A Writer Needs To Be Wrong

Garth Beyer

I want to be wrong.

 

So often writers and people in general second guess everything, especially what they write. They then cross it out, erase it, work around it or completely rewrite it. After you do this for so long, you eventually just handle the process in your head without realizing it. You begin to think of every word, sentence, and part of grammar before you write it.

–R.I.P Paragraph that I wrote and erased–

Now it may be safe, but it’s not healthy for a writer to do so. It disconnects you from a flow of writing which is much more important than the flow of thinking. – In which case that would make you a philosopher, not a writer –

Moreover, you would surely agree that writers learn from their mistakes and though they may still make them in their minds, they are not acknowledging them, learning from them or are able to look back at them and see where the mind strayed off track.

The ability to not only learn from mistakes, but actually play with them, develop with them and write with them allows the writer to explore purity. I say purity because everything that you have ignored, every angle you avoided writing from, every idea that you felt went off the story line has never been touched or tampered with and so it remains pure.

After you write for some time, you will learn that what most people want to read is pure writing and to find pure writing, you have to do the manual labor of writing on ideas that you would normally and subconsciously cross out or erase.

I always say, if hair on your chest makes you a man, scribbles and crossed out words makes you a writer.

 

Stay Positive & Purity In Writing Is Unlimited

Garth E. Beyer

Strategize: Working Backwards To Reach Your Goals

Garth Beyer

I’ve eaten a lot of organic apples but it wasn’t until I pulled the label off and stuck it to a notepad at work (for no reason) where I kept looking at it that I realized something. This apple came from New Zealand! That is on an island over 8,000 miles away from where I purchased it. It got me thinking…

We are all really ignorant of how far items and ideas travel before they reach us. Sure we’re curious where the hundred-dollar bill we have has been, but it stays a funny thought and is never looked into. While that specifically may be irrelevant, the concept is not.

Every goal has an origin. This apple states that it began in New Zealand and its goal was clearly to be bought in Madison, WI. The question I was asking myself was how did it get from New Zealand to here, but the growers of the apple were thinking ‘how do we get these apples to Madison, WI from here?’ not ‘where do these apples go from here?’

Notice the difference is that a destination was chosen for the apples to arrive and the method of transportation to get them there was worked out beginning in Madison, WI, not New Zealand. They marked their origin (New Zealand), set their goal (Madison, WI) and worked out everything backwards.

If they had worked it all out going forwards they may think that putting them on the first shipment to America will get them to Madison the quickest when really, first looking at where which flights are going into Madison the soonest and having them sent there.

One thought is that the quicker they get shipped, the quicker they reach their destination when in reality when the transportation strategies begin getting worked out from the destination, the product reaches it much quicker.

Spreading ideas or products isn’t about sending them into a thousand different directions hoping they eventually land at your goal. It is about knowing your goal, what people are in closest and most constant contact with your goal and which mode of transportation best reaches them directly.

The real question arises then, is it more efficient to figure out where a product needs to go to reach its destination or how quickly will it land at its destination if it is just sent off on any number of planes.

 

Stay Positive & Strategize

Garth E. Beyer

You’ll Never Reach Success By Being Careful

Garth Beyer
My option for being careful was either to keep a distance and eat raw chicken or put it close and deal with a few burnt parts.

 

A lot of things can happen when you aren’t being careful.

Juice getting spilled on the counter. The cereal bag being ripped down the sides. You curbed the car making that turn. You got pranked with gum that tastes like pepper. The screw was dropped down the drain. You accidentally spelled “duck” wrong in your term paper. And so much more.

Actually, there are so many more things that can happen when you aren’t careful that I just have to continue…

You managed to standout at the board meeting. The reward, the gift, the acknowledgment came to you. You got inspired. A memory that you will always look back on and cherish was created. You got lost and found a new restaurant. You took a risk… and succeeded.

Those who achieve their goals, who make something of their lives, who are “successful” are no more careful than you and I. Actually, they are less careful.

They understand that the more they fit everything into a schedule, the more they are patient and careful with every social interaction, every small contract and every gift, the less creative and energized they are. Less potential is unleashed this way.

In being obsessively careful, you are preventing miracles from happening, putting a stop to unexpected delights and memorable surprises to occur. In being careful you are saying to the world and everyone around you that you want to play it safe, that you don’t want any turbulence and above all that you don’t want to make any risks, even if taking a risk meant succeeding.

 

Stay Positive & Think Twice Next Time You Tell Someone To Be Careful

Garth E. Beyer

 

 

Dimensions Of Your Programming

Garth Beyer

As most things in the world, the more you understand something, the easier it is to excel or improve it.

With that in mind, here are the four dimensions of every persons programming.

Beliefs: I would go so far as to agree with the statistic that at least 60% of people on the planet still believe the world is flat. While it may not necessarily be true – I haven’t gotten around to asking everyone yet – the concept behind it is worth putting all your faiths in one basket for.

The point is that it’s almost as if it’s human nature to believe something indefinitely upon hearing it. It’s as if I walked into a party, picked a guy out and told everyone else that his occupation is being a clown, or that he is carrying a knife or that he stuffs his pants.  99% of the people I tell will believe me.

If the subject in question appeals to their common sense and I appear to be an honest person, then their sold. Right then, right there. No chance to change their mind, especially given the fact they will either avoid the guy or kick him out.

Beliefs stick and just like the janitors at a middle school, you have to tip the desk over and scrape the gum off from time to time and start fresh.

Behaviors: Humans are addicted to stimulation when it comes to behavior. So much that regardless if something is internal or external, conscious or subconscious, or overt or covert, every person will always side on the most stimulative behavior.

Nor does it matter whether someone is an introvert or extrovert as both are aiming for the same feeling of stimulation despite it is from different activities. It is humans behavior to lean in the direction of the most stimulative experience. Why is this bad? This makes you predictable.

Every now and then, we have to do things we don’t want to. It’s actually a good thing because it makes us unpredictable and those who try using your predictability to earn a greedy income are filled with regret for ever thinking they could understand you.

Intellectual Experience: Of course, stimulation doesn’t just end with behaviors, it begins with them. It is through those unpredictably stimulating occurrences where you gather intellectual experiences.

But wait, intellectual experience does not come directly from the stimulation, it comes from the understanding of it.

When you pay close attention to detail, analyze it and deduce that there is a lesson to be learned from it, that is when you increase your intellectual experience. It is not necessarily being able to have a large vocabulary, being able to synthesize an equation and deduce a problem or ace a pop quiz.

Then again, those never hurt either.

Consequences: Consequences are what define morality, character, integrity and righteousness. They direct every persons life toward either “good” or “bad”. If you don’t know the meaning or power of consequences, you definitely haven’t made any choices, taken any risks or started a brouhaha. Go do that. Now.

 

Stay Positive & Improvement Follows Understanding (It’s In Our Programming)

Garth E. Beyer

Unlocking Potential: Interview #4

Garth Beyer

It’s the weird ones you have to look out for in this world, really and truly. They are the ones that know how to live life, know how to express themselves and know more about success than the most popular person in school.

You are now entering the fourth interview in the Unlocking Potential series. You can view the third here, second here and first here. If you haven’t yet noticed, part of the Unlocking Potential series is to bring out more of the weirdness. John Le, who you will meet in a few seconds, may not seem weird to you, that’s good because you’ve embraced your own weirdness but for the majority, he may seem “different”.

One way I see weirdness is like this. An average American can travel to any other country in the world and they will without a doubt get a large amount of culture shock. The American who understands different cultures and embraces them can travel nearly anywhere without getting hit with a bad case of culture shock. What is comes down to is whether you want to avoid everything outside of America or embrace it. Which one lives life to the fullest? Which one has real experience? Which one has a greater insight into the world?

Embracing culture shock is a lot like embracing weirdness.

After all, we are all a bit weird aren’t we? And that’s a good thing.

Interview: John Le

In high school I had a favorite teacher who knew how to make a class fun, or at least she was okay with my friend (not John) and I making it fun. She was one of those teachers that you go back and visit and that’s exactly what I did, but I didn’t go back and visit after school or during study hall, I went during one of her classes. Of course I made it my goal to make a ruckus while there. But it was during a couple of the classes that I went back and realized someone was already making a ruckus. That is when I met John Le. I was quick to admire him for his openness, wit and downright honesty.

Q: Thank you so much for participating in this interview. Would you like to give the readers a short bio?

I was born and grew up in Rockford, Illinois, and attended the local schools through the RPS205 “Gifted” program for the intellectually advanced students. I grew up in a humble family, my parents had to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, so I had plenty of time on my hands to think and grown creatively. I attended high school at Belvidere North High School ’12, graduated with High Honors, and this coming Fall/Winter semester, I will be attending Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois with a focus in Chemistry. My ultimate goal in life is to become a chemist that formulates cosmetic products.

Q: Let’s jump into some questions. What is your passion?

I have a personal passion for the sciences and arts. I plan on pursuing a job related to the field of chemistry, possibly cosmetic chemistry, in the future as a life-long career. On the art front, I plan on privately pursuing portrait photography as a means of emotional expression. I will not work in the art field for a living because I personally disagree with the thought of creating art on demand. I would rather spend time and let a piece of work develop at its own natural pace, rather than mechanically turning out cookie-cutter corporate art that are not unique in their own respect.

Q: What skills do you need to be successful?

Tenacity, motivation, honesty  & common sense.

I could write for endless ages about the skills necessary for success and achievement, but I think my short list of four words should suffice for the common reader.

Q: Which side of your brain do you use more often?

Neither, I am an individual that lingers on the blurred divide of the two hemispheres of the brain. The left side of the brain is said to be of scientific and mathematic manners, and I am a person that is interested in such and exhibit traits that characterize this side of the brain. Such traits would be an affinity for the familiar, categorization, analytical thought process, use of strategy, and pragmatic.

Right minded people are said to be creative, free-spirited, passionate with boundless imagination; I too exhibit these traits alongside those of my “left-brain” personality. Most of my teachers and mentors say that I am a walking oxymoron, a combination of two opposite ideas. I would most likely [think] that this is true.

Q: What or who is your biggest inspiration?

I would say that my biggest inspiration in life is the late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, founder of the eponymous house of fashion. McQueen juxtaposed strength and fragility in his designs, and made what was once ugly once again beautiful. He was a lotus, a special individual that  could cultivate beauty from common things.

Q: What is art?

I personally think that art, and the definition of art is subjective. What I might view as beautiful may be deemed hideous by another person, but I think that is the beauty in the world of art, different viewpoints are to be had on the same piece of work. It’s very interesting to unravel people’s minds and figure out what they find beautiful, and the reasons that they find certain ideas or images pleasing to the mind or eye.

To be curt, I think the form of the human body is art in itself. Far too many people are offended by the naked human, and this amazes me, for we are all the same beneath our socially constructed idea of  “clothes”.

Do you have a product you want to create that has never been thought of before?

http://www.vat19.com/  Enough said on that subject. Seriously, just check out the website.

In case you were wondering, NO(!), I am not being compensated to advertise the website, I just think that this website has every weird product that has ever been thought of.

On an entirely unrealistic level, I would like to create tiny devices that would be utilized in a medical setting to repair bodies of patients that ordinary human precision could not do. These microscopic “robots” would mend human flesh and bone. Imagine a bucket of silver robotic spiders being poured over a tragic wound like a shattered face, or a broken leg, and then watching these tiny robots healing your body right before your eyes. Amazing, right? Right.

Q: What makes you standout?

I think the fact that I am very blunt with my thoughts and speech truly makes me stand out in today’s society where all taboo subjects that everyone questions is quietly swept under the rug of propriety for the sake of society’s general comfort. Sometimes I have a bad habit of speaking my mind openly on subjects that make people feel very uncomfortable, and it gets me in a few “hot-water-debates” sometimes, irregardless I never blame myself for the fact that others do not feel at ease when certain subjects are talked about in public. The only people that dislike me for speaking the truth are those that are living a lie, until then, I will continue to speak the truth. No sugar to sweeten the subject, or any frills to make any unappealing subject for palatable for the common mind.

Q: What advice or life lessons would you give to someone with an interest in your field?

For any young man or woman pursuing the fields of science or visual arts, you’re a special person for wanting to help this sick world and helping it to be a better person through scientific work and also filling it with beautiful art.

Addressing those specifically interested in the sciences, there are not many people that care enough to make the world a better place in the long run, rather, they choose to fulfill their own desires for the sake of personal gain, which by all means is fine, but you are remarkably special because you are doing a service for all of mankind by uncovering new knowledge that is necessary for the survival of our species. Do not allow others to mock your choice of the path you plan on taking, because they are most likely too afraid to take the one that you’re going to leave a blazing trail of glory on.

For those interested in the arts, I want you to never lose your inspiration. Personally, I view the best inspiration as intrinsic, coming from within, only you can have the unique power to express the universe that is confined to the cells of your brain. Art takes time to fully ripen and mature, and I want you to always let your art to mature at it’s own rate, though I do not agree with the idea of creating art for money, I want you to be able to share your art with the world. Never let money impede on your artistic process. Never be afraid of any subject matter, or to try something unconventional, it will almost always end up more beautiful in its own manner than you would have possibly ever imagined.

Q: Define your life purpose in 11 words?

Never abandon your dreams due to obstacles, they’re opportunities in disguise.

(this subtext doesn’t count, but the above sentence is my life motto and purpose)

Q: What quality does a person need in order to achieve living their passion?

Personally, the most important quality/trait/what-have-you that a person needs to achieve living their passion is tenacity in the face of adversity. Let me break it down, a person must still want a certain goal in their life to come true even if nobody in their surroundings believes them. (This idea might be redundant in this interview, and I want to stress that every time it is mentioned, it is used in the utmost importance of inspiring the people of the world) Millions upon millions have lost hope in their wildest dreams because some person in this world told them that it was impossible, or that they would never be able to achieve something so great in their lifetime. I always think that these people are seriously wrong, and incorrect with their judgement on the subject. Only the dreamer can shape their own wishes, not another person. Who told these idiots that they had the right of imposing their will over a person? Whoever you are, if you’re still reading this, I don’t want you to give up on your wildest dreams, they might come true one day!

Q: Do you have any art you would want to share?

I have a simple(and small) photography portfolio that can be viewed at; http://johnle815.carbonmade.com/ (user friendly!)

For the art-minded folk; http://johnle815.deviantart.com/   This portfolio will have the bulk of my portfolio added to it, slowly, but surely.

My stream of consciousness using photos; http://johnle815.tumblr.com/ (potentially NSFW, I guess people are afraid of the human form in all of its infinite splendor)

Q: Any last comments?

Yes, I do have a few last comments. If you ever want to bribe me to do anything, legal(!) of course, feel free to dangle a few steak tacos and fruit slushies in front of my face. I’m quite serious…..

(You can contact John Le at Viet611Forever@aol.com or visit his profiles listed above)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Stay Positive & Ever Hear That After Being Shocked Enough Times It Starts To Feel Good?

Garth E. Beyer

Three Things You Can Always Give

Garth Beyer

I’m currently working on my Kickstarter project, but more on the specific project later. What I want to point out is that I don’t have many “material” things to give. Most people often don’t. So I am discovering that there are three ways that you can always give.

The first is time. It matters not that if it’s a little or a lot. What matters is that time is always there, and it’s extremely dynamic. You can play with time in a little way by waiting an extra five minutes before you leave or as complicated as working your entire schedule around to fit in some 1 on 1 time with your spouse. No matter what you need time for, you can work it out.

The second is attention and I mean this in the most general form. You can give your own attention to a matter, you can bring something to their attention or you can help someone create something that draws attention. It may feel that it costs money to get attention, but it is always free to give it.

The third is passion. It requires such little effort because your passion is your effort. Your passion is the most powerful thing you can give and transmit through another person and it is the total game changer in any relationship.

All three of which you can look forward to getting your hands on when my Kickstarter is released because you deserve the best, most value and something that I can always give.

 

Stay Positive & Boycott White Elephant (Try And Give These Things Away!)

Garth E. Beyer