The power of search

In my last post, I mentioned that I am thankful for the internet. Let me explain --

Some days I find myself using my phone as a distraction and spending (or maybe wasting) so much of my time checking stupid articles or random things online. And sometimes, I step back and feel like a drone, wondering why I'm wasting so much of my time glued to a tiny screen instead of appreciating the beauty of what is around me and the people I'm with.

But recently, I watched a few spots from a campaign Google made about the power of search that will forever make me appreciate the internet and beauty of what comes with it. The spot that really stuck with me was about Zack Matere, a potato farmer from Kenya who really understood the power of the internet. Check it out:



His story really makes you appreciate what you have in front of you. Because so many of us have always had the internet, we don't realize the wealth of knowledge available because of it. And to some people - the knowledge is life-changing. My favorite quote of his that will forever be true in my mind: "Information is powerful, but it is how we use it that will define us."

Thanksgiving

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - MARCEL PROUST

Oftentimes on the day-to-day, I get lost with my frustrations and stressors and tend to focus too much on the little, unimportant details. But every once in a while when things seem to be so awful, I take a step back and laugh a little, reminding myself that my "awful" days are someone else's wildest dreams. It's comforting that I'm able to humbly look at what I have and realize how blessed I am - I doubt other people do this enough, if at all. In light of the recent holiday (and some stressful days I've had), I thought it would be good timing to think about all I am truly grateful for.

• My health, my sanity
• My inexplicably amazing family - my support system - and my parents (and their health and sanity)
• My boyfriend, whom I love with all my heart and who is so good to me
• My irreplaceable best friends
• The caring, strong, smart, funny, incredible people in my life
• The nearly unlimited resources available to me:
• Hot showers, running water, heat and air conditioning, warm blankets, cozy beds, internet, cell phones, grocery stores, food, gas, electricity, air travel, libraries, education, community organizations, fitness centers, hospitals, computers, clothes, shoes, lodging, television, etc.
• That I don't have to fear gun fire, war, robbers, cartels, etc. every time I leave my house - that I am able to walk around my neighborhood alone (even at night) without fear
• My education and the opportunities I've had in my life
• That I graduated college debt-free
• That I've been able to travel and see other parts of the world
• That I have two jobs and don't have to live paycheck to paycheck
• My working vehicle that I trust in any weather
• That I am in great shape and can do nearly any activity I challenge myself to
• That I am (basically) a normal person and can interact in a social setting
• That I have people who love me for me (because on the inside I am sooo weird)
• That I have learned from my mistakes and am growing every day
• That my dad knows everything there is to know about money and I will never have to be in the dark in regards to my finances
• That I was able to dance competitively while I was growing up - it instilled a lifelong passion in me
• That I was able to study abroad
• That I can speak two languages and experience so much more because of it
• That I have common sense and a sense of humor
• That I live in a nice house

I know the list could be 1000 times bigger, but for time's sake I will stop here. I encourage all of you to step back and think about what you are truly thankful for.

Small businesses and social media

As the social media manager for my office, I found this article really interesting. A short post, but I just wanted to share the article - it's about small businesses and social media. It lists 26 shocking stats about smaller businesses using these tools and why it's more important now than ever for the little companies to utilize social media.

Click here to check out the article from SocialMediaExaminer.com.

Move

One of my all-time favorite things to do is travel. It has been a major part of my life ever since I was young going on family vacations, and my study abroad experience in Barcelona only strengthened my desire to see the world. My wish list of places to see is probably taller than me. A life goal of mine is to visit at least half of them :)

My dad showed me this amazing video a little while ago that was released by STA Travel Australia. Watching it makes my mouth water and makes me want to drop everything I'm doing for a trip around the world. Check it out and see how many places you recognize. Although it's quick, I saw a handful of places I've already managed to go.

On another note, there is an incredible project in the works now called One Day On Earth - it asks people from all over the planet to film our home in all its glory, but the filming can only be done on 11/11/11, aka: tomorrow. If this is something that interests you, take a look at their website for more details. No doubt the result will be breathtaking.

The head fake

About a week ago, I finished reading The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, and I can honestly say this is one of the best books I have ever read. I strongly recommend it to anyone and everyone. Randy, a humble, intelligent, observant and hardworking man, shared a wealth of knowledge and lessons in this last lecture. He captured life and death in such a beautiful way - warm and inspiring to his readers. Each chapter went through a lesson or bit of advice he felt important enough to share. There were simply too many amazing tidbits in this books to adequately talk about everything, but my favorite quote - and probably the one that applies to me the most - is the one above.

In the ending of the book, Randy talks about giving his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon and at the end of his speech, he shared the "head fake" of his lecture with the audience. (A head fake, he defines, is when he teaches his students one lesson and they inadvertently learn something beyond what the lesson entailed.) So the head fake was that his last lecture was not about achieving your dreams, but about learning how to lead your life correctly and letting the dreams come to you.

I read this quote probably 30 times over and again as if I had suddenly awaken from a long nap. No one has ever put this idea so beautifully into words and it finally resonated with me. All the time I worry about my future, my decisions, my path, blah blah blah, even though I know I shouldn't worry. With Randy's advice, I am allowing myself to stop worrying. Allowing myself to have faith that the decisions I make are based on good judgment. Knowing that if I continue to live my life well, then everything else will follow. The dreams will come to me.

Cycle of life

Today marks a pretty significant event in my young life so far - one of my very best friends since middle school is having her baby. I couldn't be more excited for her, her family and for her to start this new chapter in her life.

Aside from that note, a couple entries ago I mentioned I started The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I can't help but experience the range of emotions that accompanies Randy's situation every time I turn the page, but the feeling that seems to wash over me most is the sting of tears about to fall. Randy's story is inspiring, motivating, enlightening, yes, but it is also sad. Every time he mentions the future and anything about his kids and wife, it makes me sad for them for having to grow up without the company of this incredible person.

Earlier after I stopped reading, I truly realized something: the world keeps turning. This amazing man ended his battle with cancer in the summer of 2008. My friend's son will have never even been in the same world as Randy, and some day he will know a world without me. Every day the sun rises and sets like clockwork, and every night the moon shines brightly over us. Each day countless people end their saga and each day those people are replaced by newborn babies waiting to write their own.

Everybody is subject to this cycle. Humans seem to think they are immortal sometimes or that they are the most important thing on earth, but that's obviously far from true. No matter who you are, once you leave, the world still spins. Cities keep buzzing and people keep humming. This thought has to be humbling to those who stumble upon it, however, just because the world doesn't end when you do, doesn't mean your legacy ends too. Randy, whole or not, still has the opportunity to impact people like my friend's newborn baby.

The moral of my story is to realize what a small part of the world you really are. Your car troubles or work problems are insignificant in the scheme of things. So on those days when you wake up, mad at the world, just remember - you're only wasting the time you do have with these minor problems. Having fun and being optimistic about your day is the only way to make each one truly count, so that one day you might be able to leave a legacy as strong as Randy Pausch's.

10 reasons why NOT to get a job

Some of you may have heard of Steve Pavlina. He's a very successful blogger, author and expert on personal development and achieving your goals in life, whatever they may be. I recently stumbled across this article on his website that I thought was incredibly interesting called "10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job."

After reading his article, I've decided this is going to be one of my life goals: to never have a job. Although it may sound insane, once you read the article, you'll find out it's actually pretty damn smart. [I'm going to paraphrase it a bit but please refer to the link above to read the whole article. It's truly worth your time.]

1. Income for dummies - Getting a job and trading your time for money is stupid because you only get paid when you're working. Don't you think your life would be much easier if you got paid while you were eating, sleeping, and playing with the kids too? The key is to de-couple your value from your time. Smart people build systems that generate income 24/7, especially passive income. This can include starting a business, building a website, becoming an investor or generating royalty income from creative work.
2. Limited experience - You might think it's important to get a job to gain experience, but you gain experience from living, regardless of whether you have a job or not. Consider this. Which experience would you rather gain? The knowledge of how to do a specific job really well (one that you can only monetize by trading your time for money), or the knowledge of how to enjoy financial abundance for the rest of your life without ever needing a job again?
3. Lifelong domestication - Getting a job is like enrolling in a human domestication program. You learn how to be a good pet. Are your surroundings those of a free human being? Does your master reward you for your good behavior? Are you falling in love with the color beige?
4. Too many mouths to feed - Employee income in the most heavily taxed there is. In the USA you can expect that about half your salary will go to taxes. You only get paid for a fraction of the real value you generate. Your real salary may be more than triple what you're paid, but most of the money you'll never see. It goes straight into other people's pockets.
5. Way too risky - Does putting yourself in a position where someone else can turn off all your income just with the two words "You're fired" sound like a safe and secure situation to you? The idea that a job is the most secure way to generate income is just silly. You can't have security if you don't have control.
6. Having an evil bovine master -  Did you know that the word boss comes from the Dutch word baas, which can mean master or cow? And in many video games the boss is the evil dude at the end you have to kill. So if your boss really is an evil bovine master, what does that make you?
7. Begging for money -  When you want to increase your income, do you have to sit up and beg your master for more or are you free to decide how much you get paid? If you have a business and one customer says "no" to you, you simply say "next."
8. An inbred social life - Many people treat their jobs as their primary social outlet. They hang out with the same people working in the same field. If one of your co-slaves gets sold to another master, do you lose a friend? Why not decide for yourself whom to socialize with instead of letting your master decide for you?
9. Loss of freedom -  It takes a lot of effort to tame a human being into an employee. The first thing you have to do is break their independent will, then teach them how to dress, talk, move and so on. God forbid you should put a plant on your desk when it's against company policy. Free human beings think such rules and regulations are silly. The only policy they need is: "Be smart. Be nice. Do what you love. Have fun."
10. Becoming a coward - Have you noticed that employed people have an endless capacity to whine about problems at their company? But they don't really want solutions, they just want to vent and make excuses why it's someone else's fault. It's as if getting a job somehow drains all the free will out of people and turns them into spineless cowards, and when you work around cowards all day long, don't you think it's going to rub off on you?

Strong points or not, this guy makes sense. Don't settle for being cattle in an office when you know you can do more, when you know you're capable of more, when you know you're worth more. I will figure out how to do this in my life. Gone will be the days of clocking in and out and earning hourly wage.

(My dad is a business owner - just another reason he's one of the smartest people I know! What an example he has set for me.)