When the shit hits the fan, how do you handle the situation?
In my brief time here on this earth, I have learned that most people panic. They lose control of their minds and bodies. They make poor decisions based on limited logic and high emotion. The end result is usually disastrous.
Great leaders and heroes through history are generally known to be calm, cool and collected under pressure. Their ability to size up a situation, regardless of its circumstances, and then make a logical decision is very powerful and practical. Read more…
If you know me or have read some of my past writing, you will know I advocate living in the now or in the moment.
The ability to be fully aware of your surroundings and what is happening in your mind is very important to your well being. It promotes relaxation, mental focus and increases your ability to connect with others.
It has been found that the ability to delay gratification, as opposed to succumbing to instant gratification, directly correlates with success, intelligence and general health.
Marshmallow Experiments Read more…
C2GC: Early Rising Update
It’s been over three weeks of the C2G Early Rising Challenge. I’ve slackened up a bit and over slept a few times, by choice, but I felt it was for best for my overall energy level.
Waking up early has definitely proved its benefits to me and I plan on practicing it past the thirty day mark.
If you have yet to attempt rising early, I recommend giving it a shot. Try it for a week. Consciously attempt to knock out a major action item before you would normally even wake up, it’s pretty enlightening.
C2GC: Ending Information Addiction
The C2GC of Ending Information Addiction is still proving tough. This may be due to my current circumstances of leveraging the web to build my income and plan out some future career steps.
I have however successfully cut down on my TV time. I am watching under an hour of TV programming daily, almost to no time at all. This however may change with the advent of Football season.
Weekend Reading and Links from around the Web
Enjoy your weekend and push some comfort boundaries! 
P.S. Don’t forget to remember what it means to be an American today. Our liberties and freedoms are not granted without sacrifice.
I have to give President Obama credit. He is a phenomenal public speaker and orator. His ability to inject emotion and passion in his words is uncanny
The examples and rhetoric he uses make it very hard for anyone to disconnect with. He tells stories that force you to agree with in fear of being labeled heartless and uncaring towards suffering people
Obama’s ability to market his ideas and message has rarely been seen before in a President. All marketeers should take lesson in how Obama orchestrated his path to the white house. It was pure marketing and persuasive genius.
These skillful tactics that Obama employs make it easy for people to rally emotion behind. Unfortunately, Obama’s messages seem to be more fantasy than truth. More idealistic than feasible. It seems that more and more people are beginning to discover that there may not be much substance behind his powerful rhetoric, as seen in his tanking public opinion poll numbers.
His promises and plans all seem great when he talks of them. Not once did he explain how his plans will actually work. He only stated his intended outcomes; not the necessary leg work, sacrifices, and risks involved.
Proper health care reform is critical for this country. Unfortunately reform can either take us in two directions. Either to a more efficient and effective method to support our citizens; or towards a more bloated, debt-ridden, corrupt system that burdens our future.
I personally do not know the answer or plan to solve this country’s health care crisis. However, I do recognize that people must learn to pull the wool off their eyes and examine the facts and concrete plans that lie underneath the rhetoric.
I found the GOP response by Rep. Boustany quite interesting and I encourage you to check it out. You can find the video here.
Here is another essay on the Obama’s address last night that examines the promises he made in more detail.
Breaking the law is a pretty serious thing. When was your last time?
You may have broken it and not even noticed…
If you drive above the speed limit, even by a couple MPH, you are breaking the law. If you J-walk, you are breaking the law. If you text while driving, at least in NC, you are breaking the law. There are even laws that have been passed that restrict what sexual positions you can enjoy.
It is a comfortable thought that law enforcement and the government have our best interests in mind. Unfortunately, this complacent thinking could land you in jail. Learn to flex your rights! Read more…
Does that little voice in your head ever convince you not to do something?
Think about the last time you had to publicly speak or you wanted to approach a cute girl or guy at the bar, did you start talking yourself out of doing it? Did you begin to imagine all the little things that could go wrong or how bad it might hurt if you didn’t know what to say?
The ego is a tool our brain uses to make sense of reality and what is all going on around us. Often times this tool can become a burden. Its fragile sense of self-worth prevents us from taking risks or forces us to do things in order to protect our ego (comfort) boundaries.
Our ego boundary can be defined as our sense of self, the constraints of who we think we are. It defines that voice in our head. The voice that tells us what we deserve, what we should be doing and who we are supposed to be.
A healthy ego boundary can be exemplified by a person who has high self esteem, knows when he is wrong and will admit it. Someone who is outcome independent, meaning that they maintain a positive self image regardless of how a situation turns out, but at the same time recognizes their responsibility or participation in that event. A healthy ego boundary is flexible and does not go to extremes to maintain itself.
On the other hand, an unhealthy ego boundary can be exemplified by someone who will go to extremes to maintain the idea of who they think they are. For example, someone who rationalizes irrational behavior by whatever convenient excuse they can come up with. Someone who always like to play the victim or refuses to admit responsibility for a situation. These people always seem to blame others and think they are right or perfect.
Next, I will present a series of video clips from the movie Revolver which dramatizes a battle of the ego and its boundaries… Read more…
The past, the present, and the future. Two of these exist only in your mind.
Don’t walk (click) away just yet… Indulge in this way of thinking for a second.
The only thing that ever truly matters is what is happening in the moment.
The past is a collection of passed moments and the future is a series of moments that you anticipate to happen. Neither have ultimate control over you.
Many people allow these nonexistent past moments and hypothetical future moments to dictate how they live their life. This is the basis for each of our Egos.
The truth is, you do not have to live this way. This principle is found in many spiritualities around the world. You can read about it in Eckart Tolle’s books.
The way you choose to interpret your past and anticipate your future directly impacts your reality. Read more…