Brain Improvement

The Pen And Journal

Garth Beyer

Always, always carry a pen and journal with you.

Then you will never have the one that got away experience.

The idea, the girl, the license plate number, whatever it may be.

If you are a writer, you may understand more so, heck, you may even be wondering why the hell I was walking around without a pen and journal in the first place. The journal and the pen are vehicles, they are your confidence, they are everything necessary to making honest and accountable progression in your life.

 

Stay Positive & You Never Know When You Will Need Them … But I Guarantee There Will Be A Time That You Do

Garth E. Beyer

Women Writers

Garth Beyer

truly know what they are doing. In light of my Women in Literature class I am taking and my rediscovery of a particular page in Keri Smith’s Living Out Loud, I’d like to share Keri’s 10 characteristics of women writers.

Oh yea, and don’t make fun of me for having the book. I had no clue it was created primarily for women when I got it!

 

1. A passion for nature.

2. A connection with something greater than themselves.

3. A connection with childhood memories.

4. A connection to other artists, writers, and creators,

5. A sharing of ideas and inspiration: creative gatherings, dinners, support groups, café meetings, letter writing, afternoon teas.

6. A need for, and confidence in, solitude.

7. A capacity for self-motivation: inspiring walks, travel, learning new skills, reading, cooking, exploring.

8. An experience of pain, and the triumph of moving beyond it to create a well of strength.

9. A gift of mindfulness and an ability to see magic in the ordinary.

10. An experience of gratefulness and compassion for all the good things and people in their lives.

 

But then again, I wouldn’t have been able to share this with you if I hadn’t.

 

Stay Positive & Having Passion Is Always More Beautiful Than Makeup

Garth E. Beyer

Motivated Teenagers, This Is For You. (Because My Parents Never Showed Me)

Garth Beyer

We’re emotional human beings, we feel disappointment, sorrow, sympathy, false hope, regret, and a bit of anger.

However, for the sake of what I am about to share with you, let’s be on the same page. Sure, we as teenagers are emotional, but in an extremely different way from the average person. We teenagers are emotional in the sense that we are meant for more than what we are currently doing. We aren’t feeling challenged and it sucks. It hits us emotionally. School is easy and homework is even easier. Making friends is easy and connecting with strangers is even easier. Chores are easy and making money is even easier … the list goes on. Things just come easy to us, likely because we work for it, but that is only part of the point. Being blatant, we are gifted individuals.

I’m turning 20 in November and I’ve recently come across an opportunity so-very-close to perfect for teenagers who have fire in their belly, a passion for improvement, and a motivation to be successful. You have probably not heard of the Thiel Fellowship and like I said, I had just found out about it the the other day. Greatly interested, I submitted my email address to be notified when the next application process for the Fellowship would begin (sometime this fall).

The Fellowship: When you apply for the Thiel Fellowship, you are applying to be part of a handpicked group of teenagers who will be given $100,000 NOT TO GO TO SCHOOL for two years and to work on turning their ideas (business’s, inventions, software, etc.,) into reality.

Now here is the kicker. Only people age 19 and under can enter the Fellowship. I would just be turning 20 when the application process opens so I am SOL. Why is this so important for you? If you haven’t already Googled it, let me tell you in the shortest version.

This is your chance to live your dreams of “If only I had the money.” The Thiel Fellowship says, “here, let me give you all the resources you need: money, mentors, like-minded people, tools, resources, everything.” They take away the excuses that prevent you from doing the emotional labor of creating something you believe in. This is your opportunity to quit being emotionally frustrated with your life and be emotionally passionate about it instead… all before the age of 20.

So you may be wondering if you should apply or not. I have a simple solution for you. Answer this question: Do you have a passionate drive to make the world a better place? If yes, then apply.

 

I don’t blame my parents for not showing me an opportunity like this while I was still able to apply, but I would blame myself if I didn’t compensate for it by not showing you.

For information and the application, visit the Thiel Fellowship.

If you decide to apply, send me an email, let me know your thoughts. I would be more than happy to dedicate time, resources, and an extra bit of passion to your work.

 

Stay Positive & Go After It

Garth E. Beyer ( thegarthbox@gmail.com )

The Moment Your Work Becomes Easy

Garth Beyer

It means that you are playing it safe, that you have gotten comfortable.

Yes, you can be painting 25 portraits a week, writing 11 hours a day, starting a new business every 13 months and that is A LOT to do. But if it’s easy, if it has become habit, a routine that you know you have to do and you do it half-consciously, then it loses its meaning.

The saying goes that if you aren’t getting better, you are getting worse. There are millions of artists, writers and entrepreneurs painting one more portrait than you, writing for one more hour than you, and starting one more business than you. The experience they get from doing just a bit more trumps you considerably. 

By being “trumped”, I mean, you’re fired and they’re hired. All because you quit pushing yourself and increasing the difficulty level.

— I’ve written every day, typically winding up publishing what I write. I also have a steady writing/editing job. On the side, I write in every category of writing words will stay and force the words where they wont stay just for experience. But it’s gotten easy. It’s natural for me to type anywhere from 300 – 3,000 words a day whether they are worth a damn or not. I think I may be standing still. —

And when that happens, when you stand still, when it becomes easy, there are two choices: settle a stay comfortable or do more, work harder, experience extra, invite challenges, and not go one mile further but aim for 10, 20, 30 miles ahead.

By the way, if you aren’t willing to run/paint/write/create/etc. more than you are now, drop out and find what will never be easy for you. Being comfortable and having your routine means that you are standing still.

And if you click the link, you know what I say: People die standing still.

 

Stay Positive & Aggrandize Your Passion

Garth E. Beyer

What Is It That Drives Your Motivation?

Garth Beyer

Dear Garth,

I have been engaged in a series of processes, trials and tribulations in enacting a major lifestyle change, choosing to best emulate my thoughts and emotive responses in a physical manner. I find the faith in human ambition frighteningly low amongst many of my peers and I have a pressing question on my mind, as a friend. What is it that drives your motivation? You are perhaps one of the most influential and inspiring people that I have come to know and even the slightest of conversation on the question would be unfathomably appreciated. As always, I feverently wish you the best and I hope to talk to you soon. Feel free to respond at your leisure, I understand you are a busy man!

With the out most sincerity,
Seeker (maybe not so obviously not the real name)

 

Dearest Seeker,

If you are willing, I can offer even better assistance if I had more background knowledge on what has produced this current state of mind and tribulation.

However, I will still go ahead and explain a few theories of mine. Please note that I have made these realizations after much mind-ache and set backs, but I believe these are the golden nuggets of the little wisdom I have.

1. This is the most complicated one, so I thought I would put it first. You have to choose not to have a choice in whether you can be motivated or not be, whether you will kick out your to-do list or not, whether you can sleep in or not.

When people have a choice, it’s easy to choose the easy route, follow the status-quo, and do little. If you revoke this choice upon yourself (don’t feel that I am suggesting a dictatorship of humankind, only YOU have control of yourself, that is was I am aiming at)… as I was saying; If you revoke this choice upon yourself then “getting **** done” so-to-speak is not an option, it’s a life style.

2. There are two hard parts in the process of being motivated. The first is getting started. Starting an addiction that isn’t based on nicotine is as difficult as stopping an addiction that is. It’s going to suck and your life is going to try and reject your pursuit. I can’t tell you how many times I got headaches, sick, and all symptoms of sleep deprivation from trying to wake up earlier to write or stay up later to write. My understanding is the more times you bounce right back after getting knocked down, the more durable you become. It’s like building calluses around your passion.

The second hardest part I have come to find is what I call “the last 3,000 words”. It is gathering that positive mindset that starting and writing the first 32 thousand words will be easy and if you are going to believe that any part of it is going to be hard, let yourself believe the last 3,000 words will be the hard part (your goal is obviously 35,000 words). The reason being is that naturally we want to have reasons to stop, to not finish, to fold and throw down the towel. Too many people think the first 3,000 words are hard, or that halfway through, it will be too difficult, so they quit early. Fight that feeling. Imagine the last 3,000 being more difficult than everything else added up. The reason being is that when you go that far, when you get to 32 thousand words, the last 3,000 are easy, they always are and you will never quit that far into the game.

3. This one is simple. You have to fall in love with shipping. Shipping a product, shipping a song, shipping an idea, shipping a poem. Whatever it is, find a way to ship something everyday, fully completely finish something every day and give it to someone, share it, spread it. Once you start to ship, you can’t help but fall in love with it, so just keep shipping.

— I hope this helped and I look forward to discussing any matter further with you. I am never too busy for a friend.

Alas, reading over your request I fear that I may have neglected to answer your question specifically. You ask, “What is it that drives your motivation?”

To answer that question, it is my desired combination of selflessness and selfishness. I want as phenomenal of a life as possible, but I refuse to be the only one. The more happy I can make others, the more motivated I make others, the more I love others, the more happy, motivated and loved I can be.

With hope that I inspired,
– Garth E. Beyer

 

Stay Positive & Fearless: to ask, to try, to ship…

Garth E. Beyer

This Week’s To-Do List

Garth Beyer
  • Never stop improving
  • Learn the power of participative leadership
  • Share better choices
  • Have a position and support it
  • Anticipate counterarguments
  • Play the game differently
  • Motivate yourself with competition
  • Command the lectern
  • Collect feedback on your current project
  • If you don’t have a project, start one
  • Shine under scrutiny
  • Practice civility
  • Isolate your problems
  • Formulate workable solutions
  • Speak to the heart, with logic, with authority
  • Connect the audience with each other
  • Create prior credibility
  • Forget the “next big thing”
  • Adapt your story to the listener
  • Make buying less risky
  • Create momentum
  • Prepare dynamic meetings
  • Speak to outside groups
  • Value you
  • Keep your edge
  • Express your inner entrepreneur early
  • Embrace problems creatively
  • Pursue passion
  • Face the fear
  • Conquer hopelessness
  • Make a small difference
  • Determine your best time of day
  • List a handful of goals
  • Commit to a peak performance partner
  • Journal
  • Take a time out and get grounded
  • Narrow your focus
  • Take personal responsibility for everything
  • Remember your “why”
  • Outsource
  • Ask questions
  • Ask more questions
  • Autograph your excellence
  • Manifest several new ideas to keep the big idea going
  • Perform twenty mental push ups
  • Free your imagination
  • Find enthusiastic support
  • Don’t expect anything in return
  • Remember all the basics apply
  • Laugh a bit louder
  • Be human
  • Workout/Exercise
  • Practice prepared cleverness and unprepared cleverness
  • Keep being yourself
  • Punctuate and pause
  • Remain humble and teachable
  • Delegate
  • Create room at the top for other potential leaders
  • Accept, overcome, and adapt
  • Track time or find a way to make sleepless nights worth staying awake for
  • Do a vice check
  • Pump up the visuals
  • Focus on what you have, not on what you’ve lost
  • Keep moving – it’s harder to hit a moving target
  • Take breaks to do some cost cutting
  • Get ready to be wrong
  • Try

 

Stay Positive & Now You Have A To-Do List For Life

(It’s long, I know. But so is life)

Garth E. Beyer