Luke’s $10k A Week Blog

In Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series, characters have various powers, fueled by metal. Those who use the power of brass are called Rioters, because they can increase the intensity of others’ emotions, whereas those who use zinc are called Soothers, and can reduce the intensity of specific emotions.

While we can’t influence the emotions of others, we can influence our own emotions. In a sense, we are able to both soothe and riot specific emotions in ourselves to a limited degree.

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About a year ago, Steve Pavlina posted several articles about a weird little idea he had embraced called Polarity. It involves being more focused on either others or yourself, as your main motivational force in life. The former is called a Lightworker and the latter a Darkworker. But he also makes it clear that the distinction is not about good and evil. It’s just a personal choice for a long-term path in life.

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Reading over at CogiNews, this article hit my eye.

In the modern vernacular, to say someone is “in denial” is to deliver a savage combination punch: one shot to the belly for the cheating or drinking or bad behavior, and another slap to the head for the cowardly self-deception of pretending it’s not a problem.

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Who do you think of when you think of a resourceful person? Is it a rich person who has everything they need? Or is it a person who can always get what they need, because they have the smarts and the drive to to so?

Labor, land, capital, and entrepreneurship are all listed in my economics textbook as the fundamental scarce resources. While it is true then that wealth — land and capital — are known as scarce resources, we can be certain that the most truly resourceful person is the hard-working one with entrepreneurial skills. If you can do business things; put together a better website, impress people with the value of your products, or engineer new products from scratch, you are resourceful. If you can’t, well, you may have resources but you aren’t exactly resourceful.

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Here’s a quick introduction to what is called Mindfulness Meditation. I use this technique for relaxation. A good introduction is available at How to do Mindfulness Meditation. A longer, more philosophical introduction to the subject is available in a free online book called Mindfulness In Plain English.

• While it is best done sitting cross-legged, this mental exercise can be done while standing or sitting, or even while laying down if sleep is your goal. In a nutshell, the basic idea is to focus on (without trying to affect) your breath, for several minutes straight. Your breathing will grow longer and deeper naturally, but it is important not to change it willfully. Along the way you will think of new things, and attend briefly to these thoughts but return to the focus on your breathing as soon as you are able.

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No, it’s not a role-playing game, but close. Being charismatic is that magical quality that makes it easier to make and keep friends. Here are eight good ways to boost your charisma.

1. Mirroring

   Mirroring is when you copy another person’s mannerisms, movements, and facial expressions. It has a way of making them feel more comfortable with you, because in mimicking them you naturally begin to feel what they feel. Most people naturally mirror each other in normal social interactions — but when done consciously this can work to an even more powerful effect.

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There are several advantages to being, well, imperfect. It’s quite a powerful thing really, and it’s the only way to get things done. Here’s are some of some of it’s innumerable advantages.

1. Everybody’s doing it. You can’t find anyone these days who’s not being un-perfect. So by not being perfect you are participating in a vast community of at least 6 billion people.

2. It gets results. You can make lots of money while not being perfect. I don’t know of anyone who made a fortune who wasn’t doing it at the time. Oddly enough, that’s how fortunes are made

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1. Search engines. Blog search engines like to hear your ping on a routine basis. Once a week is not enough, and too many per day is just spam. A daily blog hits the sweet spot for the ping services and search engines, and keeps the bots crawling back for more.

2. Friendliness. People who come to your blog do not come to read an old article. They want to see what’s new with you. Making a new post that day (even if it was pre-scheduled) is the equivalent of saying “hello, how are you doing today?” Once their mammal-mind encounters that feeling, they will want to check back the next day to see if you really meant it.

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It has been over a week since I started posting once-daily on this blog. It is a great feeling to know I am succeeding at this. I just thought I’d write this (a day in advance ) to celebrate. I definitely have more ideas in store for articles that I would like to write. I just need to get enough time together and FOCUS.

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What do we do when faced with hopeless situations? Where there is no way out, except through the emotional meat grinder?

Steve Pavlina writes:

When you know you’re going to lose no matter what, you can stop playing to win, and start playing to learn instead. You surrender to the inevitability of the loss and focus on the long-term gain. Even though you must endure a short-term sting, you’ll learn some valuable lessons that will make you a better player in the long game of life.

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