Sean on Personal Development

Continual Education

2005-12-21T20:16:00.000-12:00

I had a discussion with a coworker today about the use of new technologies in a department's development (this was mired in a larger discussion).

Her big point was that new, fresh-faced (read, "recently out of college") people in an organization fill an essential role by bringing new technologies to a group because they've had recent education on the latest-and-greatest. The older people get locked in their ways with old technologies, and a development team / department needs revitalization occaisionally with new people. She argued that older professionals didn't need to follow newer technologies because they had to support their previous work. It was almost as if the only way new technology gets introduced was through new people.

I don't agree.

I think it is the responsibility of each person to keep up to date on technologies, on art forms, on whatever your chosen industry is. I cannot fathom why someone would not want to do so, yet my coworker insisted that it was near impossible for experienced people to not get locked in their ways. The discussion was primarily targetting computer programmers, but I feel it applies almost universally to any technical skills or business organization as well.

I get the impression that many consider education to be somethat that happens in classrooms before you start your career. That, other than spice/job training later on, you get educated first, then go and get your job. When there, you should focus on producing whatever widget you've been assigned by doing what you already know, keep your nose to the grindstone, and don't look up.

I say that's just short-sighted and a misalignment of priorities. Why isn't continual education valued more? Why don't most people make it a high priority to keep up to date? Don't they want to stay competitive with the best tools available? Wouldn't they want to adopt better perspectives towards old ideas? And for those of us still stuck in day jobs, don't they think it is their responsibility to provide the highest quality they can? Doesn't that often rely on using the best one can? It seems to me that continual education only helps you keep an edge.

Admittedly, I've always been a "latest-and-greatest" guy. But there's an important part of that: "latest-and-greatest." In general, the main reason that new technologies, methods or perspectives get adopted is because they have a perceived (and often real) benefit over existing methods. If they don't add anything, they'll get tossed to the curb. And of course, if they do improve the industry, then you better keep up or you'll get tossed.

-sean

"Don't Sweat It" Iterations

2005-12-15T15:48:00.000-12:00

I've always been an advocate of the "Don't Sweat It" philosophy. If something is stressing you out, realize that, no matter the outcome, what will be, will be. This is not to say that you shouldn't let deadlines push you to work more efficiently, or emergencies to make you work harder. Rather, life is going to proceed whether you stress about something or not, and generally stressing only wastes time and makes you perform worse. Keep your head up, take a deep "shaw breath"* and pursue your goals with a clear head.

I think most people understand this on an intellectual level. However, complete application (to the point that the stress is no longer a concern) is a bit different. I still find sources of stress about which I'm bothering. But because I recognize this, it's easier to step back, realize it's pointless to worry, and then move on with life. It's probably one of my most useful abilities. Each time I come to recognize the stress, I iterate through these same steps to minimize or remove the stress.

Even today I found myself stressing over escaping my job. I was irritated that I was forced to continue in the position and how much of my time it consumed. But I realized that it was adding stress, and that I couldn't debate the fact that I needed the funds provided by the job.

So, since it was nigh-impossible for me to quit the job now and keep up my goal pursuit, why should I stress over it? And with that, I could remove one more stressor and more clearly focus on my path ahead.

So, think about it: How many things in your life do you worry about that you need to keep in your life, or have no control over them? Why are you still worrying about it?? Recognize the stressing is a silly waste of time, smile, and move on.

-sean

*A "shaw breath" is something I learned in my voice / acting coursework (I was a Theatre Arts minor in addition to my Computer Science degree). It involves a deep, full-lung breath, which is then let out on a heavy "Shhh" for at least a 10 count. It does wonders to calm the nerves and help focus. For extra focus, hold your arms horizontally out and the slowly lower them to your sides while completing the exhalation. Where'd the name come from? If I recall correctly, my voice teacher told us that "shaw" is a British term for "Shh" sound, but I can't find anything to verify this. Regardless, it's still a great tool for focusing.

Are We Allowed to Do Nothing?

2005-12-12T20:40:00.000-12:00

I like chocolate. I'm a fan of both nice, rich European dark chocolates and American milk chocolates.

Today, I was eating some individually wrapped Dove chocolates. They have this thing where the wrappers actually have little inspirational messages contained on the inside of them (the Promises(R) messages)... and I got one that said "You're allowed to do nothing."

And I thought to myself, "No... no, I'm not allowed to do nothing. I've got goals and plans, and a whole heap of determination. If there's anything I'm not allowed to do, it's nothing."

Of course, this is with my current, determined mindset. I don't think I've ever been so determined in my life as I am to get out of the corporate lifestyle. I'm dedicating myself to this and my other goals nearly every waking hour.

But how many times have I agreed with that chocolate? How many times have I allowed myself to mindlessly surf the web, not consuming anything that I gain benefit from? On how many occaisions have I wasted time with poor management or just by being wasteful? Too many. And because of that, I settled to let myself and my career be just "good enough."

But I'm not doing that any longer. I'm not going to waste that time any more. And you shouldn't either.

Think about it: Have you let yourself do nothing? Don't you think it's time to cut back on the "nothing" time?

And besides, are you going to let a chocolate wrapper tell you what to do?
-sean

"Why Not Me?" can become "Why Not Us?"

2005-12-08T19:48:00.000-12:00

It's weird; the more I ruminate on my desk job and what's wrong with a corporate life, the more I come to some conclusions about how poeple work and how to keep your "eyes on the prize".

And the more I read Steve Pavlina's entries, the more I realize that I think we've come to similar conclusions on many topics. Except that I think I've been a little more optimistic about other people's approaches.

Today, he posted Why Not You?, an essay in his usual style where he challenges his readers to tackle the problems they see instead of just wishing it would go away. I've reached the same conclusion as he: that if one doesn't start working to fix a problem, then they're doing nothing but perpetuating it.

Here's where we differed (but I think my opinion has been swaying recently): I always thought that this was the way things worked.

I always thought that people, corporate-type professionals especially, when presented with a problem, would find some way to fix it. I figured that they wouldn't just work around a problem for days, months, even years at a time without at least plunking at it a little. I thought that, when problems came up, people worked to fix the problem.

How naive of me, I guess.

Most people don't fix problems. They hide from them. They don't look at problems as opportunities, but instead let their animal instincts cut in (you know, "run!") and take over. It's hard not to do so, when 3-some odd billion years of evolution have taught us to do this (we've not always been on top of the food chain, you know).

But we're smart, and we can move beyond living with just our instincts. We all know this on some level, and it's exciting during those times that we really wake up and achieve more than fight-or-flight. Even more exciting? Waking up others.

This is why I really like this particular essay. Whether Steve realizes it or not, if you're in a situation where you start visibly tackling a problem, others start waking up and working on it, too. Chances are, you're not the only one who's run into it. The others were just too busy listening to their adrenal gland to do anything about it. But with you being a pioneer, people are going to follow.

This is great because not only are you elevating the consciousness level of others, you're also creating your very own support network with you in the center. Since you blazed the way, people will look up to you. This can mean a whole lot. When people look up to you, they invest something in you. They have a stake in your success. They'll work to make sure that you also can succeed. Then, if you fail, as is possible if you're really challenging yourself, at least there'll be others around you that can get you moving again faster. And who knows? Maybe they follow you onto your next project, tool.

Of course, having a few more hands tackling a problem doesn't hurt, either. Taking the first few steps to fixing a problem may be hard, but you can almost count on it paying off when you're leader of the group pulling it off.

-sean

Do What You Gotta Do

2005-12-07T20:08:00.000-12:00

I deeply value my focused creative time. When I get into "the Zone", I don't want to give it up for anything. And I'll go to some lengths to hold onto that focus.

For me, a lot of getting into the zone has to do with what I've been calling "the Muse" (which simply put, is just an anthropomorphization of an inspired, focused state). When I'm with the Muse, words/code/music/etc come quickly and naturally. I easily get two to three times as much creative work done during these times. I know that most people have experienced that same euphoric enthusiasm and focus.

Even with the added hours of polyphasic sleep, I still need to work to accomplish my personal desk job escape velocity. Additionally, if I want to maintain my social, spiritual, and emotional growth while doing this, I'll have to work efficiently. I need to maximize my time with the Muse. This is also true of anyone that wants to make the most efficient use of their time.

Steve Pavlina has some excellent suggestions on maximizing Muse-time in his essay Do It Now. The entire essay is an excellent read, but the uninterrupted time info is found under "Guard Thy Time".

But Steve suggests that in order to get into the zone, one must just work for at least 15 minutes. I find that this is not true if one is inspired. If you can work up some inspiration, you'll be focused in no time. Here's some tips that I find help me to get into the proper mindset:

Jump on inspiration. When the inspiration hits you, jump on it! Start work with it as fast as possible. Since you're starting with that basic, Muse-based rush, you'll probably be able to sustain it once you get into it. If you can't get right on it, consider getting a journal so that you can bottle up some of that creativity for a little while.

Read or listen to something along your goals that moves you. Find some positive, moving material and consume it. I enjoy reading Steve Pavlina's very popular personal development blog. I'm recently getting into more self-motivation material, as I think it may help me move myself along my goals. They're quite helpful to get into the zone because they're positive, encouraging, and many times have solid foundations of good ideas on which one can build. Other things that may help are texts on technical skills in your chosen goal, or industry related blogs or podcasts.

Dive headfirst into it. Sometimes, you just don't know where to begin. You can't decide where to start tackling a problem, or you're stuck with writer's block. To fix this, I just go for it. For example, for a computer programming problem where I can't see where to start, I just pick a task that will need done, sometimes randomly, and start coding away. Even if it doesn't work well, I've almost always gained a better understanding and appreciation for the problem, so can tackle it another way. For writing, if I'm really stuck without a topic, I'll start just catalogueing my thoughts. Eventually, a topic comes up that inspires me (usually quickly), and I can spin it off into its own entity to write about. Sometimes, the undirected musing becomes a topic unto itself.

Psyche yourself up. It feels weird at first, but if all else fails, tell yourself that you'll succeed. That you're the best at what you're doing. That you're just totally sweet. If you're really worried about your spouse or friends wondering what you're doing muttering "Dude, you rock. No, really. You're awesome. " then write yourself a letter. Go into detail about how and why you'll succeed. A great example I found was cornrow's motivational letter to himself when we was starting an attempt at polyphasic sleep. It seems a little funny at first, but I found it awe-inspiring the level to which he went to assure himself that he could do this. Never underestimate what a little ego stroking can do, even if you wrote it yourself. Sometimes that little boost is all you need to get cranking effectively.

Review your goals. Many places suggest putting your goals in precise, specific language, and writing them down in highly visible places. When I take a look at my goals, my determination resurfaces. All of the non-goal related things floating in my head evaporate, and I'm left with only thoughts that relate to the goal. Because goal review can help you slim down what you're thinking about, you'll also waste less time in non-goal oriented areas on your way to the Muse.

Take whatever means you need to keep that inspiration going. Find what works for you and do it. That excitement can become like a runners' high and can keep you going; it's like an addiction, and once you're hooked, you've gotta keep feeding it.

It's nice to be able to stand and say, "Hi, my name is Sean, and I'm a productivity junky." :)
-sean

Goal setting

2005-12-06T05:17:00.000-12:00

A common joke for a lot of geeks when discussing money-making schemes is a farcical three-step plan for success:

Step 1. Do something weird. (e.g. Build a stadium in the middle of nowhere, experiment with polyphasic sleep, etc)
Step 2. ???
Step 3. Profit!

It spawned from a South Park episode involving the Underpants Gnomes, in which their plan was the same, except replace "Do something weird" with "Steal underpants".

Anyway, it's comedic because it partially relies on a ridiculous idea with no clear plan to achieve a goal. It's just an intention towards a goal. Obviously, it could never work that way because one needs to know some of those intermediate steps in order to succeed.

I say bollocks to that. (I've always wanted to say that. Yes, I'm typing and not talking. Details.) There's some truth and wisdom hidden in that business plan, even if the writers didn't mean it that way.

You don't always need to know your path before you start walking. Might as well start walking, and then make the decisions when you come to them. Even if your direction is a bit off, you're still making progress towards your goal step. Sometimes, you'll find yourself atop a little ridge and then be able to see the next few places you'll need to decide, but in general, I think we can just decide as we go.

The key point here, though, is making sure your decisions keep taking you towards that "Profit!!" step (or whatever that goal is). If it's a completely wrong turn, you can almost always turn around and go back the other way, or, failing that, blaze a new path! Heck, maybe it'll be a shortcut.

For example, I know that I want out of the usual 9-5 grind. I wasn't sure how to do this, but I thought that more time would be a good start. So I set my Step 1 as Polyphasic sleeping (perhaps a bit extreme). Already it's done a lot for me with self exploration and confidence building. I've had to conquer little fears by telling people about it and being open and honest. I've learned that honesty is in fact the best policy (honesty to myself and my health, honesty to the public about my experiences), and my readers have complimented me on it. I've discovered a previously unheard-of (to me) form of income (blogging). And obviously, I've discovered oodles and oodles of more time to work on personal projects, which is just what I need to move along this business plan towards my goal of personal freedom. Thus, this has been a successful decision so far.

But if I'd sat and planned out what I would do, I'd probably still be planning. And have made no progress. And chances are, the plan would fall apart within a month, if not sooner.

So given my progress, and all the time now available to me, I've come to another fork in my path: how to achieve the 9-5 escape velocity (i.e., "Profit!!")? I settled on video game creation. It's always been a passion of mine and I know I can accomplish it. So I now have a Step 2: "Work towards indie video games."

Now, though, it's a 4 step process!
Step 1. Polyphasic Sleeping.
Step 2. Work towards indie video games.
Step 3. ???
Step 4. Profit!!

And I'm starting to discover what step 3 will be ("Learn PyGame for 'toy' games") , which will then be followed by more steps.

"Wait a minute," you're saying, "If we keep adding steps, we'll never get to the Profit step!" True. But you won't keep adding steps (unless you want to). Eventually, you'll find that you don't have a decision to make any more. You'll already be there, and you may not even realize it. That "???" step will just keep getting smaller and smaller.

But at first, "???" can seem daunting. How can we overcome it? Because we want to achieve our goal. We need to achieve it. And besides, it's really not all that big and bad anyway. It's only one step. And most especially, it's the last step between you and your goal. Go out there and get it! It's the home stretch!

Remember, at any given time, you're just two steps away from your goal. Two! Don't give up when you're so close! Just keep persistently making small decisions, expanding your plan, and you can't fail.

Maybe stealing underpants is a valid business afterall... ;)

-sean

Brainstorming and Maintaining Inspiration

2005-11-28T16:54:00.000-12:00

Now that I’ve been working at a desk job for a while, it has become clear to me that, while working within another company, every employee spends nearly all of their time striving for the success of their company or their boss. Very rarely is an employee able to fully work towards their own success in a corporate empire when it doesn’t necessarily mesh with that of the company.

Then it hit me: This is completely against what most people want to do with our lives! Why do we do this? Why do we expend our creative and intellectual energies towards someone else’s goals as a means to achieve our own dreams? Isn’t that insane? Wouldn’t it be more productive to instead just focus on our own goals?

And I realized that I, too, was just working towards someone else's goals, thinking I was working towards my own. And with that empowering thought, I knew I had to get out.

But I couldn’t just quit right then. I had no idea what I was going to do if I did. And while a very adventurous part of my spirit told me to just dive into it head-first, I knew that it could cause some long-term damage to some of my other personal goals. I couldn't sacrifice one goal for several others.

So, I needed to figure out what to do next, and what I could do from here on to solve my conundrum and get that escape velocity from the desk job; or at the least, get the first mini-booster rocket going. I needed some ideas; I'll bet that most others in a situation similar to mine needed some as well.

Now, I know that most people have an imagination of some sort. Personally, I can’t turn mine off. Things are constantly churning in my head, and it seems like a hundred great ideas come up every hour. The problem is, because I can’t immediately pursue these ideas most of the time, they disappear into the ether from whence they came. I’m sure that most of you have run into the same thing. Think about it: how many times has an idea hit you, one that you know is gold, but you just couldn’t pursue it immediately, and so shelved it indefinitely or forgot about it?

It’s frustrating. I hate losing ideas, especially the really good ones that impassion me. So, on the advice of a good friend, I got myself a journal. So far, it’s been one of the best investments I’ve ever made.

So how do I use the journal?

I’ll demonstrate my use by example:

Say I’m working on an active programming project, doing maintenance work. An idea hits me to flesh out a website project that I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while. I need to capture it quick, while the muse is still tickling my mind, so I’ll finish whatever very short term task I’m doing (like an finishing writing an individual line of code or reading an individual paragraph), which should generally take no longer than a minute or two -- the shorter, the better.

While the idea is still hot, I’ll whip out the journal (which I always keep on my person) and find the next blank page. I’ll then log the day and time, as well as a short title of what the idea is at the top of the page. This timestamp and title is very useful for backtracking and finding ideas, especially once your journal(s) start getting full. Don't skip this.

After filling in the title and timestamp, I’ll fill in whatever the idea was. Sometimes, it’s a detailed technical drawing. Other times, it will take on the form of nigh-incomprehensible collection of brief snippets and notes. I just structure my ideas within my journal in the same manner as the idea came to me (i.e., if my mental idea is jumbled and ethereal, I try to log it as such). I want to bottle up the very essence of the muse’s whisper as best as possible, so that when I return to the idea later, I can recreate it.

Later, at home or somewhere that I have time to devote to it, I like to revisit my ideas and see which ones I still like or still impassion me. If it doesn’t strike me again, then I file it away in my mind, and don’t touch the entry until it inspires me again. However, if I find that I can’t tear my mind away from the idea, and so I’m still inspired, I try to put at least a little time into the idea, usually as a new project. This helps solidify my inspiration so that a returning to it days, weeks, even months later is more fruitful.

My way of utilizing the brainstorming journal may not work for everyone. You may like to keep everything well catalogued and neat and tidy. If that keeps the creative excitement going for you, then go for it! Always capture the essence of inspiration as it hits you, but do it in the way the works best for you.

What kind of journal should I get?

Well, that depends on what you’re doing with it. For me, many of my notes are disorganized, and often involve mini-technical sketches or visual layouts. It made sense that I got one with graph paper squares in it. It supports my approach. If, say, all you ever entered were textual notes, then it may benefit you more to use only a lined journal for use.

Think about how you would use a journal and go for one that supports it best. This comes with a word of warning, though: when deciding, it’s best to go for a simpler, more flexible journal. While it may not make some specific tasks easier, it also won’t make any other tasks any harder. For example, a personal calendar / scheduler will make tasks related to dates and appointments very easy to track, but the format will be detrimental to nearly all other idea formats. A basic, empty journal has much more freedom for more types of ideas... and who knows what kind of ideas you’ll come up with! Why limit yourself now?

What do you use?

I use a Moleskine small squared notebook. I like it a lot. It’s small enough to be easily pocketed, and it’s got an elastic band to keep the journal closed and protected while riding around in my pocket. It also has the all-important bookmark ribbon, so I never have to flip to the first blank page. The really useful feature that I enjoy, though, is that the back cover actually has a pocket built into it. So if I scribble something on another small, flat medium (say a post-it note if I forgot my journal), I can jam it into the notebook pocket. Then, all my ideas are still contained within the journal for later reference.

I went for the squared notebook because I do many, many small sketches in addition to my scribbled notes. Really, though, all of the Moleskine notebooks are top-notch… I can honestly suggest anything in their line. Just find one that matches your needs. Then when the muse tickles your brain, you’ll be ready.

-sean

9 to 5 Escape Velocity

2005-11-22T15:45:00.000-12:00

I first started this blog as a means to catalogue both my goals as a person, but also the means which I had been using in order to advance my life in the way that I saw fit. The idea behind this was that much of what I learn and use as I got through this step in my life would help others along their path, so why not share that information? Why not clearly mark the safe cobblestones that I’ve stepped on and point out the potholes that I slogged through?

First thing that I started pursuing was a polyphasic sleep schedule. So far, despite some stumbling, it’s been interesting and fulfilling enough to warrant its own blog. Because of that blog, I’ve already got some other community-oriented sites in mind to help more people on their way, what ever it is. Hopefully, these will generate more cobblestones for people to step on.

Because the polyphasic sleeping was so interesting, I did not do much work not focused on it. Now that the polynapping has spun off into its own world, I can start blogging again on my original intent. It’s a little clearer to me where I need to fit all this information and what time to devote to them.

So, now we’re back on the mission of this blog: find the means to free oneself from desk jobs and “traditional” means of supporting oneself.

In my head, I’ve started to think of 9 to 5 jobs and corporate culture as this massive gravity well which so many of us are just orbiting quietly. Our path in life was shaped with education and societal pressures and it has shot us into a low-level orbit around this gravity well, and it doesn’t seem like most of us can get out. We’re down deep in this thick corporate atmosphere so that we can’t see through the haze at all.

I don't know about you, but I want to see some stars. I want to see what’s past the corporate haze because I feel like I’m choking on it. I need to get up and out.

Thinking of corporate culture as a large gravity well has started me thinking about getting away from it like trying to break into orbit: you need to achieve an escape velocity. Because of this, I’ve taken to calling the path away from corporate culture the “9 to 5 Escape Velocity”. It seems like it’ll be hard to achieve, just like Earth’s escape velocity of 11.2 km/s seems daunting.

However, just like getting away from Earth, there are tricks we can find to help us escape from traditional financial life. There are tools to help us get just a little bit further. So, whenever I’ll post on the 9 to 5 Escape Velocity, I’ll be addressing this goal, and hopefully have a trick or idea to help make that hop up and out.

C’mon. It’s just one financial gravity well. How hard can it be? :)

-sean

Polyphasic Sleep Blog moved

2005-11-21T17:50:00.000-12:00

The Polyphasic Sleep portion of the personal development blog has been extracted into its own section... it's now found here. It was rapidly evolving into its own beast, so I spun it off.

-sean