Learn Strategy from David Bowie

In uncertain times would you rather be Justin Bieber or David Bowie?

Let's start with, what is the Justin Bieber strategy?

Targeting the mainstream by creating a product that appeals to the largest number of people now and repeating it as consistently as possible. This can be a great strategy, so long as the tastes of your audience don’t change.

What, then, is the David Bowie strategy?

Creating work that explores a niche that interests him, pushing it to a personal limit, and then moving to a new niche and reinventing himself. The potential audience for a particular version of David Bowie is smaller than the one for Justin Bieber at his peak but over time, as public tastes change, the audience for all versions of Bowie will grow… and sustain.

The Bowie strategy has a number of advantages. When your work reaches a smaller more specific group of people, they tend to connect more deeply with the work and become more loyal fans. Someone who becomes a fan of a version of Bowie will likely stay a fan for much longer than the fickle followers of more mainstream acts.

Bowie’s fans cover a wider range of people, people who have varied interest and participate in very different social groups. This means there is a greater chance that a new person could be introduced to Bowie. Then, if they look into his collection of work, it is more likely they will find something that appeals to them. The time that would turn a Justin Bieber into an irrelevancy or a joke only makes David Bowie MORE relevant.

So how can you take advantage of the David Bowie strategy?

1. Let your work explore what interests you, rather than chasing what’s popular now.
2. Don’t get stuck as a rerun. You don’t have to talk about what used to interest you or be who you used to be.
3. Find a way to keep the benefits of those past versions of you available. This is easiest when you create things, records or artifacts of your journey.

Never be ashamed of who you were but learn to get the most out of becoming someone new.

Patience and Emotional Control

Avoid jumping to conclusions...

Rash decision making and poor planning are byproducts of lack of patience and emotional control. The lack of emotional control is the cause and effect of lack of patience, where by definition you are too frustrated to see through to the next step or even the end product. Not a desirable trait in any strategist or leader...

Becoming More Present Minded and Worry Free.

Being More Present Minded in a Ever Changing World

Repetition can be disastrous, its important to take what you can use from the past and throw the useless stuff out. Conformity is the downfall of even the greatest strategists. In a world where circumstances always change, the idea of comfort can sometimes be debilitating at best. When you can forget the past and become more present minded you are able to make better decisions and recognize multiple possible outcomes.  

Goal Setting Phase 1: Idealizing.

Goal Setting Phase 1: Idealizing.

The first step is to idealize your alpha goals (top goal.) Get an idea of what type of changes have to be made in your life to accomplish this feat and sustain it. Anything is possible, but some thing's require more planning and "sub-goals" which can take up extra time.

A sub-goal is a goal which must be completed in order to move to the next step in reaching your alpha goal. For example, if your alpha goal is to own a vehicle, a sub-goal would be getting your drivers license or acquiring a job which would provide adequate funding for insurance and vehicle payments. 

It's important to research all the requirements of your alpha goal before setting out to complete it. If there are no requirements, then great, complete the task and move on to bigger and better things. But, in most cases, there are not a whole lot of useful shortcuts, using too many shortcuts can result in an outcome with multiple flaws. In the case of owning a vehicle, if you acquired the car before you get a job that can efficiently fund it, you could end up losing the car and any payments that you made on it, this can result in either having to start from scratch, or worse, loss of confidence, which can impair your ability to complete other goals.

This is why idealization is an important step in goal-chasing, reaching that goal will be much more beneficial to your confidence when you can honestly say that all of your foreseeable ends are covered. High confidence creates higher capabilities.

A. Choosing A Goal.

I will ask that you have a special notebook or planner to monitor your progress and stay focused on your goals, however any form of note taking will suffice, just ensure you are able to keep track of your notes in an orderly fashion, a cluttered notebook will only result in cluttered priorities.

The first step to coming into realization of the path that you want to follow is to choose what goals you want for your self. Start off with a simple goal statement. In your planner, write a brief statement explaining what you will achieve, do not say "I want," instead proclaim that "I will," it could be for something small or it could be something big, and you can include multiple goals. This will help in visualizing your goal and making them plausible to yourself, think of it as a binding contract or proclamation to yourself.

Eg. "I will have a vehicle and a steady relationship by this time next year."

It can be as simple as portrayed above, if you want you can get more into details about what you want. By proclaiming this to yourself you are lighting the candle which will guide you through the most haziest environments, many people are stuck procrastinating because they do not know what they want to do with their life. If you start off with simple goals and manage to achieve them, your confidence in your ability to succeed will sky rocket. This will open up many doors and opportunities that you never dreamed possible.

So make some goals and work towards them! anything is possible if you truly have faith in your abilities! 

-GB

The Key To A Stress Free Life Pt. 2.

The Key To A Stress Free Life Pt. 2.

Organized Life Equals a Balanced Life.

Another way to create balance in your life is to create healthy routines which work for your schedule, routines make it simpler to organize your day and be physically capable of completing tasks without feeling overwhelmed or fatigued. I know it seems a little bit hard to believe this is possible these days, in the age of technology, where people can call you, anytime/anywhere, last minute and hinder plans or create/change plans out of nowhere, but consistency and flexibility are the not so secret ingredients to an amazing life, even though we may feel swamped at the moment, in time you will notice major improvements, they may come quickly or slowly depending on your level of discipline, just believe the improvements are coming and with every improvement your discipline will improve as well, bringing better and quicker results into your lifestyle over time. 

A routine is defined as 'a set of customary and often mechanically performed procedures or activities.' There are two basic groups of routines, productive routines and unproductive routines.

Productive Routines
A productive routine (PR) would be any set of habits which can be conceived as beneficial for your health and lifestyle, it would be completed regularly without complaint, it is almost as mechanical as walking, but we must crawl before we can walk, just as we must develop the habits before we can develop a PR. Listed are some examples of healthy habits which will contribute to a productive routine and a balanced lifestyle.

• Exercising regularly.
• Cleaning your personal space (home or at work) often.
• Cooking your own food often (as opposed to eating take out all the time.)
• Paying bills as soon as possible.
• Avoid stressing the little stuff.

I personally believe that these are these most important habits to assist in creating a routine that is flexible and beneficial, but everyone has their own priorities and preferences. Make a list of habits you would like to develop in your planner or notebook and commit to them for at least a month, this is approximately the amount of time it is believed to take a "list of chores" and turn it into an everyday routine. You can always re-edit your habits to fit your ever changing lifestyle. We are constantly learning new things about ourselves, it is only natural that circumstances change for better or for worse and it is our job to change with it, hopefully for the better.

Unproductive Routines
Unproductive routines (UPR's) are the polar opposite of PR's, they are mechanically performed habits that can have long term or short term risks to your lifestyle or health. Often UPR's are found to be unhealthy, if your habit is to put off house chores for long periods of time, often the condition of the mess will get worse with age and seem more impossible to clean up, however if you cleaned up messes as soon as you create them, it would seem like the messes never existed. This could metaphorically apply to many UPR's, in time the bad habits that are consistent in the UPR will seem unavoidable and more difficult to correct over time. Listed are some bad habits that can create a UPR.

• Persistent alcohol consumption.
• Over indulging in fast food.
• Drug use.
• Over stressing.
• Ignoring house chores.
• Not paying bills on time.

These are a few of the habits that can contribute to a UPR though there are many more that can added. Make a list of your bad habits that you feel have no short or long term gain, leave space for each habit and write a brief idea how to overcome it. You will notice that many of the items on the list are common things that people do every day, the trick is to moderate these habits and turn them into just an occasional occurrence, you don't have to completely quit drinking or eating fast food if you don't want to, turn them into an event with your friends, you will enjoy the food and drinks more that way. If you want to completely erase them from your life that is totally doable as well, with the right amount of consistent will power. The best ways to overcome a bad habit is by replacing it with a good habit, it is difficult at first but over time it will seem like the counterproductive habit never existed, people will notice the change in you as well depending on the impact of the good habit.

We can all change, we shouldn't set barriers for ourselves because they will inevitably turn into blockades that we cannot pass. Always set goals and be willing to step out of your comfort zone if necessary. Our comfort zone is what binds us to our unhealthy lifestyles, with practice we can overcome these barriers and live the life we've always dreamed of!

-GB

Exercising and Your Lifestyle

Exercising and your Lifestyle

Exercise is something that we all need, the sooner we start and the more regularly we continue to do it, the more beneficial it will be to our lives. Exercising regularly can lead to many benefits to the body and mind, the most notable, in my opinion, are clear thinking, a healthy heart, raised self esteem, and just general happiness.

When we are happy we tend to gravitate more to a healthier lifestyle. Though it's not always the case, lack of exercise may lead to irregular weight gain/loss, lowered self esteem, and the many physical/mental ailments that follow, many North Americans experience this on a day to day basis, in many families in the US and Canada, television is used as a babysitter and fast food is used as a convenient energy source. Many people do not realize that they are suffering from lack of exercise. Exhaustion and lack of motivation are almost considered a regular part of daily life, it is usually written off as a symptom of depression.

If you could naturally beat depression and therefore feel more active and motivated, would you? I should hope so! I used to be highly unmotivated to do anything, since I've started exercising on a daily basis I am up and about well after my job until it is time to go to bed, I rarely need the "babysitting" from the television that most of us are subconsciously attached to. TV is not a bad thing, but the amount of time you spend watching it should be highly moderated.

To naturally beat depression we need to release a combination of chemicals in our brain that change the way we think and our outlook on life, the most notable chemical is called serotonin, the best way to release serotonin is through daily exercise, to prep our bodies for daily exercise we should be eating healthy non-greasy foods, there are plenty of great foods out there that do not require a deep fryer, many can be found using today's most valuable asset, the internet! Getting into the habit of making healthy food can be a great asset to your lifestyle and well being. The enjoyment of greasy and sugary foods should not be avoided completely, it should be saved for enjoyable experiences with friends and loved ones, this will make the food seem less important in your lifestyle because ideally you will be more into the intimacy then the food in front of you, eating this type of food while alone may result in addiction for that particular type of food when you are feeling down.

Exercise does not have to be grueling and time consuming if you don't want it to be, it can be as simple as a brisk walk, push ups/sit ups while watching television, taking the stairs instead of the elevators etc. be creative and make it as fun as possible! Once you can make exercising something that you truly enjoy, you can make it more challenging for better results! For exercising ideas, the internet is a great place to start, but do it in moderation and with consideration to your bodily limits, if you have any health problems consult with a physician before partaking in any strenuous activities, injuries will make exercising seem like a difficult chore, if we do not enjoy what we are doing we are prone to quitting easily.

Remember to always challenge your body and brain to keep it fit and healthy, you will be glad you did!

-GB

The Key To A Stress Free Life Pt. 1.

The Key To A Stress Free Life Pt. 1.

Principle Based Methods
The most important step to attaining a stress free life is creating emotional balance, you have to learn to prioritise between what is important and what is not so important using a principle based method, we will get into that later but first you must establish your moral principles. Your principles are your moral beliefs, a person with strong moral beliefs is often described as mature. It is a good idea to write your moral principles down in an easily accessible place like a journal or a planner and review them often, modifying them where necessary as we learn and continue to grow more mature.

Example list of moral principles:

1. Remember the people involved.
2. Defend those who are absent.
3. Maintain a positive attitude.
4. Keep a sense of humour.
5. Listen twice as much as you speak.
6. Be orderly in person and in work.
7. Be sincere yet decisive.
8. Do not fear mistakes - fear only the absence of creative, constructive, and corrective responses to those mistakes.
9. Be loyal to those who are loyal to you.
10. Never compromise with honesty.

A good way to establish your moral principles is to consider how you would like others to think of you, imagine somebody who you deeply respect giving a speech about you at your wedding, graduation party, or (unfavourably) at your funeral, what would you like them to say? Would you like them to say you had a lot of money and a lot of friends? Hopefully not. What you would most likely want them to say is that you're kind, loving, brave, mature etc. Write down what you would like to hear them say, think of different peoples opinions of you, only the opinions of people who respect you are important, for example your family members, your colleagues, friends etc. 

Now that you have a list of attributes that you would like to be known for, it's time to start implementing them and creating goals to working towards them, all your moves should be designed so that they follow your moral principles or your "moral compass." Your moral compass will not steer you wrong if your principles are correct, decision making will become easier with practise. As a result you will not feel stressed when faced with adversity, you will check your moral compass and deal with the situation appropriately.