was invited, and had a blast learning and partying.  Jaime had caught my attention… not because of her good looks, but because she was speaking about consulting- something I do, and am always fascinated with.  The way she presented things made sense.

Since then I’ve met many of her friends, and  seen her a few times in various cities… most recently, hanging out with my fellow adventurer, Caleb Jennings at David Wolfe’s Longevity Conference.  Why is this worth mentioning?  Keep reading, you’ll see.

Now that I’m in La Jolla, we decided to hang.  I guess we see each other on Facebook so often, with so many friends in common, that we felt we knew each other. *WRONG* – This blog post is about Siddartha, but I could easily write a much longer post about Jaime…. for starters, there’s this story called Acres of Diamonds.  In that story, this guy sells his property to fund a diamond funding expedition.  He spends his whole life looking for diamonds, and does not succeed… yet, the property he sold ended up being one of the largest diamond mines ever.

That’s a reminder for you to really get to know the people who are already in your life.  Some of them may be the most awesome diamond mine ever!  Upon hanging with Jaime at a coffee shop, neither one of us got any of our work done. We did have an absolute blast… a day of non-stop laughter, and getting to know each other.  Turns out that she is extremely smart, extremely learned, well travelled, and a heck of an achiever.  When we spoke about creativity though, she told me about Siddhartha, and how fascinating she found it.  Here’s a link to Jaime’s blog post about Siddhartha.

What she had told me was that she didn’t feel that she felt in…. she liked to travel, but her hippie friends gave her crap about having nice things, while her successful friends gave her crap about staying at hostels and low-cost residences while traveling. And she read this book, and felt fine with being herself…. (and now, finally, onto the book)

This book reminds me of something I would have read in high school or college English/Literature class. It started off sort of boring me..(What? I’m being honest!  Anyways… if that’s all you read, then you’re a fool!  Keep going!) The languaging is slow, and of an earlier era.  It was published in 1922, and in the USA in 1951, before Fight Club, so it is forgiveable.  This was not intended to be an action novel, but an allegorical tale (it tells a story other than the literal interpretation of what you read, by using figures and symbols to convey the intended message).

Jaime’s summary:  This guy goes around the land meeting all these different leaders… Buddah, merchants, etc… each one trying to tell him what’s so special about their thing… but in the end, the only person who is just is the Ferryman… ’cause he would just bring people to their destination, and did not judge them, or tell them what to expect…. he let them find their own path.   I said that it was during our talk of creativity that Jaime told me about this book, because like the Ferryman, Jaime can connect people of different worlds, so they understand each other, without judging them… win-win-win.

I’m not going to tell you the entire story– you can get it on audio book, or even read it for free on Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2500 – If you’re not familiar with Gutenberg.Org, you should check it out!  It’s a site that posts an insane amount of public domain literature/sheet music/etc… Apparently, I am going to tell you the whole story… Since there is so much that relates from the story to my life (this sentence was inserted after writing this post), but I tell it in a lot fewer pages than Hesse did.

I mention Jaime, her blog, and her summary, because I’m fascinated by how different people read the same thing, and get such a different message out of it.

I was able to connect with Siddhartha as a literal character, not just in the allegorical sense.

The novel begins by talking about what a hotshot Siddhartha is…. everyone likes him, he’s good looking, he’s smart, he’s helpful, he’s successful at what he does, he is passionate, he makes other people smile….. and yet, he does not have his own happiness.

His happiness is missing, because while he’s learned all that they teach the Brahmin (the Indian caste / religion he was born into), he didn’t think that their answers actually provided truth. So, he and his buddy Govinda skip town to join the Shramanas, which are ascetics (people who give up all posessions, and basically all worldly pleasures in order to find enlightenment).

Before they go, he wants permission from his dad… who’s not willing to give it… until he realizes that Siddhartha is stubborn, and is going to do this anyways, so he finally gives him his blessing.  While not a lot of time is spent on this portion of the story, this is a major theme (uggh!  See!  Told you this sounds like a Literature class.  Even my writing sounds like homework for one of those.  It’s all right– classes are good.) which sort of boils down to “If you love something, set it free.  If it comes back, it was meant to be.  If it doesn’t, hunt it down and kill it…. er… if it doesn’t, it wasn’t meant to be!” (the original cliche, probably didn’t have that hunting part :p )

So, my parents “let me” go on this trip… they didn’t understand it (thought this would be just another phase), but they love me, so they let me go (not that I’m that easy to stop).  They let me get a motorcycle (though, that took a little bit of reverse psychology) despite being so worried about what will happen to me if I get a bike.  I loved my Honda CBR 600 F2, but sure enough… I got shot in the leg with a paintball gun while doing 110mph! Parents know everything!

So, Sid (yeah… I’m gonna call him that   It’s way faster to type… and for you to read!) and Go (well.. if Sid gets abbreviated, this is only fair.  Anyways… Sid & Go has a way more stylish feel to it…. maybe I’ll do a rewrite of the original novel, turning it into a modern action story… that has deep meaning, of course) hang with the Shramanas, and Sid says, “Nah… they don’t know shit either!” (he worded it differently) “What else is there?”

Now Go is sort of a bitch… when Hesse starts the book by saying what a badass Sid is, he talks about how Go is kind of his bitch… he wants to be him, and follow him to the end of the world.

Go is an important character for me, because he reminds me of one of the chapters in my book that talks about the people who care about you, but weigh you down.  Go always tells Sid how cool he is, but whenever Sid says “Hey! These peeps don’t know jack, let’s find some better answers!” Go tries to talk him out of it!  That little bitch, how dare he?  Despite all that, he still goes where Sid goes.

So, they left the Brahmin, they left the Shramanas, and they heard about this Buddah dude.  He’s supposed to be hot shit, and his opt-in list is growing like mad!  Oh wait… marketer-speak again…. his following is growing quickly, thus he probably has the truth.

Hesse did not spend much time talking about the journey here… It went quickly from “I heard Buddah has some good stuff” to “Yay! We’re here!”

So, Sid & Go couchsurf (yeah!  There’s a lot of couchsurfing in this novel, no wonder I like it!) with some people, and watch Buddah and his yellow-robed buddies all go beg for food, then they catch his lecture, and decide it’s pretty decent.  So, they crash another couch, and Go, who’s kind of a follower anyways decides that Buddah is in fact awesome, and that this must be the truth.

Sid wishes him well, but decides that Buddah is kind of high and mighty too, so he’s gonna go find the real truth.  He wasn’t a dick about it though.  He flat out told Buddah that his program’s pretty damn great, but has one major problem….  you can’t teach what Buddah experienced, because he experienced it… it’s an experience, not knowledge! He also told him that his stuff’s a bit too polarized.  There’s more to life than suffering and Nirvana (though, people in Seattle may argue that!).

More reflection– I was told that I’m supposed to go to college. That must be the truth, right?  Well, I went to UF, and left, ’cause I knew more than they did from my own learnings (about 3d animation– which in ’94 was not nearly as popular as it is now).  It was hard to break the news to my own Go (friends and family), but I knew that this was the path for me.

Actually, it’s an awesome story, so here’s the quickie version (color coded & italicized, so you can fast forward to Sid’s story if mine’s not fascinating enough f0r you): I started with CIS (computer and information sciences) since I wanted to learn 3d animation. After a bunch of prerequisites, it turns out that 3d animation is in the Fine Arts program, and you have to take this 13 credit class called WARP (hell if I remember what it stands for, but you had 6 hours of class on Monday / Wednesday / Friday, and lectures on Tuesdays, and tons of projects to keep you busy in between).

We had this project to mix our style with that of an artist whose name we chose out of a hat. I got Jennifer Bartlett. Some fancy NY artist whose work focuses on nature, and the passing of time (yes, I actually did research to find this out).  I took the 486 computer that I had built (I had actually driven 4 hours to get parts at wholesale to upgrade it for animation….16MB of RAM, and a 2x CD ROM drive were expensive as hell!  I had put it on Mom & Dad’s credit card – which they discovered quite quickly — and spent 6 months paying them back. ) and installed a pirated copy of Autodesk Animator on it.

In AA (Autodesk Animator… although I sure did drink a lot more back then than I do these days), I animated a robot juggling.  The background was a photo of dunes in the desert.  A dust storm came, and blew the desert away to reveal a modern city.  The juggling robot didn’t care, he just kept doing his thing, while the city turned to desert, and desert turned to city.

I had mixed my style and Mrs. Bartlett’s style by showing landscapes, and time passing– the things that she likes — in a medium that I use (computers and animation) with the art and themes that I like — sci-fi, robots, high-tech, modern.

I actually had to schlep (yiddish for carry…. often used when speaking of cumbersome cargo) my computer and my monitor in my Ford Taurus Station Wagon — my 2nd hand me down from the folks…. I trashed this one as well, though it was a wonderful car to carry kegs in– and set it up in front of the class.

I played my animation, and explained about Jen’s work and mine. People were impressed, and I was pleased with myself, but then the teacher says “ok, but what’s your message?”

“Huh?” “Message?”

People started guessing, “Are you trying to say that all things fade away?” “History repeats itself?”

I pointed at the one who said the thing about fading away “Ummm… Yeah!  You got it!” awkward pause “What he said!” (In hind sight, Battlestar Galactica – the modern series- was a complete rip-off of my art project: people evolve, create technology — robots, of course – which helps to bring them into more modern times, and then turns against them, and then the people get back to Earth, and blow up all their technlogy… back to dirt.  Now, I hadn’t actually seen the show, but Craig Allen was kind enoguh to give me the run down)

“Ah huh!”  the teacher was not convinced.

What the hell?!?!  The project sheet said nothing about having a message! It said to mix our style with the hat-artist’s style!  I decided to be stubborn, and bring up this point.

The teacher tried to explain – as if this were common knowledge – that everything we create has a meaning.  I disagreed. I believe that sometimes we just create to create…. ’cause it’s fun, or it’s theraputic… and that if they wanted a message, they should have explicityly said so in the assignment.

In case you’re wondering, I did get a shitty grade on that project because I didn’t have a message!

Part of the way through WARP, they have a lecture where all the department chairs show you the different things that each department produces, so you can choose your path for next semester.  When I saw what their idea of computer animation was (making still frames in Photoshop (back then in version 2.x ) and making an animation out of them by using Macromedia Director (Adobe Flash’s great grand daddy… I used to program interactive CD’s in Director back in the late 90′s), I was pissed off!

What the hell?  I’m already more advanced than this entire department… my juggling robot was light years ahead of their crappy animation!

The day I walked out of class, and UF all together, was the day we had  discussion. The same high-and-mighty teacher that thought that you have to have a message behind everything you do said “All right, so let’s say you have a gallery exhibit, and someone wants to not only buy one of your pieces, but also to license it, and make stamps, posters, and prints from it.  What do you think?”

The whole class looked uncomfortably at their toes… avoiding all eye contact with the teacher…  The whole class except me of course (no wonder I love the Little Johnny jokes so much!  So many of them start just like this!), I had my hand raised way up high.

“Ori?”

“Well, that’s great!”

The whole class turned and looked at me as if I wore a KKK outfit to a MLK march!

“What?”

“How can you say that?!” “If you make prints, then it loses all value as art!”  “What is it you want to do with your life?”

“Seriously? Ok…. let’s cover all grounds.  Yes, I think it’s great… because now not only did you sell your image, but now you have a steady stream of royalties coming in with every sale this person makes, so now you have money to pay for your shelter/studio where you can make the rest of the pieces that won’t be worth a thing until after you die!  Additionally, every sale this guy makes gets your work seen by more people, and thus is marketing for you!”

“As far as what I want to do? I want to be a commercial artist. That means I want to make my money before I’m dead! So clearly I’m in the wrong place!” I walked out of class, and immediately called my older brother and asked what the best way to tell Mom & Dad that I’m dropping out, I’m clearly wasting my time here.

To end this story, my folks came with a pick-up truck, and towed my station wagon (which I had sort of destroyed, and we had now used as a trailer to carry all my belongings in) back to South Florida.

When I later went to the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale (another place I don’t recommend.  That’s an even longer story.), and had my own labs on Saturdays (10am- midnight. Anything computer related: photoshop, illustrator, animator, coreldraw, 3d studio (3ds max wasn’t out yet), lightwave (which the school wasn’t teaching… but if you used it, I’d teach it), and whatever other cheeseball 3d apps they had), and taught many classes for the school, and led DART (Digital Arts Research Team), the students that had the most problems with using computers were UF Fine Arts graduates.  They were all brain washed into believing  that if it’s done on a computer, it can’t be art, and thus they had serious internatl struggle!

The reason I put that last giant paragraph in normal text color (black), even though it’s part of my flashback, is because it is definitely part of my Sid & Go dissertation!  Think about it!  These people were giving their trust and money to a famous school.

The school’s internationally renowned faculty had taught them what they knew… and they believed it all. These were truths that belonged to someone else, not them, as they did not come upon them by their own experiences, but rather were taught them (That’s basically the entire point of Siddhartha by the way).  These beliefs later would become counter productive for their goals in life.

So, like Sid, I told my folks that I wasn’t down with my expected path, but would pursue my own path…. and like Sid, I told the well known institution that I call bullshit on their truth.  I left my Art Institute Friends behind and went on to California to discover a better teacher.

The Ferryman that Jaime was talking about was the next major character that Sid came across, and couchsurfed with. He was chill, wise, and accepted friendship as payment. Sounds like many of my couches– I’ll say more on that later, as compared to now, because like my couches, Sid comes back later.

Sid got to the other side of the river, and the first person he comes across Kamala, a babe who knows how to play the game.  I’ll just say it… Kamala is a courtesan- a woman who had a nice house with servants, nice belongings, all for sex.  So, it’s not exactly a high-fee prostitute – although that’s what she was – because the courting rituals were important. You know, she had regulars, and the gifting process was important.

Another piece of reflection: Shortly after leaving UF, I dated this chick Jeannie for a little bit.  She was from Texas, soft spoken with a southern drawl. I met her online (although, I later found out that it was her mother’s doing… The mom pretended to be Jeannie, in order to set us up.), back before meeting people online was considered safe, cool, or normal.  Guess I was a trend setter, eh?

So Jeannie told me she’s a cocktail waitress at Thunder Alley.  I never heard of this place, but she never wanted me to visit her at this place (my fake ID would’ve worked just fine!), which I later found out that she had started there as a cocktail waitress, but was pressured/promoted to a topless dancer.  **I’ve never told this story before.  Amazing the shit that comes out when you write freestyle, honestly, and find a good book to write about.

Her mom(Jeannie, not Kamala… who’s mother was never mentioned in the novel) was on disability, complete with wearing depends (bad joke I tell: What does 90 year old vagina smell like?  *shrug* “Depends!”).  The mom would smoke a carton every day or two!  I shit you not.  Their small place reeked of cigarettes, and was in a ghetto part of town, near the freeway off of  I95 and State Road 84.

Jeannie didn’t like being a waitress (I still thought she was a waitress), and couldn’t stand that her mom used all her disability funds on cigarettes…. she wanted a better life for them, and missed Texas.  She took a job as an escort.  There was no talking her out of it, although when she had a breakdown, threw stuff at her mom, and got on a grayhound to Texas, she told me that any decent guy would have talked her out of it.

I had tried very hard, but despite being a very persuasive individual, I had not succeeded…. mostly because I didn’t have a better solution on how to raise money (That was clearly another era of my life– another theme from Siddhartha). I was 18 at the time, and having a beautiful, polite, and sweet girl to spend time with seemed very important.  My list of qualifications has since evolved, but at the time, despite not being able to talk her out of becoming an escort, I did not break up because of it.

It was strange, hearing about her days – or more appropriately, nights – at work. She made a lot of money.  She’d often come home with $600 or more a night.  She told me how it works, and I was even considering joining… but decided against it when the first thing she told me her boss said was “The most common request we get for guys is to join couples. Not just for the woman either.”

Jeannie told me about how many of these guys didn’t want to touch her… they just wanted someone to talk to.  They wanted someone that they felt was listening, as apparently, their wives didn’t do much listening.  In return, she not only got paid, but they bought her lots of gifts: lingerie, electronics, fancy clothes…. I remember we went to The Swapshop – this ginormous flea market in South Florida, complete with circus, drive-in movie theatre, and of course, tons of vendors. She was definitely happy when she could buy whatever she wanted…. but then again, she wasn’t all that happy when she couldn’t live with herself because of where the money came from.  See my earlier note about having a breakdown, ditching her mom (who was the pressure for having more money I suspect), and hopping the bus to Texas.

Back to Sid! He ran across Kamala (oh yeah… freaky shit– after dreaming that Buddha had morphed into a woman, and let him drink all sorts of goodness from his breast), remembered his dream, and decided that despite being ascetic (giving up all pleasures), maybe their truth of giving up stuff is another one of those things they got wrong.  He almost made out with her, but as is the ascetic way, he went away.

Being a Shramana, he had no belongings, was dirty, greasy, had a beard, and wore a loin cloth.  He decided that like my UF experience (well… Hesse didn’t mention my UF experience, but you know what I mean), those peoples’ truth was not his, and it’s time to evolve.  He ditched his loin cloth and beard, combed his hair…. you know.. complete makeover.

He came back to her, and told Kamala that he wants to learn the ways of passion from her.

This discussion was a bit boring, as they sure do say Shramana a lot!  You could turn it into a drinking game!  One shot every time they say Shramana, One shot every time they say Brahmin, and two shots every time they mention Gotama (Buddah)!

Basically, they agree that he doesn’t own anything, and if you wanna get some courtesan action, you need nice shoes… and gifts.

More reflection: (which I’m not going into, as it’s too recent, and not as insightful as many of the others) I recently was reminded that some people care more about money than others.  You need nice shoes, and gifts or it won’t last.  Like Sid’s journey, we all must learn who we are, and what our values are. Something for you and your someone special to consider: even with similar values, different people communicate love differently.  For some it’s gifts, for others it’s verbal, for others it’s physical. You can learn more about that, and figure out which one you are, and which one your significant other is… it really helps you communicate affection so they understand it… at 5 love languages.

Yup, they spoke of shoes a lot, and said Shramana a lot. Sid told Kammie that he can easily make money…. you know, the ol’ “How hard can it be?” She mocked him about not being a merchant, and what could he possibly offer.  He mentioned patience, and being able to fast, and being able to do sacrifices (a very handy resume piece!).  She was impressed that he knew how to read and write.  Apparently, not everyone knew how to do that, so she hooked him up with a merchant.

The merchant’s name is Kamaswami, and he was able to use Sid’s skills in reading and writing for his business, as he was older, and his eyesight fading.

Tiny reflection: The people I’ve couchsurfed with have often connected me with other people…. sometimes other people I can couchsurf with, sometimes people I can do business with, or projects for. My random skill set from all my past journeys (running a print shop, being a 3d animator/video editor/graphic designer/web designer/ programmer/photographer/compositor/motion graphics designer/artist/etc) have all come in useful… despite the many times I’ve thought that I had left those things behind.

Kamaswami agreed to let Sid crash his couch, and he hooked him up with nice shoes so that he could get some action.  Actually, he gave him nice clothes so he could become a merchant and work with him.

Sid’s skills from all the different social circles he’s partied with in the past had made him successful in being a merchant.  Not because he cared about being a merchant, but because he was a good person.  People do business with those that they know, like, and trust… so where Kamaswami was pissed off when Sid would go on a road trip, and not come back with the rice or other supplies he was supposed to get, Sid knew that because he got to know the people – rather than hurrying back upon seeing someone beat him to the sale – that they would be happy to do biz with him in the future, since now he’s a friend.

I think that piece is why I can survive on my journey… ’cause I’m just happy to get to know people… whether I can do business with them right now or not. One day I’m couchsurfing, the next we’re going to NASCAR together VIP Style, the next I’m building their ecommerce site… the next I’m driving through a few states just go hang out with them low-key for my birthday, because they are my friends, and whom I want to spend my special day with.

Sid’s Shramana ways keep him from being obsessed with business, but after a long while of getting it on with Kammie, and kicking ass at business, he starts to forget his former life, starts liking his house and servants, and entertaining people, and gambling…. oh yeah, he totally becomes an addict.

Sid becomes miserable…. He wins at gambling because he’s fine with losing it all… he kind of does this to try and lose it all, to prove that his ascetic ways are still intact…. and regular people don’t deal well with people who are unpredictable, trying to lose, and have a lot of money to gamble.

After years, he sees Kammie one last time, and then skips town, practically suicidal, and leaving all his stuff. Oh yeah… he knocked her up before skipping town- but she had foreshadowed that this would happen, so it’s cool.  And they totally loved each other.  She was in fact that only thing he cared about the entire 20 years he was in the city.  Reflection for all of us:  what have we done that’s against our nature for that special someone?

He woke up after the deepest sleep he’s ever had…. thinking he may’ve died.

Life didn’t suck anymore.  He had nothing, but he was fine with that.  He heard “Om” – you know, that sound you do in Yoga or meditation!  It used to be a big part of his life when he was younger (he actually grew up next to the riverbank, so both Om and the River were a big deal), and now he kind of heard it from the river he was next to.

More interestingly, he had a creepy stalker watching him sleep!  Ok… it wasn’t a creepy stalker, it was a well intentioned Buddhist… which turned out to be Govinda!

Go was now a yellow-robe-wearing skinhead.

Go didn’t realize that it was Sid he was watching sleep… he was just trying to be nice, and protect a passed out dude from snakes, or other nasty critters that may kill him in the woods.  Since Sid was dressed like a rich dude, rather than his old loin-cloth set up, and his hair smelled nice, Go didn’t realize who it was, and that the sleeping guy actually knew how to survive the woods.

Sid thanked Go for watching him, and they said goodbye, but then Sid gave away who he is, by saying “farewell Govinda!” They catch up, and both claim to be on Pilgrimage… but Go has issue with this, as Sid doesn’t look like a Pilgrim, as much as a successful businessman.  I’ll actually use a REAL quote from the book, ’cause it’s awesome:

“I believe you, my dear Govinda. But now, today, you’ve met a pilgrim just like this, wearing such shoes, such a garment. Remember, my dear: Not eternal is the world of appearances, not eternal, anything but eternal are our garments and the style of our hair, and our hair and bodies themselves. I’m wearing a rich man’s clothes, you’ve seen this quite right. I’m wearing them, because I have been a rich man, and I’m wearing my hair like the worldly and lustful people, for I have been one of them.”

“And now, Siddhartha, what are you now?”

I can’t speak for you, but I’d like to think that we’ve all been different people.  We’ve worn different clothes (seriously… look at the 80′s!), had different jobs.  I’ve been fat, I’m currently at the thinnest I’ve been.  I’ve had a nice car, motorcycle, and a nice highrise on the bay in South Beach….. I’ve also worn hideous clothes, and lived in a tiny roach-infested apartment that cost $300 per month while I was studying 3d in california (after the Art Institute).  I’ve been confident, I’ve been shy.  I’ve been happy, and I’ve been sad.  People from my past are often surprised to realize who I am when they happen upon me… the only thing permanent is my corny sense of humor, and my creativity.

Govinda had said “WHAT are you now”– I dig that…. ’cause I deal with that question daily.  What am I?  A traveler, an author, a consultant, an adventurer, a public speaker, an entertainer, a designer, a friend, a lover, a consultant, a salesperson….. our experiences overlap each other, but it really helps to know our values. When we know what we want to be, we can take steps to become that.

Go was confused at that notion.  Like so many close minded people, it seemed to him absurd that one can just ditch one life, and choose another…. That one can go from beggar to rich dude, and back to peasantry… voluntarily… blew his mind.

I deal with this on a daily basis, as I try to help people move from where they are, to where they want to be. Some people don’t believe that they can travel, despite wanting to.  Others make the change- my dear friend Kathryn (whom I only met in early March of this year), is 2 days away from her one-way flight to Guatamala. She just sold her car today.  She will volunteer at some schools there, but also make sure to experience the adventures that the country has to offer, and then head south, until she finally gets to Chille, and then take a cruise to Antartica.  After that is will probably be Africa.  She’s invited me to join her in Guatamala, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, and of course, on the cruise…. not bad for someone who until recently only went to work, and came home.

I believe that people want to live the amazing lives they can have…. but most people are afraid of change.  The Govindas of our lives try to hold us back by questioning our sanity, and introducing a stream of “What if”s.  We have to stay strong, and do what we believe is right… sometimes losing those friends.

Well intentioned friends and family believe they are saving us, protecting us… but often times they just don’t want you to succeed with that new business or relationship (or whatever ) because if you succeed, there’s a pressure on them to better themselves too, and people fear that.  So, if you don’t take the chance, they don’t have to move out of their comfort zone.  This is not all my opinion by the way.  It’s  been discussed by most people who teach the psychology of achievement, and self development.  I say that, ’cause I will not debate you over this…. But the following scenario is pretty much a daily piece of conversation:

Them: Oh my god, I love what you do!  I wish I could travel like that!

Me: You can!

Them: I wish… it’s easy for you to say, but I ____________ (have kids, have a job, don’t have a lot of money, or any of a million other excuses… and trust me, they are excuses)!

Me: But you can!  Watch… just ____________  (logical strategy session where I connect them with people who travel with children, do their job remotely, have no money, but still travel.  I then help them figure out how they can get to travel the way the want, do the things they want, etc… and I give them resources on how to take each step.)!

Generally, they look dreamily at the possibility, then remember their life as it is, as compared to how it can or should be… and decline the chance to live happily.

“I’ll just live vicariously through you!”

I wish Kathryn would blog more often.  The conversations we have on the phone are very exciting and inspiring for me too. Make sure to check out Kathryn’s Blog, The Social Caterpillar. She is a great writer, doesn’t tell the stupid jokes that I take so much pride in telling, and maybe will inspire you in a way that I haven’t been able to.  If nothing else, she’s an awesome person that you can get to know…. one of so many amazing people that if I hadn’t followed my own path, I never would have met.

Govinda took off. He didn’t want to start a fight after Siddhartha had expressed that we change, and can be whatever.

Sid got on his way, and ran into the Ferryman again.  This time he offered to give him his fancy clothes as payment.  The Ferryman was surprised, and finally remembered who Sid was… from 20 years prior.  Sid told him that he wants to apprentice with him. They became roomies, learned from the river, and from their wealth of knowledge, rumors started flowing that there’s these two prophets / wisemen that operate the boat.

They made listening to the river popular.

Everything was peachy, until Buddah was on his way out… as in dying.

Kammie had heard Sid talk about how awesome and enlightened Buddah was, so since she closed up shop after Sid left, she wanted to seek enlightenment by talking to him. She took baby Sid, and got on the road.

I have no reflection about babies… but I’ve seen in myself and others that hope… be it true or false.  The hope that “If I just_______, everything will be better!”

I too can have enlightenment if I read that book, take that course, get on Oprah, make that new demo reel…… the things I’ve heard or come up with is never ending…. It’s also extremely profitable for Trainers/Speakers/Info-product creators… I won’t be a dick and name drop, but I’ve seen friends drop all their money on going to every course that so and so has (at a cost of 5 to 6 figures, that they didn’t have).

Blame can not be placed on those that sell the hope, as if they don’t sell you the hope of an easy solution, then someone else will…. religious institutions included.

It doesn’t all have to do with parting with money.  Some people make excuses for exiting relationships, or any number of things…. “If we have a kid, then things will work out between us!”

*Sigh*

I like the wisdom of my friend Jason Moffatt (who’s house I’m currently house-sitting): Figure out who your teacher is, and don’t check out anyone else until you’ve done what they said.

He’s right… there’s so many recipes for success out there, and many of them work… if you do the work, as compared to starting with them, taking a few steps, and then deciding that what so and so said sounds sexier, so I should do what they said, and not complete what the first person told me.

Jason is one of the most interesting people that I’ve ever met.  He has so many exciting stories from discovering his own path.  He does just fine, does what he wants, when he wants, and is definitely not a stuck up asshole. He’s funny, supportive, and positive.  Currently, he is on a 6 week road trip with an equally funny hottie.  Check out His page, and you may learn a thing or three (and be entertained).

Does it seem like I’m just rewording Herman Hesse’s work, just so I can pimp out my friends?  If you think so, then you’re missing the point!

Other than Jeannie (whom I do not have a page to link to anyways), most of the people I mention are people that I’ve couchsurfed with.  They ARE my close friends, and I treasure them– as part of my journey, part of my life, business resources, incredible people, inspiration, friendship,, and people who keep me going… They are no Govindas!

I also mention them, because I said earlier that I would speak of my couches…. You see, like the Ferryman- whom only after revisiting after 20 years did  Siddhartha discover his name, Vasudeva — our paths have crossed, and often recrossed.

Where I relate to Siddhartha, Jaime (whom is not one of my couches actually) related to Vasudeva.  She brings people to their destination without judgement, whereas I keep traveling, steadily reducing my belongings as I discover more and more truths.

There is a Zen saying, “Every man is my teacher, in that I can learn something from him.” – I have learned so much from these people, about life, business, myself, and every other topic under the sun.  Equally, I am always happy to impart what wisdom I have to offer…. recently, it was offered as showing someone what they don’t want in a relationship… and I learned from that person the same… as well as the things that I do want.  Those Zen folks sure know their shit!

Ok… Siddhartha… let’s fast forward- Kammie gets bitten by a snake, does not get to see Buddah, but gets to see Sid one last time. She dies, he gets the kid. The kid’s a dipshit, and wants to do his own thing, no matter how nice Big Sid is about everything.

Big Sid, who could never really love anyone or anything, finally had something he loved… his little baby… and now he gets to experience the misery that his dad got to experience– loving his kid enough to try to protect him. Until finally the kid runs away, steals his money, steals his boat, and wrecks it.

Despite Vasudeva pointing out to him what a dumbass he’s being, Sid doesn’t want to give up on Little Sid, and tries to find him.  But then he sees the city, remembers everything he’d been through, remembers how he blew his dad off, and never came back…. to pursue his own truth… We’re talking total flashback here…. especially the part about being a gambler, and rich, and having orgies… yeah! I forgot to mention orgies earlier, Sid had ‘em.  He felt ill, and again, remembered the Om, and realized he needed to let the kid go (see earlier cliche about “if it comes back it was meant to be”).

He goes back to the Ferrymen, they live happily ever after… until Vasudeva dies.

Sure enough, as all cliche characters do, Govinda shows up right on time…. and, as previously, he again did not recognize Siddhartha!

They talk of searching, and Govinda says that he’s been searching, and is still searching… and maybe the ferryman (now Sid) has some wisdom about searching.  Sid tells him that he’s just searching too hard.

Like most people who are not willing to take their journey, Go still doesn’t get it.

Sid invites Go to come couchsurf with him, and he does.  I had people that I’ve couchsurfed with come couchsurf with me.  It’s wonderful to be able to return the perspective and hospitality.

Before bailing, Go asks if Sid’s got any teachers or beliefs.  He is floored and in disbelief when he hears that Sid learned from a ferryman, from the river, from a hooker…. He was expecting people more enlightened than Buddha, not non-celebs…. Sid even mentioned the gamblers! Go really thought Sid was messing with him.

Siddhartha gives a wonderful explanation of change and truth… that knowledge can be passed on, but not wisdom.  He gives a ton of examples, and Go just doesn’t get it.  The ending is basically the point of the whole novel.

Speaking of novels, what I intended to be a few paragraphs has now evolved into its own novel…. so I shall end it with my final thoughts (it’s 5:30am, and I’ve been writing this for near 7 hours– which might account for the length of this post.).

When I started listening to the book, I was a bit bored.  I persisted, and got through the whole thing. It grew on me part of the way through, and despite that being only 24 hours ago, the book has grown on my by leaps and bounds…. It has made me reflect on my life. We come and go.  We go through different phases…. teachers and students.  Guests and hosts.  It is an evolution… the seasons of life, some would say.

Like Siddhartha, I felt an itch to find my own truth.  I defied my parents’ concept of what my life should be, and have been on a long quest for truth and inner peace.  I have learned from the various teachers… some of them are not people that others would have expected me to learn from.

On my journey I’ve discovered something… Me! I know who I am better than I ever did.  Because I know what’s important to me, I now follow the path that I believe leads to my happiness, and I’ve learned about Karma, people, and the world, and am a much better person than I was before. I’m a lot more helpful, and a connector.

Despite my many jobs, lifestyles, etc… being in the past, they are all a part of who I am, and still surface once in a while.

We have to be willing to ditch our comfort zones, even if we lose friends, wealth, or other things in the process.

We need to experience everything, so we can have a perspective on it– we need to learn from everything.  The only failure is a failure to learn from a win or a loss.

I could go on and on with lessons I’ve learned… and that’s part of what I’m doing with my book that I’m writing now (you can sign up on the right side of this site).

If you enjoyed this post, share it with whomever you like, and leave a comment.

Remember, you can read the entire book for free on Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2500/2500-h/2500-h.htm – or get it on audio book, or paperback from your favorite reseller.

Thanks Jaime… for being a muse, a teacher, a friend, a connector, and opening my mind to a book that I would probably never have read otherwise.  Amazing what can happen in 1 day.

I admit that I often don’t know what day of the week it is. Couchsurfing takes me around to different people in many places, and I keep growing because of it.  Day of the week… not important most of the time.  But now that I’m actually working with a goal (remember:  Goals are dreams with a deadline) of writing my book, I am racing the clock.

The first lesson is probably the most important, and that is

that asking too many questions is just my (I’d say “Your”- but I don’t want to speak for you) way of procrastinating some more.

“What do I want to write?”
“What do I want the outcome of having a book to be?”
“What style do I want to write in?”
“What format do I want my book to be?”
“What do I do with the book once I’ve written it?”

Sure… they’re decent questions, but as my friend  (and one of my couches!) Allison Nazarian told me (and she is a very highly paid professional writer), “DON’T JUDGE! JUST WRITE!” <— damn great advice, and yes, she wrote it as a text in all caps!

Seriously, you can edit later.  Just write.  What’s on your mind? What do you know about a topic? What do you remember? Just write!  Let your fingers do the walking as they say!

One of the tools that Allison told me about (that @thewaffle told her about) is OmmWriter! I tried this free app, and got a lot of really great writing done in an evening. Here’s their demo video:

As many people have mocked me for, you may have an easier time counting the grains of rice in a sack of rice than counting how many apps and browser tabs I have open at one time.  I also can’t stand the way MacOS handles the menu bar and full screen functionality, so this app is plain wonderful.

Since you know my love of puns, Plain Wonderful was definitely that! It’s very plain! It’s designed to just give you a blank screen that hides all menus (including its own), gives you zen (relaxing/new-age/peaceful– pick your adjective of choice) sounds.  Not only a multi-track music track with many choices (When I say multi-track, I mean that there are many elements to each track, and while they each loop, it is not like a song that repeats, but rather a song that never ends… and they give you multiple versions to choose from as well).

They also give you multiple choices of sounds that you want your keyboard to produce with each keystroke.  The menus are very simple.  Simplicity is the key here…. Come here to tune out the world, and just write.  It works well!  Thanks Allie for the wisdom, and the app.

I asked people what to write, and got many different replies…. both on the phone, and in comment form. Asking that question is a wonderful way to confuse oneself even more.

As Steff (who is an extremely talented writer that has found her voice) told me:

Screw what everyone thinks! It’s your story, you have to write it. Also, it doesn’t matter who thinks what.  Check out How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen – and write only a book proposal.

Basically, worry about what the publishers want… ’cause they’re the ones who publish, not my friends.  Even if I don’t use a publisher, and do it myself, at least having a proposal written, I’ll know what my book is about. I’ll have focus.  Great idea!

One of the things that people talk about in writing is “Finding your voice” and I’ve been told that since I started my blog a million years ago, I’ve definitely found my voice.  It takes 10,000 hours to get to mastery, and I’m certainly closer to that with all this blogging, and writing I’ve done for clients and guest posts.

I’ve recently studied a littlle bit of story structure…. I read a little bit by Gary Provost, but a lot of it really had to do with a conversation with my older brother, Barak.

Barak and I are polar opposites, and we don’t always see eye to eye.  However, he said do not mix genres (which Gary also says), and that he thinks I have a similar style to David Sedaris(click here to see his stuff on Amazon).

This was such a compliment!  I did not know it at the time, as I had to go to Audible, and get his Audio Book version of “When You Are Engulfed In Flames” — I loved it!  Lesson: Find writers you like, and then try to figure out why you like their work so much!

Ok… maybe I overdo things!  I got every audio book of David Sedaris’!  They are so enjoyable!  But I sat there for 3 days listening (and I’m not done yet), and trying to figure out why it’s so captivating.

Things I like about David Sedaris’ work:

1. He reads it himself!  (This has added to my goals for my book– I’d like to do live readings, like David does.)
2. In just one book of short stories he managed to make me feel as if I know him, his neurosis, his family, his lovers, why he is the way he is, the way he views the world.
3. His writing is funny, super-witty, and captivating.
4. Each “Chapter” is a full short story, where David captures the entire story… whether it is an hour, a day, or many decades…. he has a creative start, and a creative end– often I consider his endings to be punchlines (especially since he performs them, and has a dramatic pause, or a way of pronouncing it that really has the completing effect that a punchline has on a joke).

I’m sure I can keep going, but this post isn’t titled “David Sedaris is awesome!” It’s titled “Lessons in Unplugging and Writing”, so while David has been a large influence (I believe my writing style had already changed to encompass some of the things I like about David’s work, starting with my  awesome father’s day blog post), it’s not the only thing I’m writing about.

So, to summarize… if you have authors (or if you work with other media- photography, sculpting, painting, engineering, engineering, etc… then whomever you admire in that field), figure out who they are, and what you like about their work, and make a checklist that you can check your work against.

For me, these things include complete story / fleshed out characters / making sure that it’s not just a narration of what happened, but rather what happened as seen through my eyes / a strong ending.

I am taking Barak’s advice, and working on multiple short stories.  But that brings us to the next point:  Which stories to tell, and what to include in them?

Three and a half years of Couchsurfing with my pace and interests has led to so many adventures, I can not tell them all.  Initially, I thought I was going to just tell my story, kind of like Jack Kerouac’s On The Road – but there’s too much to list.  So, now rather than “I did this, then I did that, then I did this, then I did that” format, I’m limiting it to stories that are more about importance.

I use Mind Mapping to organize ideas often. Mind Mapping is a form of outlining that’s more visual and haphazard… the way the brain naturally works.

An outline is NOT how the brain works.  It’s too linear.  There are many free mind mapping tools out there, as well as many tutorials on how to mindmap.  Though, if you really want to get into it, you should check out Tony Buzan’s The Mind Map Book – as he basically invented Mind Mapping, and really covers it in wonderful detail.  He actually explains the benefits of Mind Mapping way better than I do in this simple post!

Seriously… Mind Mapping is very very powerful, and you can use it to retain information, study, make presentations, write, and much more!  Please take a little (or a lot of) time to learn about it.  It will improve your life!

My favorite application to use to Mind Map is called Personal Brain.  They have a fancy schmancy version, but I just use their free version.

Why do I like Personal Brain?  Because I’m a creative type, and it’s pretty! It moves!  It’s easy to use!  It’s more interesting to me than the fancy ones like MindJet Mindmanager (which is kind of an industry standard), but decide for yourself… they have a 30 day free trial.

That was a pretty long talk about Mind Mapping, when this time around, I didn’t really use it! I generally use it as my 1st step when coming up with a client’s marketing campaign, the things that a website should include, what keywords to do a pay per click campaign on, etc….

A program that I really enjoyed using to catalogue my adventures is called Scrivener.  I love this program for writing, and idea organization.

An old trick of writing is to forget the computer, and just use index cards.

• Write which ideas you want to include in your book- one per index card.
• Write a summary paragraph of each idea on the other side of each card (hint: if you can’t fit it on an index card, it’s too complicated!).
• Organize the cards in the order that makes the best sense.

Voila! You now have your book written! Well, a simple form of it. Your table of contents, and you can tell someone what each chapter or idea is about…. quickly.  Now just go back in and fill in the gaps.

Scrivener gives you a virtual index card / corkboard set!  But it does so much more! Here is an awesome video made by Ed Dale on how to use it:

The app has a 30 day trial, and is only $40.  I highly recommend it if you’re serious about writing.

To recap, now we know how to figure out what kind of writing we like, reverse engineer it into a checklist we can measure our writing against, extract our ideas for what we want to write about using mind mapping and index cards, write in a Zen place, just write — editing later – consider what publishers are interested in, or at least having something we can present about our upcoming book… which gives us focus. Don’t ask too many questions, or you’ll never get started.

That whole “DON’T JUDGE! JUST WRITE” was listened to… don’t think I blew it off to come up with my chapters / stories…. I went into Scrivener’s Corkboard, and pressed Command N (keyboard shortcut for new index card)– another great tip! Know your keyboard shortcuts! It will speed up your productivity by leaps and bounds!), and just write!  For me it was writing potential chapter names (here’s a few of mine):  Zappos, Austin, Know who you are, Ground Industries, How-To, It Begins, Introduction, Angela, In retrospect, Photography, Difficulties, Ditching Heavy Baggage.

I then double click on each, and write a description. Unlike the real index cards, I actually wrote more than a card can hold… don’t judge, just write!  I’ll shorten it later…

There were some that were so broad (such as the “Adventures” card) and I couldn’t write what they cover on a card.  Why’s this important?  I just click and drag on the index cards, as if they were in a pile, and I was really grabbing them and arranging them.  I arranged the ones that had good meat on them in the front of the pile, and the ones that are too vague are in the back of the pile.

The reason I mention everything in the order that I have said it, is because this stuff is cumulative!  I am now using my “Things I liked about Sedaris” to check my index cards against!

In my case that means:  Does each card have specific characters that can be fleshed out? Does it have a beginning and an end? Can I end it in a way that is meaningful, and is definitely an end? Is it something I care about, and can I explain why (in my earlier summary of David’s style, I called this telling the story through his eyes)?

I have a bunch of cards now, but not too many.  When I compare them like this, I can really get a feel for which ones make a good chapter/story that I can tell.  Scrivener is not only a corkboard application!  Don’t think for one second that it is!

I can now go to each “chapter” and start writing it in Scrivener… or, I can go into OmmWriter, and Write in the Zen with out other distractions.

Avoiding distractions is a bitch though! I came out to La Jolla, and had planned to unplug… i.e. avoid social media, phone, and e-mail.  Yeah right!  I’m too damn social!  What to do?

Despite having an assistant go through my e-mail, and send me what needs dealing with, I still keep getting stuck in Social Media.  “Just a quick check to see….”  “I need to get on Facebook and post my new blogpost ‘s link…. oh, new updates!  Oooh, check it out, Terra’s using my photo as her main pic!  Lisa changed her relationship status? About time! Oooh, someone commented on my photo”  – ARGGGGGGGH!  I’m fighting myself!

FREEDOM! That’s the solution!  Despite my isolated’ish location (a studio,  7 blocks from the beach) which is quiet and inspirational, I still keep getting distracted… so Freedom is the solution.  This application cuts off your Wi-Fi!

Yes, that’s right!  You tell it how many minutes you want to unplug for– from 15 minutes to 8 hours — and your Wi-Fi is off for that duration!  Now, they know how us clever people are… “I’ll just kill the process, and internet will come back, and then I can check my tweets!”

No… that won’t work! With Freedom, if you want to bring your Wi-Fi back, you have to reboot your computer… which is generally a hassle, as you have to save all your work (You should always be saving and backing up your work anyways!), close down all your apps, wait for the computer to shut down, and then wait for it to restard. *yawn* (although, oftentimes that will improve computer performance).

Basically, because you’re off the web, and rebooting is a pain in the ass, you just do the work you’re supposed to do!

I bought Freedom tonight. It’s a whopping $10!  For $10, I got $2,400 of productivity in 40 minutes!  Wow, was I focused!

This brings me to another point…. Coffee!

You don’t have to be on stimulants, but you should know a lot about yourself.  There are actually different types of people: Night Owls and Larks.  Check out this fascinating article by James Owen for National Georgraphic.

Basically, your body actually does function better in the day or night.  Regardless of how many times my older brother tells me to get a regular 8 hours of sleep, wake up in the morning, and get stuff done, it just doesn’t work that way for me.  I get distracted in the daytime, and I get tired.  For me, the day is good for communicating, exercising, exploring, and occasionally napping.

The night is when I kick-ass…. and yes, the occasional burst of caffeine helps, though since I’ve been on my cleanse, and started again with caffeine tonight, I feel like a Motley Crue member (you remember how they’d go into the studio with bins full of cocaine?)!  Ok… I’m not jittery or anything, but I am very focused.

Knowing about myself, I know that I’m a night owl, that I like caffeine, and because I’m ENTP on the Myers Briggs test(it’s free!), I get charged up by being around people.  I don’t even have to interact with them.  It just helps to people watch, or know others are around…. so, I went to a coffee shop, and I stay charged up.

I used Twitter and Facebook to find a coffee shop near me.  Another tool that would’ve been useful if Facebook/Twitter answers hadn’t started pouring in is Yelp.com, where people rate and review everything… especially restaurants.

I was initially recommended “The Living Room” in La Jolla, which was close enough for me to jog to- 1.4 miles each way.  Cool!  It was in La Jolla Cove, a pretty neat area.

I did not like The Living Room at all.  Their Baklava was delicious!  But they only had ONE outlet in the whole place!  Like, really!  They had unscrewed the outlets from their sockets, so there was only this one… near the door, and underneath their hanging merchandise.  Their logo is cool actually.

Their internet was broken. A stunning brunette with a beautiful face walked up to me and asked if I could get on the web.  “Nope.  I asked them an hour ago, they said their router broke this morning.”  “What? I just called before coming here, and they said it was fine!”  “Nope, sorry, don’t kill the messenger.  I’m in pain here too!”

Not only was The Living Room’s internet broken, but that one outlet which I was using had decided to stop working as well.  It was just a matter of time before my battery went to empty.

I then found a place called Lestat’s. This place is rad(yes, I did just say rad!)!  It has art, live music (though I didn’t catch a show), more outlets than I have the patience to count!  Wifi that works!

Lestats has a massive selection of  chairs, couches, poofy things, stools, and other seating aparatus of all shapes, sizes, and tables of all heights.  You can definitely find one that is comfortable for you to work on.  I’ve been here for hours now! Very productive, and very comfortable.  This may be my new home…. Did I mention that Lestats is open 24 hours a day, while The Living Room is only open until midnight.

What’s the point? Find a place where you can work and be productive.  It may be a clean office.  It may be a coffee shop.  It may be an eclectic cafe. My friend Jared had spent 2 months going from coffee house to coffee house until he found one that he considers “home”.  Don’t underestimate the importance of being comfortable.

Here’s a powerful combination for you- take your checklist, do the index card thing, mind-map to extract ideas, go to a place you’re happy/comfortable/energized by, disable your internet with Freedom, and just write away in your happy place in OmmWirter.

Just so you know, I am telling you EXACTLY the tools and processes that I use.  They are not the right or wrong way to do it, they are just how I do it…. and I hope they work for you too.

I mention this because there’s a zillion courses out there, and a zillion tools out there, on how to write….. and yet, so many people tell me “I want to write a book!”

I’m not really a published author.  I’m a problem solver and consultant who is working on writing his very first book.

I am highly resourceful, and I’m pretty adhd– I cover a lot more links on the web than you do   So, these are just the conculsions and tools that I’ve come up with… feel free to ask around, use your favorite search engine, read whatever books and articles you want, and come up with your own conclusions… or just try these ones on, and see how your productivity goes up.

I truly hope this helps you!  I’ve certainly had a lot of mental anguish trying to come up with the answers that I’ve included in this post.

If you have any questions I can further answer, leave a comment below, and I’ll make sure to get to it! If you have your own tools or techniques that you like… leave those in comments too!  I’m sure that will help some people. If you got anything out of it, share the link, so others can benefit too.

If you want to know more about my book, you can sign up on the right hand side of my blog under “Interested in my book?” – and of course you can sign up to keep up with my adventures, insights, and tips by using the Keep up with my adventures (rss) part!

I have something really important to tell you. It’s very exciting, and very difficult for me all at once.

I’ve arrived here in La Jolla, CA where the weather is truly amazing, and I am house-sitting for the next 5-6 weeks.

On my drive here from Austin, TX I had a lot of time to think, and if I’ve learned anything, it’s that the best answers come from asking the right questions. My question that I chose was “How do I make the best use of house-sitting near the beach for 6 weeks?”

I came up with many ideas, but the ones that made the most sense are also the most difficult, and I’d like to share them with you.

I have completed 3.5 years of couchsurfing around the USA.  I’ve met the most incredible people that I could ever imagine.  I have had amazing adventures, where I do things I never imagined or even heard of before (like Bull Poker, or training with UFC cage fighters, or staying at an all girls’ college).  I’ve loved and fallen in love (not at the all girls’ college).  I’ve seen (and photographed) amazing sights.

The bottom line is that I have more than enough “content” to write my book.  I’ve begun writing of this book numerous times, and I generally get distracted, as I am such a social creature.

Ooooh! Someone left me a comment on Facebook!

I better respond to that tweet!

A truck that has giant chicken legs coming out of it?  I better send out a social-media update about that!

I wonder what ________ is up to…. better text/call/skype/tweet/fb/email and find out!

Yup…. as my buddy Peter Shankman says “You may have heard of ADHD, but I suffer from something much worse… it’s called ADOS — Attention Deficit… Oooh! Shiny!”

With that in mind, there are three major things I am going to work on.
1)Writing and finishing my book.
2)Releasing 100 photos a day from my travels!
3)Exercise and be healthy.

The photos will be released in a number of ways– onto Flickr/Picassa and of course blog posts.  I will also make a video of each set of 100, and tell the stories that go with them.  If a story encompasses less than 100 photos, I will tell as many stories as are encompassed in 100 photos.

In case you are wondering, I have hundreds of thousands of photos.  In 2007 alone I took 370,000 photos.

So, if I have all this content, why is this so difficult, and what am I going to do about it?

As I mentioned earlier, I am easily distractible.  So, I am going to do the impossible, and unplug.  I am going to go off the grid! Something that many people say is impossible…. but I think it is possible.  Why?  Because I finally have a sentence that gives me a hard punch in the face, nearly unhinging my jaw, and breaking my nose.

“I don’t want to be that guy that tells about how he’s going to write a book!  I want to be the guy whose book you’ve read!”

I will keep adventuring, have no doubt about that. My plans are to go international: visit my homeland of Israel, party in Thailand, play with dangerous animals in Africa, get my squirrel-suit certification in Switzerland, eat some space-cake in Amsterdam, maybe take a ride with GreenPeace and blow up some whailing ships…. who knows…. the possibilities are endless… but I don’t want to go until I’ve finished this book.

I have hired an assistant whom will check my e-mails and voicemails for me, and forward the uber-important ones to a new e-mail account that I have created (that no one else knows about.  It’s very random, so don’t bother trying to guess it (don’t forget, I own many domains)).  I’ve set up a Skype-Phone so that I can speak to those who need to get a hold of me.

To keep my sanity, I will play with Webber (Jason Moffatt’s dog, whom I am taking care of), try to improve my piano and guitar skills, run on the beach, and learn to surf (Jason was kind enough to leave me a plethora of surfboards).

I will have interaction with the Surfers that are teaching me to surf. I’ve also volunteered to do some photography for a charity event.  Other than that, I plan to be off the grid.  I’ve even informed my parents that they should not expect a daily phone call from me, and that they can start reading my blog to know what is going on — or what has gone on — in my life.

The few close friends I’ve run this by think it is a wonderful idea.  It resonates with my heart, despite striking much fear in it… a 6 week commitment!  6 weeks of not being on Facebook and Twitter!  Trusting someone else to go through my e-mails and voicemails!  Having to finish something big!

It is scary, but I know it is worth it!

I appreciate that you have visited my site.  I am saddened that I have not told you but a tiny fraction of what has gone on… as it takes time to edit videos, to blog, to process and upload photos.  So now, I will finally tell the whole story.

The book will consist of my adventures, the people I’ve met, the places I have been to, how I’ve stayed on the road without “a real job”, the lessons I’ve learned, and the things that I have come to believe as truths because of my journeys.

Please check back here daily, as I will have 100 new images, and god-knows how many stories posted.   Spread the word, leave comments, and let me know which pictures and stories are your favorite, as I will also be making a photo-book of the best images.

Wish me luck!

Ori

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P.s.  On the right hand side of this blog is a box you can put your name and e-mail if you’d like to know about my book, when it comes out, etc…