I came across a picture of myself as a kid playing outside. I look genuinely happy despite sporting a long bowl-cut that was never in fashion. I was thin, tan and fit – without having ever “worked out”. I was just playing because it was fun – not because I had to. On a sunny day I never thought “I should go outside and exercise for a while”, I just set off for enjoyment. It was just a happy by-product that I came back in dirty, sweaty and short of breath. And then I chugged a glass of milk to quench my thirst (take that, Gatorade Stage 03). Continue reading
The End is Near
I do not believe the world will be ended by God. Expanding sun, sure. Human stupidity; wouldn’t be surprised. Grey goo nanotech proliferation? That’s a pretty 1337 way to go. I just don’t think there is a grand watchmaker who’s going to smash his prize timepiece on December 21st, 2012. Or May 27th, 2012. Or May 21st, 2011. Actually, I’m pretty certain about that last one.
Belief Bedrock
In my previous post on belief frameworks, I spoke of having a solid foundation for your structure of beliefs. What does such a thing look like? Allow me to share the beliefs on which I build my framework. While I believe that “NASA landed men on the moon” and “chewing gum is hard to remove from your hair” those beliefs didn’t make the list. These are just the major underpinnings of my framework – the structural beams if you will.
How Rickety is Your Framework?
No matter what your culture / philosophy / religion, we can agree that people have beliefs. Beliefs are feelings or ideas about how things are. Often, they are supported by personally observed evidence – but they don’t have to be. There are little beliefs (“I believe my cat loves me”) and there are big beliefs (“I believe in a certain God” or “I believe in the scientific method”). You can debate whether a belief is “right” or “wrong” (and people spend a lot of time doing so) – but there is no denying the fact that individuals have their own personal beliefs.
Beliefs are an extremely useful tool. They allow us to understand what we experience, to assign meaning to events, and are the basis of our ability to predict outcomes. Having beliefs is a major part of what makes us human. When we are confronted with something new, we automatically ask ourselves “what does mean for me” – and it is through our beliefs that we answer that question. Continue reading
Bootstrapping Your Motivation
Recently, I bootstrapped myself out of apathy and unmotivation by applying the 15 Minute System – or “15min”. It is a simple process.
The 15min System:
- Do a simple exercise for 1 minute
- Work on something important for 15 minutes
- Repeat
Some Tips:
- It is a minimum of 15 minutes – you can go longer if motivated
- If going longer, at least take a moment every 15min to decide to continue (is this what you most want to be doing now)
- Use a stopwatch
That’s it. Simple? Yep. And that’s where the beauty lies. The way the process works is that it first gets your blood moving and clears your head to a more neutral place. Then, you consciously decide what you most need to do for the next “block” of time. Then, you do it.