Pick Yourself

The Lizard Brain, Again?

Garth Beyer

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Yes, because it never really goes away. The lizard brain is everywhere, but the best time to catch it is right at the beginning. The beginning of a project, anyway. Why? So that when it comes knocking again (it always will), you will be ready to dance with it.

Daily I meet people who have things they want to do, dreams, wishes, goals, but don’t start. They are waiting for the right moment, they are waiting for more experience (when starting is the experience they are waiting for), they are waiting to get picked, they are waiting to meet and learn from this person or be referred by that person, they are waiting until the weather is better, or they have more contacts.

They say excuses are endless and reasons are few, but I’m not saying these are excuses. They are very valid reasons. Convincing. Logical. It just makes sense to wait.

What no one focuses on are all the reasons to not wait. This is how you begin to challenge the lizard brain.

The earlier you start the further ahead you are to others. Everyone else is letting their lizard brain win. The experience you want is actually the experience you will get from trying, whether you end up failing or not. The best way to get picked is to pick yourself. The greatest referral you will ever get is the one from someone who never saw you coming. The right moment is now.

It’s not about working your way up a ladder, it’s about doing what you love. And to do that, you have to acknowledge the lizard brain. After that, the rest handles itself.

 

Stay Positive & Come On Now, Let’s See What You Got

Garth E. Beyer

This post was inspired by someone who is truly going places. Start now.

Photo credit

Getting Opinions

Garth Beyer

I’m an op-ed writer and one would think that I come up with my opinions and then spread them, adjusting based on feedback. As the saying goes, “my opinions change with new information.”

However, that’s only part of it. Before I have my opinion, I get others.

The problem with having your own opinion first and bringing it to your editor (your boss, your manager, your teacher) is that once you open it to them, it stays between you two; sharing it with others becomes the act of a traitor.

Your opinion becomes a treasure piece between you and the person toward the top of the hierarchy. Or in other cases, it becomes a piece that must be critiqued, but not by someone below their level of expertise.

When you have an idea, an opinion, or a thought for improvement, share it with as many people on your own level (or one close to it). By skipping this step, you turn your work into a commodity when it should be priceless yet free. When you skip sharing your opinion with others: your friends, your family, your coworkers, then you miss out on one of the most important aspects of having the opinion in the first place – they are the ones you are trying to reach/help/connect/improve. You’re not going to be picked by the editor, your boss, or the CEO, however, nor should you attempt to pick yourself for them. Get chosen by the millions of people around you, and trust me, if you’re opinion resonates enough, your boss will call you forward and you will know that you picked yourself for the sake of others, not for the sake of being called forward.

 

Stay Positive & Oddly Enough Opinions Emerge From Cooperation

Garth E. Beyer

Problem Solution

Garth Beyer

It has almost been a year since I attended Seth Godin’s Pick Yourself event in Tribeca. When I was sifting through a box of my memorabilia I found a card. Not a thank you card, not a blank card, but a life changing card.

Seth gave out these life changing cards that, as you can see in bold, said, “PROBLEM.” You can guess what was on the back, but we will get to that in a moment.

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We were asked to think of the (or any) problem that we were facing that was holding us back from shipping, making the call, and in general, committing to something. Then we wrote it down on the card. We were then told to switch cards with the person next to us and they would fill out the back.

(Jumping forward real quick, this is not my card, we were supposed to keep our own but the lady I did the activity with accidentally kept mine and I kept hers. Not a problem, I’m actually thankful for it. It’s allowed me to write this post.)

The first half of the idea behind this card is that we have to face our fear. We have to think about what truly is holding us back. We had to make sure the problem was one actually worth writing down. Most importantly, we had to let someone else – who we barely even knew – see it.

As you can read, she has a real problem. It’s hard to sell anything to an audience you don’t have and even harder to an audience you have no clue where they are. Obviously, she needs a solution. That’s where I came in.

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Three solutions to her problem.

1. “Just start dedicating time to grow audience and the audience will form themselves.” When you’re just starting out. Forget the audience. Commit to revealing yourself first. No one is going to follow someone they can’t see, someone they can’t connect to, someone who is invisible or a mere shadow. Here’s a thought: Seeds flowing in the wind never land on soil that is never watered. You have to water the soil before any seeds will consider planting themselves.

2. “In order to find your audience, you have to go after everyone by testing your ideas and see the response.” Naturally, this is the second step once you begin “watering the soil.” It’s great to have an idea of what your audience is, but no one knows your audience better than your audience! – and if you’re just starting out, it’s likely you’ll be wrong a few times before you’re right. Better to make the big mistakes now than later.

I started a PR blog to show what I know when other professionals or employers checked me out. Soon I discovered that my audience was made up of students and people interested in learning about PR, not necessarily my original intention. You can have foresight, but never let yourself have a narrow mind.

3. “Take 10% of your time to grow your audience.” That’s not a lot of time, for good reason.  Get good at creating first. Get good at seeking criticism. Get used to challenging your fears. Get in the habit of shipping your work. Then follow-up by connecting, by interacting, by messaging like-minded people.

(Note: The third solution can work in reverse.)

Did this solution help her, I’m positive it did, but believe it or not, that’s not the point or the goal.

The point is that whatever problem(s) you have, there is always a solution. The moment someone else sees that, you’re held accountable, you can’t lie to yourself anymore that there is no solution, and above all, you have no excuse, nothing holding you back.

 

Stay Positive & It’s Often A Move We Have To Make

Garth E. Beyer

We got tricked into this by not knowing what we were doing, why were doing it, or what we would have to do later. It takes someone bold to express what their problem. Are you up to it?

Shutting Fear Out … In New York

Shutting Fear Out … In New York

Garth Beyer
We may have liberty, but we still have a lizard brain

Who has heard about the lizard brain? No one? Well I’ll have to change that.

The lizard brain is what makes us not do what we say we are going to do. It’s what stops us from checking tasks off our to-do list, it stops us from writing the book we want, stops us from sending that application in, it stops us from living a meaningful, adventurous, exciting life. The lizard brain can also be referred to as the Amygdala, the part of our brain which registers fear. This fear has a voice and it tells us to compromise, to play it safe, to stay where we are comfortable. This reference to the lizard brain was coined by Seth Godin, author, marketer, and revolutionary starter.

During this mass media age, I believe Seth Godin to be one of the most insightful and helpful authors to us digital natives. Seth Godin has written more than 14 books that have all been best sellers and translated into over 30 languages. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. Even if a five-mile wide meteor struck the earth today, you could still say that Seth Godin has made a larger impact on society.

You may think this author is important because you imagine him to be the motivating type. He is no more motivating than a rock. He is however a person who can bring you to understand why you do what you do, rather, why you don’t do what you don’t do. He explains in his most infamous book, Linchpin¸how the closer you get to delivering something, to accomplishment, to taking a risk, the harder the lizard brain works to stop you.  This ability, to make us aware, is what makes Seth Godin so important.

If it’s not clear already, Seth is an idol of mine. Heck, I flew out to New York to see him and wrote about that experience here. Seth has taught me how to build a tribe, inspired me to keep shipping, and has helped me realize the inner workings of my brain and ego in such a simplistic manner. I continue to read his books and build off his ideas and will do my absolute best to get a one-on-one interview with him over the holidays because I am planning a trip to NYC. I truly owe it to Seth for getting me to where I am today. (HT to Seth Godin)

Side note: If anyone has someone they can introduce me to through email/phone/person that either lives in New York or has other contacts in New York, I would greatly appreciate it. I plan on spending the summer in New York to find an opportunity to become more of a writer and to connect with some of the most brilliant minded people. Michelle being one of them, she’s something special! Thank you!

 

Stay Positive & People Help People, Who Help People, Who Help Other People, Who Help More People …

Garth E. Beyer

Pick & Choose

Garth Beyer

There may be a million reasons for them not to pick you…

but all you need to do is give them one good reason to choose you.

OR

You can put your mind at rest about what one good reason you can give

and just pick yourself.

 

After all, if you only need to give them one good reason, they don’t deserve you. You have over a million good reasons. Right?

 

Stay Positive & You Get To Pick The Reasons… And Yourself

Garth E. Beyer

Unlocking Potential: Interview #5

Garth Beyer

I love when people ask questions. But I’ve missed a huge part of the process. Like many others, I have always taken an exciting interest in answering questions and the discussion that follows, but I haven’t necessarily focused on the question-asking. It wasn’t until I spoke with Michelle that I learned there can be so much more to the questions that are asked in addition to the answers one may receive.

Michelle was trained in the criminal justice system at an early age and learned the importance of asking questions through clinical training (she’s a licensed social worker). As a probation officer, she relied heavily on facilitating conversations with clients in order to develop productive working relationships. And, you guessed it, asking questions was a big part of that.

Have you considered how business, social media, and finding connections is primarily fostered by the right questions? Can you imagine creating a job of your dreams based on assessment, questioning, and curiosity? Michelle is not only living proof, but lively proof that you can get the right answers if you ask the right questions. She excitedly participated in my Unlocking Potential interview, adding a fresh, unique addition to my series. (You can view the others here)

Enjoy.

Interview: Michelle Welsch

GB: I would love to know what you think your passion, or your life purpose is. You have this fire, this passion that is evident. What fuels it?

My passion has always been people. I love to learn about what makes people tick and hear their stories, learning about their world and how they see things. I’m fortunate that the work that I do helps people share their stories with others. Connecting people only amplifies that. I like watching people make strides professionally and personally, and I like to think I help people do this through observation, helping people own and recognize their own brand story and introducing others who might enhance their work. My focus has mostly been, “How can I help others?” — I had never seen myself in the driver’s seat, always walking alongside people and businesses and companies I might help reach their goals. But with Project Exponential, I’ve realized I’m now steering my own ship.

GB: I see that many of your writings and blog posts are inspirational and talk about courage and challenge. Do you write everyday? Do you see writing as a practice?

You can write everyday, but that doesn’t mean you have to publish every day. It’s valuable to get into the habit of writing. That moment of brilliance will never come if you’re waiting. You could be waiting a very long time for that perfect moment. The perfect circumstance will probably never happen, and then you’ll never finish anything. Just get in the habit of writing ideas, notes, quotes, observations about things you see that inspire you. You have to practice seeing the world in a way that corresponds to words. You learn to verbalize and communicate in a different way and how to transfer your thoughts onto paper. While practice can make the process more fluid, with anything there are ebbs and flows. I try to aim for moderation. Often times those moments when you think you have nothing to say are the important moments when you have to force yourself to write anyway.

GB: I have to ask, is there a book in store?

I’ve flirted with this idea, but we’ll see. It might be a fun goal. Recently I came across Austin Kleon’s advice: “Write the book you’d want to read.” I’m not entirely sure what I’d write about just yet. I’d need to have more of a concrete idea before I really consider.

GB: I just finished reading Keri Smith’s book: Living Out Loud. She mentions all great female writers have an intrinsically unique connection to nature. I’ve seen some recent photos of a trip to Peru on your twitter feed. Are the outdoors important to you?

I grew up in Colorado where the outdoors are an integral part of life. When I first moved to New York, I thought I was going to have to give that up. But I found Discover Outdoors and the Upper West Side, surrounded by Riverside Park, Morningside Park, and Central Park. Being outside has always been super important to me. I get the best ideas when I’m outside and running around. The ideas always happen when I’m someplace in Central Park, and then I have to repeat it over and over in my head until I can come home and write it down. I think that’s when the best moments happen, when you’re in a different environment.

GB: Now I’m going to shift the subject a bit. What’s it like working with Seth Godin? Do people equate you with him?

Working with Seth has been some of the most rewarding work I’ve done. He’s incredible to work with. With Seth, his work is his. It’s about picking yourself and creating your own name.

GB: You’ve certainly done that. How have your past experiences impacted your work?

My resume is a little nontraditional. I’ve managed to draw valuable lessons from a variety of environments — the court room, the South Bronx, higher ed settings, and clinical therapeutic settings. My transition from social work into the corporate, business world started really slowly. When I freelanced for Interbrand, I was a consultant in this very buttoned up corporate world, but I would often teach people the same skills I would teach, let’s say in probation or to disadvantaged youth, how to be genuine, human and approachable when communicating. My experience there acted as a type of “mini-MBA” and showed me what skills I could bring from my former career path into this new world of business and tech.

GB: It seems your consulting work helped lay the foundation for the creation of Project Exponential: the transition, the growth, the learning, the insight, and most importantly, the transferring of skills. I’m so curious about what you do. After looking through Project Exponential’s website, I immediately related to your passion, mind-set and way of thinking. I imagine you’re someone who likes to dabble in a little bit of everything (most of us who strive for success do). Is that why you make events where really different people come together?

When I first began to make the career switch, I started wondering what kinds of work people would do if they borrowed from a different industry — whether it would be better, more interesting, more creative. I started sending email introductions to people I had encountered who had similar interests or parallel work. Sometimes best intentions fall flat, and the intended coffee dates wouldn’t always happen. So I began selecting individuals and extending invitations to unique locations I had reserved throughout New York City. I wanted to run my fingers horizontally through industry verticals.

GB: So what happens during a Project Exponential event?

It’s always different, depending on who is there and what kind of space I choose to complement the group. The venues change; it could be a private room in a trendy restaurant where attendees have to walk through the kitchen, past the chef and the dishwashers to find it. I’ve held some at wine shops that separate part of the store for us while we are there. I’ve also hosted attendees in a basement dining room, and they’re treated to a four course meal. It’s an experience.

Before events, I spend time with each attendee, learning more about their work and creative process. It’s kind of like an assessment. I create specific, tailored exercises for each event so that people can learn more about each others work. One of my favorite parts of my work is to find the balance of structure, easing anxieties of being in a foreign place with strangers and creating the backdrop for serendipity to take place.

GB: Your understanding how to create problems and questions specifically to each group you curated is extraordinary. You’ve stepped away from traditional networking conventions. Why is it important to you to protect the names and titles of those attending?

I want to create a space where everyone’s on the same playing field. This anonymity allows people the freedom to step away from their work and whatever preconceived notions or judgements someone might have about what they do for one evening and connect with others in a meaningful way. There are plenty of events that list of the names of attendees. You go, hoping to meet specific people there and may walk way with a few business cards that, if you’re lucky, turn into something remarkable. You may also miss meeting a handful of incredible people who didn’t have the job or the title you wanted to see.

I have seen magic take place at Exponential events; people are following up with coffee dates, planning bike rides, helping each other with business ideas and expanding their networks. I’ve watched design directors brainstorm with entrepreneurs, athletes mix with CEOs, and writers engage in hearty conversation with bankers. My aim is to use this momentum to inspire others to do the same, step out of their industries and put themselves in new environments where boundaries can be crossed. I want people to ask, “How can I disrupt things?” and make something happen.

GB: What has been a highlight of your work with Project Exponential?

I take a lot of time putting each group together. With each event, I consider who needs to meet and at what point during the evening this connection might take place. Connections and common interests aren’t always clear, but it’s up to me to connect the dots. If I’m honest, there’s a quite a bit of anxiety for me in delivering something magical for each attendee, but it’s incredibly rewarding to watch two people interact in the way I had envisioned. I try to focus on providing the backdrop for magic to occur and let the people take care of the rest.

GB: What inspired you to make this career change? What got you going and what’s propelled you forward?

The move from the social good world to what I’m doing now was intentional but not necessarily direct. I knew that I needed to take specific action to get into the next realm and took small, manageable steps. With Exponential, it took more coaxing and courage, and I had to make the decision to commit to it. Seth’s work helped quite a bit.

We grow up learning that we have to find the job, do the work, and get paid. Suddenly it clicked: “What a minute, I can create this dream job I’ve been searching for.” And then it’s a matter of jumping. At first, it’s a bit of a bungee jump feeling — exciting and scary but you can’t wait to see what happens.

GB: How do you try to live your life? Are there any quotes that have inspired you?

“Leap, and the net will appear.” -John Burroughs

You have to take risks. No decision in life is irreversible. It’s much better to go and do and figure out how to fix it, and you’ll feel that much more satisfied with having tried it. You just have to do it. Jump. Go. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the wrong direction, you may end up with a more scenic, memorable ride. Just go. That’s how I ended up in New York.

Look and see how you can shake things up, be fearless. Whether it’s walking home from work a different way, trying a new restaurant, placing yourself in a new environment to meet new people, inviting random people to your house — just open that space for different things to come your way. It doesn’t have to be huge.

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You can find Michelle and her work online, most recently here. I have also shared a few of my favorites below.

You can ask Michelle questions of your own on twitter @redheadlefthand or send her an email at info@projectexponential.com.

To learn more about her project, visit www.projectexponential.com.

 

Stay Positive & #impresario

Garth E. Beyer

Unlocking Potential: Interview #3

Garth Beyer

I was thinking about motivation (what’s new…). I thought about how much I love to motivate people, I mean, I live for it, I give motivational speeches and obviously I write a lot of motivational content. The question popped in my mind, what motivated me to motivate people?

I came up with two answers. The first is that seeing people like Zig Ziglar, Seth Godin, or my interviewee today Karthik, motivate other people. If there weren’t people motivating other people, nothing would get done in the world, it would be void of accomplishments that matter. The second answer is that I am freaking amazed at us, at people, at human beings. Our abilities are out of this world, literally. I simply want to bring out more of these godlike abilities in people, I want to continue to be amazed at a higher level which means I need to motivate more.

This is an aspect of the Unlocking Potential series. To motivate these artists and to have these artists be motivated to motivate other artists. If you are just jumping in, you can catch Interview #1 here and Interview #2 here.

Without further do,
Interview: Karthik Puvvada

As you know from my “Pick Yourself” post, I attended Seth Godin’s Pick Yourself event in New York a couple of months ago. This interview, the third in my Unlocking Potential series, is with Karthik Puvvada, a friend who I met as a member of Seth’s tribe. Karthik’s blog is one I visit often for, not so much for information on how to fail, be free and break the status-quo (although it’s loaded with it), but for a reminder that there are other people like me that have a truly unbelievable spirit for progress, an unstoppable force for enjoying life and making the most out of it in every way possible. This is only touched on in Karthik’s introduction to the interview and provides great insight to the rest of the Q&A. -Enter Karthik-

My story:

I’m Karthik Puvvada and I hail from India. And like most Indians, I was brought up in a very conservative and struggling middle class family nudging and budging my childhood dreams with whatever little money we had.  Since I was born into the era of  “Great Indian Outsourcing Boom”,  I was compelled to chose the well established path of becoming an engineer and to work at a software company that I disliked.

I was clearly unhappy with what I was doing with my life.  Modifying bits and pieces of computer software written by some other engineers didn’t seem appealing to me. Especially when I loved building things. Especially when I believed I should be able to create things.

As a kid I dreamt about robotics,  and that suddenly appeared to me as my next destination. Despite heavy peer pressure and uncertainty of how I’d manage the finances to afford such a costly technological degree, I gave all the entrance tests with full vigor and hope.

After a dramatic turn of events, and with help of some amazing people, here I am, in the USA,  doing Masters majoring in Robotics with full scholarship.  I started believing in dreams even more from then.

This phenomenal dream-come-true incident in my life changed my perspective totally. It gave me enormous CONFIDENCE to go get what I want in life. I started reviving my half-killed dreams from childhood.

Writing is one.

Q: What would you die without?

Fire in the belly.  If there’s going to be a day when I feel sapless about my dreams, and give up on them, that day, you can proclaim me dead. Officially. I don’t see any reason to be called alive when I’ve killed my dreams. I am what my dreams are. The rest is just a piece of flesh.

Writing, film-making, advertising, technology startups, for now I’m in love with these. So badly that I can exchange going to heaven for a chance to live my dreams.  This feeling, the feeling of otaku, the feeling of going any far to follow your passions in life is what I call “fire in the belly” and that is something I can’t afford to live without.

Q: How much time does following your passion consume each day? What is a typical day in your life’s conquest?

It’s an interesting question because the time it actually consumes to me is irrelevant.  I rather count it based on whether I had done the task I intended to do for that day or not.

Consider blogging. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes to write a blogpost, and sometimes 3 full hours. The beauty of imagination is it’s without limits. All kinds of limits, including time.

But, yeah, if I look back and estimate an average number, I think I spend around 2hrs per day on writing. The rest of time I spend on my other passions.  And on sleeping.  And on eating. And wait, on bathing too.

Q: How do you go about searching and finding motivation/inspiration?

Two things. One, I go outwards into the huge sea of knowledge online and offline and try to find stuff that stimulates my thinking. Something that pushes me away from my comfort zone. Something that provokes my mind, into action.

Steve Jobs, Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell, Mahatma Gandhi, Ayn Rand, Friedrich Neithzche, Swami Vivekananda,  Gautam Buddha, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Randy Pausch ,Jon Goethe, Rabindranath Tagore,  Aristotle,  Michelangelo, David Ogilvy etc.

I read a lot about these incredible people. And their incredible faith in themselves that they can change the world.

Second, I go inwards into myself finding resonance for all that I read. There is a deeper level of consciousness in your own self that you can actually unleash if you poke it long enough.

It unravels an incredible urge that was within you all these years to do something in this world. To make your presence felt. To shake the world gently. Not for the heck of fame or money,  but to leave a legacy in the world, to leave a story of yours, to write your own destiny. This motivates me frantically. Sometimes, the motivation stays for weeks and drives me nuts to do something I thought I couldn’t do earlier.  I will elaborate on this in the further discussion.

Q: What two habits have you developed that produce the best results?

Over the past 2 ½ months, the greatest habit I have developed is the habit to develop a habit.  Like I wrote here, it was extremely painful for me to write everyday initially.

Most amateur writers would know that, after a few days, the challenge of writing something original is by itself a challenge and to do it every single day makes it even more of a nightmare. But still I didn’t give up. There were days where I sat with my laptop for hours and yet couldn’t produce an interesting write-up. But still I didn’t give up.  I tried just once more. That made the difference I think.

I once wrote, “The greatest thing about doing the greatest thing is actually doing it.”

So I knew there is no red button.

Though it didn’t look appealing to me initially, I realize how accurate Steve Pavlina was. He speaks about creating a habit, like a ritual everyday and doing it for 30days. Non stop. If you can pass this phase, most likely you are already enjoying what you are doing and you’ll want to continue. Makes total sense to me.

So, the two habits I’ve developed are a) develop a habit and b) develop a habit. Damn, that is the single most important thing.

Q: Do you plan on shipping a tangible product? Any ideas?

Yes. First, I want to finish up a new screenplay that I started last week. It’s a sci-fi mystery about a delusional scientist on a marooned island.

Second, I want to film an already existing script that I have. It’s going to be about fortune cookies in 3 different countries.

Third, I want to write an ebook, with illustrations, on my most favorite theme, “failing”. I love failing. I think that’s the best thing that happens to me everyday so that I wake up with a better game plan.

Fourth, I want to start up a new project on advertising this September online.

Q: How do you conquer the troubles that come with trying to write every day? (Time, Writers block, etc)

Simple. Have an iron will. I earlier had a plastic one I guess. It would always give up on my dreams. But this time around, I took the pains to form an iron will. The will to do it at any cost. Anyhow. Anywhere.

I remember writing a blog post borrowing a friend’s laptop after having a tiring day of paintball shooting.  I wrote one in a vacation in Chattanooga. I wrote one while I was sick with a stomach bug. When I’m in my regular daily routine, taking time out for writing is easy because I would have planned the day accordingly. It was quite a challenge to do the same when I’m out on the roads travelling or camping etc. Still, the iron will to do what I wanted to do cleared the way for me.

I don’t do it for the count, I don’t do it for the world. I do it ‘coz I challenged the most important person in my life, Myself.

Writing block, well, here’s where the travelling inwards theory I spoke above helps me. Swami Vivekananda spoke volumes about the power of the mind. He says, the question is in the mind, and if you look deeply, and probe keenly, the answer too is in the same mind, just a few blocks away.

It was a fantastic eye-opener for me. All my frustration, disgust and restlessness vanish into thin air whenever I recall this, and I head straight into a peaceful self-questioning mode. And voila, it has worked magic so far.

Q: If you had to give one piece of advice what would it be?

“It’s not the deed; it’s the “doing” that you should attach yourself to.”

I wrote a post titled “Do you love the doing?”. I’d say it is by far the hardest advice anyone can ever follow. But ironically, it is the surest way to excellence according to me.

Q: I believe mottos are vitally important for motivation. Would you create a new motto right now for the readers, a motto they have likely never heard before?

Speaking about how important risk-taking in life, atleast once in a while is, I wrote, “Trust your guts, and remember it’s all about the journey, not the destination. No one jumps of a cliff to experience landing, but to experience flying.”  

The favorite ones I wrote are:

“When your ideas, energy and focus are united by one, you become divided by zero, Mathematically they call it, THE INFINITE!  Be that!”

“Be the king. But first, fight the war.”

Q: As you know, I am on a constant verge to learn new life lessons and share them with people. Do you have any crucially important life lessons you would like to share?

I only have one lesson in my life. The lesson of hope. The lesson of dreams.

Einstein once famously said, “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; or you can live as if everything is a miracle.” For me, everything has begun to appear miraculous once I started following my dreams. Once I opened my eyes and shunned my doubts. We want the perfect world. The perfect skills. The perfect people.

And hence we are eternally pissed off at what’s at hand. If you think about it, an email from a teenage artist in Europe telling you how much he loved your writing is a miracle. A subscriber asking you if you majored in English literature is a miracle. A counselor of anti-bullying campaign loving your blog you wrote from miles away is a miracle. What more you want?

Life opens up to the fullest when you are ready to see it positively.

I once wrote, the moon is the moon always, it depends on who you are to perceive it beautifully or full of scars.

Look at life differently. Be the most energetic person you have ever met. Surround yourself with tons of positivity. Make new friendships. With extremely positive people. Have the brightest glimmer of hope in your eye. Feel thrilled about little things. May be you’ll look delusional to your naysayers. But try new things. Fail at them. Fail often. Fail publicly. Have an extra coating to your chest called courage. Coz it takes just one time to get it right, and remember, you will never be the same person again.

Q: Where can people find you and your art?

I write my heart out at www.bethepurplecow.tumblr.com.

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Stay Positive & Purple

Garth E. Beyer                                                                                       “moo”