Monthly Archives: July 2010

Todays very special words from the digital man cave are a surprise post about something we should all think about as we go through our lives. Today we’re kind of beginning with the end in mind.

There’s some data sources out there that say the average person spends nearly 60 hours a month online, as recently as January of this year. Doesn’t sound like much, unless you consider that 5 years ago were were probably averaging around 24 hours a month. And take into consideration that a little over 7 of those almost 60 hours are spent on Facebook, and you begin to see where I’m going with this.

We spend A LOT of time online, and for a good chunk of it we spend it sharing information.

Sending and receiving data all over the world, back and forth. But at one point or another it ends up in one spot. Google. They collect so much data on everything and everyone in the online realm. So much that someone thought it important enough to create an alarm for your browser, every time information about you goes to Google. Try it for yourself and see how it works. I try to keep my digital man cave pretty well guarded but even I’m a little scared to see just how much about me is flying around out there.

In any case a friend of mine started thinking… Google collects so much information about people, through raw data they probably know us better than most of our friends and family. They see what we like, dislike, shop for, find information on, look at the most… all when no one is looking over our shoulders. When we don’t have to keep up social appearances. When we assume no one is paying attention.

If Google had to say something about you, what would they say? If Google was writing your obituary or give your eulogy, what story would they tell? The idea is very similar to one presented by a favorite author of mine, Orson Scott Card. He called it The Speaker For The Dead.

The Speaker For The Dead would get up at the funeral and say the most true words they could about the person, as if they were the person. It wasn’t always nice, it wasn’t always pretty. Sometimes it would make people cry, sometimes it would make people angry, sometimes it would make people happy. But no matter what it was real and it was honest.

Before anyone realizes it, Google could become The Speaker for us all. What would your Google Eulogy be? What legacy are you leaving behind? Intentionally or unintentionally.

Stay tuned for the Sunday edition of the digital man cave!

Todays words from the digital man cave are about the update and re-prioritizing that has taken place for me. In just a few short days my life is going to flip, turn upside down. So I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, as I explain how I’ll become the prince of this blog right here. (Anyone recognize that little throwback to classic 90s television there? Dunno about you but I enjoyed it)

Previously I posted about the kinds of things I like to keep me busy, and I think it is only fitting that I update that list as I transition and update my life. Let’s check in with what did and didn’t make the cut from the old list shall we.

The Old Stuff

• Be full-time significant other - This is still here. In theory I should have more time for this, but in reality I will need to act like I have a 7a-7p job in order to create the kind of life I feel everyone should have.
• Learn a new language – I hate to say it but I’ve stalled this one. I really really really want to be tri-lingual at the very least. That way my children can be tri-lingual at the very least, at some time in the future ffaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr away. For now I’ve got my language CDs ready and waiting on MP3.
  
• Grow two side streams of income – At the moment I am only trying to grow one side stream of income.
• Start a new side stream of income – I believe this has happened, but the monetary reward is a long time coming. Like most new businesses.
• Help start 2 new businesses for someone else – These have stalled because the person stopped working on them in favor of other projects. So for the time being my work is done, but not complete.
• Work full-time – Crossing this off and I couldn’t be happier actually. Because this means full-time employee, not full-time business.
• Blog multiple times a week – Check and check.
• Full-time graduate school student – Moving along nicely.
• Maintain relationships with those around – This took a dive, mostly because of the hours I had to keep. But it’ll return in good form shortly.
• Sleep -HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA
• Buy a house - Off the list for at least 1 year. Too many other things happening that need both time and money. I think it’ll return when the novel has been finished. What novel you say? Read on.

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The New Stuff

• Read, Read, READ – This should have been on the list the first time, so I’m making up for it. If you have a local library and you do not take advantage of it, you are seriously missing out. I’ve got books mostly related to my other projects, but reading is reading.
• WDMC – I want to turn the digital man cave into something where the metrics make me blush. I’ve got benchmarks for said blushing, and I am working towards getting there. I don’t know what it means when I reach those points, but every great success story started with an idea and a plan even when the finish line was too far away to be seen.
• Write a novel – Since I’m doing so much more of this writing thing than I ever have before, I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing an actual book. I’ve heard it said many times that “Writers don’t try to write. Writers write. Even when it’s not important, they write.” So I’m writing. And I’ve got a target date of August 1, 2011.

TAKE NOTE! By August 1, 2011 I will have completed a novel. It may not be published by that time or even that year, but it will be written and ready for shopping around.

• Maintain writing projects – I’ve got three that I can think of and I’ve never thought writing was my strong suit. But here we are! And I think what I’ve been talking about and thinking about doing is being a writer for a living… Strange how life turns around on you.
• Fitness – I wrote about having Survival Skills back in May and central to that post was the idea of physical fitness to take care of yourself and those around you. Well in recent years I’ve let myself go…. somewhat. I look somewhat in shape, physically I”m still strong, and no doctor seems to be able to tell me I’m unhealthy (I don’t really look much overweight and my physicals all make me look like the picture of health), but I need to lose 25 pounds of fat all the same, and a pack on at least 10-15 pounds of solid muscle. That would satisfy my goals I think. Bike and bike routes, CHECK. Dumbbells and routines, CHECK.
• Travel – I think everyone should travel within your country, and definitely outside of your country. Personally I want to hit every continent several times. Not every country like some people, but different locations on each continent would be ideal for me. So obstacles have been removed, and the planning is on.

So that’s my new list! I know I’m not the only one trying to do it all. What does your list look like? Check back Sunday for more Words From The Digital Man Cave.

Todays words from the digital man cave bring us back to the mastering education series, where I find myself wondering and thinking about risk, reward,  and control. Which do we want, which do we have, which do we avoid?

Everything we do in life comes with a question that must be answered: is this risk worth the reward? Is that last beer really worth four bucks tonight? Is that pair of shoes really worth eating hotdogs 6 nights a week for the rest of the month?

In higher education the risk and reward gets asked twice. Before you even begin you ask and answer, “is the education I will receive worth the expense I will pay?” And as you continue, every week you ask and answer “is the time I’m putting into this actually worth the paper the degree is printed on?” The funny thing is people assume you should already have the answers to this questions long before you start applying. In fact, the answers to questions like these should inform your whole decision on whether or not to even go back to school.

The reality as I see it from the digital man cave is, we answer the question sufficiently to move forward in one direction or another. But we never stop asking it. As time passes it is getting more and more difficult to be sure of anything in this modern workworld. If we’re being honest, “Go to school, do good in school, find a good job” is a mantra that is as outdated as the compact disc player. I’m not saying it doesn’t work, just not everyone plays by those rules anymore. And unfortunately for us young people, if we choose to play the game by those rules we’re at a disadvantage in this economy. We might have the skills and knowledge, but we don’t have the decades of experience of the veteran who’s been laid off for 3 months, honing his craft in his own man cave.

So this brings me to the third piece of the puzzle: control. One of the assignments this week asked us to discuss theories on illusions of control, which prompted this post. The consensus is that essentially we need to believe we have control in sometimes out of control situations in order to make sense of our world, to cope with the unacceptable. We have control over how we enrich ourselves, but we don’t have any control over how others value that enrichment.

So what do we really want? Do we do what we do because we’re risk takers? Thrill seekers?
Do we do what we do for the reward? Because we believe in a just world where only good things happen to good people?
Or do we really want control? Of our time, of our lives, of our destinies?

I think we take the risk, to achieve the reward, believing that it’ll leave us with control. But at the end of the day all we really want is control. That’s just my opinion, I’d be interested in hearing your answers in the comments.

Stay tuned to the digital man cave as we get into something exciting next week!

Todays words from the digital man cave are about a project that has launched recently that I have a hand in. It is called The Gospel of Man and quite honestly I think you should check it out? Here’s some starter information below the fold.

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What Is The Gospel of Man
The Gospel of Man is an advice site at its core. It’s purpose is to increase conscious decision making and one’s natural reasoning abilities by presenting everyday events in a way that allows the reader to see their reflection in the main character, before deciding how to best react in those sometimes critical junctures in life. And of course, to have fun doing it.

How Do I Read The Gospel of Man
The Gospel of Man presents a parable, a story in the life of a man. Any man. Every man. Like in all stories, eventually the main character must make a choice on how to proceed. We present one seemingly right choice, and one seemingly wrong choice. Which choice is the best, is up to you the reader. Decide which path to take in the comments. If you believe there is an alternate choice feel free to comment with those as well.

After all, life is full of choices.

When Is The Gospel of Man
The Gospel of Man presents a new parable every weekend. That way you aren’t overwhelmed with posts from us, and you have time to chew on the lesson of the week. During the week a proverb will be sent to every person who chooses to become a disciple as well as the regular readership, based on the current events of our lives.

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So that’s it! Stay tuned to the digital man cave as I get back to speaking some of those regularly scheduled words…

Last Wednesday I spoke briefly about people who should get a flying fist to the face, if not physically then verbally at least, for being some of the most successful producers of negativity that I’ve seen in my short time on the earth. But in truth my fight list is a two parter. Todays words from the digital man cave about those select few who’ve made it onto my fight list for doing something worthwhile.

These people are on my fight list, not because I despise them but because I like them. I enjoy what they have to say. I appreciate what they do. They’ve touched my life in some way. In the course of doing what they do they’ve spoken some truth that I couldn’t ignore. Some truth that was probably already apparent to me that I was more comfortable ignoring. Them exposing my discomfort at some point in the past made me feel silly and like a hypocrite. Wasn’t happy about that one. I try very hard to avoid being hypocritical, and I try even harder to not live in denial of what I believe to be true in life.

And then they didn’t stop. They kept talking about true things in life, living accordingly, and making it impossible for me to close my eyes to it. Eventually I had to say “If I get to meet them I’m probably going to want to slap them in the face or punch them in the feet. But after that, if they need a place to stay while they’re in town or would like to have the evening’s entertainment comped, I’ve got it covered no questions asked.” I think most people would find the idea of this odd, crazy even. Well I do crazy things from time to time. Doing what normal people do doesn’t look very appealing to me, so I’m on a one-way trip to crazytown.

So here’s to the good folks who’ve made my list. Thank you for everything you’ve done, are doing, will do. Your actions have been taken to heart, and you have been served notice. =)

1. Chris Guillebeau
2. Seth Godin
3. Leo Babauta
4. Black Thought from The Roots
5. Steve Pavlina
6. Ryan Sohmer
7. Chuck Palahniuk
8. Ramit Sethi
9. My Conscience
10. This guy over here

Over time this list may be updated as I meet people who are doing it right. Stay tuned for more from the digital man cave.

11. Derek Sivers

Todays words from the digital man cave are about the 6th week of graduate education and what you’d need to make it a stroll every week. I call it a stroll because this week, I’ve had a bit of relaxation. Sorta.

While last week marked the first week of having only 1 class, this week featured my workload being cut in half. And that was downright awesome. School workload though. My work workload actually doubled up pretty terribly. Nothing I enjoy more than working a job 11-18 days straight, sprinkling in a few 9 and 10 hour days for good measure. Yep yep (if only you could hear the sarcasm). I knew it was coming, which doesn’t make it any better, just livable. In fact, that’s the primary reason this post is going up when it is (instead of my usual 6am).

So that is why I say I’ve had some relaxation. Which of course brought a realization. I need to be better organized to pull off even 75% of my list, and I need to streamline my operations something fierce. This is the secondary reason this post is going up so late, and really this isn’t something that is new to me. I’ve struggled for what seems like forever to do this. Lately I’m closer than ever, mostly because I’ve taken a minimalist/hack-n-slash approach to my files and daily routines

Measures that I’ve taken:

1. Trim down on the number of blog/project reports that come via email.
2. Invest in a good paper shredder.
3. Make bill payment automatic.
4. Elect to destroy paper bills older than 18 months.

By doing these four things:  I don’t have to check a dozen email accounts and logins to stay up to date with my projects; .I’ve reduced clutter and the need for filing space; I stopped having to think about when and how much to pay on certain bills, so I can think more about bringing money in instead of it going out; I decreased the influx of paper bills that I receive, file, and never look at again.

It doesn’t sound like much but it’s really an invaluable change. And if you’re going to be very active with your life, and you don’t want to make every a struggle, you really need to have a grip on that elusive four letter word. T-I-M-E.

Stay tuned for more words from the digital man cave! This coming Wednesday we talk about all the good boys and girls who’ve made my list.