Mind Wide Open by Steven Johnson was an OK book. The author seems to make an attempt to understand his own brain using actual modern day technology and methods. I underline "actual" because some people consider things like neural beats, music and tones designed to make you experience a certain state of mind, like being on drugs, as modern brain technology.
Johnson uses techniques like; bioneural feedback, MRI & fMRI scans, trance, hypnosis, meditation, etc. Apart from being a somewhat interesting journey, the book is more like a diary. Although I will say the author wrote it in a very organized matter, which matters a lot to my book reading experience.
Wealth.... again?
Today I'd like to take the opportunity to clarify what wealth is exactly. Although on this blog I do focus on building financial wealth, there are many other ways to build wealth that do not require large capital or experience.
1. Gain experience. Obviously, this is one of the most efficient ways to build wealth. if you can show a potential employer that you've got a lot of experience, you'll have more of an advantage than your less experience colleagues. Even if you can't exactly prove this experience through traditional means, if you can explain your experience, that is very valuable!
How does one gain experience? Start! Start anywhere! Don't know what you want to do with your life?? GUESS!!! Too many people waste years away because they "don't know what I want to do with my life yet"-- I always respond, "what have you tried??" Needless to say their responses don't warrant "trying".
Like reading? Try becoming a book critique! Enjoy food? Be a cook/chef!! Perhaps a nutritionist! Do anything, try anything. Don't just wait until it "comes" to you-- it won't.
2. Network. We've all heard the story of how Johnny from up the block knew nothing about mechanics but was friends with someone who worked in Tesla and was therefore recruited and now works on the head assembly line inputing valuable opinion. How does this happen? By knowing people. Connecting and knowing many different people allows you to be exposed to opportunities before they are presented to the masses. A company would much rather hire someone that they know, or someone that someone in the company knows of, than a random Joe from the street.
I read an article on Flipboard the other day that people are more likely to like you if they do favors for you. .... WHAT?!? Yep!! You read that right; get people to do favors for you and they will like you, more! Of course there is a threshold there, so don't push it. Why does this happen? I have no idea. Exploit it!!!
3. Read, read and read some more. The reason I have reading as one of my goals is because reading is the one surefire, free, highly accessible way to gain knowledge and wisdom. If you don't choose any of these to start doing today, do this one!!!! Read! Read anything! Eventually your tastes will become more refined and you'll know what books to look out for.
1. As winter comes to it's climax, the weather and temperature has followed suit. The roofing materials require a temperature of 35 degrees or more before being applied. It's been a study 25 below, so I haven't been able to get out there. Plus, it's a bit too cold to tear up the wood flooring so I'm just gonna wait till it warms up a bit, preferably above 35.
2. I've decided to change my goal of ASL development to career development as I am starting to see more and more how I do not want my interpreting job to become a long-term career.
So, what does this goal entail? Not sure yet. I think to be on the lookout for what I'd like to do as a career. Right now I'm considering a couple of options; entrepreneur, musician, investor, technology/programming/coding.
3. As mentioned before, I finished the book I started yesterday and have begun a new book called Millionaire Before Thirty by Douglas, Aaron and Emron Andrew. I saw plenty of good reviews on this book so I'm excited!!
4. I've slowly but surely been learning some important things about investing.
#1- generally invest for the long term. Many people attempt to beat the stock market but studies have shown that more than 80% fail at it. Could I be part of that 20%? Perhaps with more experience. As of right now, the most I can do is learn and invest smart.
#2- investing young is the best way to ensure a wealthy future. I'm young, so I have that going for me :)
#3- look for low cost trading platforms. Luckily for me, Robinhood charges $0 per trade.
5. I've had to dramatically change my goal of learning electricity to learning about career and job development. The reason for this is because my current job is not giving me job satisfaction. I don't feel like I'm using my full potential for my job and it's causing some depression and difficulties sleeping.
So, what have I learned? The most important thing is that I need to just try a career. If I don't like it, move on. I'm waiting until we finish building the house before I try new careers-- we need a good amount of money still to finish.
6. Piano playing has been going really well so far. I'm committed at least 30min a day to practicing, and it's starting to pay off a bit. I'm learning songs like Coldplay's "Clocks" and the Mario theme song. It's really fun, I gotta say. I can't wait till I can write my own music!
7. I am also proud to say that I've kept up with my 30min cardio x2 per week goal. Yes, this is an easy goal, but that's the point. I start off so easy that it's impossible to fail (a lesson learned from the book The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg).
I've eliminated some of the other goals that I had because I realized I was too overwhelmed with all of them and I wasn't given my full, honest effort into developing them. So, I ratcheted them down a bit and will begin giving 100% effort to the goals I have now. We will see how I do :)
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