Hour of the wolf (Vargtimmen)

The well-known Ingmar Bergman movie “Hour of the Wolf” has the tagline “"The Hour of the Wolf" is the hour between night and dawn. It is the hour when most people die. It is the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their deepest fear, when ghosts and demons are most powerful.”

It’s an accurate description.

Most people place the Hour of the Wolf, or Vargtimmen, at around 3am to 5am, depending on one’s schedule. Basically, it is the exact middle of the night, when most people are sleeping. It is no one hour, but the spirit of the definition is that it’s the time when the vast majority of people near you are sleeping.

The problem is, you’re not.

What can make the Hour of the Wolf spectacularly terrifying isn’t just being up at that time. It’s the profound sense of loneliness. It’s the self-doubt or focus on past regrets. Or maybe it’s the fear of the future. The wolf lurks underneath the fears and anxieties you’ve kept hidden from everyone else.

Essentially the Hour of the Wolf is the time, the “when”, that you feel most alone, afraid, and unsure. It’s when your most powerful foes are time and yourself. The stresses of the day, or maybe a day 20 years ago or 20 years from now, come at you teeth bared, and unlike during the daytime, there’s little you can do about it.

I myself confront the Wolf regularly. Not always, but certainly enough that I can predict if I’ll see him the night before. Because I keep such early hours, usually getting up between 4am and 5am, my Hour of the Wolf often starts around 2am. Looking out the window for signs of life is pathetic, and futile.

There is no true solution for fleeing from the Wolf. You cannot kill the Wolf, especially at the Hour. This is because the Wolf you see is, actually, your true self.

You are the Wolf.

Personal Annual Report – 2007

OVERVIEW
This year, my 38th, was among the best in my life. I made tremendous progress professionally, socially, and financially, and accomplished many goals. The two areas that admittedly slipped were physical fitness and family relations. Neither got dramatically worse, or worse at all, but they did not improve.

SPECIFIC AREAS
The largest accomplishment in 2007 was becoming a more prolific reader. I read 50 books this year:

Fahrenheit 451
Call of the Wild
Gandhi’s autobiography
Lord of the Flies
Think and Grow Rich
The Art of War
The War of Art
The Book of Five Rings
The Demon’s Sermon of the Martial Arts
The Unfettered Mind
The Great Gatsby
Bhagavad Gita
Animal Farm
A Clockwork Orange
The Sun Also Rises
SHAM (Self Help and Actualization Movement)
Invisible Man (by HG Wells)
Of Mice and Men
The Pearl
Modern Moral Philosophy
The Art of Learning
Bing-Fa, Martial Arts Strategy
Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic
Helping Himself (Horatio Alger)
Self Help by Samuel Smiles
Execution by Larry Bossidy
Living the 7 Habits by Stephen Covey
Stretching Scientifically by Thomas Kurz
The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption?
Meditation for Dummies
Brave New World
As I Lay Dying
Slaughterhouse Five
Catch-22
Lolita
A Room with a View
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Maltese Falcon
Tobacco Road
Wind and Solar Power Systems
Heart of Darkness
Wide Sargasso Sea
Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali
Darkness at Noon
The Concept of the Political
Ironweed
The Clean Tech Revolution
Sounder
Experience and Education
Journey to the East


The list demonstrates that I’ve been reading some classical works of fiction, but also some political works, and non-fiction. Ironically, I did much of my reading during “down times” where I wasn’t doing anything else. That type of efficiency is important to me because I want to ensure that I control my time, and I turn "down times" into productive packets of time. This is the concept of “fit”, where one seeks to find the right thing to do given time and space constraints. In 2008 I want to continue the habit of reading.

I consider the development of good habits and character to be very important to one’s future growth. Reading Gandhi’s autobiography was very influential to me. Positive lifestyle changes provide long lasting positive change. Major lifestyle changes developed in 2007 include the following:
• Became a vegetarian in May
• Started taking cold showers in May
• Went 100% renewable energy in my home
• Stretch about 3 times a week

In addition, I met some landmarks during the year:
• Received Shodan (Black Belt) in Japan
• Became a member of the Gallon club (donated a gallon of blood)
• Learned the Hiragana and Katakana (Japanese alphabets)
• Learned to solve the Rubik’s Cube

Other accomplishments include:
• Fasted for 30 hours in June
• Made 200 paper cranes
• Started a blog (with 34 entries)
• Opened an Etrade account just for Renewable Energy
• Funded microloans in Eastern Europe and South Asia
• Registered as an organ donor
• Improved my runecasting
• Did an Inipi sweat lodge
• Played over 20 games of pool
• Made a will
• Started a memoir and writing generally

Professionally, a number of positive developments occurred this year. My organization, a school, has gotten demonstrably better, much in part because of my improved ability to hire the right people. Back in March and April I transitioned one key person out, and transitioned, over time, a person who has fit far better. In addition, the culture of the school has improved, where staff is more on board. Most importantly, the students appear to be learning more. However, more data are required to verify this. Deep down, I more than ever am proud of the staff and enjoy seeing our creation produce excellent results. I love my job.

In terms of Social Consciousness and Philanthropy, I donated money to a Presidential candidate, and to a college, both of which with beliefs similar to my own. In addition, I continue to sponsor a child in a war-torn area of the world.

I have made some progress on the guitar, although not as much as I’d like. I continue to play roughly 5 times a week, but need to create a more structured study.

Financially, we are getting there! Our net worth rose about 30% in 2007.

Socially, I have solidified many professional relationships this year. These have created a very enriching, and ultimately more productive professional life.

OUTLOOK FOR 2008
I am a bit pessimistic that 2008 will turn out as well for a number of reasons. Because 2007 was so productive, it is expected that the next year will be slightly worse. In addition, just keeping up with the goals and habits I have developed will take much time and energy.

Beethoven's Ninth

A crowning achievement for Western Civilization, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is certainly one of the most important pieces of classical music in the world. It is one of my very favorites. The Ninth symphony puts me in a place no other piece of music puts me. It's all life's regrets, all its joys, and all its limitations in one. For me, it's absolutely terrifying, compressing one's entire life into roughly one hour. I want to be the subject of the ending chorus, and yet I envision it being sung as my redemption for a life poorly lived. As I listen, I am reduced to tears; it is music for which to die for.

It was Beethoven’s last symphony, conducted while totally deaf, and yet it is perfection. There are many versions; I vastly prefer the 1948 NBC broadcast with Arturo Tuscanini as conductor. You can watch Maestro’s performance on Youtube.

Nonetheless, it is still limited by being made of human. In a sense, its infinite joy only makes more evident our mortality and humanity. I think of this piece as one of the few that would do humanity proud if aliens uncover it.

Regret

Regret is a "mature" and complex emotion. Regret requires at least somewhat sustained reflection over time to ossify into a palpable feeling. Most interesting to me is that regret is nearly always born of thought, of intellectual rumination, rather than the more visceral emotions like happiness, or even heartbreak. However, the more emotional version of regret is guilt.

Regret is deeply internal. Most people hide their regrets like their good wines, and fear the day that sink into sharing them. Mostly, this is because the more externally-derived form, shame, is impossible to contain. Public information takes on a life of its own.

Regret is also a “high class” emotion. One needs to have a certain level of intellectual wherewithal to review past decisions and actions. Only upon doing so would one consider the permutations and combinations of events that could have created a better future. Of course, there’s no guarantees, and hindsight is 20/20, so often people wish they could change their past without really knowing if that change would have been better at all.

Regret also requires time, which conjures a connection with wisdom. As I age, I find that life’s ups and downs teach lessons far more powerfully, and painfully, than any textbook.

Interestingly, people uniformly acknowledge regret for both actions taken as well as actions not taken. Life’s errors of commission seem to have an inherent reward based solely on the action and will, while the errors of omission (regretting that which you did not do) have the added pain of inaction, of paralysis, of the odor of death.

There’s an old proverb, “A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams”. I agree with it, and proudly consider myself old based on it. With no regrets.

Hard Work or Opportunity?

The other night I was having a conversation with a few friends about whether IQ, hard work, or opportunity had a larger impact on a person's success.

All parties involved seems to think that IQ, on the margin, was not necessary to acheive success. This may be a view peculiar to Americans, who culturally value intelligence less than most of the rest of the world. Most successful Americans (for example, picking one from each century, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Bill Gates) are far more famous for their work ethic than their raw intelligence.

A disagreement did surface, however, from choosing between hard work and opportunity.

I contend that work is the engine of self-improvement and opportunities don't present themselves at all; one must work to create one's opportunities. The harder one works, the more opportunities surface. Furthermore, an opportunity can't exist unless one has the eyes to see it, and these eyes would require work to develop. Lastly, one can control how hard one works, but not what opportunities surface; therefore, hard work is more under one's control. (This is all a gross oversimplification, but I believe is valid as a first-order approximation.)

The argument taken by my friends was that one needs opportunity to demonstrate and benefit from hard work. Using an example, how can you be a hard worker if you can't get a job? Another aspect of their argument was the limited benefit of hard work. If a bus boy at a restaurant works very, very hard, he will (probably) not become President of the United States, or even owner of the restaurant.

While I can see their argument about the importance of opportunity, I still believe that hard work is the more important.

Constellations

During my adolescence, I spent time planning my trek through life. This process was not always conscious; in fact, I think that nearly everyone at that age begins to plan out their life’s travels. Part of the process involves finding people who have gone before you (the very definition of the Japanese term sensei) who will serve as guiding stars to help direct us through life.

Over time, one can accumulate these stars and form a constellation; that is; a group of people whose lives serve as wisdom for us at a time where wisdom is scarce.
When I think of those men who formed my constellation, I see that it’s quite a diverse group, and is based primarily on availability at the time.

My first was certainly my own father, which is probably common for people. My father had a strong work ethic, and I am sure that I get my restless ambition from him. Second was probably Arnold Schwarzenegger. I was given his autobiography when I was 14 and read it with great excitement, based on my own interest in weight lifting. Arnold too had a strong work ethic. Another star provided the soundtrack of my life. Jimmy Page, the guitarist of Led Zeppelin fame, created a diverse palette of moods that I could experiment with. Although I hadn’t known much about Mr. Page’s personal life (he is a private person), his music taught me much. I picked up the guitar to learn to play like him.

I was fortunate to have worked many jobs between ages 13 and 20, and those jobs provided many older men who also because stars of various brightness that guide me.

In retrospect, I can see that all of them were hard workers.

Thus my concept of manhood was less a form of fashion or genetics, but more a focus on providing for, building, and achieving. I am proud of have dedicated, for the last 20 year thus far, to travelling through time using these men as guides.

The Calculus of Joy

If there were ever a book I would like to write, it would be about an emotion, as yet satisfactorily named to me. It is an emotion of intense appreciation for a moment of time, based on total loss of self through total cosmic defeat. It is intensely joyful, and yet requires a level of courage that I certainly don’t have. It is the present value, the limit in differential calculus, of all future joys. It is the renunciation of the future.

Do you appreciate life? Can you separate the material sources of your joy and appreciation from life itself? Can you imagine what you would feel it you lst everything you owned? Everything in your future? Your future itself?

What if you lived in shame? You were defeated in the game of life due to no fault of your own? Have you been the poorest on your block? Worn the worst clothes? Was your family cast asunder on the social ladder?

If not, then you may not know for certain that you appreciate your life itself, rather than the joys you look forward to, the respect you command or buy, or the mere circumstance of your birth.

To live life in the present, the books say, is an admonishment to appreciate life. But it typically involves and asks for the loss of the past, a resetting of one’s habits of expectations and routines. It fails, however, at asking something far more difficult: to lose one’s future. To lose one’s future, for real, would represent a major tragedy: death, or perhaps said more optimistically, a quick start to the Afterlife, if applicable.

However, for that one moment, if you could live that one moment, it would be infinitely joyful, because there would be nothing else. Your true appreciation would be infinite. “Knowing that one will be executed at dawn wonderfully concentrates the mind” relates a similar idea.

Rather than really losing one’s future, we could instead meditate on the concept and eventually allow such a concept to seep into one’s daily routines and outlook generally. For example, most people commute to work in a rushed, pained, and generally unhappy state. One’s commute could be a time of extreme appreciation for where one is going, and eventually with enough training, appreciation for the commute itself.

Another level of emotion is the renunciation of one’s gifts. Does your ego cling to your intelligence? Would you appreciate life still if you were dumber? Compared to life itself, one’s IQ isn’t terribly important? What about your physical health? Would you still love life if you had a limp, cancer, or another physical issue? How does your ego deal with the daily risk of losing one’s physical health, which is in fact inevitable?

The ultimate goal with these exercises is not to die soon, be dumber, or harm your body. Instead the goal is the true appreciate for life itself. Anything you have above and beyond simply life is not to be taken for granted, but neither should your existence at present.

The Instruction of Ptahhotep

Almost certainly the oldest surviving conduct book, The Instruction of Ptahhotep was written around 2350BC by an aging, high-ranking government official named Ptahhotep in Ancient Egypt to his son. (There are still relatively original copies of this work (in the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris and in the British Museum, which is famous for its Egyptology). Most of the book is available on the Internet, in both English and Hieroglyphic form.

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the book (related to the fact that it’s 4,300 years old) is the timelessness and thus relevance today. Humility, peacefulness, service, truthfulness (avoidance of gossip), justice (even against your offspring), and listening skills are the major themes in the book.

Ancient Egypt, as a civilization, existed longer than the time period from its end until the present day. In other words, for the period of known history, Ancient Egypt constitutes a majority. But it’s hard to imagine where the human species was 4,300 years ago during this time period. We are talking pre-America, pre-Columbus, pre-Europe, pre-Roman, and pre-Greek. Ancient Egypt is a strange civilization because it seems so timeless.

The Instruction of Ptahhotep, for me, casts major and warranted doubt on the moral relativism of today. The clash of cultures that we currently are seeing, due primarily to immigration and incredible advances in transportation technology, does not mean that “anything goes”. Wisdom does collect over time, organically, within a culture, and to discard that wisdom is dangerous. Even after 4,300 years, The Instruction of Ptahhotep is as current as ever.

What is Fascism?

Like many words I have spent years defining and subsequently refining in my own mind, such as classical, technique, power, leadership, and love, the term "Fascism" has been simplistically coopted as derisive without analysis for merit.

Hardest to do is to cleanse one's mind of the assorted bar bores or the few full-blooded bigots who compose the stereotypical proponents of the Far Right. This include the half-drunk, testosterone-guided skinheads in tight jeans or combat fatigues, bawling out slogans richly spiced with obscenity. While the anti-fascists and FOXnews knuckle-dragging mouthbreathers continue to define the term as "authoritative mean person", I thought I'd give some basic definitions.

Huey Long once said "when we get it we won't call it fascism -- we'll call it antifascism" and there's a lot of truth to this. There's a real and legitimate lack of free speech in America, and especially on campuses and in the media, because both of them are controlled by a group. Out-groups (in these cases conservatives) are denied free speech even more strongly then they themselves denied liberals previously. Like The Who said, "meet the new boss/same as the old boss."

Generally, Fascism is the psychological and spiritual tendencies of the man, embodied in the modern nation-state. While the quirks of the modern and relatively new State apparatus is being refined by Man, the essence of Man and his psychological underpinnings change little. It is this characteristic that conflates Fascism and conservativism. But Fascism cannot be understood only from its ideologues; instead, it needs to be looked at in practice and in my opinion the practice of Fascism, as indeed the rise to power of Fascism, requires collaboration and support from the much older, stronger, and more respectable conservative and establishmentarian foundations of any society.

In practice, Fascism is a progressive if not revolutionary movement that firstly seeks the reconciliation of class conflict by protecting wages and the integrity of domestic labor markets from exploitation via free-market profiteers. Secondly, Fascism marshalls the resources of the national organism to cultivate cultural, military, and scientific excellence and create harmony within said national organism.

Often (and highly paradoxically) Fascism is seen as militarily aggressive and Imperialist. It is in fact Communism that requires war to enhance its burgeoning Class Society. In fact, the USSR was not Nationalist (chauvinst and exclusive) but Imperial (messianic and inclusive). Socialism can't happen without World War. Luckily, Stalin was stopped or encountered resistance on both sides of the Iron Curtain, to the cost of 10,000,000s of lives.

Fascism it more Traditional than Conservative. Tradition embodies all the organic and tribal actions, thoughts, and even peculiar climactic and geography details of a group. Fascism done with a organic Tradition as the core is considered the true Fascism, which only as a secondary benefit removes the need for socialism because it addresses the root problem that caused the symptom to arise. Class cooperation not class warfare.

As you might know the word Fascism (initially created by Mussolini) comes from the Fasces, which is a bundle of birch rods wrapped together to form a cylinder. The Fasces symbolizes the fact that any one birch rod is weak but as a whole they are strong. While the Fasces dates back to pre-Roman (and even pre-historic) Italy, it is truly all over the American government, from the Lincoln Memorial to the Seal of Brooklyn.

A more (little r) romantic definition of Fascism from Coogan:
"We seek in vain the book of Fascism, although no such bible exists because Fascism is not a doctrine but an obscure and remote longing written in our blood and in our souls. Fascists are men who feel more deeply and more desperately than other men, that the ideal of Fascism is a means of salvation, the secret of life and well-being which every zoological species preserves like an instinct in the depths of its conscience. But how were those who feel more deeply and desperately to survive in the wintertime of the West?"

A good quote from Mussolini: "Fascism, now and always, believes in holiness and in heroism; that is to say, in actions influenced by no economic motive, direct or indirect. And if the economic conception of history be denied, according to which theory men are no more than puppets, carried to and fro by the waves of chance, while the real directing forces are quite out of their control, it follows that the existence of an unchangeable and unchanging class-war is also denied - the natural progeny of the economic conception of history. And above all Fascism denies that class-war can be the preponderant force in the transformation of society."

Don't mess with the Renaissance Man

The concept of the Renaissance Man, otherwise known as a Polymath, Universal Man, Uomo Universale, is a refreshingly direct and powerful one for people who wish to become more well-rounded, or expert in a variety of areas. Simply put, a Renaissance Man is someone who excels in various, usually unrelated, areas. Think Aristotle, Da Vinci, Franklin, Goethe.

The need for Renaissance Men is pulled by two opposing forces. Increased specialization makes it much more difficult to excel (or be proficient) in one field, much less two or more. However, there is a need for interdisciplinary folks who can take the wisdom and knowledge of one field and apply them to other disparate fields of study.

Typically, the Renaissance Man excels in arts, sciences, and physical activities. In Western history, the first person to be attributed such a title is Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), who was an author, poet, architect, and artist. However, there were many Renaissance Men before him, including Aristotle.

I see the Renaissance Man as someone who:

Physical: is proficient at athletic activities; can defend oneself, family and country; is in excellent health.

Artistic: creates poetry, music, and literature; unique life’s path; speak at least one other language; excellent vocabulary.

Scientific: understands and contributes to the sciences.

Knowledge: is studied in and can discuss philosophy, wisdom, and other cultures; has
experienced the great works (books, works of art, music) of all time; intense curiosity; often understand the causes of things.

I will further outline my views on what a Renaissance Man should be able to do in another article.

Probably the first book written on the concept of becoming a Renaissance Man is by Baldassare Castiglione. His book, The Book of the Courtier, was written in 1561, but it very relevant today. It’s certainly not politically correct, and adapting it to modern life might require some work, but it’s nearly spot-on, and is well-worth reading for those interested in achieving Renaissance Man status. It is available on Google Books.

A Perfect Day, Part II

Do you have days in your past that you look to more fondly than others? Have you had super-productive days where you are constantly, yet effortlessly, productive? Where your To Do list, seemingly impossible in the morning, turns into merely a starting point by the afternoon? Where you collapse into bed, having difficulty remembering all the tasks accomplished, project moved forward, call made, and people served?

Those types of days are forever etched in my psyche. I recall these “Perfect Days” with such strong nostalgia and longing. (Although such days are not technically Perfect, after having lived 14,000 days I can say they are close enough jazz. For our purposes, Perfect means “among the best of your life.”)

The most poignant memory of such Perfect Days, for me, is the sheer quantity of things done. It was like every little task hanging over my head vanished. Things were clean, read, paid, used, organized, and simply done. The List got smaller, and those items that didn’t get crossed off, got closer to it.

One of the hardest things for me to do has been to divorce the magic of youth, gone forever, and the Perfect Day Feeling. What if my memory confuses the two? What if I’m confusing the two, and in fact one can never feel the PDF again? I truly don’t have an answer to that. Anyway…

If you could construct a Perfect Day, what would it look like? What time would you wake up? Would you make a To Do list in the morning, or at all? What would you do first? What would be done by breakfast? By lunch? Would your work finish at any specific time, or would you work ‘til you drop? Would it be a weekend, or weekday? Would you assume that you’d work that day?

Most people have a lot of trouble planning a Perfect Day. My suggestion is to start with the Perfect Hour. It's much harder than you think.

But it's worth it.

Doing Doing Done!

If there’s one tool every self-improver leans on, it’s the rugged To Do list. Like the fork, screwdriver, and fork, the To Do list is timeless in its simplicity and its importance. So much has been written about the To Do list, most famously in David Allen’s Getting Things Done, but I’ll limit my comment to: all the entries on To Do lists are extremely important, including those crossed-out.

Most people adopt a ‘roll over’ approach to To Do lists: they take the unaccomplished entries from the previous day’s To Do list, write them again, and add some more for the new day. The accomplished goals are lost. I think one misses a lot by only focusing on the goals To Do, and not the goals you Have Done.

There’s a negative bias to only having To Do lists. The list itself can create all kinds of procrastination anxieties. There’s no balance. One can’t see the accomplishments of one’s past.

It’s a supreme waste to simply abandon those tasks you have accomplished, when in fact your accomplished tasks live on far more palpably that your unaccomplished goals, which sit idly on paper. Therefore, I highly recommend you create a “Have Done” list. You can obviously think back and list all the goals that you’ve completed over your life, or over the past day; the level of detail is up to you.

There are a number of sites where you can create and update To Do lists, and also Have Done lists. I highly recommend them. The most popular is probably 43things.com but there are others.

So, sit back, and review all that you do!

Energy and technology, Part I

The technology boom over the past 25 years has been the most life-changing human accomplishment in the past 150 years, at least. In a matter of 10 years, or less, the world learned of the internet and started using it, for everything from dating, to buying groceries and books, to arguing, and to reading the news. No industry has been unaffected by the internet and improvements in computer technology.

We are, us the living, incredibly lucky to have lived through this boom. Most Americans remember when few people had computers, and even fewer used them for anything productive. Thus we have seen a truly unique advance in technology for a number of reasons.

My interest is in energy. I am very excited about a world full of solar panels, hydroelectric dams, wind farms, biomass farms, etc. This interest stems quite a distance from the normal reasons people like renewable energy, such as reducing the greenhouse effect, global warming, conservation, etc. While these are very, very important they aren’t what is most attractive for me. And, I truly believe, they aren’t what should be most attractive to you. Sadly, I do believe that we’ll blow ourselves up way before we choke on carbon dioxide, drown in glacier water, cook in a greenhouse, or stave from lack of meat. Therefore, I’m most interested in renewable energy as a form of national security, foreign policy, and creating a domestic economic transfer. These are all far too large to discuss in one blog article, but suffice it to say that I believe that the Right and Left in America should see this issue similarly although through different lenses.

Getting back to technology, I love it. I really truly love surfing the web. I chat with people from around the world, buy things, read interesting thoughts, and log my own life’s actions and thoughts online. I have a laptop and cell phone that I bring with me wherever I go world-wide. In 1992 my Mac Classic cost me around $1,100. For about the same price, 15 years later, I have an experience so totally different, and better, that there is truly no comparison. It is almost hard to understand why people even bought computer back then.

So, how can we learn from the Technology Miracle of the past 30 years? Below I outline some general differences that I've seen, off the cuff. Eventualy, I hope to create real suggestions for developing an energy policy based in large part of what we've learned in the process from the Timex Sinclair of 1982 to the laptops of today.

• Energy companies are large enough to be able to contort public policy. Tech companies are usually start-ups with no lobbying power.
• Technology requires energy.
• Currently, some technologies such as the internet are highly modular, which energy is most centralized.
• Tech has been historically American, while energy is world-wide, although mostly in the mid east
• Energy uses centuries old technology, which technology is relatively new as an industry.
• Technology attracted the best and brightest from the 70s to the 90s while energy has been seen as blue collar.
• Technology has had the allure of massive profit for those in it; energy has historically held no such power.
• Mankind achieved much success with 10% of the technology we currently have; a 90% reduction in available energy would cause the death for billions, rather quickly, too.
• Technology is manmade, while energy is at base natural.
• Technology improves by small companies. Energy companies are large.Technology lacks the foreign policy issues that are wed to energy.

In future posts, I'll flesh these out.

A Perfect Day

Everyone has days that we remember forever. Usually it's because of an event at the time that arrests our memories, but there are usually days that we remember not for any one reason, but because of the day in total. Often I think back of times where I was simply in the Flow of the day, and had highly productive days.

One idea I've toyed around is creating a schedule of a Perfect Day (creating a Perfect Week might prove too difficult, at least at first). I've considered it, and even started one, but found it far too difficult. Therefore, I've decided to give up on creating the Perfect Day, and instead wish to create the Pretty Damn Good Day (the "PDGD").

My PDGD certainly starts early. Getting up early makes me happy for many reasons that I can discuss in another article.

My PDGD also would be healthy and efficient. Ideally, throughout the day I would eat healthily and yet not take much time to eat. So, perhaps I'd eat on the run.

My PDGD would have purpose and focus. Creating to To Do list, the Windows 95 of Personal Development, would not only suffice, but would be easy enough to amend on the run. Also, there would be little down time, but rather moving from thing to thing, from errand to errand.

It would be a day whose productivity sneaks up on you and makes you feel good, like coming home to a clean house after you've forgotten about having cleaned it. It's a pleasant surprise more than a Saturday night bash.

My guess is that my PDGD would include: roughly 6 hours of sleep; a workout, run and stretching; a martial arts class; productive time with my daughter; a cleaner house; a run of errands; a more organized computer, inbox, voicemail; some guitar practice, at least an hour of reading; and possibly an hour of writing.

I haven't yet assigned lengths of time, or times, to these, but eventually I will think about what a PDGD is for me, so that I can finally get the nostalgia from remembering all those wonderful, life-changing days I've been lucky enough to experience.

Turning lemons into lemonade

Of all life's precious gifts, perhaps none is more precious than our property of uniqueness. Each of us is not exactly like another. Even ignoring our physical differences, we have different experiences, and more importantly we attach very different meanings to those experiences. One person's tragedy is another's turning point; one man's confirmation of previous beliefs may set another into cataclysmic paradigm shift.

My experience is that it is not what happens in one's life that creates meaning, but it is the meaning we attach to our experieneces and perspectives (and unique physical traits) that defines us. Great people do not suffer less, are not better endowed, and are not immune to abject and total failure. They do, however, find immanent and spiritual benefit from the suffering, make better use of their endowments, and learn from their mistakes and failures.

You ought to notice, as you age, that we are all suffering. It is a Noble Truth, a fundamental principle of Buddhism. Great people, once they get to know you, will tell you gruesome, depressing, and dire stories of their past, by their own hand or not, just as the non-greats will. We all suffer.

The difference is in the second half of their stories. Great people manage to find the nugget of truth or wisdom that helps them succeed, that insulates them from further suffering. They have a detective's knack at turning life's lemons into lemonade.

When you review your life, there are painful aspects that you will, conciously or not, avoid, even to yourself. I am truly sorry that you have suffered. However, I encourage you to look at those aspects differently, with an analysis that seeks to find what opportunities, unique to you, you have on account of your hardships.

Mind Mapping

At the bottom of this page, you will see my first attempt an an online mind map, using Mindomo http://www.mindomo.com/. While it's not the prettiest, it's a basic attempt at using a Mind Map to organize who I am.

Most difficult in doing such a map is that the graphics in these (free) online programs is usually pretty weak. Lacking colors, curved lines, and general graphics makes it far weaker than it could be. I highly recommend doing such a mind map with old-fashioned colored pencils, crayons, and paper.

Mental Cartography

Mind mapping is a wonderful way to do two things: (a) memorialize your conceptual understanding of a topic, and (b) communicate your understanding of a topic. Mind mapping is firstly a visual tool, just like its more commonly-known namesake. Studies do find that creating a mental image is important in creating memory. Therefore, make your mind maps colorful (in some personally-meaningful and logical way) and imaginative. You will get only as much out of them as you’ve put in to them.

Tony Buzan is one of the pioneers in the development of mind maps. In his book "The Mind Map Book", Buzan recommends the following:

1. Start in the center with an image of the topic, using at least 3 colors.
2. Use images, symbols, codes, and dimensions throughout your Mind Map.
3. Select key words and print using upper or lower case letters.
4. Each word/image must be alone and sitting on its own line.
5. The lines must be connected, starting from the central image. The central lines are thicker, organic and flowing, becoming thinner as they radiate out from the centre.
6. Make the lines the same length as the word/image.
7. Use colors – your own code – throughout the Mind Map.
8. Develop your own personal style of Mind Mapping.
9. Use emphasis and show associations in your Mind Map.
10. Keep the Mind Map clear by using radial hierarchy, numerical order or outlines to embrace your branches.

There are limits to mind map, and they relate directly to their advantages. Most importantly, mind maps are non-linear. However, many things in life are generally linear, like time and many types of knowledge (e.g., counting, then adding, then multiplying, etc). Therefore, make sure your mind maps reflect any linearity inherent in the subject.

Another related disadvantage is the fact that we simply aren’t used to seeing information in mind map form. We spend years writing and reading outlines, to do lists, and agendas. Therefore, mind maps are simply disconcerting to look at. However, over time they will actually make more intuitive sense than the outlines, etc. that they seek to replace.

So, at first start with paper and pencil, as mind maps get messy fast. The main subject is in the middle, and related topics and components radiating outward.

I am going to mind map my concept of self and by extension the aspects of like I seek to improve.

Experiments With Truth

Gandhi's autobiography is one of the most profound books I’ve ever encountered. A dear friend of mine gave me a copy.

I knew about his life through my history studies, watching the movie, etc., but never studied his deeper philosophy of Bachmachaya (spiritual and practical purity), his Ahimsa (non-violence), and finally maura and shanti (silence and peace). Gandhi stopped reading newspapers for years, fasted on numerous occasions, was vegan, was celibate, made his own clothes, rode only third class on trains, etc. He faulted Indians as often lazy and filthy, and was highly respectful to the Empire. And yet, of course, he is the Father of India and its Home Rule.

Not a simple guy, and yet he travelled with 5 items maximum.

Gandhi’s writing is profound, introspective, and very honest. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is doing OK in life, but yet hungry to get to the next level.Gandhi’s life is complex, and his views are not always predictable. What is so exciting is his vow-taking. Each step in his life seemed governed by self-control and self-reflection. This book has prompted me to tackle numerous goals in many areas of my life.

A circadian, solstice-centric sleep schedule, Part II

To figure out your particular location’s sunrise and sunset, just search on the internet. I’d recommend starting with just the summer and winter solstices, June 21 and December 21. From there, you’ll be able calculate the “solar noon” and more importantly “solar midnight”, around which you’ll figure out your own custom sleep schedule. Later you can fill in the days between the solstices.

Obviously, times will vary based on your geographic latitude. Here’s some figures for New York City:

ANALYSIS OF OPTIMAL SLEEP BASED ON THE SOLSTICE
June 21: Sunrise at 5:24am, sunset at 20:30. Thus, solar midnight is 0:58.
December 21: Sunrise at 7:16am, sunset at 16:31. Thus, solar midnight is 23:58.

Data From:
http://www.geocities.com/dtmcbride/science/astronomy/sunrise_sunset.html

The data above show that, in the summer, I’d need to go to bed around 9pm and get up around 5am, which in the winter I should go to bed around 8pm and rise at 4am. For most people, these times seem quote earlier than typical. It seems that modern society has us off kilter by an hour or two, and often far more. Consider that this schedule maximizes the percent of amount of darkness you’ll experience while sleeping, and the amount of light you’ll experience while awake. There are massive environmental and cost saving benefits as well, but they are beyond this article’s scope.

I have been using the schedule (roughly) for nearly a year, and having improved my sleep quality, decreased the amount of sleep I need, and experienced higher mental acuity during the day. Lastly, I feel a more regular connection to nature that provides solace in a world increasingly ignorant of nature’s wisdom.

A circadian, solstice-centric sleep schedule, Part I

There is little doubt that modern life disconnects us with the natural cycle of day and night. Light bulbs, monitors, TVs, and even curtains all conspire to give us the power to choose the brightness in our lives. And generally, we do the opposite of what nature intends. Research has noted that the average American gets only about 30 minutes of direct sunlight (over 1000 lux) per day. So paradoxically, we get less sunlight than our Neanderthal ancestors, and yet also less darkness.

Our energy levels and our sleepiness follow a rhythm based on, among other things, the amount of light we see. Therefore, we’re less awake during the day, and less sleepy during the night, and in order to reconnect ourselves to the rhythms of the day, we need to better understand how that connection occurs.

What is the rhythmic connection between the world and our bodies? Externally, there are quite a few: light, temperature, social interaction, and eating and drinking schedules. These synchronizing agents are called Zietgebers (German for “Time Givers”), of which light has the strongest effect our own bodily rhythms. (Obviously, all the Zietgebers listed above are correlated.) Since light is the strongest Zietgeber, the actual connection between the world and our bodies comes most strongly from our eyes. Our retinas pick up the light, which travels through the optic nerve into suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) region of our hypothalamus.

What functions to our bodies perform based on these signals? The three most pertinent are body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure are the most clear.

So, what would be the most natural sleep pattern? Since humans sleep when it’s dark, the most sensible sleep schedule should maximize the percent of sleep done in the dark.

To calculate this, one must figure out what I call the “solar noon” (middle of the day) and “solar midnight” (middle of the night). Interestingly, neither change that much. The changes in sunrise and sunset are close to symmetrical. Just find the time midway between sunset and sunrise.

Next, one should figure out how much sleep one needs. Be generous. For this analysis, I assume that I need 8 hours. For this example, once you have those stats, find the solar midnight, and go to bed 4 hours before then and get up 4 hours after then.

Part II will get more specific.

Self-satisfaction vs. Humility

Anyone who pursues a goal needs to walk the line between self-satisfaction and humility. Leaning too far in either direction is unhealthy.

At work I see this all the time. I'll be sitting in my office, and someone will come in to say how great the things are, how happy the staff are, etc., etc. So I have to acknowledge the successes, and yet underscore the need to more improvement, and that there is no real "end" in this job, and that we are not done.

Three minutes after they leave, someone else will come in to say how poorly things are going. Morale is down, sales are low, competition is high, or whatever. So then I go into cheerleader mode, and describe all the victories we've had that month.

In a learning environment, ego often makes both the teacher and student less teachable.

EGO
"Ego" just means "I" in Greek and Latin. However, obviously its meaning has evolved over time, just like "mensa" only means table in Latin. (Actually Freud never used the term Ego, but rather the German, Ich.)

Freud obviously changed all that with his theories on psycho-analysis. He basically divided the psyche into three parts: ego, super ego, and id. The ego is part of the conscious that deals with reality. (The id is unconcious and is where primal drives derive; super ego is where moral judgments occur.)

The Ego has a tough job, basically becoming the angel on one shoulder, and the devil on the other. :-) Seriously, though, the ego balances the drives of the id, and the morals "shoulds" of the superego. So, when I see a hot girl walking down the street, my Id is saying one thing, my Superego quite another. My Ego tries to figure out what to do.

So, what happens if the Ego gets really confused? Then Freud says that defensive mechanisms kick in. For example, suppose I believe that I am not manly, and want to be manly. I compensate by buying a big fast car. Or maybe I just sublimate the issue and study hard in school so I can make a lot of money. Heck, I might even use humor to defend against my fears.

There are many defensive mechanisms, but I think the ones that are most relevants to us are denial and projection. Denial is just avoiding the problem, and projection is finding fault with others to make me feel better.

Fit

The concept of fit is simple yet profound. Essentially, fit is "the congruence of the requirements of a task (location, financial investment, time, etc.) with the available resources at the time."

Often people are constrained by externally controlled schedules, locations, etc., and "fit" allows us to maximize our productivity given those constraints. For example, if one encounters a gap of 15 minutes in their schedule, it is typically more efficient to complete a task that would require 15 minutes, than to complete a task that can be done in 5 minutes, or to start a task that would take 4 weeks. This concept also applies to time of the day: free time at 7am is probably less usefully applied to the goal of learning the drums, and more productively a time to read a book. Lastly, fit can be applied to location: free time at home would be used differently from free time at work, in town, etc.

Your "Do Now" is to take your to-do list, and consider what times of the day, and days of the week, would be most appropriate for their execution. Warning: if done correctly, you'll find you have tons of left-over time.

Activity =/= Accomplishment

Prioritization:
The magic of getting a lot of things done involves working hard and working smart. There are two important parts to this:

1) Make sure you stay busy. If you have a spare hour, review your tasks and see if one can be done in that timeframe. Never give anyone the power to take you from your goals. Even the MTA: one of my best New Year's resolutions was to always keep a book, or a paper and pencil, with me on the train or bus. Some of my most productive time is on a broken (oops I mean "sick passenger") train during rush hour.

2) Organize goals both by time and task. Sure, running a marathon AND scoring a 2300 on the SATs are both great goals, but probably not for one Saturday morning. However, you may find that goals such as "learn Karate" and "learn Japanese" may be somewhat complimentary.

The main part of prioritization is making sure you're hitting upon all aspects of your life that you think are important. Everyone will be different on this, but for me general areas such as health, family, friends, finance, learning, career, etc. remind me to try to set goals in these areas, and work on them relatively evenly.

Another part of prioritization is within each goal. For example, while there's something wholesome and productive about trying to hit the gym 5 days a week, it won't help mask a cocaine addiction. Start with doable goals, and also the most important ones.

One paradoxical opinion I have regarding prioritization is that I don't believe that one should always do the most important things first. In fact, my most productive days involved doing the easiest things first. The risk of course is that one spends so much time doing the less important, easy things that one never gets to the important stuff. However, my experience is that time is NOT the chief limiting factor to a person's success, but rather the emotional baggage they bring.

Archery, Religion, and Gambatte!

In the sport of Archery, the distance from the bull's eye to where your arrow hit is called the sin. Thereafter, the definition of sin expanded to be used to describe wrongs of a religious type. This article is about missing your targets.

Inevitably, you will miss a task, not hit a milestone, or perhaps even quit the goal. Perhaps even the direction is being questioned. Here's what you can do.

When you come upon a missed goal, or a missed deadline, resist all impulse to turn incident into drama. Unless you set a vocationally-based goal and are an airline pilot or surgeon, keep everything in perspective. Obviously, the first thought should be, "do I get a retry?" The second and more painful question should be, "what went wrong?", not in the spirit of "blamestorming", but rather to review your process. Be honest with your evaluation, if even only to yourself. Then get back up and Gambatte (keep going in Japanese)!

An important question I ask myself is: "Does my lifestyle make the goal easy, if not inevitable, or difficult, or postponable?" Was I my own enemy? If so, how? What other things could I have done to make it easier? It is a tragedy that people ignore their weakness (success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan); I believe weaknesses are where you can learn most about yourself. Don't confuse activity with accomplishment, or change with progress.

TALKERS AND DOERS
"Speak softly and carry a big stick."- Theodore Roosevelt

The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour (Prov. 21:25).

Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

To grow, you must destroy

Metamorphosis is, of course, the sudden change of form of a creature. The abrupt change is totally disruptive to the previous form, as it's quite hard to see the butterfly in the caterpillar.

Outside of the biological sphere, other terms describe similarly non-linear change. "Paradigm shifts" describe changes in the way we perceive something. It is the perceptional analog to metamorphosis. Man's Weltanschauung changes constantly through changes in paradigm, but also changes of paradigm.

Industries do the same thing. Joseph Schumpeter, the Austrian and Harvard economist, used the term "creative destruction" to describe how entrepreneurs disrupt and eventually destroy established product markets through the innovation of better products and services.

Personal change requires a similar term. Change can be linear for only so long; at some point, we must change, often totally, our beliefs, tactics, systems, and modes of execution to create such future growth.

A concrete example of how improvement and growth require a metamorphosis is in driving. Barring cost, environmental concerns, and legal considerations, the best way to achieve a speed of say 40 mph is in an Abrams tank. Very few things are going to stop 135,000 pounds going 40 mph. (Of course, the Abrams gets worse than 2 gallons to the mile, so that'll be an issue).

But suppose you wish to improve your speed, to say 70 mph. Alas, the $4 million Abrams is worthless. There's no reasonable way to get one up to that speed. What got you to 40mph can't get you to 70 mph. So, you may need to 'morph' the tank into a Hummer HMMWV (which incidendally get a far better 4 mpg). Again, however, one would need a different vehicle if one wanted to go say 1000 mph. In that case, you might need a F/A 18E Super Hornet.

The important point of this tortured analogy is that, the Abrams can't do 1000 mph, and the Super Hornet can't do 40 mph. What you needed at first, you can't use forever, and what you'll ultimately need later won't work at first.

Getting back to PD, remember that to get linear improvement, sometimes you need to create non-linear transformation. So, if you're at the "sticky 7", your next step might be to throw out what got you there. Spend some time building the systems you'll need to get to 8, which of course you'll tear down to get to the 9.

Putting it all to work

“The unplanned life is not worth examining.” - Aristotle, Plato's student

This article walks people through soul searching for directions, establishing goals, setting milestones, and finally developing tasks.

I often liken life and goal setting to being in a car. The people in the back seat are not in control of where they're going, and, worse, they don't know where they are going. So they distract themselves, just a children do in a real back seat. Passengers riding shotgun often know where they are going, generally, but don't have control over it. So they watch the road but never really pay much attention (that's why people always say, "I don't pay attention where I'm going unless I'm driving). It is only when people get into the driver's seat that they have true control over their destiny. Plato's Allegory of the Cave, no doubt.

One small task at a time

<------------------------Asking "Why?" moves you this way

Asking "How?" moves you this way-------------------------->
Direction..........Goal.............Milestone............. Tasks

Come home at night Go to 8th floor Go to first floor Climb first stair

The figure above shows how we can frame our movement leftward and rightward. In order to move leftward, to a more general view, ask "Why do I have this goal?" or "What will this task point me toward?". In order to move rightward, to a more specific view, ask "How?"

Also, remember there is nothing virtuous about setting lofty goals (create world peace), and nothing small-minded about setting mundane goals (chaperone kids' party). Believe me, chaperoning a kid's party will do more for world peace that staring out a window contemplating it.

People focus on "Things To Do", but not "Things Done".....it's a mistake because (a) congratulating yourself, if only by recognizing that your accomplished something, is a valuable reward, and (b) often the achieved goal will form a milestone to even larger goals!

Have a Specific Deadline - Should I set a time limit/deadline on my goal? In opinion, a goal only has "bite" if it is failable. Setting goals that can live on in perpetuity doesn't create the immediacy that often helps motivate us. If you are going to France in April, you might set a goal of learning some French by the end of March. But before you put a time limit on a goal, ask yourself if you need to, and if so why? Ideally, your goals will all have a specific deadline because they are interlocked to other often further goals. Putting a time limit on a goal transfers it from something that is achievable to something that is also, gulp, failable. Make sure you're okay with that.

Optimization

This next little article is about optimization, and it's important. I find most people set goals that are far too ambitious, and therefore end up doing nothing. It's like they want to get to the 8th floor, but they refuse to build stairs. I see people all the time set goals like "lose 50 pounds". How can you lose 50 pounds and not lose 5 pounds first? Shouldn't one shoot for the 5? Duh.

What is the right number of tasks to acheive a goal? Using the "8th floor" analogy, suppose that there were only 2 stairs per floor (2 tasks per milestone). Would that prove effective? Well, if floors are 10 feet high, then each step is 5 feet high. Can you vertical jump 5 feet high? No? Then you are still going to fail. Theoretically, there are a certain number of tasks per milestone (and by extension per goal) that allow you to succeed. Any fewer will result in failure. Using the same analogy, what if there were say 40 steps per floor (equating to 3 inches each)? You might start doing more steps at a time (known as "chunking"), which would be fine. The lesson here is to err on the side of creating more tasks that you think necessary. In the graph below, notice that for tasks less than N*, success is impossible. Thus N* represents the minimum number of tasks to achieve the goal.

So now you understand the basic concepts. Now, here are some (mostly obvious) tips to make sure you best able to tackle your goals. My advice is to treat this entire process with care, respect, and even a bit of pomp. This is your life we are talking about, so contemplating it while in line at the bank or while waiting to use the bathroom may reflect poorly POORLY on who you are. I recommend treating this as a ceremony, replete with travelling to places that are personally important, or to places that have deep meditation meaning. Most importantly, try to go with a clean mind. The day after receiving an eviction notice, or being fired, probably isn't time for this type of work. Also, keep the amount of time to a minimum, as I warn you: it is emotionally tiring if you do it right. You will be reminiscient, nostalgic, confused, and ready to blow it off.

Most importantly, make sure you are reevaluating goals that have been achieved. Often, you will find ways to go further down the same path, or make a delightful turn. It is the deepest satisfaction to be in the driver seat of your life.

A General Theory of Goal-Setting

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates

Introduction: As with most general theories, the basics are simple and applicable. I don't know what you want in life, but this is the skeleton of how you can go about achieving it. We will first outline the general ideas and then review each basic concept individually.

General Terms
Direction: A direction is not achievable because it is not measurable. It is a statement about what matters to you, and what you'd like to do generally. Most people have no trouble creating directions, but they erroneously call them goals. Examples of common directions include:
· Get into shape
· Be happy
· Get married
· Get rich
· Enjoy my job more

If you could completely accomplish, completely, a direction, then it wasn't a direction to begin with. For example, how can one "get rich?" How much money does one need to be rich? $10,000? $100,000? $1,000,000? Getting rich means different things to different people.
There is a lot of value in directions. Often, directions are general, overarching statements that define very long term beliefs and dreams. There is nothing wrong with "Keep in excellent physical shape." In fact, it's very important. But it ain't a goal.

Goal: A goal is something you want to achieve in the future. The word "goal" has been distorted a bit in the past, so let's be very clear:

Goals MUST:
Be Specific: A goal must be such that it can be achieved.Be Measurable: A goal must be quantitatively assessed.Have a Deadline: A goal must be "failable".

GOALS SHOULD:
Be Written: The affirmation one receives from taking the goal outside of your mind and onto paper (or cyberspace) gives it extra power. Also paper is more accurate than the mind.5Be Believable: People rarely try things they don't think they can do.

GOAL NEED NOT:
Be Challenging: In fact, "easy" goals are best in the beginning.

GOALS MAY:
Be One-time: "Join a gym."Be Recurring: "Go to the gym Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."

Paul J. Meyer published a book titled "Attitude Is Everything" in which he states that goals should be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible (SMART). Well that's a great acronym, and many people use this as a definition, so if it helps, that's great. Sometimes good things don't have a great acronym, and if you can find one in my general theory, let me know.
How many goals should one set? Some people like to pick nice round numbers like 100 or 43 for a number of goals. Notice that magazines of a certain quality use quantitative titles like, "15 ways to lose fat", "20 tips to be a better spouse", and "3.14 ways to ask for a raise". I think numbers make it sound more authoritative, but also it gives people something they like in setting goals, which is measurability, as discussed above.

I find all that hokey, and in the end certainly damaging. Suppose you are told to set 100 goals. What if you can only find 90? Do you set 10 goals that aren't really goals? Doing so would damage the respect and seriousness of your 90 goals, and would obviously dilute the time you can dedicate to the real 90. What if you want to set 110? Do you just blow off those 10? And which 10 would you blow off? Some people tell me that the spirit of setting these high numbers of goals is in doing deep soul searching and finding every little goal in one's heart. I applaud that, totally. However, to me it smacks of mania.

Look at it this way: Thomas Jefferson himself only put three accomplishments on his gravestone: Author of the Declaration of Independence, Author of the Statute for Virginia, and Father of the University of Virginia. (Jefferson only wanted his grave to mention that which he did for others, rather than what people had done for him, which is why he didn't mention that he was Vice President and President of the United States.) My advice is to not number your goals, any more than you would number your children or your dollar bills. Avoid putting numbers where they don't belong.

The best goals have five important parts:
EXAMPLE #1 WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
1) Deadline By next Wednesday Creates urgency
2) Entity I Establishes accountability
3) Action will read States key skill
4) Criterion "1984" Sets accomplishment
5) Condition up to Chapter 4. Frames accomplishment

Try to set all your goals in this type of framework. Not only will you understand your goals better, but you'll feel more pride when you acheive them.

Milestones: The Milestone is the marker, just as they were on roads in Roman times. Milestones provide a much-needed assurance that you are not lost, you are on the right track, and that you are moving toward your goal. But beware, although one can "do" a milestone, they are not goals. Instead, they are welcome signs that you are moving toward your goal.
Milestones serve a vital purpose, particularly as your goals become more ambitious. Milestones should be seen as goals that often one pursues parallel paths toward a goal. For example, the goal of running the marathon might include milestones for sprint times and others for the lengths of the long runs. Pursuing, for example, first faster sprints, and then, after achieving that "goal," pursuing long runs would be highly ineffective at achieving the true goal of running the marathon.

Examples of Milestones might include:
· Run a 5km without getting a cramp
· Pass Real Estate Broker test
· Apply to five colleges
· Update resume

Please note that Milestones can look like goals, but they aren't. They are markers on the road to goals, involving in the examples, running marathons, becoming a Real Estate Broker, going to college, or getting a new job.

Tasks: The shift from Milestones to Tasks is the magic....that's where you go from future abstractions to the here-and-now. So often we see goals like "Become a millionaire", which may translate into a Milestone like "get new job", but if it never translates into "create a monthly budget", "invest savings", or "update resume" (each are tasks), then it's a waste of time. Accomplishing a set of tasks is what you must do to get to the next milestone. If a task proves too difficult, or if you are getting discouraged with a task, then it is probably a milestone, and not a task; break it down further.

To summarize the key components of our theory:
A direction is never acheivable. Consider it part of your life's mission statement.A goal is a place. A goal answers the question: What specifically do I want?A milestone is a marker on the road to that place. A milestone answers the question: Am I on the right track?A task is one specific and definable action. A task answers the question: What specifically can I do now?

KIS,S

I hope this site is helpful in providing a clear and followable path for you, without the fluffy and preachy 256 (Think and Grow Rich!) to 544 (Awaken the Giant Within) page self help books that really don't seem to say much more.

That said, I recommend any book that you think would work for you. I've read many of them (not most; there are thousands), and often I get a better understanding of things generally.

There is no one path in life, but there are generally trodden areas in the field that you should be familiar with before you start bushwhacking.

Let me know how things go.

My goal for this site

Although the idea of goal setting, self-help, etc. is not a new one, and is generally common sense; most people seem to need to hear it, and often hear it repeatedly. I have made a conscious decision to avoid psychobabble, wishy-washy, touchy-feely tripe, and sis-boom-bah cheerleading. I don’t want these ideas ignored and on your bookshelf, but rather folded up, in your pocket, well-inked, and put to use.

This is a short article with small words because it doesn't need to be a long article with big words.

About Me

I have been thinking about goal setting and self-improvement for about 20 years, and want to distill their vital aspects for you. I learned about goal setting the hard way, and never thought about even the possibility of improving myself until I was 18. At the time, my goals reflected a typical teenaged mentality, such as "cut hair,", "get a better job," "clean car," etc. In retrospect, I think that was a huge advantage compared to someone who created complex, multilayered goals, because I didn't have heavy emotional baggage attached to goals. They were light, simple, and certainly made me feel great.

As I aged, of course, the initial tasks grew more difficult for various reasons, so I attempted to fit each difficulty into general mechanisms which would remain the same, and in doing so learned the hard way whether it worked or not.

I've done a bunch of things in my life, none of which imbue me with immortality, but I'm pretty happy with things. I remain a list maker and a goal setter. This site is dedicated to the world, which will be a better place if you choose to follow it.

And miles to go before I sleep

1) I need to focus more. I am soooo much better at making plans, setting goals, and managing others than actually doing it myself. Somethings that are set in stone, like work, lifting, giving blood, training, etc. are OK, but things like meditate, write more, learn to paint, just aren't going anywhere. (I've had "learn to paint" as a goal since 1994.)

2) I really need to be more consistent with time. I know I have these bursts of productivity, where I am literally a multi-tasking hyper-productive maniac, but that's only 5% of the time. 95% of the time is far more sedentary and frankly lazy. I don't want to lose the 5%, but if I could be even moderately productive for even 50% of the remaining time, it would be better.

3) I feel disorganized. I don't feel as "tight" as I used to me. Things are getting done, but I don't have the "it's 5pm on Saturday and I have all my errands done, the house is clean, and now I can just focus on one or two things" feeling like I used to have.

What your business idea really needs

The biggest issue in business is finding the right people to talk to and/or work with.

My first business was begun when I was 12 (landscaping; had like 5 customers), and then at 14 I started collecting recyclables (aluminum, steel, copper, etc). I never made a ton of money, but learned a lot in the process, both in terms of the math (profit, hourly income, etc.) and interpersonally (getting customers, working with friends, etc.) I learned even way back then to avoid negative, lazy, and scattered people, mostly the hard way.

I always found myself being the more excited, harder working, and more dedicated in any partnership, and it was pretty heartbreaking. This ended up becoming a major force in shaping my personality, honestly. The lesson learned for me was that entrepreneurs can't afford to work with the "wrong" people, no matter how good the idea is.

What I'm up to

I don't have any"long term" plans.

One of my biggest strengths, and biggest weaknesses, is that I do not have a single goal both in terms of career and education. This is a strength because I am not tied to any particular path, or even a particular direction. I've gone from construction to banking to teaching to running a school, and I've been able to apply ideas, principles, and knowledge from my past experiences to whatever I'm working on at the moment. It's also a weakness because I don't have any specialized set of skills, or an advanced degree in any one area. Deep down I believe I'm cursed with the desire to be Master of all Trades, rather than just a Jack. I think I realize, deep down, that I'm not "great" at anything. I have no great talent in painting, music, writing, math, etc. This is an extreme advantage! God has given me the talent of learning how to get good at areas in which I have no talent! Thus, I've learned general principles for self-improvement that I apply to painting, guitar, work, exercise, and anything else I do. Thus I have never felt "I was put onto this earth" to do something. The very thought of doing One Thing makes me nervous, because I accurately believe I could never do One Thing really, really well.

I really love education. I love having been educated, and also educating others. I now have the added benefit of learning how to run a $2 million business, which will grow to a $5 million business in about 3 years. I've learned so much about the legal, financial, and regulatory aspects of running a business, and more importantly I've become better at hiring, managing, and ultimately inspiring people on my staff.

I'm very interested in alternative energy, both the the environmental benefits but more importantly for the positive effects on America's foreign policy. I can't stand to see American soldiers dying in some backward desert 8,000 miles away, just because people need to drive big cars. If we had wind farms, solar stations, etc., we could drastically reduce (actually eliminate) our need to be over there.

I'm also very devoted to entrepreneurialism. I've been writing a couple business plans. One is to start a tea shop here in NY. I've helped a friend on starting a high-quality ice cream business. I hope she is able to make it happen!

I've also got less career-minded goals that frankly consume more of my thoughts. I've started writing a memoir. Highly motivated by having read Gandhi's autobiography, I stopped eating meat and now take cold showers only. I still lift weights, run, and do martial arts. I'm taking Japanese lessons. I still play the guitar for about 30 minutes a day. I have been dreaming about writing a textbook that successfully merges economic concepts (supply, demand, etc.) and education. There is a field called Educational Economics, but it doesn't exist in the US. I'd love to write a book about the community college I attended, and now is the time.

As you can see, I'm a bit of a tortured soul because I'm overrun with ideas that deep down I think are good ones. My conundrum is figuring out if (a) I have the ability to do them and if (b) I know how to start doing them.

First article

The best place to start is the beginning.

Welcome to my blog. My goal is to provide, in Franklin's words, a club of mutual improvement".