Monday, September 3, 2012

#7 Sleep (The Branching Tree Theory)

Imagine a tree with its big strong trunk growing upwards until it begins to branch out into hundreds of  different branches. Whenever I think of waking up, I think of having a strong focus and high energy levels until my thoughts begin to branch out into hundreds of different thoughts about hundreds of different problems. Kind of like a tree.

What I realized is that there is nothing like the first few hours when I wake up and my attention is focused on just one (or two) things and no distractions have entered my day. This is the time I learned to guard. In college, during the exams, I remember taking a quick power nap every four to five hours before picking up a textbook, studying until my mind is completely overwhelmed with information and then taking another power nap, only to wake up and have another 2-3 hours of studying again. Sleep gives us the energy of mind in its purest form. Often, staying awake and pushing yourself to the levels of exhaustion for hours, actually, allows you to complete only a fraction of the work that could have been done if I was to choose just a little bit of sleep instead...

Friday, August 31, 2012

#6 Living Your Inner Animal

Physically and emotionally. It is time to remember there is a very physical, very emotional animal inside of every one of us. Civilization has been trying to kill this living, breathing animal in each and one of us and as time goes by, sometimes we really forget who we are.

Really forget.

For a moment think about who you are. Be a lion, be a tiger, be a fish in the depth of the clear waters or an exotic bird. We are here for one life only. Let's not forget what's inside of us. Let us be physical, emotional beings. Let us be animals again. No silly diets. No television. Eat when we want to eat. Run when we want to run. Sleep when we want to sleep. Breathe. Just breathe.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

#5 "Top Of The Slope" Clarity

In Russian we have this old saying "if you love riding down the slope on a slate, than you have to love getting the slate up the slope." This is a very approximate translation, of course and can be used in all kinds of situations. In this particular case, I am applying it to the concept of "Big Picture," or TOP-OF-THE-SLOPE Clarity.

For me it started with the question.

At first I couldn't understand why is it that I, sometimes, can be going for days, extatic about working towards a specific life goal until, gradually, my desire to work towards that goal would diminish to nothing. I could not understand how it was possible for me to suddenly slip from the feeling of excitement towards my goal into a feeling of complete apathy towards anything. Observing the same pattern occur over and over again, I have developed a clear understanding what was taking place.

Realization 1. Every grandioze and exciting goal that I have, actually, consist of a large number of tedious tasks that NO person would ever want to do unless they have a clear "Big Picture" and a very clear end result in mind. Typically, NONE of the tedious subtasks of grandioze goals are exciting enough, outside of my understanding and my view of the "BIG PICTURE". Basically, as an example, roofing work is not very motivational on its own, however, if roofing will allow you to protect your family from rain, you will have more than enough motivation to get it done.

Realization 2. Most of my, so called, "grandioze" projects (such as the book I am writing, or a social network I am creating, or a healthcare unification platform I am building), require such huge number of maindaine, tedious subtasks that it is way too easy for me to completely lose the sight of the "BIG PICTURE."

Realization 3. I've realized that although both, my so-called "end result" and my "Big Picture" of my goal are extraordinarily exciting, it, actually, quite litereally, TAKES TIME to get back to the birdview level where I can see how grandioze and exciting all of my projects are. It TAKES VERY REAL TIME to get up and onto the "top of the slope" to re-establish where I am at in the big scheme of things before I can take another, exhilirating ride of action-filled days.

Realization 4. If I don't take enough time OFF to get to the "top of the slope" where I can see my goals clearly, I simply am not capable to have an exciting, action-filled day. Going back up to the "top of the slope" and taking time to see the BIG PICTURE is ESSENTIAL to productive, energy-filled day which becomes more like a fun ride of meaninful activities.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

#4 "No Junk" Band

Yep, this is for real. This is my "No Junk" band on a book stand on my desk and when I put it on I am not allowed to let any junk into my body or into my mind. What is junk? I think, in reality, deep down we all know what this "junk" is and I am not just talking about junk food, I am talking about junk (negative) thoughts and junk (negative) people. One day I will patent it :)

And although the "No Junk" band does not give me energy directly it helps me maintain my energy by reminding me to not allow things that drain my energy near me.



Hours after putting               Energy Level:
the "No Junk" band on:

1                                           5
3                                           5
5                                           5

#3 Getting !@#$ Done

Kinda like running in the morning, I look at getting things done as another energy paradox. Often we really don't have the energy to get things done and yet our ever increasing ability to get things done is what gives us more and more motivation and energy to keep going and going and going. And, of course, the sooner we get something done the more energy we have! I figured that the earlier I get things done the less of a chance I have for those things to not happen during the day. For instance, I may be planning to finish to delay the writing of another chapter of the upcoming book (to which I am a ghost writer) only to receive a phone call that I have to be somewhere immediately. More energy, paradoxically enough, is about getting things done and getting those things done early!
P.S. As we are plannign another major fashion event in Chicago, this blog is a reminder for me to get my own butt moving.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

#2 Zaryadka (see post)

"Zaryadka" is a Russian word for "Charge." Russian prefix "Za" means "Prior to," so the etymology is probably derived from the necessity of being charged prior to doing something, but before I get into its second meaning and how can it charge the day, I would like to share with you something I thought of this morning. I have thought of how, for some reason, as my life goes by I tend to set lower and lower expectations for myself. When I was 10, as a little boy in Russia, my life was a blank slate and I thought I could do absolutely anything, like, be a virtuoso musician and an awesome author and.. you get the point... Yet now, it seems, and I want to emphasize the word "seems" as if my late is much less of a blank slate and certain things are so unachievable.

And so then, it occured to me how false this built-in mentality actually is because, in reality, the more I live, the more knowledgeable and capable I become to acheive anything I want in life. In fact, EVERY DAY I get  more and more knowledgeable and capable of achieving more and more things. The key is start working on those things NOW!

And so, now back to "Zaryadka" which is a Russian word for "Charge" has a second meaning which is a brief exercise before starting your day. Back in early Soviet Russia at precisely 6:00 am, our main radio station, prior to even announcing any major news and events would play the sound of the Kremlin Clock Tower and have 15 minutes of guided exercise for everyone in the country, including sit ups, waving hands and so on to charge the nation for the day.

Well, although I am not doign sit ups anymore, I found that 60 minutes of running is one of the best, paradoxical ways to charge up your day. Paradoxical, because, in the morning I am so incredibly tired to even think about running and yet, as soon as I do, I get this most rediculous burst of energy.

When I run, I think of being charged. If I run for only 20 minutes, I imagine that my day is only charged about 1/3. At 30 minutes, only 1/2. And, of course at 60 minutes, I feel fully "charged." This charge and a big mug of columbian coffee can get me going without any food for an extremely long time.


Hours after Zaryadka
(60 minutes of running):      Stars:
1                                              5
3                                              5
5                                              5

Saturday, August 18, 2012

#1 Columbian (!) Coffee

No. No it ain't Stirbucks (sorry for name change but I don't want to be sued). Sorry. I believe that over the years, since I have tried my first Stirbucks in 1998 I have spent thousands real bucks on Stirbucks annually only to realize that it is all some sort of a con to get you into their comfy little facility with cozy chairs and nice music and buy some sort of a latte and some sort of a cookie and be all about the environment and then one hour later you realize that you really need to go back and get something else because the coffee they sold you did not work.

I don't think people have caught on to it, so I am here to open everyone's eyes.

Of course, I am primarily talking about lattes and frappucinos and all that crazy crap they have going on there with all the sweets and crap that during the day just makes you freaking fat and lazy and craving for more. And then it's a freaking end of the day and you realize that all you have done during the day is spent, like, $20 on lattes and biscotti's and little cookies they have.

So, forget Stirbacks. What works is real black "Columbian Coffee" at your local gas station.

If you don't believe me, do a me a favor, get yourself a mug. A real, manly, 16oz mug of some real Columbian stuff at your friendly Speedway ror something.

At first you will be like, holy crap, this is not real coffee, it has no oreo cookies in it and it doesn't even have a whip cream and it tastes so funny, bitter and stuff. And then it will hit you, oh, crap, this stuff works! You can stay up all the way until lunch and then some without any breakfast!

So here is my energy review based on my Things That Give You Energy star rating:

Columbian Black Coffee 16Oz:

Hours after consumption     Stars
   1                                          5
   3                                          5
   5                                          5


Hey guys, girls, please comment, since I just killed any possibility of this blog being sponsored by Stirbucks :(