The Complete Self
Try Increasing Failure
When Life Becomes “Too Much”
As people gathered around the five round tables for dinner, they stood solemnly in complete silence. Many either bowing their heads or gazing out into the distance past those across from them. As the last person joined our table, everyone pulled their chairs out, sat down and began eating. About 30 people in the room were all eating in silence. No tension in the air, no ill feelings. As a matter of fact, it was the exact opposite, it was very freeing. What I didn’t realize is that I had joined a dinner with a group of practicing Buddhists finishing their week long retreat – many of them spending the past 6 days in silent contemplation.
When you feel tired of producing at your job, tired of trying to keep up with crazy schedules of your family or feel overwhelmed by a mountain of emails, the bombardment of divisive political ads, sensationalized news stories or the rapid advancement of technology – what do you turn to? Does it relieve that burden of overwhelm or does it merely mask it? Is it a healthy remedy or (more…)
A New Scarlet Letter
For nearly four months this site had been down. I got hit hard by a website virus called “Timthumb”. From what I understand, the virus gets in through a security flaw in a function that allows WordPress users to grab a photo from the outside world (other website) and post it onto their blog. That was the “in” for these hackers.
The virus would just scour the web using “bots” looking for the timthumb security flaw in websites. After a few weeks Google, in conjunction with major web browsers, blocked my site from anyone in the world accessing it. They did this as a precautionary measure to keep the virus from spreading. Unfortunately all of my SEO and page ranking were blocked and removed too.
The darn thing about it is that visitors who (more…)
Financial Denial – Featured in CreditCards.com
Here is a recent article from CreditCards.com written by Michelle Crouch. This is the last installment of a five-part series on sever money disorders. After hearing our story, Michelle called me up and asked several more questions about our situation. You can read from the beginning of her in-depth, fascinating series here or begin at the final installment which I quote below.
Many people are in financial denial. That is why so many Americans are drowning (more…)
From Debt to Living Life on Your Own Terms in 7-Steps
When Fiona and I started out, we weren’t just broke, we were less than broke. We were newlyweds with $38,000 in past-due credit card debt, personal loans and no job to speak of. Creditors were calling us multiple times a day demanding payment. That was our starting point.
What we did have was drive and hope to get it together and get out of our situation as fast as possible. Below I (more…)
Garage Sale Riches: How to Sell Everything with the “Liquidation Trifecta”
Over the years my wife and I have held several garage sales; some successful and some not so successful. Here is a shot list of what we have learned over the years that I know will help you this spring and summer.
You first need to determine what your desired outcome is.
Is it to make money?
Is it to get rid of unwanted stuff? (more…)
How to React to These 7 Cringe-Worthy Credit Moments – Write-Up in CreditCards.com
When Fiona and I started out, we were broke and clueless when it came to managing finances. When we moved to Arizona to start a new life, we were surprised that our credit was going to be checked before we got into an apartment. The first apartment we had was a simple agreement between us and a ma & pop organization that didn’t do credit checks. The following story by Erica Sandberg tells what happened. You can find the entire story here. (more…)
For Sale By Owner: Not a Good Move Right Now… Write-Up in AOL News
When we decided to put one of our homes up on the market, we didn’t realize the nightmare that we were in for. As I had done with other homes, I put this house up as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO). This transaction didn’t go according to plan…
AOL Original Story By Barbara Correa – The original story can be found here.
Do you really need a real estate agent to sell your house? Fans of the For Sale by Owner (FSBO) approach say no. But here is a cautionary tale about the potential pitfalls of going the For Sale by Owner route.
Matthew Peters and his wife, Fiona, had two FSBO home sales under their belt, so they naturally opted for the do-it-yourself strategy the third time around as well.
The average seller looking to unload a home automatically assumes the first stop is (more…)
Debt on the Run – Write-Up on MainStreet.com
When we started our married life out, we were neck-deep in credit card debt. Not just debt, but past-due collections debt. Here is bit of our story as written by Jeanine Skwronksi. The whole story can be found here.
Original story by Jeanine Skowronski
NEW YORK (MainStreet) — When the Federal Reserve announced earlier this month that credit card debt had risen for the first time in two years, (more…)
Songwriting Hacks: 5 Tips That Will Help Your Next Song (Part 2)
(continued from February 1, 2011) [read part 1]
4. Collaborate with others more talented than yourself – 10% [watch video]
I don’t want to spend too much time rehashing the last point. Take your organized notes and whatever you can play on keyboard or guitar (or even just with your voice) and meet up with a key musician as soon as possible. Don’t wait until everything is perfect, because it won’t ever be.
You need enough to get the creative juices going and to respect the time of the other musician. If you act professionally, musicians will be willing to work with you again as well as recommend other great musicians within their network.
I pay musicians $50 for meeting with me. Unless they are going to be a part of a choir or are a good friend already, I pay them something. If it is a group of people, I provide food and drinks – it is the least I can do. Why? I want them to know I am paying them something for their time and expertise and that they have been paid in full. They will not be getting a cut of the song royalties if (more…)
Songwriting Hacks: 5 Tips That Will Help Your Next Song (Part 1)
Songwriting is a craft. Like most craftsmanship, both art and science must be combined in the right proportions to form a desirable end product. Over the last several years I have come to the realization that I cannot write a song on my own without identifying the processes at play. I also found that songwriting is not an endeavor for the likes of the Lone Ranger. Collaborating with people far more talented than me yields results far beyond what I could do in a solo effort. However, like just about everything else I do in life, I always strive to do them more efficiently.
After reading the 4-Hour Work Week and getting to sit down with a few with Tim Ferriss in San Francisco last February, I have come to realize that identifying the processes I use to do everything and breaking them down into their individual parts is key to writing a song in an efficient and elegant manner. Once I determine the processes that lead to success, I can see what parts are unnecessary to produce the desired results, thus shortening the overall songwriting process.
In my search I’ve found that there are five basic steps to writing a song in a brief period of time. (more…)
