NevBlog

Neville's Digital Surrogate Brain

books are the training weights of the mind

by

“Books are the training weights of the mind.”

–Epictetus

I’ve read a helluva lot of books, and they’ve helped change my life for the better, and maybe that’s why I’m so interested in making them (that desire comes/goes in spurts).  

Two years back I wanted to see if I could write a book in two weeks.  AND I DID!
https://www.nevblog.com/category/writing-a-book-in-two-weeks/

But only recently did I think of publishing it on Amazon.

I buy pretty much EVERY book through Amazon Prime….and I was curious if I could get that little book available to everyone on Amazon.

And it happened……check it out!!

I just get a kick that someone can order that book on Amazon, and get my face delivered to their door!

When I show people the physical book, they get curious how I made it.

It was pretty damn simple:
1.) I went to CreateSpace.com

2.) Uploaded the book in PDF format (I wrote it in Microsoft Word, although now I’d suggest you write your book in Google Docs and do “save as PDF” when done).

3.) After entering in other random info, the book was ready to ship!

Within a few days, the Amazon.com listing goes up live.  You can separately upload the same book to Amazon’s Kindle Publishing platform, and within a few days, the physical book and Kindle book get linked…..like mine are here:
https://amzn.com/0615836720

I started giving out random copies of this book recently, and everyone so far has loved it, and said, “This makes me wanna go out and do my own experiments!!”

Just thought it was cool that nowadays you can publish something so easily.

Maybe if there’s a solid piece of material you wrote, you could upload it and get it published on Amazon.com just for fun too!

Writing interview – Tim Ferriss and Neil Strauss

by

THESE ARE MY NOTES FROM TIM FERRISS AND NEIL STRAUSS INTERVIEW ABOUT WRITING.
….an hour long interview boiled down to the key points for quick reading.
This interview drops golden tips for aspiring writers everywhere.
Link to watch 1-hour interview: Here

You can download the .PDF or .DOC files of my notes here (2 pages each):

pdf-download-icon      docx_mac

 

 

Feel free to use/modify/distribute for free.  Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Neville Medhora

something from nothing

by

I once heard an interview with the famous music composer Quincy Jones (the guy who produced a lot of Michael Jackson’s stuff)…..and he said this awesome quote:


“Music is a wonderful business, because you take nothing, and make it into something….and you can sell it!” 

I was reminded of this after recording myself writing a chapter in the book I’m writing about Kopywriting.I started with a blank page.
I ended with a chapter of a book people will pay for.

You can see it (sped-up) here:

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JahxPjJP2iE

This is just another reason I’ve found being able to write well has improved my life.

I can turn nothing, into gold, with my fingers!

Sincerely,
Neville Medhora – A real-life genie

 

P.S.  Have a great weekend :)

motivational links

by

I am one….lazy….bastard!
And an important part of getting me up and doing things is a steady stream of motivation.

Motivation is SO different from person-to-person, so for what it’s worth, here’s a couple of things I randomly consume whenever I need a shot of adrenaline:
——————————————

 

Dave Matthews blowing his lungs out:
After a 2-year long tour, this Central Park concert was the very last for The Dave Matthews Band, and in their final song “All Along The Watchtower” he screams his lungs off  (watch whole thing if you like, but screaming starts at 11minute mark):
https://youtu.be/fOaMQ-R9YGM?t=10m58s

 

Ellen DeGeneres speaking at a college commencement:
I like how she speaks.
https://www.upworthy.com/ellen-s-tragic-lesbian-love-story-has-the-most-beautiful-ending?c=ufb1

 

Earl Nightingales “The Strangest Secret”.
I can never make it all the way through without getting several great ideas and getting back to work.  Love Earl’s stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62DqsD2s5V8

 

Pendulum performing 2 re-mixed songs at GlastonBerry.
Cinematography is wonderful.  I dunno if they’re techno or a rock band, but I used to watch this constantly at wall-shaking & neighbor-complaining levels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnD0YRAT0bg

 

Slipknot performing “Wait and Bleed” live.  
I think the 1st minute of this live recording is unbelievably well done.  Don’t know why.  You might not wanna watch this at work or around kids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yngxExGNIHg

 

Steve Jobs talking about poking life.
I. Love.  This.  Video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfNvmF0Bqw

 

I have over a hundred of these, but this might be enough inspiration to get you going.
Bookmark the one’s that speak to you.
Sincerely,
Your lazy friend,
Neville Medhora

P.S.  Even if you don’t think any of my personal choices motivate you, I’d highly suggest you put a “Motivation” bookmark on your browser.  When in a lull, you’ll know what to do.

 

P.P.S.  Please share this list with someone you know it may help.

Louis CK gets better

by

I’m a nerd so I watch YouTube videos and interviews allllll the time when at home.

One of my absolute favorite pieces of entertainment which I learned a hulluvalot from is a short documentary called “Talking Funny” (It’s just Jerry Seinfeld, Ricky Gervais, Louis CK, and Chris Rock talking about being funny for an hour….and it’s FREAKING AMAZING).

There’s a profound moment I will NEVER forget…

It was said by Louis CK, while he was talking about how he makes his act stronger:

Click the image below and it’ll take you to the video starting at the 4min15second mark:


Link: https://youtu.be/OKY6BGcx37k?t=4m15s

He says this brilliant thing:

“One of the things I started doing was taking my closing bit, and opening with it, just to fuck myself.  Because then I have to follow my strongest bit.  So the end of my act gets stronger, because I don’t have a choice.“

–Louis CK

I won’t sit here and micro-examine that phrase, because I’m sure you extract what you need from it on your own.

Just thought I’d share this piece of advice that’s stuck with me since the day I watched it (I’ve since watched it at least 30+ times…no joke)!

Watch it now, or save it for later.  Enjoy!
-Neville

Tell a friend to singup to me: Hey

June 2013 Goals

by

My goals for June 2013 are pretty simple.  Only two.  (although might add another if needed).

june-2013-goals

 

I’m re-designing this blog to be a little easier to read, and kinda go back to the old-school layout I used to have back when I was on Blogger.com.

Like this:

Old School NevBlog

I dunno what it was about that layout, but it was just easy-as-hell to read and easy to endlessly scroll through.

Kinda want some elements of that back.

Working with Alf, and already got some of the very basic framework spec’d out:

nevblog-mockup4

Obviously a lot of the elements (like background) will change.  But this just the general framework.  POINT IS, this is moving already, so should be completed soon.

 

 

….

…….

………..

…………….

Next goal is a kopywriting book.

I randomly started writing it, and it went quick because it was based on the KopywritingKourse.

Now I think the video course is by FAR the best way to learn what I have to teach, but the book will be great for people who can’t watch it for whatever reason.  It’ll also expose Kopywriting to a large audience.

It’s ALWAYS harder than it seems to crank out a book (I learned this from my Book In Two Weeks Experiment), but hopefully I can finish this month.

I’m going to TRY to limit the book to 70 or 90 pages so it’s really quick.  Like a copywriting guide.

 

ANYWHOOZLE, those are my goals….Got yours set for June 2013 yet??
-Neville

 

risky kinetic

by

Three phases of every human life that’s ever existed:
1.) You’re born.
2.) You do some things.
3.) You fucking die.

So no matter what your problem is…..it pales in comparison with that 3rd stage.

This might help pump you up before you do anything:

YouTube video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFaiizcLTp0

Bookmark this video as a small piece of inspiration (I have a folder in my book marks just for inspirational stuff).  Also give it a YouTube “Like” if you don’t mind.

This video was originally part of an email I sent out called “Risky” which got an insanely large response.  Then Bryan from VideoFruit made my soothing voice into kinetic text.  Awesome!

Stay young & dumb my friend (said in my best Dos Equis Man voice).
-Neville

This is my twitter: @NevMed
This is my YouTube: Kopy.tv
Tell a friend about this stuff: Hey

May 2013 Goals

by

Well if you’re a lazy-ass like me you’ll NEVER get anything done unless you write it down the night before.

Aannnd on the same thread you’ll never accomplish what you want for the month….unless you write it down BEFORE the month starts.

So here’s my May 2013 goals:

may-2013-goals

 

Got your goals for the month yet?

 

People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.
–Earl Nightingale

Your “Investment” Account

by

As I’m doing this NevBox promotion, I got a small amount of people asking if I could sell more next month so they could buy it (when they got their paychecks).

Since I’ve already sent all the Malaysian-child-labor-slaves home after assembling the boxes, The answer is NO……but there was something more important about this question:

These people didn’t have $97 on-hand to improve the knowledge in their heads!

I’ve NEVEEERRR had this problem since I started making money…..not because I was super rich, but because I immediately created something called:

The Investment Account.

My “investment account” was simply a checking account I had with my bank (BankOfAmerica) where I would put 30% of all the money I made.

Yes, 30% of every shred of money that came my way….would go straight into this account.

Whenever it came time to make a purchase that would better myself in some way, I would use this “Investment Account” to pay for it.  

Since 30% of all my money went here, this account was always stocked with a decent amount of cash.

Any book, any internet course, any domain name, any newspaper/magazine subscription, app….or WHATEVER that would improve my life, would get paid for by this account.

And I wouldn’t nit-pick on how much something cost when paying with this account.

If something could possibly improve my life, I bought it immediately.  What better investment is there??

Things I’ve bought using my investment account:

  • Books, lots of them.
  • Tickets to conferences
  • Tuxedo to help crash parties
  • Internet courses such as KopywritingKourse
  • Newspaper subscriptions
  • Class clothes for classy events
  • A personal stylist
  • A Personal trainer
  • Accountability coach for business
  • Domain names
  • Software like Photoshop and Microsoft Word
  • Computer microphones, video cameras, video equipment
  • My MacBook Air and iMac computers

You can probably tell how all of these things either improve my life, improve my knowledge, or improve my effectiveness as a business person.

AND I REFUSE TO HEM-AND-HAW ABOUT THESE PURCHASES.  

My brain is the most important tool in my shed, and anything to improve it can pay off massively.  So to have funds available for all these things……I have been thankful for the last 10+ years to have had “an investment account” to pay for it all without thinking.

Do YOU have an account like this?
Do YOU have some funds dedicated solely to the improvement of your brain?

Sincerely,
Neville Medhora – A kopywriter with thousands of dollars to “make it rain, on my brain.”

FYI.  There are only 19 NevBox’s left this morning!  If you would like to grab one, I’d suggest you do it in the next few minutes.  The PayPal button will automatically stop working after the last one is sold.