Productination

Yo, I really enjoyed writing this oatmeal story, so I decided to cross post it here for fun.

I was making oatmeal this morning, boiling it in a pot on the stove (no instant oatmeal for me!), when I started grinding some coffee beans for my coffee.

I thought to myself, "man, I’m going to have to wait a few minutes before I can enjoy this delicious coffee."

And that’s when time froze and the idea hit me.

Hit me like a 1.2 gigawatt lightning bolt.

Hit me like a freight train going 88 miles an hour.

I dumped the coffee grounds into my oatmeal and prayed. Prayed and stirred.

"Would this work?" I thought to myself. "What would I do if I failed? Would I be able to live with myself?" An even scarier thought crossed my mind, "What would I do if I succeeded?!"

I stirred and stirred, until the oatmeal turned a dark brown, and bits of coffee grounds were mixed throughly throughout.

With great hesitation and anticipation, I steeled myself, took a breath, and scooped a spoonful into my mouth. Bitter, but flavorful. I added raisins and took another bite.

The sensation was simultaneously delicious and horrifying. The coffee and raisins were like a sweet 1-2 punch in the face. They left an acidic, tannic residue on my tongue. Oh God. What had I done? What unholy madness had I unleashed on this unsuspecting world?!

My heart raced with panic (and, caffeine) as I quickly shoveled the rest into my mouth. No one could know that this ever existed!

I looked up from my empty bowl, hollow eyed and exhausted, and at the same time, so alive. I had conquered the beast and was hungry for more.

Greetings interweb,

Those of you who know me know that I think paper is a great medium for note taking and list making.

Thus, I always carry a pen and my trusty Moleskine Cahier (say [kaa yáy]) notebook. I’m currently in the process of fully implementing my own version of the GTD system, which is by far the best organizational and productivity system I’ve read to date. For those of you who are already GTD’ing it up, this notebook acts solely as a “capture” bucket, nothing else. I try to process it every day, so that it doesn’t end up being a storage bucket. Notes go in and I deal with them the same day, so that if I ever lose the notebook I’ll never lose more than 1 day of data.

Out of all the notebooks I could have picked for my personal organizational system, I chose the Moleskine Cahier because:

1. At 64 pages thick, it’s small enough to fit in my pocket (even in my fitted designer jeans)
2. They come in packs of three, which is cheaper per page than the thicker (and more popular) Moleskine Pocket Notebook
3. It’s still a Moleskine, with the craft and quality you’d expect. What good is an organizational system if you never use it? I can appreciate the workmanship that went into a quality notebook, and I actually enjoy opening mine up and writing on its pages.

Click Here to find out how to make this awesome notebook even better!

I woke up invigorated and enthusiastic. I had only been working at my new job for a week or two and was still incredibly excited (even after 3 months, I’m still pretty excited about my job). I walked into my office and popped open my email. My boss had forwaded me a request to update our company’s career page. Attached to the email were two word documents, each with a job description in it.

I opened up the page in my browser, it looked very straightforward. It would be a pretty simple job to simply take the word document, format it as HTML, and publish it to the web. In the past, that’s exactly what I would have done.

“But wait,” I thought to myself, “am I going to have to do this again in the future?” My gut and wisdom culled from years of software engineering told me that I probably would.

So, instead of succumbing to my code monkey instincts, I took a step back and thought about it for a minute. This is a job that could get very tedious if I’d have to make frequent updates to this page. I realized, I have a friend who will do repetitive tasks all day without complaint: my computer!

And so, instead of just plowing through, I spent a little time writing a script for my favorite text editor that would do almost all of the work for me. Fortunately, the word documents I received all followed a strict semantic format, so this task was easily automated.

I have since then received similar assignments many times, and I completed each one in minutes. The initial investment in writing the macro has already paid for itself several fold.

I started thinking: how can I measure productivity? Is it in the sheer volume of tasks completed? Is it the quality of work produced?

Click here for to find out!

My friend A told me a fantastic story the other day that I thought I’d share with you. This story is absolutely 100% true, but this is my retelling, and any retelling employs a little poetic license, but I know I can do it justice. It goes like this:

He got in his car sped off towards Taco Bell, the same Taco Bell by his house that he always went to. At this particular Taco Bell, he had a standing order: a Mexican pizza and “Grilled Stuft” chicken burrito. While driving, he realized that it has been years since he ordered something other than his usual. He contemplated this for a second, then decided that he would do something crazy: he was going to order something different.

Racking his brain for possibilities, he couldn’t stop thinking about the Mexican pizza and the Grilled Stuft burrito. Every time he tried to focus his mind on something else, he would snap right back the second he lost focus and his mind wandered.

“Do I want a taco salad? No… Do I want a soft taco? Not in the mood… How about a chalupa?” he thought to himself. The drive through window was fast approaching, and the time to decide was nigh. “Alright, don’t think about that Mexican Pizza, or the Grilled Stuft burrito!” he told himself. Telling yourself not to think of something works great…if you want to think about it.

He stared at the menu, mentally checking off every possibility on there. He sat at the drive through for a full three minutes before the woman behind him honked, and the drive through hostess asked him once again if he was ready to order. Getting excited, he had an idea. He finally arrived at a decision! He couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth as he ordered…a Mexican pizza and a Grilled Stuft chicken burrito.

“FUCK!!!” he yelled, pounding the steering wheel.

This picture represents how your subconscious…does…something……….fuck. I got nothing clever to say. I just wanted to include this picture.

Feeling completely dejected and helpless, he collected his food and drove off in silence. All the while, thoughts streamed through his mind, “How many behaviors of mine are really controlled subconsciously? If I can’t even change something as simple as ordering food from Taco Bell, how am I supposed to change fundamental beliefs I have about myself and the world? How can I stop reliving the same relationships over and over?”

He told his female friend about this.

“What, you didn’t know that that’s what you always get?” she asked.

“What? What are you talking about?” he said.

“Of course you do! You’ve been doing it for years.” she said.

He called another friend.

“Yeah, that’s what you always get man.” she said.

“FUCK!” he said again, in frustration.

Everyone else in the world could see it, but for some reason he couldn’t. He genuinely believed that every time he drove up to Taco Bell, he was making a conscious choice about what to order, when in actuality he was on autopilot the entire time.

Finally, after much digging into his past, he realized that he had an emotional wound associated with that Taco Bell. That was the Taco Bell he used to go to with his ex-girlfriend, the one who cheated on him and broke his heart. Something happened that for whatever reason, he did not want to fully experience, and so a wound formed. After his ex-girlfriend, he simply did not feel safe ordering anything other than his usual. His brain and body would come up with tons of other reasons and justifications for why he had to order it and nothing else, and he would believe that he was fully conscious in his choice every time.

Once he went back to the last time he went to the Taco Bell with his ex-girlfriend, he was able to see that his actions had nothing to do with the actual food he was ordering. He was able to go back to that moment that he didn’t want to experience, fully feel it, and then let it go.

We were standing in line at Taco Bell the other day and he just looked at me and smiled.

“Hey, can I get a chicken quesadilla and a Crunchwrap Supreme?” he said.

FIN

I was consciously choosing to put 7 cups of coffee into my body every day. That’s what I told myself at least.

How many of you have experienced the following situation? You see a cute girl, you want to talk to her. You don’t feel anxious or scared, but for some reason, you can’t approach. You tell yourself, “Oh, she’s not really my type.” or “Oh, the timing’s not right, she’s on the phone” or any other of 600 possible excuses. You try to psyche yourself into it, but for some reason, you cannot get your brain to tell your legs to step forward. Then, the opportunity passes and she’s gone.

Guess what, buddy. You just ordered a Mexican pizza and a Grilled Stuft Burrito.

We are all run by our unconscious behaviors to different degrees. My goal is to see these habits more and more so that I can have more freedom around choosing what to do, instead of letting these patterns decide for me.

Gaining awareness of these habits is an important step, but just seeing your “trip” is not enough. You have to be able to see it, feel whatever feelings are attached to it, and still take action according to what you truly want and stand for. For a long time, I had gone through the situation I just described above, but now I was noticing it. I said to myself, “Oh look, there’s that voice that’s making excuses about why I shouldn’t approach. Hahaha…” and then I’d still just hang back. This was even worse for me, because I was conscious of myself being run by my unconscious. Because I could see it, I thought it was fine for me to not approach. Again, I was tricking myself into believing that I was consciously choosing it!

Fuck!

When you get smarter, your “trip” gets smarter too.

I remember one day when this trip in full effect and I could see it vividly. I was simultaneously so revolted by my trip and determined to take action that I basically forced myself. I let myself feel all the fear and anxiety and practiced being OK with it, all the while moving one leg in front of the other.

Suddenly, I found myself standing in front of a beautiful girl with nothing to say.

“Uh, hey.” I said, nervous and awkward as an adolescent schoolboy. “You are super cute.”

“Oh, thanks.” She said, smiling. She was OK with me being there, in all my nervousness. She wanted me to lead the interaction further, but I was too jittery to do anything else. I even called out my own nervousness, and she was still standing there.

Finally, I understood. I had perused the menu, saw my usual order, and actually got something else.

I had broken the habit pattern once. Now, I just had to do it again and again before approaching beautiful women became my new default behavior. Imagine that!

Do you have places in your life where you want more from something but you just stop yourself from getting it? Have you ever felt like there was an invisible wall preventing you from getting what you want? Have you ever found yourself making excuses not to take action? For homework, think of one place in your life where this is true. Be open to the possibility that there is something unconscious going on. Whenever you notice that issue coming up in your life, practice being OK with it and still taking action. If you do this over and over, I guarantee you will have much more freedom in your life.

Be smarter than your trip.

Let me know how it goes.

Yes. I do have some nice bling.

This is K back for a much needed journal entry. A lot of stuff has been going on in my life in the past two weeks that I would like to enter into the record.

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First of all, a big ass shout out to the Sex Pirates. I’m super excited about how we’ve grown as a group and where we’re going. Ah! I can barely contain myself when thinking about them. I always knew we’d be awesome together, and I’m starting to realize more and more that we already are. We’re just such fucking high value guys, and we’ve grown so much together over the past two months.

I can’t believe it’s only been two months.

Seriously, mentoring has been one of the most rewarding activities I’ve ever undertaken. I really recommend it for everyone. I’m so proud of the Sex Pirates. I was just driving home one night and I was tearing up with joy when I realized, shit damn, I created this.

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The same day that I “made 100 girls’ days,” I went to an amazing concert by The GZA at The El Rey. He performed the entire Liquid Swords album, then gave us another 40 minutes of bonus material. He was joined by Killa Priest, Method Man, and a bunch of his other friends, and they all fucking BROUGHT IT. It was awesome.

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Now I can be a keyboard jockey…in a good way.

I got my new keyboard! I been playing with it a lot and it’s been awesome. Check out this quicky redo of the goonies 2 video game theme song.

The original:

My first cover:

My latest reimagining:

All I did was switch out the instruments and samples. But this completely changed the sound and feel of the song. Thus, this inspired me to extend this and make it a full remix, diverging from just a straight note-to-note cover. Keep your eyes and ears on this space, as you’ll be seeing this version come to life soon.

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Wilshire Boulevard

I’ve been whipping out my camera a lot more often now. (lol, my camera is so “old” that it’s not even on Canon’s official site any more. Awesome!) It’s not an SLR, which means I have to look at the LCD screen like every other mouth breathing amateur digital camera owner who thinks he’s a photographer. But shit, I don’t care. I take pictures because I like taking pictures. Imagine that.

I’ve been trying to take one good picture per day on average. It’s been going really well. I also bought some picture frames from my local 99 cent store and put up a few more 8×10 prints of my work. Snapfish is pretty sweet.

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My friend F showed me a nutrition plan and his crazy supplement stack. We’re going to the gym tomorrow so that he can show me how to properly work out. K Deezy’s getting in shape, yo!

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Oh! I almost forgot, I’m going to Hawaii this summer. Kick ass! I am super excited. Truthfully, F convinced me to do it. I was hesitant all the way up until the very last day to apply. I was worried about the money and the opportunity cost of not being able to work for those 5 weeks over the summer. Finally, I realized, shit. I should take my own advice. I could hear myself saying, Be the change in your life and take big steps. And so, I took the plunge, determined that I would figure out how to pay for it and make it work.

I’m so glad that I did, because it’s going to be really awesome. Me, F and some other friends are going to PWN that trip. We’re going to be the leaders, the life of the party, setting up the social gatherings, merging the groups, being the first ones to jump off the cliff etc. Basically, we’re just fun, social guys, and when we bring that to our trip, it’s going to highly benefit us and everyone around us. Ah, I can’t wait.

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Last weekend, I took my first foray into the world of designer jeans when I attended The Warehouse Sale at the LA convention center. I went in being a complete jeans noob. In fact, more than that, I actively made fun of people who paid more than $60 for jeans. I mean, shit damn, the most expensive jeans I owned were $40 from Buffalo Exchange. But, my friend convinced me to at least take a look. And in the spirit of keeping an open mind, I decided to check it out. Well, I was blown away. There really is a noticeable shift in quality when you reach the premium level of jeans. Does that warrant the ridiculous markup? Probably not. But I was working hard and decided to splurge a little. I set a spending limit before I went in and stuck to it (for the most part). Here are the pairs I picked up:

This is what $400 worth of moth food looks like.

Tomorrow, I’m taking them to my local tailor to get them fixed up a little.

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I went out last Friday to this really cool bar in Westlake. Totally reminded me of this bar I used to frequent in SF. Lol, reading these yelp reviews for The Matrix Fillmore are hilarious:

The men were such a rare breed of d-bag and the girls were so over-done that I wanted to throw my way expensive rum and coke in their face and run. The place simply tries too hard to be cool, and that ain’t cool.

Yes, this person totally and accurately nailed the character of The Matrix, but she doesn’t realize that this character is exactly what makes it fun.

Anyway, Blue Velvet was pretty sweet. I left with my voice completely hoarse (after maintaining a high energy, engaging, and fun conversation for 2 hours, I’ll write more about this later). In the old days, I took waking up with a sore throat as a sign of a good night.

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I have successfully been caffeine free for about 16 days now. The first two days were the roughest, as I had gone from ingesting about 600-800 mg of caffeine every day to 0. I was totally fiending for it. I was completely falling asleep at work and not able to concentrate. I kept having a mental struggle with myself, where one part of me would say, “Maybe I should just have a little.” and another part of me would have to shut that mess down on the quickfast. But, the good news is, I made it, and it’s been pretty easy ever since. When I realized that I wouldn’t have the “quick fix” of caffeine available, I knew that I had to regulate my energy levels better, so I started eating small meals more frequently.

Also, this totally inspired me. I learned that I can OK with having a really strong desire and not getting the object of that desire. I also learned that I can change my habits. This inspired me to seek out other things in my life that I’ve been wanting to change and get to work.

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My friend K showed me this book called The Artist’s Way. It’s basically a book about creativity, detailing a 12 week course where you remove the blocks to your natural creativity. This is something I totally advocate, so I decided to start doing the first task, which is “morning pages.” Every morning, I wake up early, and for 20-30 minutes, I just write. You’re supposed to write three pages handwritten in longhand, but I like the rhythm of typing, so I type 1000 words. If I’m really strapped, I’ll type 500 in the morning and do another 500 later. It’s been really good. It’s given me numerous ideas for projects, as well as clarified a lot of thoughts I had.

Me and the Sex Pirates will be going through the entire 12 week course together.

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I finished my taxes for 2007. Turns out that I don’t owe as much as I expected. Yay! It only took me a couple hours to finish, which was great.

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Alright, I think that completely exhausts the most exciting things that have been hapenning in my life. Expect another big ass update in two more weeks, or maybe smaller updates every week.

“Dude, you know what’d be hilarious?” I asked K while walking down the Promenade.

“What?” he said.

“If we went into Abercrombie and took off our shirts.” I said, smiling with satisfaction.

I had seen a more extreme version of this performed in New York, where something like fifty guys all entered an Abercrombie and at a predetermined time, took their shirts off.

K paused for a moment before he said, “Let’s do it!”

A wave of terror rushed over my body.

“What? No! I was just kidding. We can’t do that! We’ll get banned!” I said, feeling my heart rate speeding up.

“Do you shop at Abercrombie?” K asked me.

“…no.” I replied, after much hesitation. He had successfully shattered my first excuse.

“Well? Cmon!” he said. “I don’t want to do it either, which means we totally have to.”

And so it went, on and on for minutes, with K telling me to do it, and me making excuses. I was totally spinning in my thoughts, completely lost, not wanting to feel the fear and anxiety I was feeling. I tried to keep breathing, keep feeling my heart, and practice being ok with those sensations. I told myself, these are just sensations, and they will not last. But even so, I could not get my brain to tell my arm to take my shirt off.

What made it worse was that we were just a half hour ago getting on F’s case for needing a ridiculous amount of warm up time to be social. But, and this is an important point that I will expand later in another post, just because I’m being a hypocrite doesn’t make what I say any less valid.

My brain continued to blast me with 103 excuses per second. “I don’t want to get kicked out.” “I can’t, I’m out of shape” “This isn’t even that creative, those guys in New York did it first” “Why the fuck are we doing this?!”

I couldn’t put words to it at the time, but I seriously felt that if I did this, I would die. That was the intensity of the emotion. Of course, I didn’t want to feel that! I tried to block it out and distract myself with excuses.

This feeling was very familiar too, as I’ve felt it many times before approaching a girl. It’s sad that I let so many opportunities pass me by over the years, making excuses as to why I shouldn’t approach, or why the timing isn’t right. Guess what, the timing is always right.

After a lot of back and forth, I took a stand and made a decision. I heard all the noise in my head and I put it aside. I said, fuck it, my logical brain was holding me back. I embraced my feelings of anxiety and fear, took a breath, and went in.

“Hey, can we get a picture with you?” K asked the buff, shirtless model.

“Haha, sure! I haven’t gotten this one before. Where are you guys from?” said the model.

I felt my body relax a little. My fears were for nothing. The model was completely friendly and receptive.

We chatted a moment, he showed us some poses, and F snapped two pictures.

“You know what? You have a much better body than he does.” a woman said to me as she entered, smiling and touching my arm.

Walking out of the store, I felt high. I had stepped out of my comfort zone and was still alive. I also knew that I had acted even when feeling a lot of fear, and this felt great.

I was looking forward to doing it again.

Each person has a “comfort zone,” a realm of things they feel comfortable doing. You can perform any tasks inside your comfort zone with complete and total ease. Unfortunately, for most people this set of behaviors is quite small.

If you want to grow, you will have to do things that are uncomfortable.

Fortunately for you, if you do them enough, then they too will become comfortable. Once your comfort zone expands, you can seek out even greater challenges, or expand your comfort zone in other directions.

My friends and I, the Sex Pirates, have taken on a lifelong pact with each other to push each other and demand excellence. One of the forms that this takes is issuing “dares,” (as long as they don’t intentionally hurt others in any way, hurt ourselves physically, or land us in jail) that we must all carry out.

If this sounds scary to you, then yes, you are normal. I was scared shitless when we brought this up. But, I knew that the Sex Pirates have my back and that we would be doing the dares to further our own growth, so I agreed.

Think back to your own life to the times when you were too scared to take action, in one form or another. These moments define the edges of your comfort zone. Once you’ve determined the boundaries, you can make small steps towards expanding them. All too often, people paralyze themselves by taking on goals that seem so insurmountable that they have no idea how to accomplish them.

Today, give your friend with similar goals $10. Pick one thing that lies just outside your comfort zone and do it ten times. Each time you do it, you get $1 back from your friend. Each person has different comfort zones, so you and your friend may have different goals. If you do this every day, I guarantee you will start to become more at ease and more relaxed.

Keep your eyes on this space for more reports about our adventures!

PS: This is such a huge topic that we will definitely be revisiting it in the future. To tide you over until then, here’s another video of my man K doing what we called the “awkward” mission. Enjoy.