Applied Mastery

Stay hungry, stay foolish

It doesn't get any better than this.  Simple, direct, inspirational, and smart.  Watch and enjoy.  But most of all, apply.

Slack

Around 6 or 7 years ago I read a book called Slack.  The basic gist of the book is that it's important to utilize specific techniques to help counter "the infernal busyness of the modern workplace."  Definitely an interesting read if you're part of a "corporate" work structure.

Which brings me to the question(s) of the day:  Are you getting enough "slack" in your life?  Are you getting enough time to yourself where you can rest and refresh your mind?  Is your mind cluttered during every waking second with trivial busywork, or looming arbitrary deadlines which have been imposed on you by others?

If these areas are an issue for you, try and make an effort as soon as you can to get off the mouse wheel.  If you don't, another 5 years will vanish off your ledger quicker than a crab running from a gumbo pot.

Dum loquimor fugerit invida aetas.

Defining your life philosophy

In a previous post, I mentioned the importance of bringing clarity into your life.  Here is a quote from that post:

"Clearly define your life philosophy, what you stand for, and what your mission is (short as well as long-term) in life.  Clarity is crucial.  We all need a compelling reason to get up everyday.  When you have all of your high-level guiding principles and objectives in place, all of your short-term/daily/tactical plans will automatically fall into place."

To that end, I thought I'd elaborate a little bit on some methods and sources of information I've used over the years to go about developing a Life Philosophy.

First, let's talk about the definition of a "life philosophy".  When I'm talking about a life philosophy, what I'm getting at is very broadly defined in the following quote from Ayn Rand:

"A philosophic system is an integrated view of existence. As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need a philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation — or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears, thrown together by chance, but integrated by your subconscious into a kind of mongrel philosophy and fused into a single, solid weight: self-doubt, like a ball and chain in the place where your mind's wings should have grown.".

Now, whether or not you agree with Ayn Rand's philosophy (Objectivism) is not particularly important -- what is important however, in my opinion, is that you have some kind of philosophy that grounds you in your daily life, which can effectively help you navigate through some of the turbulent waters we all come across.  A "world view" if you will.

My personal life philosophy is a blend of a variety of various "systems" and philosophies, mixed with hearty serving of my own conclusions and topped with a few theoretical viewpoints.

Here is a reading list of some of the resources I've used along the way:

• Stoicism, which is defined in an accessible way  here and here.
• Modern Warriorship
• The works of Rudolph Steiner.  Particularly How to know Higher Worlds, Theosophy, and The Philosophy of Freedom.  Warning: these books are not easy reads, but if you put the effort into them, you'll be significantly rewarded. 
• Epicureanism
• And for some contemporary philosophy and tactical assistance, the works of Richard Koch are outstanding, particularly Living the 80/20 Way and the audio version of The 80/20 Principle.  

And there are countless others as well, but these are a few of the best ones. 

One thing that was key in this process -- at least for me -- was to get away from constantly searching for the "Holy Grail".  In other words -- always looking for that one "perfect system", or that one "perfect religion". 

Unfortunately, it's just not out there folks.  At least not for me.  It wasn't out there from a religion perspective, and it wasn't out there from a life philosophy perspective.  Personally, I needed to THINK for myself, and work through things on my own.  Taking things on "faith" alone just wasn't enough for me.  I need a philosophical system, as well as a religion, to work for me in today's world, and be effective in helping me deal with life as it is today -- not as it was 2,000 years ago or whatever.  I also need any kind of system/religion to make sense.  I see a lot of people out there buying into various religious belief systems which when inspected with even a small amount of scrutiny fall apart like a sand castle, and buying into a system like that just isn't the way I'm wired.

Which brings up an obvious issue: a lot of people have said to me over the years something to the effect of "hey man, my philosophical system is the Bible brother -- I don't need anything else".  Or the Koran, or the writings of the Buddha, etc.  Whatever the case may be.  And that's fine -- seriously -- if that type of system speaks to you, and it works for you, and your life works for you and you're at peace, then more power to you...keep it up!

Just make sure your life really is working for you, and you're not kidding yourself and/or you haven't been brainwashed and aren't parroting the beliefs you always have out of habit, without ever really scrutinizing them.  In my opinion...any true system (whether religious or philosophical), will always make your life better.  It won't make it more difficult and complicated.

It will make things more simple, and more clear, and you'll feel good about it.  You won't need to be sold on it.

With that being said, I thought I'd leave you with this very interesting video from a loooong time ago with a young Mike Wallace interviewing Ayn Rand.  Again let me state that I'm not a fan of some of her beliefs, however she was certainly an interesting character who will give you pause to think.  Enjoy.

Top 5 ways to get healthy and improve your life

I'm feeling blunt and direct today, so let's get right to it.

Would you like to get healthy, lean, energetic, happy, and more productive?

Here are the best and most direct ways I know of to accomplish that:

1. Strength train twice per week.  I like mainly bodyweight routines and (more recently) kettlebells.  Use whatever approach you like -- but do the research.  Do the appropriate due diligence.  Don't just do it because some "personal trainer" at your local Bally's said so.  Know why you're doing the kind of strength training you're doing.
2. Reduce your carbohydrate consumption to between 50 - 75 grams per day.  As much as possible, keep it closer to the 50 number.  Doing this will basically force you to eat real food, rather than processed garbage.  See my friend Marc's site and also Zen to Fitness for a great variety of details and ideas on how to accomplish this.
3. Clearly define your life philosophy, what you stand for, and what your mission is (short as well as long-term) in life.  Clarity is crucial.  We all need a compelling reason to get up everyday.  When you have all of your high-level guiding principle's and objectives in place, all of your short-term/daily/tactical plans will automatically fall into place.
4. Get enough sleep.  Seriously.  Don't overlook this area.
5. Learn the power of focus.  As I've written about before, I think the ability to focus and concentrate is one of the highest achievements and skills one can strive for and develop in this life.  Most people don't have it, and can't do it, which (in my opinion) is a big reason why most people aren't getting what they want out of life.  Spend some time researching this important area -- you won't be disappointed.  Developing this one skill alone, will set you far ahead of your competition.

Vincit qui se vincit.

Does life suck?

Credit for the title of this post goes to Ajahn Brahm over at The Buddhist Society of Western Australia.  Have a look -- your religion isn't important (or even relevant) in this case -- the message is universal.

I love these guys -- some tremendous insights over the years from their videos and audio clips.  Check it out.

Focus on the process, not the outcome

With all of the books and guru's out there preaching "success principles" that are outcome-based, the title of this blog post might seem like blasphemy.

Let me explain.

Almost everything we do in life revolves around "projects".  In other words, situations or objectives that are composed of multiple steps that need to be accomplished.  Big projects...little projects...simple projects...complex projects.  Projects, projects, and more projects.

Over the years I've seen a lot of people become overwhelmed and/or frozen into inaction when faced with the magnitude of a large/difficult/complex project that faces them.  The classic "deer in the headlights" syndrome.  I'd also be lying if I didn't admit to you that it's happened to me as well a few times.

To compound things, a lot of the "law of attraction" concepts that are floating around out there now, tend to focus mainly on the "picture things in your mind and they will magically come to you through the magic of the magical universe" approach.

Obviously, I'm half-kidding, but you get my point I'm sure -- there seems to be a lot of focus on the mental picturing, but not so much on the process required to get the picture to materialize.

It's easy to get in the zone of picturing "I want to be a millionaire", or picturing in our mind that huge house-o-our-dreams that we're going to have the universe magically deliver one day, however the missing ingredient in the approach is moving into focusing on the process of what needs to be done.

What's that phrase about the guy upstairs helping "those who help themselves"?

Now, don't get me wrong -- I'm a huge believer in picturing things in our minds first.  I believe we should do that as any first step in determining where/what the target zone is for any project or objective.  However, once that exercise is completed, then it's time to shift our focus onto the process of what it takes to accomplish something.  Breaking it down into the simple, daily, easy-to-swallow bites that alleviate the pressure of the situation, and allow us to make steady daily progress.

Falling back into a daily pattern of obsessing over the totality of a seemingly monumental situation or project that lies before us is a sure-fire way to get stuck in "poor me" mode.

Which, will result in counter-productive thought patterns such as the following:

• "Why does this &*%#@ always happen to me?"
• "How am I ever going to get this done?"
• "I'm never going to finish this..."
• "I can't beat that guy..."
• "This is going to take forever..."
• "I give up..."
• "I can't take it anymore..."
• etc...etc...etc...

By focusing on the process, rather than the objective, you get away from insidiously negative thoughts, and concentrate on the steps you need to perform each day.  You don't get overwhelmed, you don't get stressed, and you get a sense of satisfaction that comes from knowing that you're moving ahead each day doing what you need to do.  You don't get any more "yup, it's Monday morning and I'm still not a millionaire!" thoughts that foster the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses black cloud that follows a lot of people around.

Instead, you focus on your game -- and you don't worry about what anyone else is doing.

Life Balance

As I regularly post on both success oriented topics, as well as subjects related to slowing down and enjoying life more, I thought I'd write a little bit about an area that kind of bridges the gap between the two.  Sometimes these two areas may seem to be at cross purposes with each other, but they really aren't.

Although I think it's important to have drive, determination, and to put in above-average effort, etc, etc, etc...I think a real key in this journey we're all on is the concept of balance.

Sometimes you can get caught up on the hustle train, and it isn't easy to get off.  The train is going too fast.  Then before you know it, 5 years have flown by and you wonder what the heck happened, and how come your kids are so big now, and why you can't remember much about them when they were 3 years old (and discovering life at the most wonderful age).

And then you wonder if all those days and nights spent in airports, participating on 2 1/2 hour conference calls, listening to gas bags in business meetings toot their own horn, and hours spent updating spreadsheets, was/were/are worth it.

Probably not.

In the process of working through a path of lifestyle design, and setting up your life the way you want to live, it's important to factor in a healthy dose of balance.  Make sure there is plenty of time in the schedule for play and family and quiet time and exercise.  Try not to make the mistake of jumping on the mouse wheel without defining the boundaries that are specific to what you want.  As I said up above, once you're on it, it's hard to get off.  And if you can't get off, you lose the most valuable commodity we have been given -- time.

That time will no longer be yours -- it will then belong to somebody else.  Probably your boss.  You will get owned...in more ways than one.

And when you're laying there at the end of the road in your final hour of reflection, as we'll all have to do, I guarantee that you won't be wishing you spent more time on conference calls.

Rich or Poor?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been investing some time lately by reading the works of some of the stoics.  One of the themes that I've uncovered again and again, is the concept of greed and the incessant desire for accumulation of wealth and possessions. 

As I'm sure you're aware, this approach has been drilled into most people's minds as being the "correct" one.

You gotta get more stuff.  Gotta get better stuff.  Gotta get more and better stuff.  Gotta work harder, longer, and faster, so we can get more bigger, better, cooler, stuff.

And then when the bigger, better, cooler, stuff is acquired -- enjoy it for a day or two -- and then get out there and re-start another cycle of yearning and seeking for yet more bigger, better, cooler stuff.

In fact, I'd wager money that most people these days, if they aren't somehow in the process of getting more, bigger, better, cooler stuff (whether in the process of making money to get it, or actually at the mall getting it) -- feel kind of empty and hollow inside.

Sitting quietly and reading, or taking a walk, or observing nature, just aren't activities that are done very much anymore.  Yet, those are exactly the activities that can provide what many people desperately need -- true soul-refreshing relaxation and rejuvenation.  Which, will provide more of a benefit than any frantic (and costly) trip to the mall could ever hope to provide.

Which, after some time, brings me to the main point of today's rumination -- Rich or Poor?

One of the quotes I jotted down while reading Seneca the other day, is the following paragraph:

"The thought for to-day is one which I discovered in Epicurus; for I am wont to cross over even into the enemy's camp, -- not as a deserter but as a scout.  He says: 'Contented poverty is an honorable estate.'  Indeed, if it be contented, it is not poverty at all.  It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.  What does it matter how much a man has laid up in his safe, or in his warehouse, how large are his flocks and how fat his dividends, if he covets his neighbor's property, and reckons, not his past gains, but his hopes of gains to come?  Do you ask what is the proper limit to wealth?  It is, first, to have what is necessary, and, second, to have what is enough.".

That is some seriously good stuff.

By the way, for those of you who don't know this -- Seneca didn't write this stuff a couple hundred years ago.  He was born around the same time as Christ.  How's that for timeless advice that has some staying power?

So that brings us to the question of the day:  Which are you; Rich, or Poor?

Lifestyle design - fact or fiction?

For any of you who've been following Tim Ferriss, and/or have read his book The 4-Hour Workweek, you've probably thought about (and maybe even dabbled with) the whole "lifestyle design" thing.  You may have even been somewhat skeptical about the theory, or thought of all the reasons why "that just wouldn't work in my case".  Well, I'm here to tell you that "yes it can".  Sure, everyone has a different situation and different challenges, but in general -- there are probably a lot more areas of your life that you can "re-design" than you think.

And let's not forget -- the choices here are really very few when you look at it; either you're going to take control of things and design your life to be the way you want it to be, or you're not.  If the latter, you'll end up being pimp slapped around constantly, and will forever be at the mercy of situations beyond your control.  That's fine if you want to live your life as a "victim" and get owned every other day, but hopefully that's not an option in your paradigm.

One thing that can really help with lifestyle design objectives early on in the process, is to start slowly and limit the scope of what you are attempting to change.  Be specific with your early-stage lifestyle design renovations, and keep them compartmentalized and simple.  Initially, choose low-impact, easy-to-implement targets, and build confidence. 

Don't for example pick something complex like "find a job where I can work remotely from home, and relocate my entire family to the Bahamas" as your first lifestyle design target.  Some of you are probably laughing at this, but I've known quite a number of people over the years who haven't learned how to laser down their focus.  I'm sure you have as well.  These people never really seem to get anywhere because they're all over the map, and their energy gets dissipated in 12 different directions and none of their dreams seem to ever really get off the ground.

Once you successfully knock a few simple and clean objectives off the list, you'll start building unstoppable momentum, which before you know it will result in a dramatically different lifestyle - one that you choose and control.

By the way, if you haven't read Tim's book, or his blog, I highly recommend both.  His blog in particular always has something new that's informative and entertaining.