Latest Blog Posts
Will the fear mongering and disinformation ever end in the Healthcare debate? Probably not as long as Special Interest Groups control our politicians and the vast majority of Americans remain ignorant of the issue. People cannot take politicians (Republican or Democrats) on their word. They have their own agendas that they follow first and formost reguardless of our needs or interests. You have to research important issues like this yourself from both sides if you really want to know what's going on. Unforunately for all of us, stupid people will never do this. When it comes to Healthcare, Republicans take the cake on fear mongering and disinformation. They are all lined up spewing crap for their Insurance Company Lobbyist buddies. Listen to this interview about the Horrors of the British Healthcare System. It's only about 5 minutes long.
I can’t believe Americans are so gullible… but we are. The vast majority of the American people are idiots. Their idea of researching issues is to watch Rush Limbaugh or Michael Moore. IF they even do that! And these people vote!!!! Most just believe what their party and politicians tell them without question. A perfect example is the Obama's Birth Certificate issue and the Death Panels issue by Sarah Palin. How can people believe this stuff??? Good lord people are stupid.
This is a response to an email from a friend in which he argued the virtues of the 40 hour work week. I had a hangover when I wrote this response, so go easy on me.
I have come to recognize that my 40-hour workweek is a product of my having failed to live my life the way I should have lived it. So I serve as an ant in an anthill, running around with all the other ants back and forth on the highway, to the grocery store, the gas station, to work. I feed the queen fat bugs, but I only get a taste of the carcass. Work does suck when the benefit of your labor isn't yours but ends up in someone else's belly. That's why I most envy the artist (sans compromising with an editor). Your entire work product is yours. I don't think there is anything innately good about being a drone working the 40-hour workweek, as if the gods have put the necessity of it in our sinews. The 40-hour workweek is punishment. It is something idle slaves are forced into by the whip master because if they weren't made to work, they wouldn't work. I'm saying that the only people needing a 40-hour workweek are the ones that couldn't get off their feet and live life differently (or should I rather say work toward their self-defined purpose with passion from an early age?) than all the other ants, or slaves.
If I were to do it all over again, I'd live by 4 rules, and as a result, this day I'd be unshackled of the curse the 40-hour workweek, and of women, both of which devour the benefit of a man's labor:
1. Never marry or share finances with anyone.
2. At 18, enlist in a government job that pays retirement after 20 years service, and get as many college degrees as you can during this 20-year service.
3. Never borrow money, not one penny.
4. Save 1/2 of everything you earn, and put it in dividend-paying stock portfolio, and never sell what you buy, unless the payout is insane.
If I'd done these 4 things, I'd be traveling the world on a vacation that never ended, and writing my stuff every evening at my hotel in France, or Rome, or Moscow. Yeah, there is still a period of servitude and perhaps risk of death in battle, but at least you have a time-certain payout on your investment of the very years of your life, your flesh and blood, and your soul.
If only my friend Bud had instructed me on women when I was in high school. His words won’t leave me and it is a tragedy my ears first took them in at age 38, 20 years too late:
"People are always trying to set me up with these women looking for relationships. I tell them I don't need a relationship because I feel whole as I am. I don't need another person to complete me. I'm not that insecure. Of course they respond with 'you're gay, aren't you?' because they have one-dimensional thinking. I reply by saying, 'I'm not gay. I love vaginas. I just don't want to own one.'"
This was my introduction to the definitive 20 steps, but I am abandoning the attempt because I am an idiot and no one should listen to my crap:
“I have decided to write a self-improvement guide consisting of 20 steps. Granted I am so far from perfect it isn’t funny, but I am in a lot better shape, make more money, have obtained more education, have traveled more places, and have otherwise done many more things with my life than most of my middle-aged peers. I am even an aspiring writer. My greatest weaknesses are in relationships and family, so in good faith, I cannot make these things part of my 20 steps. In other words, my proffered 20 steps will be solely focused on improving the self in ways that are solely in your control. And here are THE DEFINITIVE 20 STEPS:”
All I should have to say is “make a list.” Actually, it’s more like “make a list and do the shit on your list.” There is no certain formula for making your list, but it helps to specifically state what you are going to do and when you are going to do it.
For instance, if you want to lose weight, an item on your list, “lose weight,” isn’t likely to work as well as “don’t eat any bread from January 2008 to February 2008,” or “don’t eat snacks from January 2008 to February 2008,” or whatever. I once went on a diet and lost 10 lbs in one month. On my list (an electronic spreadsheet), one of the listed items was: “don’t eat sugar, bread, rice, potatoes, or pasta from January 2007 to February 2007.” Every morning I’d read my list, and I’d read, “don’t eat sugar, bread, rice, potatoes, or pasta from January 2007 to February 2007.” Guess what? I lost weight. I lost 10 lbs in one month.
Another example: I learned to type as an adult. I did it by putting on my list:
“LEARN TO TYPE
Buy typing program after work on Monday, at Best Buy, at 6:30pm.”
When Monday at 6:30pm came, I was at Best Buy and guess what I bought?
I then changed my list:
“LEARN TO TYPE
Install program after work on Tuesday at 6:30pm”
And finally:
“LEARN TO TYPE
Practice with typing program every day from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.”
In two months, I was typing 60 words per minute without looking at the keyboard.
In summary:
- You are more likely to do something if you write it down and read it daily.
- You are more likely to get something accomplished if you specifically spell out how you are going to do something, one small step at a time, and exactly when you are going to do it.
Finally, I’d recommend you start with one thing, get into the groove, and then add the next thing to your list, and then the next thing. Don’t overwhelm yourself or you might lose motivation. Four “must do” tasks per day are about right for me. Any more, and it is too much given the requirements of my day job.
Right now my list says:
- Walk the dog from 5:00am to 5:45am
- Go to gym from 5:45am to 6:45am
- Write 1000 words per day from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
- Don’t drink more than a half bottle of wine per day.
I’m doing it all. I don’t put anything about my day job down because I have to do that. Whether I list it or not, I will show up at work at 8:00am and stay until 5:00pm. Actually I’m not doing it all. I admit my failure to follow #4, if ever, but nobody is perfect, eh? #4 is a joke anyway. At least I’m writing and keeping the dog and me in shape.
Throughout my life, I’ve never met an unsuccessful person who always woke up early, even on weekends. The people who don’t succeed are usually the ones that like to sleep in. They are the ones who will sleep until 9:00am or noon if given the choice. They are often the ones who are complaining about not being able to sleep enough, or how tired, fatigued, or whatever they are. In college, I woke up at 5:00am every morning, took a quick shower, and was studying at my desk by 5:15am. My friend Jim slept until noon because he could get away with it. He’d schedule his classes so he never had to be in class before 1:00pm. I graduated in 3 years. He took nearly 7. The first words out of Jim’s mouth always pertained to his lack of sleep.
“Hi Jim,” I’d say.
“Hey,” he’d reply.
“How goes it?”
“I didn’t get enough sleep last night…[insert another 5 minutes of boring sleep details, even though the bastard had slept until noon. Add to this something about not being able to fall asleep…]”
“That’s too bad.”
“Yeah, how are you?”
“I got up early and studied for a test, wrote a paper, went to the gym, and then went to class.”
“I don’t know how you do it. You did all that already and I just woke up.”
“It’s easy. When my alarm goes off, I get out of bed and take a shower.”
Jim didn’t believe it was so easy. I believe he had so much trouble falling asleep and sleeping because he was obsessed with whether he had gotten, or would get, enough sleep. His obsession just made things worse. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe his mind was too active when his head hit the pillow. Drinking a glass or two of wine before bed, or taking a sleeping pill, could easily have solved his problem.
Bottom line: Go to bed on schedule and get up at 5:00am. You know how much sleep you need. If you need 7 hours, go to bed at 10:00pm and get up at 5:00am. If you don’t manage to sleep the full 7 hours, due to insomnia, anxiety, or whatever, too bad. Get up at 5:00am anyway. Eventually you’ll adjust. Drink a cup of coffee to wake up. Don’t bitch and moan about how little sleep you’ve had. No one wants to hear it. Tough it out. Before you go to bed the next time, pop a sleeping pill or drink a few glasses of wine. You’ll be fine. You’ll adjust to your new schedule with perseverance.
I’m sorry I can’t make Step Two more complex, but only redundant: Set the alarm for 5:00am. Don’t hit the snooze button when it rings. No matter how agonizing it is to abandon your warm blankets, you just need to put your feet on the floor and stand the hell up. These instructions are no more difficult than reaching down to pick up a quarter in the street. When the alarm goes off, put your feet on the floor and stand the hell up. There is no telekinesis involved.
You may still be asking the question: “But why get up at 5:00am every day?”
The answer is simple. When you rise early, you are giving yourself more time to do more with your life. I can’t answer what you should do with this time. I believe we each have a subjective, self-defined purpose. You have to decide what yours is. Mine is writing. So, in my case, by getting up at 5:00am, I give myself 3 hours to write each day. Everyone else is in bed and can’t bother me. On the other hand, if I plan to sleep in and write my next chapter after work, there are too many potential obstacles to navigate, like having to work late, dealing with family or social obligations, or being less motivated because working all day is an energy drain.
5:00am can be a holy time if you seize it. By being an early bird, and assuming you don’t have to be at work until 8:00pm, you are giving yourself as much as 900 hours per year to devote to your sole, self-defined purpose, whatever you choose it to be.
As far as taking a shower right after the alarm rings, I recommend it because it helps reset you. I’ve had a lot of nonproductive 5:00am to 8:00am’s because I didn’t first shower. For some reason, by being unwashed and undressed, I end up sitting around in my underwear, surfing porn instead of writing.
Go set your clock for 5:00am!
