I'm in the midst of the project. I feel that my release date will have to be pushed back a few days. I was planning on releasing it this Sunday....but there are some more things I'd like to flesh out. One part of me just wants to put something out there, but I want it to be a good quality thing. So probably Tuesday or Wednesday is more realistic. I am working my butt off. Every spare minute I have is like doing this project. I am very passionate about it, yet at the same time, have objective criticism of everything so that I don't blindly fall in love with something just because I put in effort.
I am absolutely determined that this can work. I can't guarantee it will work right away, but by December 15, I think things will click.
It's good to be out of society's matrix of how they want everyone to live your life. To finally think ono my own and do what *I* love, not what they say is "important".
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
I'll Make $1 Million in 6 Months
What is the goal?
I started this goal approximately September 24, 2007. It is what I call a Passion Project. This will form the main basis for the reason this blog exists, atleast for the next 6 months. The ultimate goal will be to make $1 million profit by March 25, 2008, and as a general point of reference, to make $250,000 by Christmas 2007.
Why am I starting this?
This is the one goal that has always felt rather elusive--financial freedom. There are other goals that I haven't reached ofcourse, but all the other ones feel relatively easy to me. For example, I do not have a girlfriend at this particular time, but unlike in previous times, I don't feel desperate because I have gained so much confidence and social skills that it would be stupid and irrational for me to believe that I can't get one. Honestly I would just have to spend a day or two going out chatting with people and it would be done.
I am not content with working at desk jobs. There was a time not too long ago that I hated the office and felt like it was going to jail due to some bad experiences. I no longer view it like that anymore, but I certainly would get much more satisfaction out of life creating something I'm passionate about and succeeding in the business world, instead of droning in an office till I'm 65.
What am I going to buy with the money?
Ironicially, I'm not a materialistic person at all. Throughout my life, even as a child, I've been notorious for being a person who doesn't want to buy things. I've lived my whole life in a middle-class white-collar family, but for me, money is really only important if I either have a lot of it (millions) or none at all (barely scraping by). Whether I'm earning $40,000 or $80,000 a year doesn't really change my lifestyle very much. I'm not really one to indulge in a spending spree, and getting a luxury vehical like a Mercedes Benz instead of a non-luxury vehical doesn't really make much difference to my level of happiness.
If I use the money on buying anything, it would most likely be for travelling. I don't know if that counts as materialism. It's not really tangible, I would go because I like to relax and see the world. I find those experiences to be enlightening if you open your mind. The money would give me the opportunity and power to live a life where I can do what I want for the rest of my life.
Are there any rules or guidelines to this project?
One of the things about this is that it's not just about the money, it's also about doing something I love versus doing something that I don't really enjoy. If I make money doing something that I am not passionate about, then it will not count. This goal has nothing to do with getting rich quick like some sort of scheme.
It's about something similar to what Ayn Rand talks about in some of her books like Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I was introduced to her books when I read that NBA billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, read her book Fountainhead religiously. I'm not a big fan of her writing style, but I am a fan of her ideology of Objectivism even though I'm not really an idealist. She describes it like this: "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." She also says that in order for this to work, Laissez-faire capitalism needs to be the framework.
How much start up capital will I have?
I'm thinking a couple hundred dollars at most. It's not really that necessary for me to spend money on this, because hopefully when I make a product that is great and use proper marketing, I won't have to. It's really the time and guided effort of my creativity that I put in that will determine if I can succeed. I truly go with the motto that life is what you make of it.
What are my obstacles?
I'm taking a senior level Accounting class at night that is very difficult and will no doubt take up a lot of time. I will probably be working at a full time job for the entire time of this goal. And there will also be a learning curve for me since this is the first time I've worked on this sort of project.
So what exactly is this project?
I cannot state the specifics as of yet. I would much rather have more of my work done before going into detail about it. One thing I can say is that it has to do with a LOT of creativity.
Conclusion
It's the first time that a guy like me who has always focused on school and working for somebody else, has decided to do something entrepreneurial. I might not have much to lose when it comes to money since there isn't a lot of start up costs, but I will have a lot to lose in terms of the lifestyle that I might not be able to have for the remainder of my life. That, in my own life, is much more important. Again, I do not want to work in an office and follow all those rules forever; life should be about being free, doing what you love, and using your head to see success.
I started this goal approximately September 24, 2007. It is what I call a Passion Project. This will form the main basis for the reason this blog exists, atleast for the next 6 months. The ultimate goal will be to make $1 million profit by March 25, 2008, and as a general point of reference, to make $250,000 by Christmas 2007.
Why am I starting this?
This is the one goal that has always felt rather elusive--financial freedom. There are other goals that I haven't reached ofcourse, but all the other ones feel relatively easy to me. For example, I do not have a girlfriend at this particular time, but unlike in previous times, I don't feel desperate because I have gained so much confidence and social skills that it would be stupid and irrational for me to believe that I can't get one. Honestly I would just have to spend a day or two going out chatting with people and it would be done.
I am not content with working at desk jobs. There was a time not too long ago that I hated the office and felt like it was going to jail due to some bad experiences. I no longer view it like that anymore, but I certainly would get much more satisfaction out of life creating something I'm passionate about and succeeding in the business world, instead of droning in an office till I'm 65.
What am I going to buy with the money?
Ironicially, I'm not a materialistic person at all. Throughout my life, even as a child, I've been notorious for being a person who doesn't want to buy things. I've lived my whole life in a middle-class white-collar family, but for me, money is really only important if I either have a lot of it (millions) or none at all (barely scraping by). Whether I'm earning $40,000 or $80,000 a year doesn't really change my lifestyle very much. I'm not really one to indulge in a spending spree, and getting a luxury vehical like a Mercedes Benz instead of a non-luxury vehical doesn't really make much difference to my level of happiness.
If I use the money on buying anything, it would most likely be for travelling. I don't know if that counts as materialism. It's not really tangible, I would go because I like to relax and see the world. I find those experiences to be enlightening if you open your mind. The money would give me the opportunity and power to live a life where I can do what I want for the rest of my life.
Are there any rules or guidelines to this project?
One of the things about this is that it's not just about the money, it's also about doing something I love versus doing something that I don't really enjoy. If I make money doing something that I am not passionate about, then it will not count. This goal has nothing to do with getting rich quick like some sort of scheme.
It's about something similar to what Ayn Rand talks about in some of her books like Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I was introduced to her books when I read that NBA billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, read her book Fountainhead religiously. I'm not a big fan of her writing style, but I am a fan of her ideology of Objectivism even though I'm not really an idealist. She describes it like this: "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." She also says that in order for this to work, Laissez-faire capitalism needs to be the framework.
How much start up capital will I have?
I'm thinking a couple hundred dollars at most. It's not really that necessary for me to spend money on this, because hopefully when I make a product that is great and use proper marketing, I won't have to. It's really the time and guided effort of my creativity that I put in that will determine if I can succeed. I truly go with the motto that life is what you make of it.
What are my obstacles?
I'm taking a senior level Accounting class at night that is very difficult and will no doubt take up a lot of time. I will probably be working at a full time job for the entire time of this goal. And there will also be a learning curve for me since this is the first time I've worked on this sort of project.
So what exactly is this project?
I cannot state the specifics as of yet. I would much rather have more of my work done before going into detail about it. One thing I can say is that it has to do with a LOT of creativity.
Conclusion
It's the first time that a guy like me who has always focused on school and working for somebody else, has decided to do something entrepreneurial. I might not have much to lose when it comes to money since there isn't a lot of start up costs, but I will have a lot to lose in terms of the lifestyle that I might not be able to have for the remainder of my life. That, in my own life, is much more important. Again, I do not want to work in an office and follow all those rules forever; life should be about being free, doing what you love, and using your head to see success.
Learn to Write with Left Hand
When you can do something new, it really helps cultivate a desire to achieve. I think this happens because you start to see how you can improve from being horrible at something to being good at it, and as they say "success breeds success."
How can you not be positive in life when you can see with your own eyes that you can improve on something so much?
When I learn something, it reinforces the reality that I live in, which is one where I believe I can basically do anything as long as I work hard and keep my eyes open to opportunities around me. One of the minor things I've done over the last few months is learning to write with my left hand.
I got kind of annoyed by not knowing how to use a hand that I've had all my life. Also, when I got fatigued with writing with my right hand, I figured it would be practical to start writing with my left, sort of like a back up plan.
When I started, like most people, my left handed writing was horrible. I could barely even write the fricken alphabet. It would take me a very long time, and every line was so squiggly you'd think it was written by a 3 year old. I obviously couldn't just write with my left hand only or else I would never finish homework on time (or not be able to read it). So I would do it on and off at first. After awhile I could do more of it, although still very slow and quite messy.
I remember a turning point a few months later.
I returned back from a trip where I didn't write anything with either hand, and was taking a night class. I was writing with my left hand, not as messy as before although still about 3 times slower than my right, but something very strange happened. I would like to know if this only happened to me, but my head felt strange whenever I wrote. It felt awkward...like a very irritating itch, but obviously one that couldn't be scratched away. It was like my brain had for the first time in twenty some years re-wired itself such that it no longer viewed my left hand as being a foreign object. I was still quite bad at writing with my left, but I really think that at this moment something just changed neurologically.
Most believe that being left or right handed is something you were born with. I have read that people who are right handed predominantly use the left side of their brain to write, but people who are left handed use both sides of their brain to write. Many studies have also shown left handed people as being on average much more creative than the average right handed person. Some studies also show a slight (10%) higher average earning salary for left handers.
I think that is why my head felt weird when I was writing with my left hand. I wish there was some sort of cat scan on my brain that day just to see what was happening. Anyway, I don't know if I'm ambidextrous right now, because I still prefer my right hand. As dexteric as I may be, I'm still about twice as slow with my left, although it has become much more neat.
One thing I want to say though, is that for me, the learning curve for drawing was much quicker. Within a month I could basically draw as well on my left hand, probably because drawing is all about visualization. When I draw, I tend to have a very sketch like style where I go over lines over and over again, so it doesn't matter if the precision is off by a little bit. Writing words requires precision that isn't needed in drawing. Have you ever noticed how people who are good at art almost always have terrible writing and yet many people who write very neat are horrible at art?
This was just a small example of learning something. I am in the process of learning animation, and in the future I plan on learning languages, work out more, and so on. My lifestyle is very forward looking and optimistic.
How can you not be positive in life when you can see with your own eyes that you can improve on something so much?
When I learn something, it reinforces the reality that I live in, which is one where I believe I can basically do anything as long as I work hard and keep my eyes open to opportunities around me. One of the minor things I've done over the last few months is learning to write with my left hand.
I got kind of annoyed by not knowing how to use a hand that I've had all my life. Also, when I got fatigued with writing with my right hand, I figured it would be practical to start writing with my left, sort of like a back up plan.
When I started, like most people, my left handed writing was horrible. I could barely even write the fricken alphabet. It would take me a very long time, and every line was so squiggly you'd think it was written by a 3 year old. I obviously couldn't just write with my left hand only or else I would never finish homework on time (or not be able to read it). So I would do it on and off at first. After awhile I could do more of it, although still very slow and quite messy.
I remember a turning point a few months later.
I returned back from a trip where I didn't write anything with either hand, and was taking a night class. I was writing with my left hand, not as messy as before although still about 3 times slower than my right, but something very strange happened. I would like to know if this only happened to me, but my head felt strange whenever I wrote. It felt awkward...like a very irritating itch, but obviously one that couldn't be scratched away. It was like my brain had for the first time in twenty some years re-wired itself such that it no longer viewed my left hand as being a foreign object. I was still quite bad at writing with my left, but I really think that at this moment something just changed neurologically.
Most believe that being left or right handed is something you were born with. I have read that people who are right handed predominantly use the left side of their brain to write, but people who are left handed use both sides of their brain to write. Many studies have also shown left handed people as being on average much more creative than the average right handed person. Some studies also show a slight (10%) higher average earning salary for left handers.
I think that is why my head felt weird when I was writing with my left hand. I wish there was some sort of cat scan on my brain that day just to see what was happening. Anyway, I don't know if I'm ambidextrous right now, because I still prefer my right hand. As dexteric as I may be, I'm still about twice as slow with my left, although it has become much more neat.
One thing I want to say though, is that for me, the learning curve for drawing was much quicker. Within a month I could basically draw as well on my left hand, probably because drawing is all about visualization. When I draw, I tend to have a very sketch like style where I go over lines over and over again, so it doesn't matter if the precision is off by a little bit. Writing words requires precision that isn't needed in drawing. Have you ever noticed how people who are good at art almost always have terrible writing and yet many people who write very neat are horrible at art?
This was just a small example of learning something. I am in the process of learning animation, and in the future I plan on learning languages, work out more, and so on. My lifestyle is very forward looking and optimistic.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Why You Should Set Goals
If you're a person like me, you like to procrastinate every now and then. I'm not one of those anally retentive type-A personalities who feel the need to constantly occupy their time with something to do. Maybe it's because I'm very independent minded, but I can entertain myself and do "nothing" all day if I wanted to.
But if you live in the real world, you'll know that this doesn't fly. It would be very easy to just spend the day surfing the net, or watching TV, or having illusions of grandier. I know this from experience. One of the best ways to deal with this, is to write out your goals.
It's one thing to have goals floating around in your head like popcorn, it's another to write them out, have them stare back at you everyday like an un-wavering reflection in the mirror. It's preferable to do this on paper, like a stick-it note because of how it stands out at you, but electronically could work too. When you see these goals, make it a routine to check on them everyday.
For example, at the start of the day write out your goals, rank them in order of importance, and start working. When you're done that particular goal for the day (e.g. "Call Mr. Smith about the appointment by noon" or "Finish working on the second page of the document") then you can cross it off.
It's possible you might not finish everything you wanted to. That's fine, just learn from it. Was it too many goals crammed into one day? Or should you put in more time tomorrow? You get the idea.
The great thing about this is accountability. It's very objective on whether or not you are being productive. It won't let you day dream or procrastinate and waste valuable time. If you make listing out your daily goals a routine, this will be very effecient for your time. You can put weekly, monthly, seasonal goals on another piece of paper too to supplement this.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Main Goals In My Life
My first goal is financial freedom. To be able to be free of all the non-sense of doing monotamous office work and just be able to enjoy life to the fullest would be wonderful. I would like to live without any fear of paychecks, listening to what an over-controlling supervisor wants me to do, and all that other B.S. A person's life should be about doing something that they love, and having the flexibility to go on vacations or doing a leisurely activity without rigid rules about when and how long that can be achieved.
The second goal, less important at the moment, is to be more social. I have battled and battled with social anxiety (a topic which I'm sure to cover a lot more on later) and finally feel like I have won. The only thing is that I still would like to make more friends and become a social butterfly.
The second goal, less important at the moment, is to be more social. I have battled and battled with social anxiety (a topic which I'm sure to cover a lot more on later) and finally feel like I have won. The only thing is that I still would like to make more friends and become a social butterfly.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)