Every person on the planet has the capacity to contribute something unique to the world.

We each experience life from a perspective that has never been experienced before, and will never be experienced again… so each of us will see things and experience things no one else ever will.

There may be similarities, sure.  But on a profound level, we are each fundamentally special.

What I call our “Contribution” is anything we contribute to the human race that comes directly out of our own one-of-a-kind experience.  When you find it, your life’s purpose is to share it — to “Contribute” it — with the world.

WHAT IS MY CONTRIBUTION?

When I first started putting Phenomenal together, I thought my contribution was the insight itself.  I know with every fiber of my being, that the insight my book reveals will have a profound impact upon millions of people across the globe, and perhaps even the whole of the human race.

It’s a confidence that’s hard to describe.  And I know I sound like I’ve gone off the deep end sometimes.  But when you suddenly realize your life’s purpose — what exactly you need to share — it’s hard not to feel that way.

(And anyway, if I’m wrong, I eat crow.  But if I’m right… my book lives up to its title.)

The truth is, the Phenomenal insight is the most valuable contribution I could ever make.

But one of the discoveries I made in the past month is this:

I’ve also got other extraordinary values to share.  My life is not just about one “Contribution”, no matter how large and impactful it may be.

And sometimes bringing one into the world is necessary to bring the other.

THE PAST

Over the past ten years, I’ve taught screenwriting to over 1,200 students in 9 cities in 5 countries, but predominantly Australia and New Zealand.

I did it out of necessity.  I taught purely as a way to find and develop screenwriters who could write screenplays I could produce.

I’ve never been particularly fond of teaching.  I enjoy it while I’m doing it… and I’m good at it… but I’m an artist, a writer, a filmmaker, a creative person.  Teaching is a different kind of creative… your focus is entirely on helping other people be creative.

Still, after 10 years of working on something (anything!), you get good at it.

And along the way, I became an exceptional screenwriting teacher.  I don’t say that to boast or give myself an ego boost — I say it objectively.  100% of my workshop participants gave me a “recommend” rating.  I’ve seen my students’ faces when I teach them something that “clicks”.  I know the look of recognition when they’ve completed the learning circle.

And I’m good at it because I care. I want them to improve their craft.  And when you genuinely care about someone you’re trying to help, you’re better at helping them.

FRUSTRATION AND ABANDONMENT

But after doing something you don’t really want to be doing for a long enough time, it’s easy to let frustration seep in.

Eventually, I abandoned my efforts to teach screenwriting, because I couldn’t figure out how to do it well enough to achieve my goals — that goal of helping writers write screenplays I could produce.

It’s been about 3 years since I’ve been actively teaching screenwriting.

I’ve done a couple of live workshops in that time, but nothing regular or ongoing.  Because I just couldn’t do it anymore.  I got back into directing, producing, and getting my own projects started.

But the one thing I didn’t realize until after I’d started writing Phenomenal, was this:

I have inside me extraordinary value that only I can deliver.

It’s there, waiting to be shared. And it will vastly improve the value and capabilities of many writers’ lives.  It comes from my unique experience… meaning that it’s up to me to share it.  If I don’t, the value and benefits of my experience through life will be lost forever.

For me, the value of Phenomenal far outweighs anything I could ever teaching in the screenwriting world.

But that’s not the point.  The point is not “one or the other”.  The point is Contribution.  Your purpose is to share what only you can share, which lifts the collective experience of mankind.

CREATING FAST SCREENPLAY

As I started thinking about all this, I realized that I’ve given up an extraordinary contribution to a world I’ve spent ten years trying to improve.  It doesn’t make sense.  And, in fact, it flies in the face of the very insight I’m presenting with Phenomenal.

So I decided to create a “final” product — my “final” contribution to the world of screenwriting teaching.  The culmination of 10 years of teaching screenwriting — from a producer’s perspective. No, that’s not it.  It’s not just a producer’s perspective — it’s my perspective.  A value and benefit that no one else can share.

There’s an old adage in the business world that says:

Find a need and fill it.

In the screenplay development world, there is a need.  Thousands of people write screenplays every year, and producers sift through many thousands of submissions.  But they’re not meeting halfway.  The scripts being written aren’t satisfying producers’ needs.

I realized I was in a unique position — having taught screenwriting for 10 years and sifting through over 15,000 submissions that I couldn’t do anything with) — to create something phenomenal.

So I decided to create an online system of screenplay development that uses everything I’ve learned through 25 years in the film industry.  It’s called FAST Screenplay.

HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO PHENOMENAL?

Phenomenal is a book about the phenomenal nature of the human mind.

I contend that we each have something “phenomenal” to offer the world.  For me, it’s the book itself. By tapping into my unique experience, I can offer something that will literally lift the lives of countless people, and push our world forward in an astonishing way.

As I’ve been writing the book, I’ve discovered that it has its own “pace”.  It’s coming out at its own rate.  And I’ve revised the release date accordingly.

But the way I write it needs to change, too.

Because it’s not just about what I’m writing. To demonstrate my argument, I think it needs to be informed and inspired by something phenomenal as well.

By making the decision to launch FAST Screenplay as I continue to write the book, I can demonstrate a real-world application of the idea that goes beyond just the book itself.  The question, “What makes you qualified to write this book?” can be answered by pointing to something phenomenal I’ve created that demonstrates that I can walk the walk.

And in the meantime, I’ll be offering two items of phenomenal value… which will give you two examples of how to apply it to your own experience.

And I’ll demonstrate that we don’t have just one Contribution in us.  Our lives are fundamentally unique.  We don’t need to stress and worry about finding the “right” thing to offer.

Because what we can offer, like our potential itself, is unlimited.

MY GOALS WITH FAST SCREENPLAY

Starting in mid-November, and continuing through August 2010, the first Charter Group will go through the FAST Screenplay online system.  My goal is find at least one, and possibly up to ten projects to produce from that charter group.

But alongside that, I’ll be using FAST Screenplay to inform and inspire the writing of Phenomenal: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

By offering FAST Screenplay as an online system, it will also offer me the opportunity to travel to do research for the book.  I’ll be able to keep everything running remotely — all I’ll need is a wifi connection.

By designing FAST Screenplay after discovering the insights Phenomenal has taught me, I’ve tapped a creativity and passion for my teaching that I haven’t had in probably 7 or 8 years.  I’m pouring everything I’ve got into it — and discovering that the more I pour in, the more creativity and passion continues to flood my mind.

I’ve come to see that FAST Screenplay and Phenomenal are inextricably linked on a creative level… because they share the same author.  They’re borne out of the same individual’s unique experience.

THE LESSON

When you tap into the core of your creative self, you will find that you don’t have just one Contribution.

Your experience through this life will never be repeated.  You will experience — every day — things that no one else will ever know.

To think that we each have only one Contribution that can lift and expand the capacity of the human race is silly.

We have an infinite array of possibilities that lay before us.

All we need to do is look deep inside ourselves, and see what we have to offer the people around us.  Look for the experience that you have lived.  We’re not in competition with one another.  We’re in this together.  The goal is not to defeat each other.  The goal is to improve the lives of the people around you.  By doing so, you will improve your own.

You may only impact those in your immediate circle… or you may impact every human being on this planet.

But there is something — or many things — in you that can help them reach higher than they’re reaching today.  Find it.  Tap into it.

That is your Contribution.

And when you really offer it up to the rest of us, you open yourself up to contributing even more.

Next up, Article #21:
[writing in progress]

Do you speak binary?

Binary is a computer language made up of 1’s and 0’s.  Using only electricity, a computer works by turning tiny little electrical pulses on and off. On = 1.  Off = 0.  By stringing together 1’s and 0’s, we can create letters, numbers, and characters, and use them to communicate.  For example:

a = 01100001
b = 01100010
c = 01100101

I chose the title of this article for another reason entirely, which I’ll share in a second… but since “101010″ looked like a binary number, I checked it out.  It translates into this:

*

An asterisk. The star shape symbol.

That sealed the deal.

And that’s why I have officially decided that 10/10/10 will be the release date of Phenomenal: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

A DELAY FOR THE BEST OF REASONS

First off, you should know that I had hoped to release Phenomenal this year.

Years ago, I wrote a book called Writing FAST, and it seemed hypocritical to take my sweet time with this one.

The plan was November 2009, which, as I write these words, is next week.

Not only did that not happen, I’m glad it didn’t happen.

The more I work on Phenomenal, the more extraordinary it becomes.  I’ve done research that has revealed facts and science beyond my wildest imagination.  It has opened up new areas of exploration for me.  Things that not only support the underlying ideas of Phenomenal, but that take it well beyond what I’d originally conceived.

The more objectively I can support my argument, the more impact the book will have.

Which is why I decided awhile back that I was going to take my time writing it.

See, Writing FAST was never about rushing things.  “Fast” is relative.

And as I began writing Phenomenal, I discovered that it has a pace of its own. It seems right to take more time — not only to research it more, but to write it as I demonstrate it.

HOW TO DEMONSTRATE PHENOMENAL VALUE

One of my great challenges with this project has been to demonstrate the value of this book before I’m in a position to reveal its value.

My plan was to start a blog and generate so much interest and excitement from my articles, that it would push the book forward into being, on the strength of its own momentum.

But a funny thing happened.

I discovered that I can’t show you what it is…
until I show you what it is.

If I reveal the Phenomenal insight in this blog — in bits and pieces — it becomes fragmented. The whole of the idea (and therefore the power of the complete idea) would be diluted.  But if I don’t reveal what it’s all about… how can I reasonably ask you to get excited about it?

It’s a double-edge sword.  It’s no big deal, and it’s not going to slow me down… but it does force me to rethink the way I write and release the book.

Tomorrow, I’ll be putting up a new blog entry.

In it, I’ll show you something I’ve decided to do alongside the writing of Phenomenal as a way to demonstrate the very principles of it, and show you how these ideas can be applied in “the real world”.

But for now, let’s take a look at the beauty and symmetry of 10/10/10… and see why it’s the perfect release date for Phenomenal.

THE SCALE OF SYMMETRY

Perfect symmetry doesn’t really exist in nature.

Symmetry is a matter of scale, and what looks to be perfectly symmetrical at one scale, looks decidedly asymmetrical at a different scale.

Take a ruler, for instance.

Remember in school, when you’d take a ruler and use it to draw a straight line?  The shortest distance between you and a straight line was that ruler.

But zoom in on it.

I mean really zoom in.  A hundred times.  A thousand times.

When we amplify the edge of the ruler large enough, it looks no more straight than the jagged rocks along the shore.

And your line is really just fragments of lead or ink that are splayed in chaotic chunks, when viewed at a microscopic scale.

Perfectly straight at one scale — perfectly jagged at another.

THE SYMMETRY OF 10/10/10

Any thing in our world that is comprised of matter, will look different at different scales.  That’s because everything you see is made up of component parts — and everything you are is a component part of something larger.

Consider your place on this planet.

From your perspective, “large” is anything bigger than you, and “small” is anything smaller.  But if you were the size of the Sun, things you currently consider massive (like, say, the Earth itself) would be considered tiny.

So symmetry is all a matter of perspective, except in one area:

Mathematics.

Now, I’m no mathematician, but what I love about 10/10/10 is that it’s a perfect mathematical construct.  Each of the three components is not only the completion of a decimal cycle, they’re also identical and repetitive, and anything presented in 3’s has a natural symmetry (which is why jokes are always structured around 3 repetitions.

And 10’s naturally take other numbers to the next scale.  You’ve heard of “powers of ten”?  By multiplying any number by 10, you leap to the next decimal frame.

Sure, this is silly.

And really has nothing to do with the content of my book.

But the ability to observe and perceive symmetry is one of the things that makes the human mind phenomenal.

Symmetry may be innately recognized by other animals, and it may serve some more important function to the structure of our universe.  But (as far as we currently know) only the human mind can perceive symmetry, celebrate it, and strive to attain it.

So as a celebration of the power of the human mind, 10/10/10 is a beautiful date — and the perfect release date for Phenomenal.

THE LITTLE STAR

And the binary number 101010 translates into an asterisk!  It’s a fantastic serendipity.

Because the Asterisk itself is actually a great metaphorical representation of Phenomenal, as well.

The word “asterisk” comes from the Latin asteriscum, meaning “little star.”  (And yes, bear with me, because I’m gonna go exactly where you think I’m gonna go.)

The slogan of this site is “You are phenomenal. Live accordingly.”  Implied in that tagline is that you are a star.  You are a source of light in an otherwise empty universe.  You emit an energy that shines on the bodies that orbit you. (Alright, alright… I knew I was going to get too New Age-y, but c’mon!  You gotta admit it’s a cool metaphor.)

The asterisk is a wonderful visual reminder of “the phenomenal you” — that you that is your best self, in your peak moment, on a life course that’s taking you exactly where you decide to go.

One of my goals with the book Phenomenal is to show you that whatever you have inside you that is unique unto yourself, which you can contribute to improve the whole of the human race… This is what you must tap into, and give.  It’s what you’re here to do.  Not because anybody sent you here… but because self-expression is the purpose of conscious life.

You are here to find the asterisk inside, and show it to the world.

It’s a hidden little reminder found deep within the symmetry of 10/10/10.*

THE MULTIPLIER

And perhaps the most important metaphor found within the asterisk (as it relates to Phenomenal) is in its use as a multiplier.

When we multiply two numbers, we use the asterisk:

5 * 5 = 25

There’s a very subtle theme that runs through Phenomenal, and I’ll give you a hint at what that is:

When you tap into your phenomenal core, you literally multiply your value to the rest of humankind, and you multiply the capacity of human capability.

Consider this:  The world will continue with or without your contribution.  If you don’t reach inside and find what’s special, and share that with the world… nobody will ever notice or care.  The simple truth is that nobody’s hanging around waiting for you to push humankind forward.

But if you do, you literally have the very real power of multiplying the power of the human race.

These ideas are fundamental to the core of what Phenomenal is all about.  And it’s difficult to express it partially in this blog.

But if for no other reason, I love 10/10/10 for its binary meaning of “asterisk“.  Because it, like you, is the multiplier.

And on 10/10/10, the book will be the ultimate multiplier.

10 OCTOBER 2010

There it is.  The official release date of Phenomenal: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

I’ve also decided that I’ll be closing the pre-orders long before the book is ready, to dramatically minimize the number of Limited Edition books that are available, so that those that do exist will increase in value to those who have the foresight to pre-order early.

In fact, I may pull the Limited Edition pre-order offer at any time.  So if you’re on the fence, I would urge you to get a copy soon.  Remember, there’s a full buyback guarantee (I’ll even refund the shipping cost to get it back to us) even after you get 60 full days to read it and see if you like it. There’s literally zero risk, so if you’re interested, get in while you can.

Tomorrow, I’ll show you what I’ve decided to do alongside the writing of the book, and I’ll show you why that contribution of mine is going to be breathtaking.

Phenomenal, even.

10/10/10

Get ready.

Next up, Article #20:
What is Your Contribution?

* The asterisk also indicates a footnote, in which we can remind ourselves to make a note of 10/10/10 on your calendar!

Whenever people find out I’m writing a book called Phenomenal, they invariably ask the obvious question:

“What’s it about?”

If you’ve been reading this blog from the start, you’ll know that I haven’t been very explicit about that just yet.  Sure, there’s the blurb, or what’s written on the pre-sales page, but none of that goes very far into specifics.

So they usually conclude that this is a self-help book. Which it isn’t.

Today being my birthday, I figured now’s as good a time as any to look at what the core of the book is about.

EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO CHANGE

Phenomenal is not a self-help book.  Phenomenal is a book about human beings — where we are, where we’ve come from, and where we’re heading.  Phenomenal is a book about the change we’re undergoing, right this very moment.

I’m not going to reveal all the specifics.  I can’t.  For me to present the idea to you requires that I present the complete idea — and it’s detailed and complex enough that I need a whole book to do it.

In fact, the problem here is that I can’t just say three sentences and give you the essence of it.  I don’t want to be elusive — I just want to make sure I present the whole idea.  The closest I can come to three sentences is to say “You are phenomenal. Live accordingly.”

But even that doesn’t even mean much until you see the whole picture.

So for now, I’ll say this:

Humanity is — right now — undergoing a massive transformation.

Not in the mystical, spiritual, self-helpy way.  But in a practical, objective, scientifically demonstrable way.

And the future is going to look nothing like the past.

EVOLUTION IS NATURAL

Throughout history, human beings have lived pretty simple lives.

We’re born, we mill about for 80-odd years (give or take half a century), and then we’re gone.

It’s difficult to express just how profoundly affecting that is.

Think about this. The way you see the world is the way you see the world.  Our perception of our world colors everything we do. It shapes our entire existence.

In the previous article, I wrote that the whole world exists for you and your epic life.  You perceive the world through your own eyes, and that world moves and adjusts and responds to your influence.

But let’s take that a step further.

Throughout history, humanity has always perceived the world through those same two eyes.  Humankind has always seen humankind through the eyes of our limited experience.

We experience our whole universe from our own narrow perspective here on Earth.

Everything we do, everything we imagine, everything we dream… starts, ends, and is 100% shaped by the limitations of that perspective.

Even the way we imagine our universe. Even the way we imagine the future.

OUR UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE

We live on a mystery planet. Everything we can see in the universe is black and cold and empty and barren. And yet here we are on this vibrant blue planet teeming with life and sunshine and clean, fresh air.

We have evolved over millions of years into stunningly adaptable self-aware creatures who can think and feel and guide ourselves through our own lives.

For over 30,000 years, human beings have been born, lived lives of 80-odd years (give or take half a century), and then died into a flicker of dust. And our cultures and artwork and dreams and ambitions have been sparked, informed and dictated by the color and shape of that experience.

We perceive life through the eyes of history.

We perceive ourselves through the eyes of all that has come before.

And as we move forward into the future, we do so entirely guided by what we know of the past.  And what do we know?

We “know”:

• we need to get a job
• we need to find a partner and have babies
• we need to make a million dollars
• we need to travel
• we need to socialize
• we need to make a stable nest for our later years
• we need to pay taxes
• we need to vote
• we need to get a tune-up for our cars

Why do we “know” these things?

Because that’s what history has shown us.  That’s what the wisdom of the past has given us during this 80-odd year stretch (give or take half a century) of the vast expanse of infinite time.

We see our present and our future through the eyes of a perspective that’s drawn from an incredibly narrow window of time.

But when we change our scale and perspective, we see something entirely different.

A LONGER VIEW, A LARGER PERSPECTIVE

The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old.

That’s pretty old.

But it’s also a little misleading.

See, 4.5 billion years ago, the Earth looked nothing like it looks today.  It was mostly space debris — chemicals and elements — floating around in the vacuum. Gradually (over millions of years — and stop and think about that one for minute) gravity pulled it together into a swirling sphere.

Eventually other large swirling spheres smashed into it, increasing its mass.

Over time, billions of rocks and debris and larger clumps congealed and formed something that looked more like the Moon. Or Venus.  A barren rocky wasteland with no air, no water, and a lot of heat.

And the oxygen?  Even that has not stayed consistent.

The oxygen on our planet has come and gone over the years.

Did you know that scientists now believe dinosaurs were as big as they were because the oxygen levels on Earth were much higher back then?

At one point, eruptions from within the center of the Earth (imagine super-massive volcanoes) rained down so much molten rock, that the entire oceans were evaporated, killing off all living creatures. As the temperatures gradually cooled over the course of a couple years, the evaporated water eventually poured back down as torrential rains, filling up the oceans again.

Humans weren’t around yet.

But imagine if we had lived through that time.

We would think differently today.

Our perception of the world would be shaped by the real possibility of cataclysmic events.

WE ARE WHO WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHO WE ARE

Our perception today has been shaped by the (rather silly) notion that things don’t change very much.

We have storms, and we can see the potential problems climate change might wreak.

But we don’t see cataclysmic change.

That’s because we still see ourselves through the eyes of the past — through 80-odd-year life spans (give or take half a century) filled with school, work, vacations, hobbies, and “security in retirement”.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Since as far back as recorded history goes (about 30,000 years, if you count simple cave drawings), we’ve had no major cataclysmic events.

We’ve lived the same basic life – birth, education, work, procreation, old age, death — for as long as humanity can remember.

It should come as no surprise that we perceive the world the way we do.

But today is different.

We’re going through an exponential rate of change — I read somewhere that one daily printing of the New York Times has more information in it than a person in the 18th century would encounter in their entire lifetime.

The rapid rate of change is pushing us into a new paradigm.

The way we perceive the world, and our own place within it, is changing.

MY TWO CENTS

For whatever reason, I’m fascinated by these things.  If you look at my past, my career path doesn’t seem to indicate that I might be interested in writing a book about this stuff.

But I’ve thought long and hard about it.  I love it.  I’m fascinated by it.

And as I’ve thought about it, I’ve come to discover something.

I’ve come see how several of the disparate pieces snap together.

I’ve been asked “What qualifies you to write this book?”  And the answer is simple: I see the picture very clearly, and I have an ability to communicate ideas clearly.  If you’re the first person to see a new picture fully-formed, why shouldn’t you write the book?

Phenomenal is not a self-help book.

Phenomenal is a new paradigm for understanding who we are, and where we’re heading.

I don’t believe in hocus-pocus.  I’m not a New Age-y guy.

I’m an optimist — but not for any reason other than this: When you snap the pieces together, and the full picture of who we are and where we’re heading comes into focus, it’s impossible not to be an optimist.

Consider how new we are.

Consider that we are barely beyond cavemen right now. And against the backdrop of infinite time, we have only just witnessed the moment of our birth.

GRASPING WHERE WE REALLY ARE

If we looked at that 4.5 billion years of Earth’s evolution in a time-lapse video, with one year of real time equaling one second of time-lapse, it would take 144 years to watch the video.

Think about that.

144 years of watching the mountains slowly grow out of the sea and move around the oceans.

Can you imagine watching a video for 144 years?  Really think about how long and how slow that would be.

But then a curious thing happens right at the very end:

• Human beings only show up in the last 8 hours of the time-lapse video.
• The Egyptian Pyramids only get built an hour before the end of the clip.
• The Wright Brothers figure out how to fly a minute and a half before it’s done.
• The internet is only on the video for a little longer than 15 seconds! just before the video stops.

And this is after we’ve been watching for 144 years!

If you really stop and imagine all this… it’s mind-boggling.

And yet…

We imagine that the way things are today is how they will always be.

They won’t.

Not even close.

EVOLUTION CONTINUES

In fact, some of our most basic, fundamental ideas about ourselves, our lives, and our way of life, are about to undergo major evolutionary transformation.

Against the backdrop of infinite space and time, it’s like we’ve snapped our fingers, and in the flicker of a moment, we have radically arrived on the scene.

We have gone from single-cell organism to unthinking mammal to conscious being to the first waking moments of technological self-transformation…

…in the blink of an eye.

And where we go from here is so far beyond our current imagination, it’s as if we’re currently still living in the primordial soup.

This evolution is a good thing.

No.

It’s a phenomenal thing.

SO. WHAT IS PHENOMENAL?

Phenomenal is a book about the future.  Your future.  My future.  Our future.

In it, I’m presenting a view of the world.

That view is based on fact, on science, on logic, on observable reality, and on extrapolating ideas to their likely conclusions.

I’ve lived a somewhat unconventional life which has helped me piece together ideas in a way that would not have been possible if I’d stayed in my hometown and pursued my passion in the traditional way.

I may sound like a self-help evangelist when I say things like “you are phenomenal”, or when I talk about living your dreams or your ambitions, or being true to the spark within you.

But these ideas are all inextricably linked — from a logic and science perspective — to the 4.5 billion year evolution of our Earth, and the 14 billion year age of the known universe, and even to some of the more advanced scientific concepts like quantum mechanics, string theory, and future technologies like nanotechnology.

The book will present in a solid, cogent argument, that everything comes back to you.

And to me.  And to us, together.

Believe me when I say:

You are phenomenal.

I can’t wait to share with you the whole picture.

For now, I ask only that you trust me.

I promise it will all make sense.  The ideas are complete.  The picture is clear.  The paradigm is consistent.

When you see the picture Phenomenal reveals, you will have a whole new perception of life.  You will be reinvigorated about the infinite possibilities that lay before us.  You will walk differently and think of yourself and your life in an extraordinary new way.

But you don’t need to do anything.

You’ll want to.  You’ll want to live your passion, and tap into your phenomenal spark. And if that means you’ll help yourself, so be it.

But you won’t need to.

Because the evolution continues, with or without any of us.

I just think the time has come to share the picture I see.

And lift the veil on what we have the potential to become.

And so I continue writing…

Next up, Article #19:
101010

Last night I saw a movie called Adam. It wasn’t a particularly amazing film, but it certainly had some beautiful moments.

But every so often I watch a film and a moment really hits me. It makes me see something in myself or my life, and somehow changes my thinking.

In Adam, the moment wasn’t intentional on the part of the filmmakers.

It was my moment.

And that’s precisely what made it so profound.

A WALK IN THE PARK

If you haven’t seen the movie, it doesn’t matter.  It’s an insignificant moment.  In fact, it’s a moment we’ve seen in countless other movies.  After a courtroom revelation changes her perception of her father, the character of Beth (played by Rose Byrne) wanders alone through a park.

I don’t know what it was about the shot — maybe it was nothing more than how I was feeling in that moment.  But watching that lone figure walk through that enormous empty park, I thought:

It’s like the park exists for her.
As if the whole world is hers.

And of course, that’s true.

They made a movie about this character.  They chose the setting — the backdrop, the location — to specifically express the meaning of that character’s life, and her mood in that moment.

The location, the camera move, everything about the shot was chosen for her.  To help the audience see, and empathize, and relate to her.

What struck me is that this is a powerful way to look at our own lives, too.

YOU CONTROL IT ALL

Look around.

The world is there for you.

You are the star of the epic tale that is your life.

When you walk alone through a park, that park is yours.  When you drive a car, that space is yours. The traffic responds to you. The people you interact with in stores  — they’re responding to you. If you go out into public and laugh at the top of your lungs, the world will react around you.

You shape that experience.  You control it.  You decide if it’s going to be pleasant and productive or angry and destructive.  You shape every single moment of your life.

The job you have.
The people you know.
The family you interact with.
The city you live in.
The car you drive.
The books you read.
The future you imagine.

You control it all.

It’s your epic.  It’s your life.

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU LOVE TO THINK ABOUT

I’m a ponderer. I ponder life.

Some people don’t care to think about the bigger, deeper questions of existence in the way that I do.  Questions like: Why are we here?, What is our purpose?, Where are we going?, What actually exists beyond the edge of our galaxy?

I love that shit.

I can spend hours on end discussing ideas — stuff some people would consider unknowable.  I love to twist and turn my brain around thoughts and ideas and concepts that push beyond the science and technology and philosophy and psychology we know today.

I like to look into the future.  Imagine it.  Think about what it will really look like, and how we’ll really live.  And I like to think about how to shape that imagination.

Because the future is racing toward us.

We don’t need to do anything, though. You can stand perfectly still, and the future will race at you equally as fast as it will if you try to prepare for it.

We can’t predict it. We can’t even imagine it. Because there are billions of other people sharing this epic space with us who have ideas and imaginations we can’t even begin to predict.

There’s nothing to fear in the future. Not money worries, not environmental worries, not worries about life or health or even death. The future is racing toward us, but we can’t beat it. We can only take it as it comes to us in the present, adapt to whatever happens, and shape our imagination to turn it into whatever we want it to be.

AN EPIC OF YOUR VERY OWN

I’m in a philosophical mood today. Can you tell?

And it’s all thanks to Rose Byrne walking through that park.

Because this world we live in.  It’s ours.  We each get an epic of our very own.

If you’ve seen the movie I’m talking about and you remember the shot I’m referring to, there’s nothing particularly notable about it.  She wasn’t actively living the moment.  She wasn’t celebrating her space as I’m suggesting you and I do.

But that’s the point.

Because no matter what you do, your impact upon someone else is entirely out of your control.

The filmmakers wanted me to think about one thing in that moment.  I thought about something else.  Something more. Because this is my epic, after all.

LIVE YOUR EPIC

Each of us lives a life that we can only see through our own eyes.  And because of that, we sometimes have great difficulty seeing how powerful and profound our lives really are.

You have dreams. You have talents. You have ambitions. You have goals.

Pursue them.

It doesn’t even matter if you hit your target. If you put in the effort, learn what you need to know, adapt to obstacles and enjoy doing what you love, you probably will achieve what you dream.  But even if you don’t, it’s not really important.

What’s important is that you follow your spark.  Because if you actively pursue it, your spark will affect someone else’s.

You have something to offer that no one else has. You are moving through time and space in a fundamentally unique way — no one else has ever seen what you’re seeing, and no one else ever will.

When you walk through that park alone, you stand up and let the whole world know:

This is my story. This is my epic. This is my world.

Someone like me will see what you’ve done — but I’ll see it through my world, my story, my epic.  You can’t predict my reaction.  I may even take an entirely different point from it.

And that’s okay.

Rose Byrne didn’t see me watching her walk through the park.  She was living her story.  We each must do the same thing.

Always follow the passion that drives you. What anyone else thinks is completely irrelevant.

The whole world exists for your epic life.  And in that world, you are phenomenal.

That’s all that matters.

Next up, Article #18:
A Closer Look at How We Perceive Our World

Some ideas are challenging.

They’re challenging because they radically alter the way we perceive our world.

Four hundred years ago today as I write this, a simple device was introduced to the Senate in Venice, Italy. The device had been invented the year before, in 1608, by a Dutch man named Hans Lippershey, but it was Galileo Galilei who brought it to the attention of the masses.

It was called a telescope.
And it changed the world.

Like the device itself, Galileo’s telescope (which he created based only on a description of the Dutch original) brought into sharp focus an entirely new perspective on what’s happening beyond our eyes.

And that meant we had to change our thinking.

SEEING FARAWAY THINGS

The telescope was simple.

You assemble a tube or pipe with two glass lenses in it — one lens convex (outward curved), and the other lens concave (inward curved). By placing the two lenses the right distance apart, you could look through the tube and see a distant object magnified.

With those distant objects appearing much closer, you could see detail that wasn’t visible with the naked eye.

Galileo’s first telescope made objects three times larger.  New designs made objects eight times larger.  Eventually, his telescopes made objects thirty times larger.

Distant objects looked close enough to touch.

Today, it’s difficult to appreciate how radical this shift in perspective really was. We’ve had the ability to magnify distant objects our whole lives.

But in Galileo’s time, before the invention of the telescope, the total distance you could see was limited by the strength of your eyes.  And the effect of this simple invention was extraordinary.

CHANGING THE ORDER OF MAGNITUDE

Galileo was a scientist and philosopher. So it was only natural that he’d point his telescope to the stars.

He began mapping the surface of the Moon, looking at the stars in the distance, and even discovering the four moons of Jupiter.

He used his observations to support the theories of Nicolaus Copernicus, whose calculations some 60 years earlier had showed that the planets orbited around the Sun.  Back then, people believed the Earth was at the center of the universe.

By offering better detail of the Solar System and our galaxy, Galileo offered evidence that Copernicus was right.

Why is that a big deal?

Because suddenly, the order of magnitude of our vision changed.

We went from being the center of the universe, to sitting on a rock circling a star.

And some people didn’t like that idea.

HANGING ON

When Copernicus presented his heliocentric theory in 1543 (the year of his death), it didn’t cause much of a stir, even though it went directly against the beliefs of the Roman Catholic church.

But when Galileo’s telescopes began to demonstrate the ideas that Copernicus theorized, that suddenly changed everything.

The idea that the Earth revolved around the Sun went against the Catholic Church’s interpretation of the Scriptures.  So they decided Galileo’s work was blasphemous.

The Church condemned the work of both Copernicus and Galileo, and Galileo was put on trial.  He was forced to recant his statements, and he spent the rest of his life under house arrest by the Church.

But the Church was only doing what most of us do when we’re presented with ideas that challenge our accepted truths.

They hung on to what they believed, rather than adapting to this new knowledge.

It took nearly 400 years for the Church to admit that Galileo was right — when Pope John Paul II in 1992 expressed regret at how Galileo was treated, and officially recognized that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Imagine that: denying for 400 years something that Galileo’s invention could help you see with your own eyes.

WHAT A NEW IDEA DOES FOR US

The telescope is a great metaphor for the forward progress of humanity.

It was a new technology — conceived, invented, and designed by the mind of man — that radically transformed our ability to perceive and understand the world we live in.

It pushed us forward exponentially, and opened up whole new areas of thinking.

Ideas spark ideas. And here was tool that sparked a new universe of ideas.

The power of the human mind is twofold:

1. We can imagine anything.
2. We can solve any puzzle with sufficient time and information.

This combination is what makes human beings phenomenal.

Galileo, upon hearing about the telescope, imagined it.  He then used his brain to solve the puzzle of creating it.  And in the process, his idea sparked the imagination of millions of people across the globe.  His ideas will continue to spark the imagination of perhaps every conscious being to come.

And this is the phenomenal power of the human mind.

ALWAYS LOOKING BEYOND

Our ongoing pursuit of knowledge is built into our DNA.

Human beings will always look beyond where we are today.  All the knowledge we have, and all the extraordinary new discoveries, theories, and technologies that we’re discovering now — today — on an almost daily basis will always lead to an expanded imagination.

We will always invent new “telescopes” to see beyond what we know.

Galileo’s telescope is a symbol of humanity.

Which is why today, on the 400th anniversary of his introduction of this exceptional tool to the Venetian Senate, we would be wise to consider the story of Galileo.

• He followed his fascinations.
• He continually pushed forward in his pursuit of knowledge.
• He embraced his purpose.
• He created unique contributions that empowered the world.
• And even in the face of extreme opposition, he continued to do what he loved.

He was genuinely living the phenomenal experience.

BE OPEN TO IDEAS

But the true value of Galileo’s experience goes beyond even that.

The true lesson is this:

No matter how certain we are of what we think we know, we will always develop new tools to see further than we can see today. As a result, we must always be open to seeing our world in a whole new way we’ve never known before.

The Church isn’t the bad guy in this story. The Church simply clung to outmoded ideas because the new ideas challenged everything they believed.

Similarly, as we look at some of the remarkable world-changing technology that’s being created and designed today — whether it be cloning or genetic engineering or virtual reality or emerging technologies like cellular regeneration or nanotechnologies — we must be open to ideas.

Much of what’s coming will challenge everything you think you understand about your world.

Much of what’s coming is going to radically change the entire human experience.

This is not a bad thing. We will see more than we see today. And that inspires more imagination. And that expands the reach and breadth of the human experience.

THE PHENOMENAL TELESCOPE

With Galileo’s telescope, we can see more than stars. He helped us see something profound and new, and it challenged our preconceived ideas.

And that resonates with me, because Phenomenal and The Phenomenal Experience are like a telescope for your mind.  They, too, will help you see something new — a new way of seeing your world that will push you forward in extraordinary new directions.

Never be afraid of forward progress.

Humanity naturally expands our own ideas. New information sparks new knowledge which sparks new imagination.

We will always move forward. Tomorrow will always be different than yesterday.

Galileo gave the world a gift of extraordinary magnitude. He gave us tool to move us forward. That was his phenomenal experience.

You have a phenomenal contribution within you, as well.

Are you tapping into it, and sharing it with the world?  Will we celebrate your contribution 400 years from now?

We can. We should.

We will.

Next up, Article #17:
The Whole World Exists for You and Your Epic Life

I’ve always been a fan of science technology.

In fact, when people hear that I want to make sci-fi movies, they usually assume I’m interested in space aliens and goofy monsters with ray guns. (What does that say about me?)

But what I really love is “future tech” sci-fi.

You know — those great films that give us a glimpse at creative technology and what’s to come.

I’m an optimist, so future tech stories excite my imagination.

Which is why I love stories like this one:

‘Doctor’ particle decides when to release payload

Scientists are developing medicine that will respond when certain conditions are present.

Imagine it: You swallow a pill, and it only releases the drug when tiny nanoparticles determine that the time is just right.

Our ability to solve our problems on an increasingly fine level of detail is only going to improve in the years ahead.

As technology improves, so do our lives.

The future of medicine is inspiring, and if you follow the breakthroughs that seem to happen almost daily now, it’s easy to see that we’re living right at the cusp of a major change in human history.

Will you be contributing?

Next up, Article #16:
With Galileo’s Telescope You Can See More Than Stars

We’re stuck in an archaic mental paradigm.

I watched a couple shows on the Science Channel last night: “Life: The Biomolecular Revolution” with Dr Michio Kaku, and Popular Science’s new “Future of…” series — an episode called “Superhumans.”

The combination was fascinating.

But what struck me most about the programs was that even some of the scientists on the forefront of the tech revolution don’t grasp what’s happening.

They don’t see that they’re still — to this very day — operating entirely from an outdated mental model of our world.

EXTREME FORWARD MOTION

We live in a world — today — where human beings are capable of:

• cloning animals,
• creating body parts from DNA,
• engineering mice to perform at double their natural capacity,
• creating artificial limbs that are in many ways superior to our natural limbs,
• designing computing systems that will push us forward in directions we can barely imagine.

The world of tomorrow is technological.  It’s a world where these technologies exist and inform the way life works.

We are alive at the most exciting moment
in all of human history.

What most people don’t seem to grasp yet is this:

• Forward motion is human nature.
• Extreme progress is the essence of who we are.
• Humanity cannot avoid this spectacular evolution.

I pay attention to our progress.  I grasp precisely how phenomenal we really are.  And one of the things I see… is that we’re missing a fundamental understanding of our essence.

The scientists don’t quite understand it.  The general population certainly doesn’t see it.  And for whatever reason, my interests and my unique experience in life have shown me what that missing piece is. And that’s what the book is all about.

I can see the future of mankind.  And our potential is unlimited.

I’m excited.

Are you?

Next up, Article #15:
A Peek at the Medicine of Tomorrow ~

It’s easy to slip into a fog.

You’re moving forward with great enthusiasm. Plugging away. Building momentum.

But gradually, everything gets sluggish. It’s harder than you thought. It takes longer than you want.

And before you know it, you’re moving at a crawl.

It’s time to jumpstart your momentum.

GRADUAL SLUGGISHNESS

Something dawned on me yesterday.  I’ve been feeling sluggish.

But why?

When I started this project, I began exercising vigorously, eating healthy, drinking only water.  My days were mapped out.

But then I started “cheating”.

Occasional unhealthy meals. Daily coffee habit (coffee and writing go so well together!).

After playing beach volleyball a couple weekends ago, I was very sore the next day.  My daily exercise hasn’t been as vigorous since then.

CORRELATION?

Think there’s a correlation between these things?

You bet there is.

So today’s Monday.  I’m ready to jumpstart the momentum.

Here’s how:

1. Notice the fog!
   Are you operating at 100%?  If not, you need a jumpstart!
   
2. Find the cause.
   What’s slowing you down?
3. Reconnect with your goal.
   Not only what you want but why you want it.
4. Get physical.
   Physical movement pumps energy through your body.  Shake out the fog.
5. Take immediate action.
   Do something small right this minute to get back on target.

Small progress daily is better than big progress sporadically.

Now bookmark this page.

The fog will return.  It’s natural.

Re-read this page to shake it off.

Now do it.

Next up, Article #14:
Why the Future is Better Than You Think ~

The tagline of this website is “You are phenomenal. Live accordingly.”

But am I just trying to win friends?  Make you feel good?  Trademark™ a nifty slogan?

No.

To prove you’re phenomenal, let’s start by looking at your brain.

It’s fast.  Astoundingly fast.  And I’ll bet you’re not giving it the credit it deserves.

JUST HOW FAST IS IT?

How fast is your brain working?  To answer that question, we need to look at just three variables*:

1. How many neurons we have.
2. How fast neurons fire.
3. How many cells each neuron connects to.

Neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit electrochemical signals.  Like a little lightning bolt transmitter/receiver/processor.  The human brain has about 100 billion of them.

Each neurons fires (on average) about 200 times per second.  And each neuron connects to about 1,000 other neurons.  So… every time each neuron fires a signal, 1,000 other neurons get that information.

Let’s multiply:

100 billion neurons
x
200 firings per second
x
1,000 connections each
=
20,000,000,000,000,000 bits of info transmitted per second

Think about that:

20 million billion bits of information move around your brain every second.

SEE THE PICTURE

It takes a lot of individual bits/neurons — could be millions… could be billions — to form a picture.  (The picture of the brain above is 12kb [9,399 bytes], or 75,192 individual bits of information.)

How many bits does it take to shape a whole thought?  Analyze a complex situation? Probably billions.

We still haven’t scratched the surface of how many neurons you’ve got.

Plus, consider that your brain is doing all those calculations at the same time… every moment of every day…

processing sounds
sights
smells
taste
touch
thoughts

… and 99+% of the work it’s doing… you never even notice.

Your brain is fast.

Astoundingly fast.

And the best part of all… is that we’re each in full control of where we direct its focus.

What are you focusing your brain on?

Funny how sometimes we forget just how phenomenal we really are.

*Thanks to this article for the calculations.

Next up, Article #13:
How to Jumpstart Your Momentum ~

If there’s one thing I hate… it’s a project that’s been started, but isn’t moving forward.

Like this blog.

Yes, I’m moving forward on the book.  But this blog’s just sitting here.  (You won’t notice that if you’re reading in the future, but I need to see daily progress.)

So.

No time to write 2,000-word articles.  What can I do?

Mini-blog entries.

Think of it like a “Thought of the Day“.

THE NEW PLAN: BEHAVE LIKE A BLOG

In the interest of actually building this site, I’m going to try to upload something every day.

• The “mini-blog entries” will be very short.
• Titles will have a tilde (~) at the end of the title, so you can easily spot them in the archive lists.
• They’ll each use the stopwatch image.
• They’ll be short — typically no more than 200 words.
• They may be topical; they may be just random thoughts.

If you think they’re too lightweight… or just surface-level stuff, they’ll be easy to ignore.  (On the other hand, maybe you’ll prefer them to the long-winded articles!)

Regardless… the idea is to remind myself (and you!) of the principles:

1. Momentum is result of continual forward progress.
2. Small steps daily are better than big steps sporadically.

The Experience is every day of our lives.

The blog should reflect that.

More to come…

Next up, Article #12:
How Fast is Your Brain?