"When you do what you fear most, then you can do anything.”
The above quote is by Stephen Richards, a well known author. I like this quote because it accurately describes how I feel about life and what I'm constantly trying to get myself to do; overcome fear.
There are plenty of things I'm afraid of (like the dark, yes, I'm afraid of the dark), but there are also many fears I've overcome (like my fear of meeting new people, although I still get nervous).
Currently I'm reading a new book called "The Defining Decades" by Meg Jay. But before I discuss this book, I want to discuss the book I just finished, "The Mind Trip".
The Mind Trip was an excellent book, very well written. The book was about consciousness, and how we can use science to accurately describe what the heck it is and what it's used for. I learned tons reading this book.
For example, one things I learned was that there are many states of consciousness, not just 2-3 that most of us are accustomed to. Of course, there is the waking consciousness where we are relaxed, perhaps watching a movie, then there is sleep and that's where it stops for most people. But there's actually another state of consciousness where one is super focused, meditating, in a trance, hypnotized, etc. The author breaks down consciousness beautiful and very scientifically. Don't worry, this book is 99% science based (the 1% or so that isn't, still is back by science).
The author keeps it scientific and specific yet uses a lot of light humor to keep the reading somewhat quick, although don't expect to finish this book quickly. I finished it in 3 days because it was extremely technical in parts and I can't just scan over technical words... yet. ;)
The Defining Decades has so far been a very good book. The author talks about the 20's (specifically, the age range 20-29) and how they are an extremely important growth period that many people don't take seriously. Her main focus is the generation popularly called the 'Millennials'. Millennials are the generation after the baby boomers, and before the generation of 'Toddler Technology', as I like to call it, a period where younger and younger kids (aged 4-8) are growing up with technology like cell phones and laptops.
Millennials have had the good fortune of seeing first hand what its like to sacrifice one's youth for job growth. We also are fortunate to see what happens when you dedicate your life to a job you don't really like. We are often called the 'in-between generation'; in between career success, 401k's and an unhappy life & technology taking over our lives. We didn't grow up with Facebook, although we did see it's birth.
The author so far has been detailing stories about how many "twentysomething" year olds say they don't know what they want in life but in reality, they are afraid to make choices. That's an interesting concept to me because I've never had problems defining what I wanted until I realized it's because I often times avoid making big decisions like that. I've got some figurin' to do.
1. Neither the fire place nor the roofing materials have arrived, but I'm not too worried. This is right in the middle of normal holiday shipping... it may take a while.
2. Everything on professional development has been going swell so far... although I find that my patience is less "trained" than I'm comfortable with. I find myself getting annoyed/angry at clients/consumes who are not understanding what's going on, not because of me or the content but because they aren't paying attention (you can tell).
3. I've got 3 books in transit to the local library so that when I finish the book I started today (which should be tomorrow), I'll be ready for the next book :) We'll see if I can stay on top of this.
4. I'm still 'up' in my Robinhood account (about 8%!) and I've officially had my funds transferred to Lending Club. The notes won't be dispersed for a little while I assume, since each note is $25, I have to wait for the entire loan to be funded before I see any return (some loans are $3,000, and if you divide that $25 notes, I have to wait for less than 120 people to fund the loan before it starts... whew). The site came recommended by Mr. Money Mustache (mentioned in an earlier post).
5. I've sort of veered off the electricity track and have gone back to studying investment techniques. Studying investment techniques isn't bad!, although it isn't what I planned. I need to train my mind to stick on one topic at a time until I officially decide it's time to switch topics. I'll attempt to go back to studying electricity and report back what I learn.
6. At this point I'm on track to reading >3 books a week, which is right where I want to be. I'll start the difficult part of this path by adding another characteristic I want to improve on while not letting my Speed characteristic falter.
I've decided my next characteristic will be Networking. This will be defined as meeting someone new a week, and that will be defined as getting to know them somewhat well and perhaps on a texting basis.
7. If you didn't notice, I forgot to put piano on #3 because I haven't been practicing it lately. I'm learning the hard way the difficult process of continuity and commitment to a skill. I still want to learn how to play it but I have been tired recently (since I've been working nights) and haven't felt the same drive.
Hopefully I'll get off working nights and be able to resume my piano playing.
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