Here I am..

I'm back into civilization. Somewhat.

Actually, I'm sitting in a travel trailer in Montana. Not civilization.

Here's an update on me:

I got to Montana last Wednesday, and, after six hours of sleep, I headed up to Williston, North Dakota with some of the buddies to look for a job. Myself and my traveling partner Nik started our trek at Wal-Mart, and applied at each place of business we walked by.

Forty five minutes later, we found ourselves being interviewed in a cluttered office in the lower story of the local Napa Auto Parts. Ten minutes later, we both had a job, starting the next morning.

We were pretty pumped. In fact, we still are.

We're working forty hour weeks. We get up at 5:00 am, pack a lunch (this is frugal and really smart), and head up to work. We have a fifty minute drive to work, and we go through a time-change on the way. It makes it interesting.

I'm practicing laundry, cooking, working, shopping, and a bunch of other activities that I'm not totally accustom to. That's okay though, cause this stuff might come in handy some time.

That's a little bit to let you catch up on my activities.

More to come!

Charged

If you've never taken the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, I'd suggest you do so. It's an excellent tool that helps pinpoint who you are as an individual. At the end of the questionnaire, your personality type is identified, and you can read the results for your personality type. It's a little creepy how much they know about everyone.

If you'd like to take the test, sift your way through this website: meyersbriggs.org

The reason I bring this up is because, today I was again reminded of who I am, and, in specific, what charges me:

I detailed a car this morning. I visited, negotiated, and enjoyed the company of the owner. I left feeling charged.

I had two interviews this afternoon (more on that later). I gave one and I received one. I left both feeling charged.

As an extrovert, people charge me. (Apparently the Energizer Bunny is an extrovert; he's always charged. Actually, it's a different kind of charge, I believe; charged with battery.)

That which charges you should be what you spend most of your time doing.

I don't believe this should be used as an excuse for hanging out in the comfort zone. After all, not much gets done in the comfort zone.

Do what charges you.

Anticipations

In my anticipations of the upcoming adventure, I'm reminded again of the old adage: "Anything worth having is worth waiting for."

I'm not over-the-top-seven-year-old excited about my trip, but I am looking forward to it. I always look forward to trips, cause I'm the type that loves to travel. I love flying, I enjoy driving, the train was fun, and boats are great. I have yet to try a magic carpet (although it is on my list of awesome ways to die). I've always been a travel-lover. From the age of ten, I wished to be a commercial airline pilot. I bought a kid's sized pilot's cap for $22.00 when I was eleven. (It's funny how $22.00 can make an eleven year-old feel like a million bucks.) It doesn't really fit me anymore, but it reminds me about all the good times I had as a kid, anxiously waiting for the day when I could learn to fly.

Now I'm that age. I don't really want to be a pilot anymore. Hmm... Could it be that, if we got our way, we would miss out on what is actually in store for us? Yeah.

There's a note on the fridge at my house that says, "The heaviest part of sorrow is looking forward to tomorrow."

Trust in Him to provide. And live like you were dying.

The Hairy Adventures of a Young Entrepreneur

Well folks, I'm going on a trip. I'm heading to Montana next week.

Yeah. Montana. One of those "filler" states that takes up space between the Northwest and the other important parts of the US (Like the UP, eh?). 

Once, in mid-March, Montana once experienced 77 degrees. During another March, it hit -20 degrees. I'm not super good at math, but that's a 97 degree difference.

I'm glad I'm not a girl. I'd have to pack clothes for cold, clothes for hot, clothes for rain, snow, sleet, and sun. Hats to keep the sun out of my eyes. Hats to keep my ears warm. Gloves, flip-flops, sunglasses, tank-tops, tall socks, short socks, coats, pants, shorts, and snow pants. Wow. Yeah. Glad I'm not a girl.

I'm a guy. Therefore, I'll be taking two socks, a pair of jeans, two shirts, and.. Ahem. Well, briefs.

Okay, I'm exaggerating.

Seriously though, it's going to be an adventure.

My original thought was to prepare a bunch of videos and blog-posts and periodically post them throughout my trip for your enjoyment. Then I had another idea: I could bring a video camera and record the highlights of my adventure for you to watch when I get back.

I'd like to do something like this so you can partake in my adventure along with me. It'll be fun. And cold. Or hot.

I Rose to the Occasion

Here's this week's video. It's about getting a raise. Enjoy!

(Again, I must point out the amazing thumbnail that YouTube arbitrarily chose.)

Introduction to Video Blogging - BLOG 101

This is the first edition to my video blog. Bear with me; I'm learning this stuff right now. Future videos will have purpose, value, humor, and not be near as cheesy as this one (hopefully).

This video is somewhat random and was recorded in the middle of the night, which explains why I'm whispering.

Thanks for checking it out. Oh, you gotta love the preview screenshot before you start the clip. It's truly awesome.

Weird Fear

I've talked a bunch about the resistance, or the soldier. Basically, I've talked about fear.

Fear is killer. It stops us from accomplishing great things. It keeps us from many goals we set. It provides an escape route in tough situations. However, we have no one to blame but ourselves when fear overtakes us. After all, it's our fear, right?

Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his Inaugural Address, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." He put it well (I suppose he had to; he was the President).

Mark Twain said this about fear: "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."

Bill Cosby (who happened to be hilarious) said: "In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

These are quotes from some of the most inspirational, knowledgeable, and respected men of American history. I think they had a few good things to say.

I challenge you to go out this week and do something you fear. It could be talking to a stranger, hiking that hill, taking that test, or speaking to an audience. Do something different, weird, or scary. I bet you'll learn something. I'd love to hear how it goes for you!

Share your story down below in the comment section!

More on the Soldier

I explained in an earlier post about the two parts of our brain: the daemon and the resistance. Here's a bit more on the resistance, cause I feel that it's vital to pursuing ideas and putting plans into action.

First, I had a run-in with the soldier this week. A big one. So big that he almost beat me in an intense face-off.

Last week at this time, myself and two of my buds began planning an open forum event to educate attendees on the stances of the four remaining Republican presidential candidates. It really was a big project for us three to take on, and we didn't realize that until we were half-way through the preparation. We had slide-shows to make, candidates to read up on, representatives to call, people to contact, buildings to rent, and nerves to calm. On Monday, at ten o'clock, I called it off in my brain, and began making preparations to close it up. After all, we only had fifteen people coming, according to the RSVP list (Don't ask me what RSVP stands for).

By eleven, I had got a hold of my buddies. One said yes, let's call it off. The other one said no. We conquered the soldier and continued with the event. By one that afternoon, two representatives agreed to come and talk about Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. That eased the burden. After that, everything else fell into place. With the help of several other friends, we pulled it off with a record attendance of forty five (ish).

I was reminded again of what the soldier is here for: to protect. Mainly from embarrassment, shame, and low self-esteem. It turns out, the soldier has no perception of reality, and distorts every point to the extreme. Had we canceled the event, the genius part of the brain would still be screaming: "You could've done that, made a huge difference, and swung the election!" The soldier would be congratulating me on saving face.

The genius is the one that needs to be let out more often. He makes things happen. The soldier should be on guard duty.