Hey, it's my favorite stuff!

This is really the best way to know me:

-Seth Godin (Linchpin and Tribes)
-Tony Robbins
-The Four Hour Workweek (by Tim Ferris)
-The Secret (cheesy, yes, scientifically accurate, no, but still beneficial to think about, definitely)
-Three Cups of Tea (about Greg Mortensen, look him up)
-Making Ideas Happen
-The Art of Possibility
-Think Big and Kick Ass (Donnald Trump and Bill Zanker, two awesome dudes)
-Architecture
-Blake Mycoskie (founder of Tom's Shoes)
-Inc. Magazine
-Style and Design
-Learning

True Place and Right Place

I was given this card recently by somebody very dear to me. It's old, but here's what it says:

"There is a vital difference between your True Place and your Right Place which everyone should understand.

Your True Place is the place where God [or whatever you believe: nature, destiny, etc] intends you to be. In that place you will have great happiness, good health and real prosperity, and you will be living an active and interesting life. That place is waiting for you somewhere, and the wonderful thing about it is that no one else on earth, but you, can fill your True Place adequately.

Your Right Place in life is the place you are actually in at the moment, whether it is pleasing to you or not.

You are always in your Right Place because you are always in the place that corresponds to your mentality at the moment; but this may not be your True Place. If your conditions are unwelcome, it means that there is something in your mentality that needs to be changed. Change it, and then the outer conditions will change too.

The sick man is in his Right Place in bed, because he has a sick mentality, but it is not his True Place, and his business is to change his mentality, heal his mind. When he is healed, bed will no longer be his Right Place. The man in the bread-line is suffering the natural consequences of having a poverty consciousness at the moment, but that is not his True Place.

You glorify God [or life] by working upon yourself until your Right Place and your True Place become one."

My latest pet peeve and how to fix it...

... began when I started reading non-fiction.

You see, the problem with the non-fiction genre (particularly self-help)- not that the genre is problematic, but it has one big problem- is that there are a lot of self-proclaimed 'guru's' out there that are itching to dole out utterly meaningless and repetitious advice. Here I'm going to give a couple brief examples:


Business: "Planning is very important if a business is to survive. By taking an objective look at your business you can identify areas of weakness and strength. You will realize needs that may have been overlooked, spot problems and nip them before they escalate, and establish plans to meet your business goals."

Depression: "Learning how to deal with depression is no easy task. There will be ups and downs and many people will feel like giving up along the way. You deserve to be happy and for that reason it is important to know exactly how to deal with your depression."

The first example makes me cringe. Do you gain any actual information from what you read there?? My guess is probably not. I know I didn't. The second example is a meaningless introduction to the idea of depression. News flash: if somebody is reading that page, it's likely that they already know what depression is! That's why they are there!

This self-aggrandizing babble must come from some desire for attention. That is my only conclusion.

My advice here is that finding good advice takes time, but never ever ever stop looking for it. The best advice on where to get advice comes from other people. I love sharing these inspirational sources with all of my friends and those close to me. You should check them out too:

-Seth Godin
-Hugh Macleod
-Anthony Robbins
-Paul Graham
-Blake Mycoskie
-Tony Hsieh
-The Zanders
-Donnald Trump
-and more to come.

YOU need to give...

...and so do I.

A photographer by the name of Thomas Hawk is is extremely successful. He takes tens of thousands of pictures and distributes them under the Creative Commons license. They are free for anybody to use.

Is Thomas hurting for work? Not at all. But I'll let you be the judge: http://thomashawk.com/

If you want further convincing read this book: Linchpin

Winning

I can't think of a creative story to exemplify this point, but I'm pretty sure that true winners don't view what they do as a competition.

Winning does not exist for them. The only "win" is constant, never-ending improvement.

They play in a league of their own.