Tim Ferriss

Business Meets Soggy Cereal

Garth Beyer

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A friend of mine purposefully waits for her cereal to get soggy. Now, the way my mind works, I couldn’t help but relate it to businesses. Sure, some people love their cereal soggy, they love that a business is still there even after it gets drowned (e.g., by the economy, by critics, by amazon reviews).

This is fine, I don’t judge her for enjoying her soggy cereal or when people buy clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch. Nor do I judge those who only want the crisp, new; the top of the line crunch and taste of just-poured cereal or fresh creative clothing.

The real problem (aside from milk pouring down your chin when you take a bite) is that cereal gets soggy. Cereal will always get soggy.

You can fight it by putting less milk in the bowl, by dividing the cereal inside the bowl, or by eating the cereal fast, but always, every cereal gets soggy.

Or you can leave your business to run itself and go create a new type of cereal.

 

Stay Positive & I’ve Never Seen Cereal Get Unsoggy

Garth E. Beyer

Photo credit

Top Blogs And Blog Posts (2012)

Garth Beyer

These are the top 5 blog posts in the sense of the number of views.

These are the top 5 blog posts of my choice and popularity.

These are the top 5 blogs I kept up with throughout the year. Admittingly, Seth Godin’s is the only one that I read nearly every single blog post from. The other blogs I stop by every week or two.

Figuring It Out On Your Own

Garth Beyer

Sorry Tim Ferriss. Sorry Michael Ellsberg. Sorry to countless of thousands of other people who made a map to success. Sorry to everyone who made a strategy, a game-plan, a step by step process to reach any goal.

Flipping through a folder of all my projects, I came across a printed out version of Tim Ferriss’s/Michael Ellsberg’s blog post 8 Steps to Getting What You Want… Without Formal Credentials. Basically Ellsberg covers the present circumstances of degree required positions and how to get them without a degree; basically referrals. Knowing people who know people.

He communicates that employers require skills, not degrees and it’s up to you to show you have the skills by “creating your own damn credentials”. After giving all the background information and the reality of becoming successful without a degree, he challenges you to follow his 8 step process. Here they are. (View the full post here)

Step 1: Choose Your New Field of Learning

Step 2: Showcase Your Learning

Step 3: Learn the Basics of Good Networking

Step 4: Within Your Budding Social Economy, Start Working for Free

Step 5: Develop Case Studies of Your Work

Step 6: Develop Relationships With Mentors

Step 7: Learn Sales

Step 8: Sell and Deliver your Services Within Your Social Economy

Reading through all of his steps, they will definitely work. I’ve experienced each one of his steps, in my own way of course, and the results are tried and true. The thing is I read this blog post over a year ago. I read it a few times actually, and never implemented it directly. I didn’t sit down and take it step by step to get where I am today. Maybe if I had then I would be much more successful. I’m not. I’m happy though and I have a lot more real experience and attachment to the journey I’ve taken to get where I am.

See, these 8 steps are just one game-plan in a billion. Think of all the different phrases you can search in Google to find step-by-step procedures on how to become successful, how to get noticed, how to monetize something, how to reach a goal, how to become a real artist in your trade. There are billions of proven plans.

Yet, we don’t take them.
Some part of me thinks that Ellsberg even knows this but still puts out a book of how to become successful without a formal education. We desire to know and that makes him and countless others a profit. However, and what I find most fascinating, is that we desire to figure it out on our own much more. We simply learn and practice certain segments of all these game-plans until we create one ourselves and it’s successful. Then we write a book about it, preach it, and sell it to others. In turn, they do the same thing.

Following the plan doesn’t make progress, creating an entirely new one does.

 

Stay Positive & Do What Works … For You

Garth E. Beyer

Paulo Coelho: How I write. Reader: How Do You Write?

Garth Beyer

Paulo Coelho 2010

Less then a week ago I finished The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It was serendipitous when I checked Tim Ferriss’s blog and saw his post: Paulo Coelho: How I Write

I have since followed Paulo on Facebook and Twitter and am continually inspired and ignited with a worldly creative vibe. I thought, as writer to writer’s, I would re-blog Tim’s post and offer my own advice. In doing so, I hope to set a chain reaction off for other readers and writers that admire Paulo’s writing and style to give their input. I want to read the answers to the questions below from other people because I know that if they are followers of Paulo or Tim, then I know they are destined for some unnatural form of significance. Directly below is the recording of Paulo answering the questions that follow the recording.

If the recording does not show up for you, follow this link

From Tim Ferriss’s blog: I will answer the interview questions.

– When on deadline, what is the first thing you do in the morning? What does your daily schedule look like? Do you take any days off, and what determines if you’ve had a “successful” writing day?

Garth:
Work is what I do months before a deadline and days right before it. Writing for entertainment is what occupies my time in between. In this sense, I am clearly stating that I love to have things accomplished far before a deadline. So the work I do months before the deadline is the collaboration of ideas, organization and understanding of my focus and goals for what I am writing. The work I do the few days before the deadline is when I blow the readers mind. I have always said that I work best under pressure and it still stands true. Stress for me, opens up this sector of imagination in my brain that nothing else will unlock. As for the time in between these fragments, this is when I write creatively for various segments of my overall project. To break it down,

A daily schedule months before the deadline: Waking up and eating a healthy breakfast at the computer as I do research before my writing. Then I go to my “I’d rather be writing” job where I brainstorm and take notes that pop into my mind. As soon as work is finished I am back at the computer working endlessly on planning, set up and having a lot of free writing sessions. I’ll typically exercise at least 6 days a week for a break from staring at the computer monitor and restarting the system.

A daily schedule in between the start and deadline: Waking up and eating healthy breakfast, light music, reading some blog posts and then some fiction. Going to my “I’d rather be writing job” and relaxing, not specifically focusing on the writing task. This is when I start to have more wonderful life experiences that I could incorporate into my writing and I write when the vibe is highest and the flow as unstoppable.

A daily schedule days before the deadline: Wake up and write, eat, write, work, write, eat, write, exercise, write, write, and write. Some of my strongest writing is written very late at night while I am flowing between the dream world and reality. I will have a post out on this particular topic within a few days.

To me, a successful day of writing occurs in two ways. The first is when I have written 5 or more segments, or chapters if you will. The second form of success is when I spend an hour and a half creating one of the greatest segments of the overall project and the rest of the day is left to churn new concepts and experience life to inspire new ideas for future segments.

I have to be half-corn-half-cheese and say that I do not take any days off. I am known for always carrying a book and a notebook around with me everywhere I go. I look for ideas to write about in everything I do.

– How do you capture ideas that might be helpful in your writing? These days, what software and tools do you use for writing?

Garth:

On the go, I use a notepad on my phone.

At any events or meetings, I bring my journal to write in.

When I am at the computer, I have a word document always open to write in, I call it “Infinity Works”.

At work or any other place, I write on sticky notes or whatever it is I can find.

I have tried phone apps, and software help like Evernote but none of them seem to satisfy me. I like to keep it all simple and easily able to manipulate my writing.

– How much of your books do you visualize/outline upfront vs. writing organically piece-by-piece? In other words, how much of the story arc have you decided before you start writing?

Garth:

As stated before, I visualize the organization and types of stories and points I want to incorporate into my work, but the segments themselves, I write organically based off the idea I set for it. The greatest part about writing this way is that it allows you to maintain an open mind for fresh ideas. Imagine writing something that has been completely thought out. How do you expect to create additional originality?

– What are the most common mistakes that you see first-time novelists making? Most common weaknesses?

Garth:

Since I am a first-time novelist, I can only speak for myself. One of the most common mistakes I began making was that I would critique myself over and over in order to write what I know the audience would want to read instead of finding a balance between what it is the audience wants to read and what the audience could read and feel my passion inside each word.

– Do you base your characters on real people? Why or why not? If not, how do you develop those characters?

Garth:

Whether we realize it or not, what we write is based off our experiences. So either our characters are based off of real people directly, or they are based off parts of real people that we have come in contact with in our lives. Personally, I air on the non-fictional side of people because I want people to make connections to my fictional characters and think to themselves how similar the character is to someone they know.

– What are the 2-3 things you personally find most invigorating or helpful when you’re stuck or feel stagnated with writing/ideas? Do you have a team of any type (researchers, etc.) who help you?

Garth:

There are three tactics I take until I stop for the day and wait for the next to continue writing. The first is to have music on. Currently it is “And Then There Were None” that I can listen to and for some reason, it increases my energy, doubles my positive aura and triples my creative thinking process. I think it’s a great idea to find some music that can get you motivated and that will create a barrier by preventing any distracting thoughts to come in. By having music on, your mind is taking up only the music you are listening to and the focus you have on your writing. Without the music you are subject to random thoughts, any noise distractions and you are no longer forced to focus harder on your writing.  The second tactic is exercise, for some this could be confused with cleaning, which may or may not be a good thing. Regardless, there is nothing like burning your physical energy to leave the majority of your mind to focus. After a workout, you are too tired to want to do anything else but sit down, so you might as well write! Tim, I am sure would second that. The third tactic is to read some fiction that relates to the topic you are stuck on. Get an idea of what others think, even if it does not help with your particular writers block, it will create ideas for future segments, thus preventing future stagnation.

Re-Blog This

and post your own answers. Make sure to add credit to the source where you read this below in the “Credit” section with a link. If everything goes as I hope and will continue to push for, we will have twitter interactions in no time discussing the different ways we write that beginners can view and connect with writers that sync the best with them. This is as much about Tim, Paulo, Me, You and the millions of other writers in the world.

Stay Positive and Share For The Other Writers Seeking Advice

Garth E. Beyer

Credit

Credit for the interview and basis of this post goes to Tim Ferriss. After reading one post, you will without a doubt be checking Tim’s website daily waiting for the next.

Thank you to Paulo for sharing his personal expertise and enlightening us with fascinating posts at Paulo Coelho’s Blog

Garth’s Style of Living the 4-Hour Body and Becoming Superhuman

Garth Beyer

Reading Time:  6 min

“How do you become more productive?”

“Richard Branson leaned back and thought for a second…Twenty people sat around him at rapt attention, wondering what a billionaire’s answer would be to one of the big questions — perhaps the biggest question — of business…Then he broke the silence: ‘Work Out.'”

Tim Ferriss has become a hero of mine after I heard his name mentioned at a business workshop. I read the 4 hour work week and if you recall my post for my first Toastmasters speech, I mentioned he was one of the top 5 influencers in my life. Recently, I have been recalling tips and strategies from the 4-Hour Body “An Uncommon Guide To Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman”. Only after taking Tim’s challenge of making myself the experiment, did I learn a few more things that will help you on your way through incorporating the advice in the book, in your life. I call it the 4.5-Hour Body since the lessons will add on some time to the experiment, but will also add on the results.

Cracking The Harajuku Moment

Tim starts by saying there is no point in following the advice in his book until you have your Harajuku Moment: The epiphany that turns a nice-to-have into a must-have.

I am positive that I have not been the only one to start following Tim’s tips without a Harajuku moment. So how did I follow through when so many others failed to receive results for lack of their Harajuku moment?

The Harajuku Moment[s]

Ever since I had mononucleosis in 5th grade when I lost all my baby fat and plenty more of  my muscle, I have been called skinny by almost everyone I meet.

In middle school, I lost nearly every arm wrestling match I had with my friends.

During high school basketball, I never wanted to take my shirt off because of my paleness, skinniness and bacne.

After meeting a girl, I couldn’t have any other guy able to ‘take me’.

So far, these are the biggest moments that have motivated me to truly follow Tim’s advice in his book the 4-hour Body to become super human. The reason why I could follow through while so few others without a Harajuku moment could was that I had Harajuku moment[s] throughout my life.

However, I agree that having a Harajuku moment will amp up the results tenfold. Nothing could have gotten me as motivated to make larger improvements then when

Someone once important to me said she would like me to gain some more weight and lean muscle.

While she meant it in a positive way, in my mind I could only think “She thinks I’m skinny and weak.” This alone may not have gotten me to make vast changes, but it was the cherry on top of all the other layers of degradation I have received throughout the years.

To crack the Harajuku moment, write a list of all the past smaller moments.

Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector’s passion borders on the chaos of memories

Photos

The more you begin to do things after your Harajuku Moment(s), the more you will wish you had taken photos. Tim says, “The fastest way to correct a behavior is to be aware of it in real-time, not after-the-fact.”

Reminder: Take direct photos in the same light and same area every time. You will have an incredibly hard time seeing the relationship between your photos if you do not follow this advice. There is a reason I don’t have before and after pictures.

What Tim failed to mention was the mental battle that goes along with it (both in real-time AND after-the-fact). When taking picture, you have to keep seeing what you want, instead of focusing in on what is. Especially when “what is”, is a lack of results or even a backtrack. The reason I pushed through was that I looked at the photo process the same as the Slow-Carb diet/binge day process. During the diet, it’s typical to gain up to 5 pounds after binge day but it will go back down even further than when it spiked up. I had to take this mental attitude toward the photos. If I did not see progress or saw my body showing the opposite direction I wanted, I had to remind myself that this was a process and my body is going to have its ups and downs – it’s the end result that matters and that is what you need to continuously focus on.

And the results after only two weeks are incredible.

Measurement + A Bit of Competition = Motivation

By the time you view this post, I am going to expect that you know that what can’t be measured, can’t be managed.

Beginning Estimate:

16% body-fat according to the reference pictures in the book.

Neck: 14 inches

Chest: 35.5 inches

Waist: 31.5 inches

Hips: 37 inches

Thighs: 21.5 inches

Calves: 15 inches

Biceps: 11 inches.

Weight: 165 pounds.

My most recent measurement will be found at the end.

Like the majority of people, I feel that I have an average amount of competition adrenaline. Competition streams in all of our veins, some more than others because they have learned to harness it to become Superhuman. While I had the competition of wanting to be bigger and better than my friends, my biggest challenge was that my roommate was also doing the diet and I knew that she was going after pure and noticeable results. I found my real competition. My point: When you don’t have competition, make it.

The Slow-Carb Diet

is only hard if you don’t like to cook (like me). Realize that I said “don’t like”, not “don’t know how”. Lucky for me, I left it up to my roommate to control the Slow-Carb diet and cook the majority of the meals.

The fact that there are so few things you can eat makes cooking and making meals easy. Actually, the diet might even add an extra hour a day to your schedule. While you have to be creative when you cook, you don’t have to spend so much time cooking. The meals required for the Slow-Carb diet can be made for a week in one day.

A Precaution to Air-Squats

Stretch before you do them.

I went into the bathroom at work to perform my squats and slightly pulled my hamstring because I had been sitting for most of the morning. Just because air-squats are a very light form of exercise, stretching beforehand is still vital. (Clearly).

How To Cheat Out Of Ice Baths

If you are like me, you won’t take ice baths. A quick tip to avoid them but still get the results – take up the 4 Hour Body challenge during the winter.

Instead of ice baths, I wore less layers and let my body feel the cold without tipping the point of getting the flu – which the Slow-Carb diet and exercise will work to prevent anyways. Want to lose weight and save money? Leave the heat off in your home, make your body work to keep itself warm by burning fat. These two steps take care of the outside of your body. Now, add only drinking ice water to the list and you have yourself roughly the same results as taking an ice bath if not better results.

The Caliber Test

My roommate surprised me by ordering a Caliber device off  the internet so that we could more accurately know our body fat percentage. You will recall that I was at an estimated 16% body fat according to the reference pictures Tim provided in his book. She got the Caliber around a week and a half  after we began the diet. Did I get from 16% to the 8.3% that the Caliber said I was at? We will never know for certain. Given that I could have been off by 5% in my beginning estimations and the fact that the Calibers can be off by much higher than 5% who knows the true improvement.

The reason I bring this up is to suggest to you to not measure your body fat percentage unless you want to do it for fun or expect to make drastic results. I was often referenced as skinny, so you can expect that I did not have much body fat to lose. When I mentioned the importance of measurements, it is best to know that it is even more important to have very accurate measurements.

Kettle-Ball Swing

is much more of a workout than you will first expect. Start off with a light weight and work your way up slowly.

Dead-lifts Suck For Some

Mainly people with past back problems. If you have had any previous back issues, start doing dead-lifts without any weights. To prepare yourself for the intensity and the extreme results of dead-lifts you can try these real simple back exercises and really focus on your core strength. In addition, kettle ball swings are perfect for preparing every muscle in your body for dead-lifts.

The Vertical Jump

I increased my jump by almost 5 inches by following the tips. The advice also allowed me to almost jump onto a 5 foot high box at Gymfinity during Parkour training.

Sleep Is For The Weak, Sleep is For The Strong

I always say sleep is for the weak because I am up late every night writing, researching, working and living the success journey. It’s sad that there are more people out there that want sleep more than they want to be successful. Thanks to the 4-Hour Body, I am now able to sleep even less and have more energy. I now understand my REM cycle and the other sleeping lessons Tim shared. As a result, I would like to revert my statement. Sleep is not for the weak, Sleep is for the strong. It is for the strong because I know that those who get the most done and accomplish the most each day sleep the best without the need to sleep the longest and they will be more successful than everyone else.

The Best way to predict the future is to invent it – Alan Kay

Beginning Measurements>>>> Most Recent Measurements

16% body-fat according to the reference pictures in the book.   >>>> 7% body-fat according to caliber

Neck: 14 inches  >>>> 14 inches

Chest: 35.5 inches   >>>> 36 inches

Waist: 31.5 inches   >>>> 31.5 inches

Hips: 37 inches    >>>> 38 inches

Thighs: 21.5 inches   >>>> 21.5 inches

Calves: 15 inches   >>>>> 15 inches

Biceps 11 inches.    >>>>> 11 inches

Weight 165 pounds.    >>>> 154 pounds

Notice how almost all of my measurements stayed the same, but I lost 11 pounds. The 4 Hour Body technique allows you to cut the fat but keep the muscle. Uniquely for me, my loss of fat was at a equal relationship with the gain of muscle. Now it’s time to really kick up the muscle gain.

Stay Positive and Experimental

Garth E. Beyer