uvageek

As we continue in our dissection of Tim Ferris’ book,  The Four Hour Work Week we continue onward into Chapter 3, entitled "Dodging Bullets."  Typically each chapter starts off with a few quotes, either from pop culture or from historical figures.  One of several quotes within the chapter is by none other than Star Wars’ Yoda:

Named must your fear be before banish it you can.

Quite a true sentiment that I have come to find is quite true - most of the time not wanting to own up to the fears that define particular parts of my personality.  The more that we dwell on those fears and let them own us, the further that we continue to set into a sedimentary state - breaking free of such requires extreme circumstances.  Typically we talk about hoping that someone gets a wake up call sometime to shake them out of something, whether it be an alcohol addiction or video game addiction, in this case, hoping that a person will own up to their fear and walk out on the ledge and face it and grow from it.  One of the anecdotal stories that Ferris uses retells stories of a former LA lawyer and how he faced his fears learning to let go while hang gliding…

He had realized something while arcing in slow circles toward the earth - risks weren’t that scary once you took them.

We live in circumstances that define our lives.  We live in a society that beats us down from taking a step toward confronting our fears for the most part, telling us to just accept life the way that it is.  I ask myself the same question the lawyer asked himself, "What the hell did he [I] want?"  Without knowing what I want, it’s hard to confront the circumstances that I live within to break free.  But then again, stepping out on that ledge and just taking the plunge, whether in a relationship, with regard to work, or toward an alternate reality (not in a drug induced state mind you) makes one truly ponder when they get to that level… is this what I was so afraid of?

Ferris moves on to push the read to define their nightmare, leading into it with a quote from Benjamin Disraeli, the former British Prime Minister…

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.

How true this is.  We sit with shackles binding our wrists together, typically self enforced, refusing to take action in our circumstances, staying where we feel safe rather than thinking to see what we can do if we unbind them and be a little adventurous.  The question we then must ask ourselves is if we choose to sit shackled and not remove them (our fears), will we be happy?

Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty… I was just as insecure and scared as the rest of the world… Pure hell forces action, but anything less can be endured with enough clever realization.

Defining the fear, the nightmare, stepping past it, we begin to see through the clouds, the haze begins to lift, the light streams through.  What’s the worst that can happen?  Rejection, it’s normal.  Unhappiness, at least venturing out and finding that it’s not something that is pleasant we don’t have regret.  Some might say that being content is the way to be, I argue this and would say that being content and living within your means is definitely good in a financial sense, but if you move outside the physical contentedness into what is commonly referred to as the perimeter around your comfort zone, the benefits and dividends (tax free at that) are priceless.  So often we continue to just live one step away from hell, not taking the action.  Finally once we move past the shackles and step out, we realize:

There was practically no risk, only life-changing upside potential, and I could resume my previous course without any more effort than I was already putting forth.

My challenge to you the reader, think about the fears in your life, think as to what they are preventing you from doing.  Sure there are those fears that aren’t just fears in the physical sense, we wonder what the future will hold for us.  And obviously there are several facets and factors to live, not being close to those we love does cause there to be separation issues which are hard to mend even with time.  Additionally, taking into consideration the relationships of colleagues - yes it’s fine to bolt for a few weeks and go exploring, but if in a position that is edifying, leaving it for a year probably isn’t the best thing to do while exploring by backpack the mountains of Chile.  Rather than attempting to conquer the capital Fears in your life, I challenge you to look at the little fears, even they define you in your personality.  Resolve each and every day to work on living up to those fears.

As I continue to digest Tim Ferris’ book,  The Four Hour Work Week, I’ll dive into my thoughts regarding the second chapter of the text.  The first chapter at best whets your appetite, yet the second chapter begins to break down the walls, making you really start to think about reality and how you are defining it (yes, I know that sounds like the Matrix in some way shape or form) but it’s time to start thinking what’s important in your life and stop wasting time filing things into folders.

Ferris starts the chapter with a little anecdotal story regarding his own rise to fame in the world of kickboxing - interesting story regarding tricks of the trade, continuing onward to "Challenging the Status Quo versus Being Stupid."  There are several points that Ferris brings up, of which the following I find to be quite interesting in application to my own situations.

Point 3 - Less Is Not Laziness is a point that definitely makes me stop for a moment and consider what I see in the world of work - focusing on several things, attempting to multi-task, taking on more than one should, over promising and under performing.  As Ferris points out:

Doing less meaningless work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness.

I agree that this is something that is very hard for most people to accept, primarily in that it has been bread into the minds and souls of previous generations, "Working hard is what matters."  Recently several companies have grown quickly with great substance and power such as Google as they attract the brightest in the world to work and be creative - working smarter (and albeit hard) than most other companies in the technology business.  As MarketWatch’s John Dvorak mentions, to beat Google you won’t just have to work smarter, you’ll have to work harder - with the forethought being that in your working harder, you focusing on the strategy rather than just doing the typical American thing of taking an old process that doesn’t work and just working it.

Innovation - something that every company likes to think that it is, is probably the key.  Innovative solutions that are creative, more than likely you won’t have these unless you’re able to clear your mind and have less "busy-ness" on the mind so that you’re able to be more productive.  As Ferris mentions, "Focus on being productive instead of busy."  This is something that I have to remind myself and my colleagues of, "Let’s work to be productive, not necessarily busy."

Point 4 - The Timing is Never Right - how true it is.  As Ferris mentions

…the timing always sucks.  Waiting for a good time to quit your job?  The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time.  The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it doesn’t go out of its way to line up all the pins either.  Conditions are never perfect.

I keep having to wonder if I’m in the right spot, it I’m just waiting for something incredible to happen, some miracle to pop up and the opportunity come about where I’m suddenly a millionaire, however I think much as Ferris mentions, just get up and go.  We tend to sit back and let things come to us, we feel as though we should receive things, that we’re entitled to them.  We’re entitled to nothing, it’s time to get up and take the risks and adventures that we want to take - no one is going to do it for us.

There are several other points that Ferris brings up, these are just two of them that peek my interest most.  The ending of the chapter with the Questions and Actions definitely makes one ponder…

How has being "realistic" or "responsible" kept you from the life you want?

For me, I would say that it’s kept me from overselling myself, keeping me from being boastful.  It’s kept my feet on the ground rather than traveling here and there - time to revitalize the soul and get back the youthful nature of a child.

Quote of the Day:
Your heart often knows things before your mind does.
–Polly (Pearl) Adler

So on a whim, I took the advice of my brother and picked up a copy of the The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris from audible.com and listened to it over the holidays while at the gym, listening to each chapter once (or twice sometimes if I inadvertantly set it to repeat the track) and decided that I wanted to get a little more out of it, so I ordered a copy off of Amazon.com and thought, "let’s start putting this into action" or at least start letting it affect the way that I work and the way that I live.

The first chapter, definitely an interesting read, though nothing really lept out at me, springing off the page and making me go, "Whoa, how true it is."

It did catch my eye however when Ferris was discussing the difference between the Defferers (D) and the New Rich (NR), specifically on page 23 where he states the following:

D:  To have freedom from doing that which you dislike.
NR:  To have freedom from doing that which you dislike, but also the freedom and resolve to pursue your dreams without reverting to work for work’s sake.

This hits me squarely in the chest, primarily the "working for work’s sake."  Stop and think for a minute, and I’m not saying that you should cut corners and leave your jobs or do anything drastic that could get you fired, but what is your passion?  What is it that drives you?  What motivates you to work hard?  For me, I would definitely say that I work to the best of my ability to support others to make better decisions.

Though I cannot say that I am a member of the NR yet, I do seek (and dream) to get to that way of life here soon.  I want to be able to have 90% of my time working from my home office or St. Louis Bread Company or local coffee shop whereever I’m off adventurering rather than in the corporate workplace, constantly being pulled aside to assist with tasks that don’t provide benefit to me.

So what’s that mean?  Right now as I continue to parse through these interesting notes, it’s time to replace assumptions of life - people seem to say things to scare us off from adventuring, time to break down those relics and illusions.

Auckland City Sunset

Wow. I don’t think that words can really express the feeling when I see this. Needless to say, we don’t get these anything like this here in DC.

John Mayer - Continuum - Bold As Love 

So I admit, I do randomly surf the Internet from time to time, finding odd and interesting little articles here and there… so one that caught my attention… "9 Signs You Might Be An @$$hole".  Interestingly funny in some respects.  I personally like the absurdity of the last sign

So honestly, I’m not the biggest fan of movies with gore, or anything like that but, wow, what a movie.  300 definitely inspires something deep in the heart of patriotism and nationalism that is hard to brush aside.  If you were a fan of Braveheart, I would highly recommend this film - though be warned that it takes graphic nature of slaughter to a new level.

Sonicflood - Sonicflood - Carried Away

So if you took high school chemistry at some point in your high school education (I can’t pull myself to say career because high school isn’t a career, you don’t have a salary… you can’t get fired… there 401k plans…) you probably remember playing with the bunsen burner and lighting yourself on fire.  Okay, so maybe you didn’t light yourself on fire like I did (just singed the hair on my fingers) but you probably did learn about blue flames.

So what does that have to do with this post?  Absolutely nothing.

Found a pretty cool article about how on days when there’s a lot of dirt and dust in the atmosphere over in Egypt the shifting of the color of the horizon turns to blue causing the color of Sol to change into a bright blue flame, similar to that of the bunsen burner.

Check it out… I’m thinking I might just go out there for kicks to see it in person.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gen/page2237.html?theme=light

Charlie Haden & Pat Metheny - Beyond The Missouri Sky - Our Spanish Love Song

A few minutes ago I was outside getting my overnight bag out of my car, and I had a glimpse of heaven that reminds me just how much I miss Charlottesville and the surrounding area.

My first year, I went out with my roommate Mike and a few friends of ours Sarah and Katherine to the Lawn and laid down in the middle of the Lawn and just looked to the sky. The way that the Pavilion lights were, it was just enough light that we were presented with a beautiful night sky, looking up at the Milky Way. I was in love with the Grounds of the University at that point.

Over the years as a student at the University, I sought out those places that gave beautiful views of the cosmos. You might think that I was an astronomy student as an undergrad, but rather a physics geek that just sought out the creations of God that are amazing and in most sense unexplainable.

So a few minutes ago, as I gaze up to the sky, I felt as though I had zoomed backward in life 10 years, seeing the amazing sky, almost wanting to lay down in the drive way and look up and adore the Lord’s creation.

Nickelback - All the Right Reasons - Next Contestant

So for those of you that have never read the comics over at XKCD, a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language, then you’re in for a real treat…

so I have minor issues sleeping at night, primarily because I tend to work long days and then come home and think and then realize that I need to go to the gym, and end up getting home around 11, the endorphins pumping and I can’t get to sleep.  And then I start having times like this comic that XKCD posted on their blag

So my question is… how did they know that my clock goes to 13:72?

The Silk Road Ensemble & Yo-Yo Ma - Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon - Night At the Caravanserai

So 19 years ago, about this time of the year, I moved from Wurzburg, West Germany to Springfield, Virginia, USA.  19 years later, I look toward a concert on November 3rd at the Postbahnhof in Berlin, Germany.  Checking airfares, it would cost about $600 in addition to getting an expedited passport and a new digital camera to take with me while I’ve over there that’s a bit smaller than my current camera, and maybe a new WorldPhone Blackberry so that I’d be on GSM while over there so as to still be reachable.

Okay, so maybe I’m just thinking it would be fun for the gadgets, but at the same time, it would be out of character of the Geek…

What to do….

Bleach - Farewell Old Friends - Write It Down