Boil It Down - HWR

I have a habit of complicating everything.

But today I think I boiled down my life into 3 categories I should focus on every day.

1. Health

Diet, exercise, preventative maintenance, dealing with any illness...things like reading, meditation, artistic pursuits and other forms of mental health are included in this category.

2. Wealth

Saving, income growth, new clients, new projects, staying on top of current client responsibilities, budgeting, paying down debt etc.

3. Relationships

nurturing your friendships, intimate relationships, and family. Increasing your social circle, networking opportunities, philanthropic endeavors, and just basic human interaction etc.

Ranking in importance I would say Health, Relationships and Wealth but I think it has a nice rhyming vibe to say Health, Wealth Relationships. HWR. The key to a full and happy life.

I got this idea from my info marketing experience. They say that when you create a product you want to create an evergreen product that will stand the test of the time and will be useful to a large group of people. These three categories are where you should start. They are timeless according to the world of marketing but I see it perfectly describing a healthy and happy person so I'm stealing it for myself.

Interestingly I notice that if one of these suffers the others are directly affected. And most unhappiness I can think of easily and squarely falls into one of these categories.

Personally my relationship column feels lacking to me lately while the others are strong. My unhappiness/dissatisfaction is directly related to frequent isolation and loneliness more than anything else. Health is good thank God and I am making more money than ever so I am thankful for these things. I just need to get the hell out of the house.

Oh Wow. Oh Wow. Oh Wow.

These were Steve Job's last words as he passed on.

I got chills when I read that. It's so uplifting.

One can only speculate as to what exactly he meant by that. I'd like to think he was getting a glimpse at the world beyond this physical life.

I do believe there is something that happens. Why should we assume it's something to fear?

34 will be big

I meet with a group of guys every Thursday. It was my idea and its starting to come together well. I got the idea from my old boss who pays something like $12K per year to attend a meeting of other marketers where they share their best strategies and newest revelations. I was blown away to hear that one day was worth 12,000 dollars to him. He gets back way more than he pays I am certain of that.

The industry word for it is a Mastermind Group.

The concept was first introduced by Napoleon Hill back in the early 1900s. He basically interviewed some of the most successful people of the day and wrote Think and Grow Rich out of those interviews. Apparently the Mastermind Group is something many successful people had in common. Most masterminds have no cost. Some like my bosses do.

Well I grabbed a few guys and we have formed our own version of a mastermind group.

Its free of course but its to help keep us motivated, hold each other accountable and offer our unique skills to help each other achieve our goals.

There is a slight conflict of interest that I will talk about if it starts to become an issue. It might. Nothing that wont be solvable of course.

But I am excited with the potential. We are really coming up with some awesome ideas. I have nearly finished my ebook on getting gigs and have most of the video sales letter figured out as well. One of the guys in the group is a web guy so he can help me with the technical details of the site.

For instance there is a way to make the buy button appear after a certain period of time. That way the person watching the video is not distracted by it until its actually time to buy. Pretty cool technology.

My plan is to create an interview series where I sit down with various "industry insiders" like my mega talented friend sam, a gal I know who books shows etc and just record our conversations while I pick their brain on the best strategies to succeeding as a band.

I haven't exactly figured out how I am going to package these interviews but it could be really cool.

I have some pretty big goals to hit for 34. I just might get there. I made a quiet promise to myself (and out loud to one of the guys) that if I did hit my goal I would take the mastermind group to Trulucks for dinner on me. For some reason that sounds exciting. I have 11 months to make it happen.

last post sounded cynical. It was. But I dont always feel that way. Today for instance. I am having Gelato in a coffee shop. Not a bad work day. This cute lass across the way seems sweet. Id totally marry her.

Nevermind she has a ring on.

I look around me and realize I have a non-traditional life.

Honestly you cant really compare your life to anyone else's from a value perspective but just a general survey via Facebook and my immediate surroundings shows me something that is atypical of people my age.

Most people in their late twenties/early thirties get married and have kids. Its just what people do. I am very far away from either of those things. But I found it funny that profile after profile are recently married people and/or people taking pictures of their kids.

Apparently kids are a joyous thing for most people. Enough to be nauseatingly invasive with their pictures. I would probably be the same way. But don't those parents realize they just made a 200K+ investment with ZERO guarantees. Of course they don't. We are driven to breed and I will be there one day as well.

So what exactly is wrong with me?

I know I have been commitment-phobic throughout my twenties but that isn't horribly rare. I have dated women but usually with a disposable mentality. The good ones just didn't work out. I take a lot of the responsibility but I also see their additions to the fallout.

I didn't plan on it or even consider it but at this point I am facing a world where most awesome gals have been snatched up or knocked up or are too young to be awesome just yet.

My choices come down to women with kids, divorced women or young gals in their 20s who don't know what the hell they want. Show me a cute, smart, funny, unmarried, undivorced, childless 30 something and I will introduce you to Santa.

Its a rough situation that will only get more real as I get older. I go to bars and meet women and it seems even more vapid than ever. Bars are obviously NOT the place to meet my woman. I understand this but when I work from home ALL day long I am ready to get out of the house. What is there to do after 8pm where a large number of attractive single females congregate? Bars of course.

I'm sure there are late night Yoga Classes and other great ideas so I am fully aware that I haven't given it my all but man I am not positive about my prospects lately. I am going to focus on setting myself up financially, working out, writing new music, hanging with my few friends, occasionally sleeping with women I don't really care about and going out dancing. Let the chips fall where they may.

New Project

I am writing a book on getting gigs and playing shows based on my experience.

I already have a website and the book is about 70% complete. I have a plan to market it bubbling in my brain.

Keep all 3 of you posted.

seriously im straight.

I think mentioning I have a cat is killing my chances with the ladies.

But come on isnt she cute!

iraq

Obama just announced the "end of the war in Iraq".

I am uneasy. Is this a political move for reelection? Is this so they will have more troops to fight another useless war with someone else?

I dont feel confident that this was made for reasons Obama claims.

Over the last decade we spent 757 billion on this war. What a complete waste.

new amp

just bought a used fender blues deluxe reissue.

The tone is ridiculous. I have made it 33 years without owning a tube amp and I am never going back. I would be a much better guitarist had I had an amp like this sooner. Just playing around with it by itself is addicting. I can imagine once I get a band behind it how its going to sound.

Bought it from a friend of mine for 450. Its a great deal. I hope there is nothing seriously wrong with it. It has a strange buzz when I play one particular note which is odd but that might be my shitty guitar's electronics. Ill have to investigate further.

But oh man you gotta hear this tone.

dancing

Went dancing last night.

It was a friend's birthday and she wanted to go so we ended up at the only good dance club in austin. The music is killer and the energy is great.

I really enjoy going deep into that world for awhile. The sweaty women. The music. The zen like state of just falling into that groove. You leave your head and suddenly you're not thinking too much or worried about anything. Its a little vacation.

Add in a decent buzz and I'm all smiles and jumping around. I grab women I dont know and spin them around. High five dudes if they know the lyrics to the good songs. Definitely a different state that I wish I could be in more oustide of that environment. Its a form of meditation for sure.

Last night a gal approaches me while im standing off to the side of the floor. At this point I am drenched with sweat like I just jumped into a pool. She walks up says something to me I couldnt really hear and then runs her hand down my chest. She then pulls her hand up to her face and licks her palm while looking me dead in the eye. I went caveman on her and made out with her. Then some dude appeared and stole her away.

I know pretty soon Ill be much to old to do that sort of thing (if Im not already) but it was pretty awesome. It truly is another world that I think I will partake in a little longer before calling it a day.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

uck the mainstream media! CNN, Fox News, CNBC all of them. ALL OF THEM. Ron Paul wins poll after poll and all they do is try to hold the man down and discredit him in various ways. Yet another candidate wins and hes front page.

They are all a bunch of prostitutes with Zero journalistic integrity.

new client

got another one. Of course I have to deliver results so that will mean more stress but I am proud of myself today. Its a new setup where I have a chance to make more as I make my client more. That's good because I know I can bring the magic.

I am currently shirtless in front of my window looking out on a cool and sunny day drinking coffee. I have nothing to complain about right now. I feared posting this because I am often a superstitious moron but that has never gotten me anywhere.

I marched with the Occupy Austin kids. It was interesting.

Dating was so much easier when I was an asshole.

I've been on several dates lately where I think Im boring the women. Im nice. Im myself. Im not screwing with them enough.

Im trying to strike a balance between the dick that I was and the dude looking for something real. Its a fine line and I don't know if I have ever tried to walk it before.

I used to have pretty solid game and my life would involve multiple women at once. It was great but I wasn't remotely thinking long term. Now I am and have gone soft. You might recall a few posts back where I thought I found my mojo again. I did not. Somewhere on the date the woman realizes I am not much of a challenge and thats that. Disinterest. Imperceptible to both them and myself. I know this game. I used to deftly maneuver around it. But it required BS. I had hoped I would be able to step away from it. Think I might need to awaken Mr. Hyde again and see what happens.

Speaking of going soft, this is probably the longest sexless streak I have ever been on. I believe its pushing beyond 3 months. Strangely I am not clawing at the walls or anything. Its actually the opposite. When you're getting it regularly you want it more. When you go without you start to not even really want it. Its like nature is saying ok this guy is useless evolutionarily so instilling drive is a waste of our time here.

But Im approaching my mid thirties now (jeeeeesus) and I am definitely noticing a drop in libido. Working out helps but really I am not consumed with sex like I was in my teens and twenties. I remember times when my libido was a raging behemoth and I wanted to impregnate 97% of the women i would meet. I sort of miss it but I dont. It owned me. If I could have channeled half of that desire into my finances or hobbies I would be much better off now. Pretty sure that's a standard regret for lots of guys. No time like the present! Turn away from the hoohah! Focus on yourself dammit!

Vet

Took the cat to the vet to solve the every day puking issue. A bag of special food for her was 48 bucks. Ridiculous. They shoved a thermometer up her butt. It looked uncomfortable.

Steve Jobs

He has passed away. I didnt know him. I knew his products. I know his legacy.

But hes a father and husband. I hope his family is ok.

56 is way way too young.

Tonight I lay down, alive. Im thankful for it and more aware that there is not much more that matters other than love.

Here is a great commencement speech he gave in 2005

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA&feature=player_embedded

I remember when I was 20 and I went to Paris with a group of students.

The newness of being in a foreign country was an overwhelming feeling of life. As if I were a new person in a new world. My senses were on fire.

The group went to a pub. While doing shots and having fun with these people, suddenly everyone had to leave. I was confused. Little did I realize it was because a girl in the group dug me and expressed interest in hanging out alone with me. The whole group collectively decided to make that happen.

There I sat in this pub on a major thoroughfare of Paris having drinks with a woman. She was way into me. I have no clue what we talked about. I do recall we stumbled back to the hotel, taking the long way, falling into alleys making out. Our energy was electric and couples on the street stopped us to talk. Our mood transcended the language barrier. For me, it was a night many other nights have been judged by.

For some reason this song is the embodiment of the way that night felt. The lyrics are incorrect but the vibe is spot on. Its being young and new and alive. I dig this memory and this song brings me there again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9WEeKYID4I

Someday I will look down at my hands and see the hands of an old man. Ill go to the mirror and marvel at the fact that my youth is gone. Ill think back to the days surrounding my life right now and have things I wish I had changed, things I should have savored. Places i should have visited. People I should have kept in touch with. Women I should have fallen in love with. Apologies I should have given. Fear that held me back unnecessarily. The problem is even though I KNOW this, you simply cant force yourself to truly process it and understand it until it happens. I CAN force myself to have the discipline to take this moment seriously. This moment here. Its all I have. Everything else isn't real.

To paraphrase Kierkegaard, Life is lived forward but understood in reverse.

Blackout

Today is day 15 of a massive protest in NYC. Its also spreading to other cities. A bunch of pissed off people from all walks of life angered at Wall Street and the small amount of people who plunder the American populace. But you wouldnt know it if you turned to the major news networks.

Things are bubbling.

Im not saying its going to be 60s kind of revolution but something is happening and Im fascinated to see it transpire.

The problem is they have no demands. No leadership. Its just people. They need to agree on some sort of resolution or they would just protest for the sake of protesting with no end in sight.

I think they will solidify as the weeks go on. I have no clue how long this thing will last or how big it will get.

watch it live:

http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution

As Ive been watching this the situation has turned into a standoff on the Brooklyn Bridge. All traffic stopped. Police pushing the crowd back. The views on the site went from about 3K to 18K+ in a matter of minutes. WOW.