I Will Not Die

While I don’t recommend traveling around with a deadly weapon, nor do I suggest walking our urban streets after having donned any form of a robe or anything with a hood for that matter, there are lots of other reasons why we might benefit from living like a Jedi. For starters, Jedis are just plain cool. But besides that, they let our imagination inspire us to be full of amazement while we think of an orderly, self-controlled, highly disciplined person, whose aims are in support of a greater good. Quite frankly that’s pretty awesome.

Here are some other reasons:

You would make people stop and think

It’s always business as usual, just another day in whereverville. Until a Jedi walks in. What is it about Jedis? Jedis are cool, calm and collected. They’re not subject to the hysteria, fuss and fanfare that everyone else is. They always seem to be thoughtful and responsible. They seem to be engaged in an important task that extends somewhere beyond the momentary pleasures most people are seeking. They have an aura of power that has it’s source in the way they present themselves.

You would be listened to

Jedis are wise. At the same time though, their wisdom is almost a silent wisdom. They’re not off engaging in philosophical debates and aren’t off bickering about the trivialities of the day-to-day world. They’re mostly quiet and thoughtful, peace-loving people who bring a sense of Buddhism right into our contemporary culture. When they do speak, they say important and relevant things. It wouldn’t take much time, after you’ve done this for a while, for people to begin to identify you as someone who says important things only when they’re needed. Then when it’s your turn to speak, you’ll be heard.

You would be looked up to

Jedis are trained from a young age to be masters of self-discipline. The good news for us is that a strong sense of self-control need not be rooted in childhood. Most people can gain some serious composure only after a few minutes once they stop and think about it. Once you do take that pause, take that look around and collect yourself, you would be a source of gravity for the people around you. Most people walk around without a terrible amount of self-control and composure and when they see you, living like a Jedi, they would look up to that. They would just really like that about you. They might not even really know what it is they like, but they’ll feel it.

You would sooth people

Jedis have this inner peace that is so strong that it can’t always stay within, and so, when you act like a Jedi, that calm and thoughtful nature would be felt externally by all the people around you. Also, it’s always somewhat obvious that Jedis aspire and look up to a set of ideals greater than themselves. Their aims go above and beyond our normal affairs and that sense of duty that supports the really big matters in life would bring a sense of ease to anyone around them.

Even your enemies would take pause

Of course Jedis are highly trained warriors too. They are a force to be reckoned with. If you lived like a Jedi, you’d be a force to be reckoned with too. Your mere appearance would make just about any adversary stop in their tracks and think first.

In summary

Jedis exemplify walking, talking, badass human virtue. Wouldn’t it be great if we all lived a little like a Jedi?

Dereck :: Jul.24.2008 :: Life, Success :: 2 Comments »

When I started this blog, I started it because I am a passionate man with ambitions in life that go beyond my de facto destiny. By “de facto” destiny, I mean the most natural course that my origins would have taken me on. Poverty-stricken children with peculiar, sometimes even abusive fathers, with no abundantly nurturing childhoods do not generally become leading academics. Instead, they become (if they’re lucky) normal working people whose only aim is to improve upon the house they came from. Fortunately, I discovered my love for intellectual things with perhaps just enough time to change course and take a completely alternate route.

But you know what? Ever since I came to grips with all of that, I kept looking around me for allies. Nothing. The more I looked, the more my looking became folly. Now don’t get me wrong, I have a few great friends with whom I enjoy spending time with, but even still, I’ve always struggled to find support for what I want to do. Also, in the process of seeking support for my own aims, I’ve always had a deep desire to hold an outstretched hand to those similar to me so that they too might have something firm to grab onto.

One of the most clear-headed comments on this blog came from Alan, who summarized the main utility of this blog by saying openly, the obvious: that the Internet itself enables people like us to meet each other, when this would never have been possible in any other time in human history. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about that since he wrote it. In the end, I think that all the time I’ve spent over the years looking for ambitious people like myself would not have been in vain, if I had always been doing it on the web. So what does the web allow us to do? Namely, it helps us all find friends we wouldn’t have found otherwise.

So here’s to allies!:

Friends give advice

Now matter how creative we may be, we cannot always imagine every angle. But when many people talk about things, or even just input small ideas, they often provide information that we did not previously have access to. As interest in the forum accelerates, I expect it to become a playground rich with ideas. Also, there are limitations to the amount of experience each one individual can have. We can only live one life at a time. But with friends involved, we can extend our experience using someone else’s.

Friends give you the nod, when the rest of the world gives you the frown

Perfect example: I’m trying to escape…my promising career…? What do you think people say when I tell them that? Almost everyone I know is pretty unsupportive about the notion. Instead, I should just do like everyone else and be happy with it. The concept of trying to do so much more, because I feel I am capable, is often lost on them. But when you have the right friends, friends I hope you can find here, you’ll find people who want you to go as far as you possibly can.

Your concerns become their concerns

Call it an extension of your family. When you have the right kinds of friends, here’s the litmus test: do they have a vested interest in your success? Do they really want you to win? Keep coming by this site, because I want you to win.

Dereck :: Jun.25.2008 :: Success :: 5 Comments »

Do you want to know what prevents most people from achieving their dreams? Them. One of the most frequent obstacles people face when they try to reach their dreams is actually not a full-fledged obstacle at all. It’s just the way they are viewing the problem in the first place. In other words, the way they view the problem becomes a bigger problem than the problem. In a nutshell, they view the problem as something “other” making their dream a distant object, one that must be arrived at from some distance. For example, if someone wants to own their own business, they think of the day far off from now when they hope to have one. Their dream, owning a business, is far removed from them. They picture the problem as something far off, and so, it becomes something unreachable. Combating that is somewhat simple, but because it’s not something we necessarily do naturally, it’s often overlooked. Want proof? Keep reading (this article will only take you a few minutes to read).

Here’s how to become what you want to become:

Visualize the successful “future you” today

To start this, write down a single sentence that describes what it is you want to become, or who you want to be. It’s important that it not be complicated. Short and sweet. Ideally, it should look something like these: “I am a business owner” or “I am a successful executive” or even “I am a wealthy person” or “I am a healthy person.” Now as you go about your day, repeat your sentence to yourself throughout the entire day. Also, say it to yourself several times right before you go to sleep. Soon, even within just a day or two, your brain will begin to identify yourself as being, now, what it is you ultimately want to become. You will blur the line between today and tomorrow. Your brain will soon begin to help you more easily make decisions throughout each day that will step you toward your goal. So, if you are overweight, and your sentence is “I am a healthy person,” as you go along each day telling yourself you are healthy, you might skip a meal or two, drink water instead of soda, or throw some veggies in your lunch before you head off to work. Suddenly, you are a healthy person, making healthy decisions.

Tell everyone you know about the new you

Tell your spouse, coworkers and friends your sentence or some variation of it. If you want to own a business, tell your friends that you just started one. Make it seem as though your day job was just a secondary afterthought now. As you go through your day, you’ll start saving capital for your business, you’ll be thinking of new ideas for your business, new ways to market it, how you want to run it, etc. So much of your mental energy will be going to your business, and before you know it, you’ll be selling your service and running your business even if only on a small scale.

Modify if necessary and repeat

If you find that your sentence wasn’t specific enough or wasn’t accurate, you can change it up a little from time to time. Freshen it up once a week or so, or even add more detail to it, and continue the process. Add some qualifiers or adjectives. It’s important to not keep it perfectly the same. Keep making it better so that it will make you better.

Proof that this works

Did you know that in the matter of only a few weeks I’ve managed to make this blog as popular and as well-traveled as most blogs that have been around for years? How do you think I did that? Do you think I have some natural “blogging” skill genetically woven into my DNA? I don’t think so. Twenty some odd years ago I was crawling around on the floor the same way as every other baby. Once I decided to begin blogging about my experience overcoming the obstacles I have faced in my own life, I began telling myself “I am a successful blogger.” I eat, sleep and dream it. I tell people about my blog. I made “successful blogging” one of the main things I identify myself as. What do successful bloggers do? They write. They write things that others will want to read. So you know what? Everywhere I go, guess what I’m doing? I’m always writing down things and thinking through my next articles. I eat, sleep and dream about what new and useful things I can share with my readers just like you. And, before I knew it, I had done just what I set out to do, I wrote lots of things that readers want, then I got traffic and now I have a successful blog.

This isn’t the only time I’ve been able to do this effectively either though. In college for instance, I always hated classes like biology. I knew this going into to the class, so I would tell myself “I am a successful biology student.” I would say it over and over again. What makes a successful biology student? Well, presumably, a student who studies biology effectively, memorizes all the boring crap, and gets As on all the tests. So before long, I had so identified myself as a successful biology student that I was studying more effectively, I wasn’t thinking of it as boring, and I was learning it well and getting As on all the tests. And guess what? I got the highest grade in the class. 104%. And this was a subject that I hated.

Here’s another example. A few years ago, before I went back to school the last time, I wanted to work for myself. I wanted to repair computers for a living. Of course, when I started out I had nothing. I didn’t know squat about starting a computer repair business. However, I began telling myself, “I am the owner of a successful computer repair company.” After only a few days, I started doing everything right. I began advertising my business, making inexpensive flyers, working my pricing schedule, etc. I was doing everything an owner of a computer repair business would be doing. In just a few weeks, I was getting sporadic clients, and they were impressed enough with my service that I began getting clients from my clients. By identifying myself as the owner of a successful computer repair business, I immediately was one.

(Have you tried this method? Has it worked for you? Are you considering trying this method? If so, I encourage you to go to the site’s forum. Let’s start a thread on this in the “blog reactions” section so we can share our experiences. There are only a few members, so by joining you can help the community grow).

Dereck :: Jun.22.2008 :: Motivation, Success :: 25 Comments »