Neville's Financial Blog

At the beginning of this month one of my goals was to make a blog post every 2 days on this blog...well my last one was THREE days ago, so I need to make up (Carnaval in Austin definitely got in the way)!

I have 12 minutes to write/edit/publish this post before the security guard at the library kicks me out, so here goes:

I just read a post by Dave (brought my attention by Adam's Twitter stream) about his transition from having a job to owning a business.  I always like it when people take that leap, even if it doesn't work out, I'm sure they will learn a massive amount.

It made me reflect on my own experience with this.  I've never had a job except one in college where I did NOTHING but work on my own businesses then promptly quit when they made me do work.

After college I never got a job...I didn't (still don't) even have a resume.  I simply continued running my businesses I had already started.  It's really the only way of working I've ever known, and I must say...I like it.    Judging by the way most people talk about their jobs, it seems I've made the correct choice.

One thing I really like about owning a business, aside from all the fun stuff like being able to label your own role or change what you do by starting a new business....all your success depends entirely on you.

In ten years if I'm homeless and living on the side of the road, you can point directly at the person whose fault that was.  I like that responsibility because it puts you in charge of your destiny a little more than working for someone else.  In a sense, they control your future.  If they go out of business, you do too.

I know people who worked for Dell at the right time in history who made millions on stock options, and people who worked the same jobs a few years later who weren't quite as fortunate.  That irks me.  It's kind of a lottery you play.  You COULD get successful, but your involvement doesn't dictate it.

Ok, the guard is giving me the stink-eye, time to jet!

Labels: business, Personal

For Christmas my brother bought me a Samson C01U Studio Condenser Microphone. That's basically fancy talk for a high quality microphone I can hookup to my computer:

Labels: Education, Learning, Personal

I stopped making monthly goals a while ago because I rarely followed up on them. They always get stuck on a sheet of paper somewhere which I promptly forget about on day 2 of the month.

Labels: Goals, Personal, Productivity

I consider my first REAL business to be House Of Rave (link), but before that were a bunch of other hair brained ideas to make money.

Labels: business, Personal

In college I was first exposed to people who would get drunk when they go out. It was always fascinating because:

Labels: Health, Personal

Labels: Personal

I've long held a rather odd belief about speeding tickets, which might be why I don't particularly mind getting them.

First of all, any time I've got some sort of traffic ticket I've been actually doing something wrong, so there's really no reason to bitch about it.

When you get a drivers license you clearly consent to following all the pre-set rules, and if you don't follow them, you run the risk of getting a citation for it.

The other belief is that every time I get a traffic violation it's like a "donation to the city."

I like this point of view because 1.) It's true and 2.) It's a great way to not get frustrated about getting a ticket.

I've been to the Austin DPS many times to pay off tickets, and I must say it's an exceedingly simple, straightforward and very easy experience (although I've tried schemes to get out of tickets before). It's actually refreshing to see a government entity so on top of its game.

I've been to other DPS's where I've had to wait in excess of three hours to give them my money. I don't care about the money, but making me waste an ENTIRE day....That's just cruel....very effective in getting me to avoid tickets...but cruel.

In Austin I almost don't mind getting a ticket because I can easily take care of it over the phone, in person or internet. It's easy, quick and the revenue goes towards a great city.

It almost makes me WANT to get caught!

------------------------------------------

Now what I DON'T like getting caught by is those automated traffic ticketing systems. I wrote about my first one here that gave me a nice photo shoot. It's so impersonal....although highly effective.

Getting caught by an officer is kind of a fun cat & mouse game. I wasn't particularly mad about the last one because it clearly shows I blatantly ran a red. However I got another one of these recently, and after viewing the photos online I immediately cried "I DIDN'T RUN THE LIGHT!!" I was simply taking a right turn on a red light, I could clearly see my car turning right. I unfairly got a ticket!!

Turning right:

However unlike my last ticket, this ticket included a link to a VIDEO of my offense. Uh ohh! I immediately thought this would be pretty incriminating, but it really wasn't. I didn't speed through this light, I safely slowed down and took the right.

Video:



OK, I didn't stop 100%, but I slowed down to like 2mph which is damn near stopped. I think this is actually an unfair and undeserved ticket. Yes, I didn't COMPLETELY STOP AT THE WHITE LINE, but even if a cop was behind me, I seriously doubt he would've pulled me over for this.

A little pissed off, I did some research and came across sites like Camera Fraud and others who highlight all the negative and unfair things about these camera lights.

I decided to try semi-fighting this ticket, even though I knew I either pay $75 to get this over with, or drive to Houston, schedule a hearing, then work with a small chance of success to get this dismissed. I called the company in charge of the cameras and spoke to someone about it. I told her the call was being recorded for a news broadcast (just so she wouldn't start getting snippy or hang up on me) and started questioning the video. Surely enough she started on the "You clearly didn't fully stop at the first white line..." spiel and I quickly realized fighting this wasn't going anywhere.

SO while I'll go ahead and pay this $75, I don't feel as good about it. I didn't get the thrill of being pulled over or immediately told what I did wrong....plus I don't think I did anything wrong.

However it's easier to pay off the $75 than to actually fight this ticket.

...and like I said earlier in this post:

...any time I've got some sort of traffic ticket I've been actually doing something wrong, so there's really no reason to bitch about it.

...and in reality I didn't fully stop.

---------------------

On another note:
Despite me being slightly fumed about this latest ticket, I have to admit these traffic violation companies have an EXCELLENT business model!!

The cameras and infrastructure might be a little costly, but they constantly generate revenue for the company and the city. I imagine the biggest drawback to that business would be having to deal with government entities to get permission to post the cameras....and getting governments to give you long-term contracts so you can make your money back.

---------------------

On even another note:
I remember hearing about a couple of products that help distort your license plate from those cameras. I imagine as technology gets better it will make these methods obsolete, but for now I'm seriously considering buying this spray:



It seems like a great (and legal) way to say F*CK YOU to the speed cameras (although purposely running a red light one day with a middle finger out the window might be more fun)!

From now on I'd prefer my traffic tickets to come from an actual officer.

License and registration please.....

Labels: Personal, Transportation

I like weird color shoes because they break up the seriousness of any outfit. I bought some white shoes a long time ago and they made everyone look, but then white shoes started to come into fashion (that's right, I alone started the whole trend) ;-)

After a few years some of these shoes still fit and feel great, but look quite worn. They are past the stage of a simple cleaning due to years of heavy use.

I still wear them from time to time, but they don't have the same "weird-looking shoes" effect they used to have. It's also hard to tell by the pictures, but they look pretty dirty in person. So in trying to incorporate them back into the wardrobe I tried some experimental shoe cosmetic surgery using plain old spray paint.

Patient 1 was a pair of very comfortable Aldo shoes I've had for years. I still wear them when I need to do a lot of walking, but don't want to wear tennis shoes. They've become pretty worn and dirty especially around the sides, backs and stitching seams. The brown spot top-right is a test-spray I did with the spray paint to see if it would bind correctly:

I bought some gold spray paint from Wal-Mart and gave them a quick spray paint coat. I covered the entire shoe, even the bottoms. They came out quite well!

They actually look like a new pair of shoes now! I was very satisfied with how well this pair turned out:

Patient 2 is also an old pair of Aldo shoes I've had for years, and are starting to look dirty although this picture doesn't show that too well. I've tried using "shoe touch-up paint" to clean them, but it's no longer cutting it. These shoes are made out of some hard leather-like material, and I wasn't sure how well the spray paint would bind to the shoes, especially in the crevasses and cracks of the shoes:

When I was buying spray paint at Wal-Mart I saw "Outdoor Reflective Spray Paint" that's used for marking trees or painting road stripes. I THOUGHT this would look pretty cool, but it didn't exactly turn out so well:

It's not captured by the picture very well, but they actually look like someone sprayed over the original shoe. You could kind of "see through" the paint, and I wasn't exactly crazy about how these turned out, you can still see all the scuff marks on the shoes:

This was kind of a fail in my opinion, so I bought some metallic blue spray paint and gave them a once over. A weird thing happened, the yellow and blue mixed to turn the shoes GREEN! I didn't expect that to happen as I thought the blue would paint OVER the yellow, but this mistake ended up looking pretty interesting (and shiny):

So far these shoes have held up with their spray painted outer coats. The hard leather shoes lose a small amount of paint in the crevasse areas when I wear them a lot, but it's so small an amount no one would notice. So now I have two "new" pairs of shoes for the cost of $2.99 cans of spray paint:

...and the "mistake" pair:

I like both of them, but the gold ones came out looking the best. The green ones are nice in my opinion, but I either get "those look awesome" or "those are the worst shoes I've ever seen" remarks about them. If everyone thinks it looks horrible, I generally like it more.

The coolest part is when someone asks me where I got them, I can say, "I made them!"

Labels: Personal

In celebration I'm taking friends out to watch the remainder of the Leonid Meteor Shower tonight!

Labels: Personal

That's right, I'm famous. Uber famous!

A few months ago someone from a German publishing company contacted my business House Of Rave to possibly buy some of the wallpapers featured on the site. They wanted to use one of the pictures on the cover of an upcoming book about the techno club scene in the 1990's till present (or something like that)...

They offered to pay me a nominal fee for the rights, but I declined (in order to keep the full rights) and requested a copy of the book plus photo credit if it was published using pictures I own. I figured since I own a rave company, I should probably help support the rave community in whatever way I can...and it seemed like it would be decent publicity too.

So I provided them the original high-res files to a few of the pictures they requested, and didn't really expect anything to happen.

Just recently I got a package from Germany with two copies of the book, and they happened to use a picture taken by me, of me demonstrating a product! While you can't clearly see my face, you can see the silhouette of my face (so excuse the opening line...my SILHOUETTE is Uber famous)!

Front Cover:

Back cover:

Side-by-side:

That white line divide near the bottom quarter of the picture is actually a giant dry-erase board in my upstairs living room.

Photo credit on inside jacket:

Here's the German Amazon link to the book.

So a picture of my hands are on the front cover of a book. This reminds me of when The New York Times did a full photo shoot with me, then just used a picture of my nose...but they used a full picture of Jim!

Ok, I finally get what everyone's trying to tell me:
I'm too good looking to be printed.

Labels: house of rave, Personal

Whenever I come across a good quote from anything...a book, interview, podcast, magazine, TV show etc...I write it down either in a notepad, my Google Desktop bar or my iPhone.

Here is my quote bank:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
--Aristotle

Whoever feels pain in hearing a good character of a neighbor, will feel pleasure in the reverse.
--Franklin

Man is made for bustle and movement. A ship in motion, a fine woman dancing.
--Abigale Adams

People have everything we want.
--Earl Nightingale

Eating with utensils is like making love with your clothes on.
--Placemat in Indian restaraunt in South Africa from Diana Nightingale book

When asked if one should marry or not, Socrates responded, "You will repent it either way."

The great majority of people do not achieve unusual success; why would we expect that getting in the same line as them in any endeavor would result in any sort of remarkable success?
--Earl Nightingale's Greatest Discovery page 118

Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.
--Anti

Good looks help and constitute an asset if the rest of the person is in balance.
--Earl Nightingale

The only thing about a man that is a man is his thinker. Everything else you can find in a pig or a horse.
-Archibald mcleish

Your stomach should be filled 1/3rd with food, 1/3rd with water and 1/3rd empty to be at your most productive.
--Muslim quote

If you can't poke fun at yourself, you're not much.
--George Steinburner

He who has health, has hope, and he who has hope, has everything.
--old Arabian proverb

The atitude must preceed the accomplishment.
--Nightingale

When a man doesn't know which harbor he's sailing to, no wind is the right wind.
--Senneca

You can't have your Kate and Edith too.
-Statler Brothers

If it feels right, smells right and tastes right, it's almost surely the right thing to do. It really is as simple as that.
--Captain Michael Abrashoff

Talking about men in their forties experiencing a mid-life crisis:
"Suddenly the past seems a humiliating reminder of risks untaken, women unconquered, and chances ignored."
--Nancy Mayer

If someone says a particular person spoke critically of you, just smile and reply, "I guess they don't know about all my other faults. Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned only these"
--Epictetus

Books are the training weights of the mind.
--Epictetus

Man cannot remake himself without suffering. For he is both the marble and the sculptor.
--Alexis Carrel

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet attested their wealth stems in part from being born in America where "innovation and risk are rewarded"

Aristotle said, "Happiness is a byproduct of healthful and successful activity."

Everytime you do something, you throw a boomerang. Eventually the result will come back to you.

It's true some of the best things in life a free, but it's funny....have you ever tried getting them without money?

To get a great idea, come up with lots of them.
--Thomas Edison

Write as well as you can and finish what you start.
--Ernest Hemingway

When asked for the formula of success, Andrew Carnegie said, "Put all your eggs in one basket, then watch that basket."

The purpose of ANY organization is to help man enjoy a more meaningful existence.
--Direct Line 18B towards end

I cannot become who I want to be by remaining who I am.

The bedrock values instilled by Sam Walton and his early lieutenants were all-american values: Hard Work, frugality, discipline, loyalty, a restless effort at constant self-improvement.
--The Wal-Mart Effect

Sam was no genius...he was a workaholic. He was not driven by money, but by competition. He could be playing tennis with a one-legged man in a wheelchair and would show no mercy.
--The Wal-Mart Effect

Any business needs to concentrate on two things: order volume and avg order value.

Like an hourglass, only one grain at a time can pass through. If we go one grain at a time, slowly buy surely we can get an enormous quantity done.

Willis H. Carrier:
I have bee using this same anti-worry technique for 30 years:
Step 1.) Analyze the situation fearlessly and honestly and figure out what's the worst that could possibly happen.
----
Step 2.) after figuring out the worst outcome, I reconciled myself into accepting it if necessary.
-----
Step 3.) from that time on I devoted my time and energy to trying to improve upon the worst which I had already accepted mentally.

Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw the stars.

Greek proverb: The best things are the most difficult.

To make things more pleasant for others is a reason for being.

The best laid schemes o' mice and men often go astray.
--Robert Burns

Wise men ne'er sit and wait their loss, but cheerily seek how to redress their harms.
--Shakespear

A man is what he thinks about all day long.
--Emerson

Our life is what our thoughts make of it.
--Marcus Aurelius

I had the blue because I had no shoes,
Until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.

Find a problem, then ask the opposite.

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
--Dr. Seuss

It's nice to be part of something that will last a little longer than you will.

Doctors give up a year of life to specialize, but they reap the rewards for decades to come.
--The Dip - Seth Godin

Scarcity creates value.

Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.
--Benjamin jowett

We could be playing cards right now and I'd want to kick your ass. Not win, but kick your ass. There's a difference.
--Tiger Woods

When asked, "What is your idea of happiness?"...Alfred Hitchcock replied, "A clear horizon."

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily.
--Zig Ziglar

Don't write about what your readers want you to write about. Write about what you're passionate about.
--Mark Cuban/Tim Ferris

If you don't know what to write about, write about what makes you angry, but don't attack people.

Excellence is not an act, but a habit.
--Plato

Talent is the desire to practice. You love something so much, you're willing to make a large sacrifice for it.
--Malcom Gladwell

It doesn't take any more time or effort to dream a big dream than a small dream.

I'm a great believer in saying yes and not no."
--Richard Branson

It HAS to be something you like, or you WILL bail.
--Joe Liemandt

The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.
--Andrew Carnegie

You don't go in the studio and think, "Ok, what would people want to hear me sing about." I go in there and think, "Ok, what just happened this weekend? You just gotta keep it real with yourself"
-T-pain interview (Yes, I just included a quote by T-pain...you can learn something from everyone)!

If you could put a silver bullet in one competitor, which one would it be? You'll quickly find out who the best is
--Warren Buffet

If you risk something that is important to you, for something that is not important to you, it's just foolish.
--Warren Buffet

Build a moat around your business. When I invest in a company, the only guidance I give the managers is to continue building that moat. Make it bigger, make it deeper, throw crocodiles in it.
--Warren Buffet

The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.
--Paraclese

If you stay ready, you never have to GET ready
--Will Smith

Take what you love to do and apply it to something profitable.

Almost everything you do should be building upon somthing which you can look back at in its entirety and be proud, or sell.

If your competitor is so dull they can't come up with something original about their own products or services and have to steal things you create, they won't be competition for long.

Define success:
A=X+Y+Z
A= Success
X = Work
Y = Play
Z = Keep your mouth shut
--Albert Einstein

The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call "deliberate practice." It's activity that's explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.
--Malcolm Gladwell

Rules prevent disaster, but they ensure medicrity
--Barry Schwartz

There is only one goodness, it is knowledge. There is only one evil, it is negligence.
--Socrates

It may be that taking the focus off your own happiness is what makes happiness possible.
--From a satire article in Cracked

We tend to play things ridiculously safe...it seems as if some people think they're going to live forever.
--Earl Nightingale

When asked where all his success comes from, Ted Turned simply replied, "Thinking. I read and I thought."

Stanger, if we pass each other and you desire to speak to me, why should you not? And why should I not speak to you?
--Walt Whitman

If you're just a distributor, where will you be in 5 years when the major suppliers begin vertically integrating?
--Ted Turner

In chess, a 1 or 2 ahead player always gets beat by someone who looks 7 or 8 moves ahead. I always wanted to think a few moves ahead of the competition.
--Ted Turner

When asked about the secret to longevity in show business, George Carlin replied, "Productivity."

Lasting a long time is a function of pleasing a wide range of people.

To make more money: Motivate yourself by trying to solve peoples problems, not looking to sell them something.

If you give a child too many gifts, he will take them for granted. However we have been given a gift beyond measure (power of the mind), and we do much the same.
--Earl Nightingale

Beauty without intelligence is like a masterpiece painted on a napkin.

The man who has least fear for his carcass, has much time to consider others.

Conform to their style and they'll remember you a day. Create your own style and they'll remember you forever.

Humans must always have a carrot on a stick
--Maslow

Everybody is creative, and everybody is talented. I just don't think everybody is discipined.
--Al Hirschfeld

Nice people with common sense do not make interesting characters. They only make good former spouses.
--Isabel Allende

It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it." --W. Somerset Maugham

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
--Mark Twain

Creativity starts when you cut a zero from your budget."
--Jaime Lerner

At the age of 24 I began setting clear, written goals for each area of my life. I accomplished more in the following year than I had in the previous 24.
--Brian Tracy

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
--Vidal Sassoon

If you sleep you can have sweet dreams...if you work hard you make dreams come true.
--Professor Kwag

Train yourself to let go of the things you fear to lose.
--George Lucas

In the words of William Arthur Ward, "Study while others are sleeping, work while others are loafing, prepare while others are playing, and dream while others are wishing."

------update: 10-05-2009---------

When investing, pessimism is your friend, euphoria the enemy.
--Warren Buffet 2008 shareholder letter

People don't like gadgets, they like experiences. iPhone ads never highlight the technology or show the charger.
--Steve Oskoui

Stop thinking about how to get from people, and start thinking how to create value for them. Massive amounts for them.
--Eben Pagan

If you will take your best ideas, give them away, then people will presume what you're selling is worth more.
--Eben Pagan

Strong men are honest about their desires.

Our capitalistic society ensures there will be competition.

I have told so many of my students that when you're 1% unhappy it’s time to get out. Now it’s time to follow my own advice.
--Perry Belcher

Loving the twitter spam messages promoting worthless MLM and easy money systems. Whatever happened to hard work and a killer product?
--Mitchell Harper

Everybody says my website is a little like McDonald's...it may not be healthy for you, but everyone likes it.
--Perez Hilton

The way we manage her brand is plan it out like a lawyer would create a case plan, then follow that plan.
--Paris Hilton Inc. Movie

Living with a woman is like working backstage.
--Ray Croc biography

If you want to conduct an orchestra, you must turn your back on the crowd.

I work with many CEO's and celebrities and one common trait among these patients is they all imagined themselves attaining success before realizing their goals.
--Excerpt from a self-hypnosis book

Success leaves clues. Study people you admire or want to be like.
--Tony Robbins

If merely looking up past financial data would tell you what the future holds, the Forbes 400 would consist of librarians.
--Warren Buffet 2008 shareholders letter

Labels: Personal, Quotes

I love reading books. I'm particularly into non-fiction books and auto/bio/graphies of great people. I spend a massive amount of time in the public library reading and have gone through hundreds of books. Rarely do I recommend anything to anyone except the absolute best books I've come across.

Books are possibly the highest ROI investments you'll ever make in your life, as you can often learn a lifetime of lessons from a person in just one sitting.

As Epictetus said: "Books are the training weights of the mind."
Below are some of my favorites:

Felix Dennis - How To Get Rich
Quite possibly the most fun I've ever had reading a book! A self-made wealthy man himself, he's the owner of Dennis Publishing which owns Maxim, FHM, The Week and other magazines. There are maybe five books I've EVER read twice...this is #1 on that list.

Earl Nightingale - This is Earl Nightingale
Earl Nightingale is a rather obscure name today, but he is by far the absolute best personal development writer/speaker I've heard. Zero B.S. and filled with fantastic content. Most modern self-development programs are based on this. You should definitely listen The Strangest Secret (link) to get a taste. This book is mainly a transcription of his spoken essays he's so popular for. If you can find a copy of his program "Direct Line" I suggest you buy it. I couldn't find it anywhere except a bit torrent network.

Epictetus - A Manual For Living
I've bought two pocket sized copies of this book and lost both of them in airplanes. Any translation of this still fits in an exceptionally tiny book. There is an outstanding amount of timeless information in this book packed into quick, short passages that make you THINK how to apply them to your life. There is literally zero room in this book for B.S. advice and useless philosophical analysis. If you have a problem, quickly flip through this book and I bet some sort of solution will arise. Written about 1,900 years ago and still 100% applicable.

Napoleon Hill - Think and Grow Rich
This is a classic. I'd be surprised if you HAVEN'T read this yet. I'd bet money this book has restored countless relationships, made millions of millionaires and saved many lives. It's been around since the 1920's, so enjoy the slight racist and sexist remarks (don't buy the "21st century version" which may be censored)! :-)

Labels: Books, Personal, Productivity

*Don't worry, this isn't some weird online suicide note. It's just a thought process of what would happen if I were to suddenly die.
------------------------------------

It happens all the time, every day, and has happened billions of times before me, so it's safe to assume that at some point I will die.

If I had my own way, I'd prefer to die when I think it's time (I'm a big fan of assisted suicide in old age). I think:

If I'm 80+ and all of a sudden bed-ridden from whatever cause, I believe it'd be a good time to go. Why slowly die and burden my family and self? Sure I could go on longer, but like a good comedian, I'd like to go out before the audience forces me out.

The same would be true if my life were to be dependant on others for basic functions, or if I am a vegetable. So if that situation arises in the future, I am publicly asserting it's absolutely 100% OK with me to pull that plug! Anything that happens which burdens my family too much...yank it. No question about it.


Just for fun I ran out a thought experiment:

Cause: I'm crossing the street eating an ice cream cone when BAM I get hit by a bus. Dead.

Effect: Here are some of the effects I see happening:

• Family/friends would be sad.


• My blog would continue to exist (wouldn't it be weird to be reading this blog even though I was DEAD)!?! In fact, in a weird way I'd be immortal for the 3 or 4 months my hosting company wouldn't pull down my dedicated server for non-payment. I bet my blog would actually SPIKE in traffic as word gone around you could read a "ghost" blog! I also presume a lot of people would leave R.I.P. comments (along with spam links trying to profit off the traffic...even in death spam would be a problem)!


• There will end up being a lot of pissed of customers at my business. While I don't have much to do with shipping orders etc, they all pass through me. Without me there, I'm sure the business would continue accepting orders for 3-4 months before the hosting company pulls the plug. Unless someone intervened to get all the bills paid and orders sent. No one would actually be charged any money from the business, but they wouldn't get their orders either.

It's obvious that my main concern about dying is the ease to which my family can absorb that hit. I don't want to die, then on top of that have THEM go through the legal work, taxes etc. to clean up my affairs. Now that I think about it, it's actually quite selfish of me NOT to have a plan in place.

Which brings me to the conclusion I need a solid will (or at least a defined set of instructions left with the person with power of attorney over me). I need proper instructions in place to determine what will happen to my physical assets, money and businesses if I die. I'd also like every possible organ and body part harvested and donated quickly as possible (why the hell would I still need them)??

Action to take:
1.) Make a proper set of instructions to execute in the event of my unexpected demise.
2.) Legally give my parents power of attorney over everything I own if I kick the dust.
3.) Properly register as an organ donor. Apparently there's a special registration for this...I personally think EVERYONE should automatically be an organ donor UNLESS they specifically apply NOT to be.

A few years before he died, Benjamin Franklin wrote up his own epitaph which I think is totally badass (this is the original so forgive the weird syntax):

A few people I told about this post thought it was "too much of a downer." Why? Death is such a normal part of life, I see no reason why not to plan in case it happens, or admit that it will inevitably come.

I think Steve Jobs said it best in that famous commencement speech he made:

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

Labels: motivation, Personal, Quotes

For those of you who've never met me personally, what's your impression of me from reading this blog?

I'm really curious as to what type of impression I give off.

Optional questions to jog your thoughts:
-Do I remind you of anyone?
-Would I be someone you'd want to hang out with?
-Do you think I'll be a success or a bust?
-Am I your favorite read on the net?

Leave a comment and let me know.

Don't be afraid to dish the good or bad....but don't be obnoxious please.

Labels: Personal

Made video of my first back flip attempts:

Watching that face-plant....priceless!

Labels: Health, motivation, Personal

I noticed sometime in early 2008 that I was starting to get a little chunky around the sides. I would suck in my stomach in front of the mirror and it no longer showed the muscles underneath like it used to.

Problem: I was getting fatter.

Another Problem: I was always being lazy (although at the time I never dreamed it had anything to do with food).

I don't remember a period since college where I didn't regularly get lots of physical activity or regularly go to the gym....so this wasn't the problem.

One day my mom gave me a 5 pound bag of Clementine's no one at home was eating. I took them to Austin with me. They're like mini oranges that you can easily peel. I LOVED THEM!

I liked them a lot, but would eat maybe one or two a day. I then read Steve Pavlina's 30-day raw diet experiment where he would eat only raw foods like fruits and vegetables. I had no intention of emulating this, but I was amazed at the sheer quantity of fruit he would eat. Instead of two Clementine's, he would eat 8 or 10. Instead of one banana a day, he would eat 10+.

For some reason I just didn't think of eating that many....sounds stupid, but true. I've never seen anyone eat THAT much fruit before.

So taking a cue from that I decided to up my fruit intake because I've always loved fruits. I ate pretty much the same junk I used to, but now with a whole lot more fruit. Slowly and slowly I started eating more and more, to the point where lunch was pretty much just grapes, apples, avocados, oranges etc.

Now of course I still craved heavier foods from time to time and would allow myself to pig out McDonald's (I still love McDonald's), but for the most part I was eating a lot less of everything else, and a lot more fruits.

During this time I started gaining an affinity for fruits and stopped craving junk food as much. Through the day I would snack on fruit and it felt great. The cool thing about eating that way is you don't have to really watch what you eat. Pig out an all the fruit you want.

For dinner I decided that I wasn't eating terribly unhealthy anymore, but my portions were out of control. To combat this I simply used a small plate, almost like a tea saucer to eat dinner on. I would try stacking my food sky high, but that little plate wouldn't hold much. I allowed myself to return for as many servings, but that tiny plate had to be used. I quickly found myself eating drastically less food yet being equally satisfied, simply because I didn't have much on the plate. I also stopped getting that over-stuffed "food baby" feeling after dinner.

I was still eating a bunch of junk, so I decided to not buy anything in a box. Well, I would still eat pasta or rice every night, and I suppose pasta and sauce comes in a box/bottle, but that was the extent of it. I stopped buying cookies, chips, soups, snacks or anything like that....and the transition really wasn't that hard.

I would still eat junk at a party or when it was available somewhere, but I wouldn't keep it in the house. I would also go to the grocery with one of those small hand-carts you carry instead of a rolling shopping cart. I physically wouldn't have space to put a bottle of Coke or any other non-essential item.

(I admit....I have a weak spot for Ramen Noodles every once in a while).

Some very in-shape friends also told me that roughly once a week to PIG OUT on all the bad food I could get my hands on.....and pig out I did! I would hit up the McDonald's value menu with a vengeance! Be careful though, when you eat all that junk food, you tend to crave even more junk food the next few days. It's oddly addicting.

There were two VERY noticeable side effects to my new eating habits:

1. I saved a lot of money on groceries.
2. I felt WAY better (More on this later).

I never realized how cheap most produce is. You fill a basket with everything from the produce section and you're looking at a pretty cheap grocery bill. It was an unexpected benefit.

The really crazy benefit was the way I felt after a few days of eating like this. Previously I would wake up, go to the office (two steps away from my bedroom) and sluggishly start working. Prior to that I'd usually hit the snooze button 10 times. I was sort of productive, but I always had "Fog Brain." Fog Brain is not really a tired or lazy sensation, it's just a not-as-clear-as-I-could-be sensation (which results in being somewhat lethargic).

Now I finally understand what a lot of people talk about when they start eating better and getting "better mental clarity." It sounds like some hippy peace/love crap, but it works. I was more aware, willing to work longer and had better clarity....I also slept better, but more noticeable was I woke up in the morning with greater ease. I'm not saying everyday I'd hop out of bed with enthusiasm, but waking up was MUCH easier....working out was MUCH easier...and working through problems and issues seemed MUCH easier.

I sincerely wish I had discovered this in college.

I literally cannot explain how much clearer everything seemed when I ate well for extended periods of time. The benefit was immense.

So those benefits were great, but the changes physically were the most fun. I had always worked out, so I would get larger muscles, but my body fat pretty much remained constant due to my horrendous eating habits and love of fast food. Now my body fat was shrinking, and while my muscles remained relatively constant, I could see them better. Especially around the waist and chest.

A few times a month I took a shirtless picture of myself in a flexed and un-flexed pose (These pics are from Feb. 2008 till July 2008) in order to gauge my progress.

Here are the UN-FLEXED pics. Me just standing in a relaxed pose in front of the camera (Click image for full size):

Here are the FLEXED pics. Tensing the body to show muscles better. The difference from the 1st picture to the last picture is relatively dramatic (Click image for full size):

Here are both the images above put next to each other (Click image for full size):

None of the pics have been Photoshopped (except cropping). Some things learned from taking these pics:

• Flexing vs. not-flexing looks incredibly different.
• It REALLLLLY depends on how much you just ate. Waking up in the morning I would look great, but after a big meal I'd look much fatter in the picture.
• The camera is deceiving.

During this time I didn't take any vitamins, supplements, protein shakes or any type of physical fitness product. I simply ate less "bad stuff" through moderation and a lot more "good" food.

-----------------------------------------
RE-CAP OF THINGS I DID:
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Eating habits:

• Used a hand-carry basket instead of rolling cart at the grocery.
• Didn't buy anything that comes in a box or can (small exceptions for pasta and dinner ingredients).
• Started using a small plate for everything. Took as many servings of food as I wanted, but on a tiny plate or bowl. This drastically helped cut down on over eating. If you go to a buffet, use a small salad plate to take your food.
• Once a week pigged out on whatever I wanted. This quickly showed me how lethargic bad food makes you feel in comparison with the good food.
• Started eating a lot more fruits and vegetables.
  

Exercise Habits:

• Instead of driving to gym, biked to gym.
• Joined a rock climbing gym and ditched the boring regular weight-lifting gym.
• When still at boring gym, took spinning classes regularly.
  

Motivation:
Originally I liked the benefit of losing body fat and looking ripped, but that superficial goal didn't last long. Eventually I started to slip back into bad eating habits since the motivation to "be ripped" wasn't strong enough.

The thing that got me back into eating properly is the obvious difference in my mental clarity, being unbelievably more productive than before and waking up with much greater ease. The changes to physicality are just a happy side benefit.


Unexpected benefits:
I'm quite sure NO ONE wants to hear this, but taking a poop is a much more pleasant experience when eating well (did I just say that)?? Everything comes out quicker and is a lot easier to clean up. I suppose less time spent in the bathroom can also be considered a productivity benefit :-)


Naysayers:
I've never heard so much conflicting advice about a subject like working out and health. No matter what you do for exercise or diet there will always be some conflicting opinion, study, blah blah blah...

Whatever. Just eat well. Your body is much stronger than you might expect. If you eat 3 bananas in one day you won't die of a sugar overdose, or if you don't eat steak everyday you won't start losing mass amounts of muscle. You'll be fine.


Drawbacks:

• Getting past that first "hump" of cravings for heavy foods.
• Self control when you're at a party with unlimited food.
• The first few days can be a little rough....that's why I slowly started eating better, the "transition" was nearly non-existent that way.

Sticking To It:
Since I originally took all those pictures and started this (roughly Feb. 2008) I've slipped in and out of good/bad eating habits a few times. Generally holidays and vacations help you eat a bunch of crap, and it's a little difficult to slip back into the good habits again.

Fortunately you do this a couple of times, and the "bad" binges get shorter and shorter. The quality of work and productivity is so much higher when you're eating clean, that it almost seems silly to eat bad stuff. But don't worry, you're supposed to shock your system once a week and eat horribly, so that makes it fun!

Happy eating!
-Nev

Labels: Health, Money Experiments, motivation, Personal

Two things happened recently. I lost a $0.92 notebook from Wal-Mart and I partially shattered the screen on my iPhone which I paid hundreds of dollars for.

Oddly enough, when I broke the iPhone I didn't really care one bit. Not at all. I predicted I'd break this phone within 6 months (and that was in July 2008) so it lasted a lot longer than other electronics I regularly carry.

However when I got off the plane, got home and realized I had left my notebook in the seatback pocket....I knew the notebook was gone, but realized I had lost something 100 times more valuable to me than an easily replaceable iPhone.

I have a bunch of these little notebooks (you know, kind of like the "cow" print notebooks third graders use):

...I use them to take notes when I read. Since I read so much, I tend to forget important things, so I write them down and re-read them time to time as a refresher. If I get a random business idea, I write it out. If I have a problem which needs solving, I pull out the notebook and graph out the problem, possible outcomes and plausible solutions. I also write down good quotes or random thoughts. Anything that comes to mind often goes in here.

I filled this particular notebook about halfway full during my recent month in California, so it's a shame to see those nearly 100 pages of notes, to-do lists and random things gone.

The iPhone can be replaced at anytime.


--------------------------------------------
A word on the iPhone:
I don't have a case or any sort of protective covering on this iPhone. I've dropped it, sat on it, thrown it around, dumped it in backpacks/gym bags and got it wet a surprisingly large number of times and it hardly has a scratch or defect on it yet. The screen is still flawless. I keep it in my pocket along with keys, change or whatever gets dumped in there. That's one surprisingly tough phone.

The cool thing is it still works just fine! When the phone is on, I can hardly tell the cracks are there....so using even this "broken" phone is still exactly the same as when it was new.

Initially when it broke there were some small shards of glass that would rub off on my hand and cut me. When my phone starts to draw blood every time I use it....THAT was a bit of a problem. However I just turned it upside down and rubbed out all the shards with a tissue and it hasn't been a problem since.

On the bright side, this gives me an excuse to buy the new iPhone when it comes out :-)

Labels: Personal, updates

Favorite sitcom = Seinfeld.

One of my favorite episodes was "The Opposite" where the character George Costanza does everything the opposite of his instincts.

"It all became very clear sitting out there today, that every decision that I've ever made in my entire life - has been wrong. My life is the complete opposite of everything I wanted to be. Every instinct I have in every aspect of life...be it: something to wear, something to eat...it's all been wrong."

George then has a situation come up (an attractive woman looks in his direction) that he usually does nothing about, and Jerry eggs him on:

"Here's your chance to try the opposite. If every instinct you have is wrong; then the opposite would have to be right."

He goes and talks to the woman in a very "opposite" way and gets the girl. Then more situations arise where he does the opposite. If anything it's at least hilarious.

Later on in the episode everything is going GREAT for George! His life turns around as he gets the dream girl and the dream job and says, "This has been the dream of my life ever since I was a child, and it's all happening because I'm completely ignoring every urge towards common sense and good judgment I've ever had!"



I remember originally seeing this episode and thinking, "What a great idea!" Recently I've tried slowly applying "The Opposite" mantra in any area where I don't think I've been performing well:

--If a small issue comes up (in a customer order or website issue) instead of following habit and putting it on tomorrow's to-do list I'll do the opposite and fix it right then and there.

--When I come home late and still have something left on the to-do list, I usually postpone it till the next day. Instead I'll do "the opposite" and finish it right there on the spot.

--Every once in a while I'll get a difficult customer who wants something unreasonable. Instead of getting annoyed and acting snide with them I'll do the opposite and try my humanly best to make them happy.

--If I'm on a long bike ride and hit a point I know I'll be too tired to bike back home, instead of turning back I'll do the opposite and keep going.

The examples go on.....I'm sure you can imagine a few for your own life.

Suggesting a life changing tip from a Seinfeld episode almost sounds ridiculous...but not really. Essentially I've equated "The Opposite" with motivation to do something NOW instead of waiting or hesitating. It mainly helps you push limits and break habits that were formed for no real reason. When I tell myself "Oh stop being lazy and just do it" the message sometimes isn't that convincing.

However telling myself, "Do the opposite...this particular thing hasn't worked out well in the past, why would it work now?"
....that works pretty well.

Here's some of the character insights behind the episode:


So if you're doing something you know hasn't worked out for you in the past, try the opposite!

Labels: advice, motivation, Personal

For Christmas I went on vacation to Cancun with my family and friends. There were lots of relaxing and fun activities like this:

....and this:

(Notice the House Of Rave shirt)!

...but there are some definite upsides and downsides to owning a business and taking a vacation. For the most part I prepared for my absence and there was little work to be done, so it wasn't that bad.

While I was the only one who generated any income during the trip (good), I was also the only one who had to take time out of the day to work (bad). Fortunately I don't see this as a bad thing because I start going crazy if I don't stay at least slightly productive several days in a row.

On two different occasions I whipped out my laptop in the lobby of the resort (working in the room isn't as fun) and started handling business. Each session was maybe 1-2 hours, and pretty much looked like this the whole time:

Getting the work done during vacation actually makes the vacation more enjoyable in my case because I get a feeling of accomplishment out of it. However if you want a week completely void from thoughts about work, owning a business may not always be the best thing.

Labels: business, Personal