The Savage Philosopher

Showing up This week I learned the value of simply showing up. Simply by getting out of bed and putting on pants, I gained six hours of one on one coaching and business development with a specific focus on a business I am trying to do. My initial expectation was to make a couple of networking contacts and possibly learn about some local resources. But by the end of the day, my expectation was blown away. A couple of weeks ago I called my uncle about learning how to run a small business. He took over the family business a number of years ago and figured that he had some good insights on situation. Well, he directed me to go to the library and see if they were sponsoring any business classes. I have been to the library before and I did not see anything on that subject, but I also wasn’t looking for it. So the next time I took my daughter to get another 10 books to read over the week; I took the time to see if my uncle is right. And of course he was. In about two weeks from th

For those who are following along my little journey, here are my results: Feat 1: Education. The goal was to have everything done so that I can start school.  I’ve completed 75% of what I need to do. All my transcripts have been sent except for the last school I was going to. I still need to send them back the books from my last classes, which of course are in one of the many boxes in my garage from the move. A perfect intersection of this feat with Feat 3. Feat 2: PMP Certification. I have ordered the hardcopy book to study from and have it with me now. This week I will put my hours in the PMI website, and next week I can schedule the test. So I’m at 30% here. Feat 3: Home Ready for Guests. We have squared away about 25% of the boxes. Unfortunately the items in the boxes have not been completely put away yet. Once that is done, then we can work on the boxes that are in the garage. Feat 4: Write a Book. I am at 0% complete. Feat 5: Conquer Life Admin. OK, me and the wife hav

One the best pieces of advice my father gave me when I was a young man was the value of taking action. At the time, I didn’t really understand where he was coming from. I didn’t understand the struggle that he had in his life. And I did not understand how desperate he was trying to provide me with some of his lessons learned. But now I am at the age in which he provided me that advice and I understand. Through my own struggles of deflated dreams and hollow words, I understand that words are cheap and the only thing that has value in this world are actions. In fact I believe that actions create the value and is the cornerstone of our success. To experiment with this concept I am going to execute a massive action plan for the next two weeks attempting to accomplish more than I ever thought possible. This experiment starts with accountability of this blog and will end with the completion of five feats. (things I have been putting off because I fear their failure) Feat 1: Education.

Rule one, don’t suck! Sounds easy, but actions speak louder than words. There are just times when we are not feeling it.Times when we want to lay in bed rather then come up with the reasons to care. But then again, this is the struggle that us humans are blessed with. For the last couple weeks I have personally been struggling with finding my path and with finding reasons to be awesome. Being mediocre is so easy. It barely takes any effort at all. I have been trying to dig deeper into myself and I realized that I need more reasons to put in the effort. I need hope, I need the dreams, and I need to be inspired. When I don’t have these things my thoughts range from apathy to chewing on bullets. Deep down I know that I am not alone with these thoughts. I know that others are suffering in silence seeking some sort of glimmer of light in the darkness. So what to do about it? I have chosen to enact my divine right of choice. I am going to choose a higher purpose to believe in and ex

Without fail, every time I try to push or force my personal reality into existence I face an immobile Force that pushes back. I then get frustrated when my desire is not manifested. For instance; even as I wish to create this blog post I am being interrupted through my Facebook Messenger. In this case, I am attached to the idea of completing this blog post and the interruptions frustrate my desired end state. And then, through the conversations I'm having on the Facebook messenger, I am further tasked with things that will interrupt my day. These interactions are not inherently bad. They simply do not fit my worldview on what I imagined the day would be. My attachment to the situation is the direct cause of my negative emotions and frustrations. The obvious solution would be not to have any attachment. Without attachment I would not have these negative emotions, but I also would not have any positive emotions either. Or is this assumption wrong? This brings into context the word

I am blown away of how we are attracted to stories and images of sex, tragedy, and beliefs. Another celebrity sex tape and I am left wondering why such a story so important to the human population? Is it simply our procreative instincts kicking in? Or something deep down in us that reflects our species worldview? Or maybe it is a welcome distraction… Maybe it is too much to ask to be curious why the president of the United States is in India, the impacts of a giant volcanic eruption in Indonesia, or debating melting over 3 million weapons currently held by Americans. When I compare and contrast events that may have a direct impact on my life, a celebrity sex tape doesn’t even register. I am impacted by trade agreements other countries. I am impacted by volcanoes spewing tons of ash into the atmosphere further the cooling of the planet. I am impacted by the fear in political discourse that may shape my kid’s future. Neuroscience teaches us that the brain deliberately attempts to co

Are we doing it wrong? The current economy of the western world is based on the consumption of goods and services. Any product or service that is not in need on a repeatable basis is worth less than those that are. For instance; here are some products I use everyday that are based on only consumption. Disposable razors Single serving coffee Ball point pens Pencils Paper journals Drink bottles and cans The gasoline in my car that I used to get to work Sticky notes Notecards Paper Containers to hold my food from the grocery store Tinfoil Ziploc bags This is a simple list of common items I use almost everyday in my home and professional life. I am sure there are more, and this does not include some longer-term consumables like cell phone upgrades, computer upgrades, and car upgrades. Today I simply want to reflect that in our society we award consumption versus conservation. At this point, I am not saying that either one is better or worse only that we need to be aw