So, you can imagine that I’m always on the lookout for ways to sneak coconut into all kinds of recipes… and I found one recently. It was good to start with, but a little coconut took it over the edge.

Beautiful, aren't they? Photo (and another variation) © DinnerCakes.com

“Fauxtatoes” are the name I came up with for these yummy puppies after we made them a few times, because the consistency is pretty much exactly like mashed potatoes. And, they’re the closest I’ll get to eating ‘taters, since I’m a Primal guy, through and through.

Here’s the recipe:

• 1 head o’ cauliflower, chopped however
• 32oz chicken stock
• 4-5 garlic cloves, peeled

… all in a big pot, adding water to just about cover the cauli, boil for about 15 minutes until it softens up a bit. Depending on how thick your pieces are, it may take 20-25 minutes. It’s all good, though.

Drain off the liquid, and mash it all up—if you have a hand blender, by all means use it—adding:

• a splash of coconut milk
• butter (no, you do not measure this. trust me… just add butter, and then add some more)
• salt & pepper to taste

Yum!

Now, these are tasty, with or without the coconut milk. But what kind of coconut addict would I be if I didn’t add some?

I’d love to hear what you think if you try these, especially if you play around with the spices some… I’m more than happy with how these have come out, but I’d be open to experimentation (curry? herbs de provence? ginger?)

Bon appetit!

Possibly related posts:

• Pancakes, anyone?
• What Is Primal? And, I Could Sure Use Your Vote!
• Announcing: Bright Coconut

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments

Like a baby bird chirping desperately for its mother’s return to the nest to bring the food that will keep it alive, there is a yearning that lives within you, and it calls incessantly. It can be satiated with the smallest of moments, and it has a camel’s resistance to thirst, but if you ignore it too long, it will shrivel and die.

And as it does, color will fade from your world. Meaning will ebb away, enjoyment will wither, and you’ll sit around trying to remember a time in your life when richness existed. You’ll get dry, stiff… and when you hardly recognize the crusty you that you’ve become, you’ll chalk it up to being busy. Or being a parent. Or being a professional. Or getting older.

But it has nothing to do with any of those things.

The Urgent Call is your spirit’s need for connection. Like the migrating herds of the plains of Africa, who travel thousands of miles every year in search of life-giving food and water, your spirit has an essential drive to feel its connection to all around it. It’s the reason we seek community. It’s the reason we search for purpose and meaning in life. It’s the reason we feel better when we’re on a spiritual path, and it’s the reason that it doesn’t really matter what path that ends up being.

What matters is that you connect.
What matters is the Urgent Call gets listened to.
It doesn’t matter how your Urgent Call gets fulfilled, only that it does.

Mind Schmind

Oh, sure, your rational mind wants to be right, it wants everything to make logical sense, and it wants reasoning to explain your beliefs. And those things are fine… for the mind. But the Call doesn’t need those things (which is why it’s doubted and ridiculed so often); the Call just needs connection.

The evidence for this is that this post makes sense to you. Logically? Reasonably? Heck no. Your left brain probably doesn’t have a clue in hell what I’m talking about, and it’s going a little nutso trying to figure out where this is going, matching patterns and looking for a logical conclusion. In fact, it’s probably liking this little explanation, because it can understand it. “Ahh,” it says, “I’m feeling much more comfortable now that you’re speaking my language.”

Left brain loves that this post is probably going to talk about life purpose, or pursuing your passions, or finding what juices you up and going for it. It’s hoping that I’m going to end this post with a three- or five-step process, a witty conclusion, or steps to finding your personal mission statement.

Hey, left brain: F off. This is not for you.

This is for the part of you that cries at sentimental commercials. It’s for the part of you that honors the life and struggle of the smallest spider crawling up your wall. It’s for the part of you that totally gets fed by a moving musical performance, a selfless act of service, or a hug.

If you aren\'t seeing the embedded video, click here to view.

It’s for the part of you that can have all the material things you want in this world, have a great job, eat fabulous food, vacation regularly, drive an expensive car, want for nothing… and still want. Here’s a tip: it’s not the stuff of this world that answers your Urgent Call… it’s the space between the stuff. More accurately, it’s that the space gets seen, felt, and honored.

One moment of touch can do it. One breath of togetherness. One searching call into the great unknown, and the guaranteed answer that returns. Sure, you have to be open to calling, and be open to receive the answer, but it only takes a drop of connection for the momentum of your life to turn around and point you back on the road to fulfillment.

If you’ve been feeling empty lately, as if the world has gone gray-scale, or that you’re just missing something, then now you know what you need to do. Stop looking outside. Stop looking for things to stuff into the hole, because no amount of Dolce & Gabbana, Crate & Barrel, or Ben & Jerry’s is going to do the trick this time. You’re going to have to quiet your mind, stop listening to the fluff, and listen to the essential, the primordial, the ancient.

Make the Call. It’s the only thing that’s going to work.

Image by ~MVI~.

Possibly related posts:

• Reason #29,765,863 Why I Love Evernote
• Joy.
• How To Heal What Ails You With EFT

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | One comment

I’ve mentioned this before, but I still have conversations with people all the time where I mention Evernote, and they say, “Huh?” And that just blows my mind.

And the latest reason why I love them? Because not only have they produced the most awesome, flexible, useful piece of organizational software around, they also have a great sense of humor. That’s rare, people.

If you aren\'t seeing the embedded video, click here to view.

What I use Evernote for, just to give you a heads-up:

• managing all my client projects
• storing any and all info I find while out searching the interwebs
• recording all my recipes
• brainstorm-rain collection
• notes about places we’re thinking of moving to or visiting
• read the second one again, and let it sink in. Seriously.
• essentially everything I want to remember/record/store for the future, on subjects like WordPress, web design, CrossFit, nutrition, spirituality, personal development, family stuff, marketing, copywriting, and more.

Seriously, if you haven’t checked out Evernote, you’re bonkers. It’s awesome. It’s life-transforming. And—hello?—it’s free! Come on, now, people! Go get you some.

Possibly related posts:

• Put The Power Of Ritual To Work For You
• Grand Re-Opening
• Want To Be A Better Person? Be A Spiritual Generalist.

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments

As Autumn approaches, so do my urges to clean house

And as much as “cleaning” has been associated with the Spring, I tend to do a big cleanup and realignment of priorities in the Autumn. Maybe it’s the product of going to school every Fall from age 5 to 35 (K-college, then grad school and teaching seminars). Or maybe I’m getting ready for hibernation; who knows.

On my docket now are reviews of two products I’ve promised to do, but let slide in the face of busy-ness and upheaval. That’s not to diminish the value of the products, by any means; I thought they were great, each in their own way, and in their own intended use. (Okay, enough jabbering – on with the show!)

The Shadow Effect

Thanks to CK Reyes and Michelle Vandepas at Conscious Livelihood, I got a copy of Debbie Ford’s The Shadow Effect, which I was excited to see because even though I’d heard many good things about Debbie and her work over the years, I’ve never really had the chance to see her approach to healing up close. (For those of you who don’t know it, I was an energetic healer and intuitive for over ten years.)

The Shadow Effect is the video I wish I had when I was working as a healer. Debbie takes a very “normal people” approach when she explains how our inner voices and patterns, despite our best intentions, can slow us down and sabotage our progress in all sorts of ways. To be honest, I was afraid this would be an overly New-Agey production, but it was something I could show my parents, and they’d get it completely. And that’s the ultimate litmus test, isn’t it?

If you aren\'t seeing the embedded video, click here to view.

The amazing thing about the movie is not just the celebs that appear (from Deepak Chopra to Marianne Williamson), or the exceptional production quality, or the normal-ness of the language and processes used to get inside your own head and debug your life. What blew me away was that they have made a “Special Interactive Edition” of the movie that, much like The Secret, covers all the groundwork you need to understand what they’re saying… and a second version that’s filled with guided processes and exercises that take it from conceptual to experiential and practical. The second DVD is a full 40 minutes longer than the first, and walks you step-by-step through the same kinds of awareness-based healing techniques I learned when I went to my healing school.

I admit, I was pretty nervous when I heard the title, “The Shadow Effect”, because I thought it would be all about embracing the darkness within, and using its power to feel strong (yes, I’ve seen people out there doing that work, and way worse). Luckily, it wasn’t like that at all. Instead, it gently shows how our “shadows”—the parts of us we’ve been told aren’t valuable, or wanted, and yet still exist within us—shouldn’t be feared or pushed away, because they hold the key to a much greater understanding and acceptance of who we are. And, as we are able to come to terms with the experiences we’ve had and how they’ve shaped us, a whole new world of possibility opens up.

In short, if you’re someone who is just getting started on your personal growth journey, or is interested in learning more about how to deal with your own issues that you know have been tripping you up in your life, then I recommend you check out The Shadow Effect, because it was made for you.

The Shadow Effect is available in DVD format, as well as a watch-it-online format, but I’d recommend getting the Special Interactive Edition, for all the reasons I mentioned above.

Or, You Can F#@% Therapy

On the other end of the spectrum is an e-book called F#@% Therapy, which is perfect for people who are either skeptical of all the self-appointed gurus they see on Twitter these days, or just want a no-nonsense approach to living a better life, without all the fluff.

Covering a whole slew of topics from clutter to procrastination to “keeping up with the Joneses”, as well as the programming we’ve had drummed into us since we were kids, F#@% Therapy is an approach that’s actually more soft and gentle than you’d think, given the title (once you’ve become desensitized to the F-bombs, that is).

If you aren\'t seeing the embedded video, click here to view.

Again, I was surprised by what I found inside, because based on the title, who knows what to expect? In the author’s own words,

F#@% Therapy isn’t for everyone–it’s for the people that’d never ever read a self help book.

At the same time, though, I wouldn’t discourage folks like me who’ve been around personal development for years, and are tired of the fru-fru, woo-woo bull**** that’s waaay too prevalent these days, from getting their hands on a copy and taking a look.

Because there’s a lot out there on the interwebs these days that requires you to adopt an entire philosophy in and of itself, or commit to a monster-sized program just to see results (much the way GTD can feel for newcomers to the productivity world). But it can get exhausting to continually adopt new entire paradigms just to get stuff done.

I see F#@% Therapy as a wake-up call to all the garbage, over-thought, for-the-sake-of-itself drivel in the self-help market these days. It’s a straightforward approach that doesn’t claim to be anything other than what it is, and in that way, it’s refreshing.

So, what kind of cleaning up do you have to do?

If you’ve been feeling a need for greater self-exploration, or doing some internal house-cleaning, then these just might be some possibilities you’d like to look more into.

Image by moogs.
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post, not all of which are mine. Use ‘em, or not, I don’t mind either way. Be free!

Possibly related posts:

• Coconut Fauxtatoes
• Why It’s Not About The System You Use.
• Getting Help Where You Need It: Meditation

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments

Mmm... steaming hot ramen.

What I enjoyed most about the movie, without giving away too many details, was the main ingredient that Brittany Murphey’s character, Abby, learned to infuse into her ramen that made it special: spirit. Because in the end, this was not a movie about ramen, or romance. It was about finding one’s place in the world by focusing on the how more than the what.

“How” comes from within

The fact that Abby learned to make a great bowl of ramen is secondary to what it required of her to do it. She got the recipe right long before she was able to make a meal that was worthy of being served to her customers, because she was taught that making soup isn’t just about getting a bunch of ingredients and assembling them. It’s about heart. Unless your soup has spirit, it hasn’t got anything.

It’s a lesson that, I believe, resonates for many of us. We spend a lot of time reading books about parachutes or real-life stories of people searching for their “perfect” jobs. We’re taught to believe that if we just find the right career, we’ll be mystically satiated, and we’ll labor away blissfully for the rest of our lives. The emphasis here is placed on the initial discovery, and the promise is that once that discovery is made, the rest is downhill. (If you think about it, this ideal is promulgated in many arenas, from relationships to parenting to politics.)

The Ramen Girl teaches something else, though. It teaches that “getting the recipe right” is only the first step. In order to truly do something well, to transform it from ordinary to exceptional—and to transform yourself in the process—requires an internal contribution that goes beyond meticulousness and hard work. You have to invest yourself in what you’re doing. You have to be willing to be vulnerable, to give of yourself to your patrons through your work. It makes work personal, intimate, and unique.

The Divine is in the Details

As a webdesigner, I can churn out code until the cows come home. I can tweak settings, configure plugins, and customize design details until my fingers turn blue. And in so doing, I can be a good webdesigner, and serve my clients well. I’ll even feel the satisfaction of a job well done. But, is that all I should hope for?

If you want to feel like you’re doing your best work, the scorecard that matters is not the one that can be judged by what shows up on the screen, or on the paper, or in the product. Satisfaction—the bone-deep, spirit-lifting, existential experience of meaning—is found in the value and the interaction of your work and its target. In other words, it’s what your work creates in the experience of another that comes back to you as satisfaction. If it matters, then it matters, no matter what you’re called, from carpenter to coach to CEO.

It’s in the pursuit of that intangible satisfaction that work finds its meaning, we find our purpose, and the path of mastery is made clear. And, at every step of the way, it’s up to you to choose the giving road, the road of excellence, the road of interaction and connection, with your soul laid bare. It may not be easy, but the best things in life rarely come without incredible effort.

Image by bass_nroll.

Possibly related posts:

• Coconut Fauxtatoes
• Productivity Is A Full-Body Exercise
• The Urgent Call

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments

Enter: Primal.

It’s not that CrossFit doesn’t have a nutritional recommendation: it does. And it’s about as simple and clear as it can get: Meat and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, no sugar. And any CrossFitter worth his/her salt is going to be able to rattle that off like a well-grooved mantra. And, at the same time, knowing what to do and actually doing it are often not the same thing at all.

I’ve read all kinds of fantastic nutritional information before, and have for years, but never have I been able to make it a lifestyle like I have since adopting the “Primal Blueprint Eating Plan” like I have with Mark Sisson, at Mark’s Daily Apple.

Primal living is, in my own words, a prescription for eating the way we’ve evolved to. Our genome has honed itself for over 2 million years, adapting to a particular style of eating that didn’t really fluctuate until about 10,000 years ago. And, since that “recent” shift, we’ve done nothing but go downhill, health-wise, except for the hygienic changes that have increased our average lifespan. It’s pretty clear if you look at how we’ve evolved to eat that it makes a lot of sense to stick close to our own internal genetic recipe. After all, you wouldn’t pour rocket fuel in your car’s gas tank, right? It’s just not designed for it.

Primal living isn’t just about nutrition, though. It’s about the whole grain-free enchilada – fitness, play, rest, and natural living in all sorts of ways. I’m not going to talk all about it, because Mark has already done a fantastic job of that on his blog for the past three years. I’d highly recommend reading this post for a bird’s eye overview, this post if you want a jumping-off point for a bazilion different resources on Primal living, and if you want the clearest explanation of what nutrition is all about, my all-time favorite post about Primal eating is this one right here.

If you like what you see, then the best thing you can do (short of buying Mark’s book) is to sign up for the special Primal Primer newsletter series that he created for this past month’s big Primal challenge. It’s the best, most comprehensive bundle of useful information on your health that I’ve probably ever seen. Seriously.

Now, Here’s Where I Need Your Vote:

As a part of Mark’s month-long Primal Blueprint Health Challenge, there were a number of contests created, ranging from super-simple to more elaborate… including creating a video of a Primal recipe that you love. I made a video of my Primal Coconut Pancakes/Waffles, which you can watch here, and it made it into the contest! Woo hoo!

Now, in order to win the prize, I need your vote – today. It’ll only take about 3 seconds, and would mean the world to me, if you could click to this post here and vote for my video: Primal Coconut Pancakes/Waffles. And, of course, I’d love to hear what you think of them if you make them yourself! (A few people have left comments on the video post, and so far, they’re a hit.)

If you’re curious about anything Primal-related, including my journey that brought me here, or anything about the video or the contest, please don’t hesitate to ask.

UPDATE: Bummer! I lost the contest by four measly votes (185 to 181). Ah well, that’s how the coconut crumbles… for all of you who voted, I appreciate it more than I can say!

Image by alaina.

Possibly related posts:

• Coconut Fauxtatoes
• Pancakes, anyone?
• Announcing: Bright Coconut

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments

Do you have a goal? Professional, personal, or otherwise? I bet you do, whether it’s to get a certain number of clients per month, to stop eating grains, or to learn to juggle.

Now, let me guess: You’ve got a system worked out to get you there, don’t you? You’re going to attend networking meetings, write blog posts, and update your LinkedIn profile. You’re going to only eat at home so you can control your meals, and throw all your old grains into the compost heap. You’re going to watch that Juggling For Fools video, and practice your juggling fifteen minutes every night after dinner.

No matter what the goal is, you’ve got a system, I’m sure. How am I so sure? Because systems are said to be the key to achieving everything these days. Just think about productivity… there’s GTD , ZTD , and Hipster PDA’s; Blackberries, Franklin Planners, and 37 Signals. What’s best? That’s like asking, “What’s the best kind of music?” It all depends on you, what you’re doing, and what works for you.

The point, in any instance, is not what system you use… it’s that you stick with it.

If you’ve dabbled in productivity systems for any length of time, you know what I’m saying is true, because everyone has discovered, researched, and spent time on setting up some kind of system, only to have the thing gather dust and fall by the wayside.

It’s your ability to remain disciplined, regardless of what life throws at you, that determines your success. Or, as Vince Lombardi said, “Inches make champions.” When life gives you lemons, do you see the lemonade-creation process through? Or do you say, “Oh, it wasn’t convenient for me,” or, “I lost my passion for it,” or, “Evidently, that was the Universe’s way of telling me I shouldn’t be doing that.” ?

Forget the Common Approach

What’s the common approach to discipline? “Okay, let me set this up so everything’s perfect and ideal, and I’ll control all the variables and get. this. done!” You think that if you make your day run like clockwork, you’ll achieve your goals. But sadly, this isn’t practical, feasible, or even advisable.

Tanya Wagner, winner of the 2009 CrossFit Games, and 2nd place finisher in 2008, wrote about her training philosophy recently:

I think varying training days, times, and physical conditions really works for me and really seemed to help me for the Games. I can be mental at times, and always used to be very methodical with soccer in high school and in college. My training had to be precise and my warm up was identical before every game or I’d mentally be out of it. When I think about it now, that approach used to hurt me to a degree. I like how CrossFit has helped me to not have any excuses and has made me more disciplined mentally.

If you need stability and normalcy to experience discipline, are you really disciplined? Or just good at control? What I love about Tanya’s experience is that even when circumstances weren’t what she wanted them to be, she still achieved her goal by giving it everything she had – not to control it, but to show up fully in any and every situation.

The point is not to control your environment, it’s to control your attitude. Mix things up from time to time, and see how you do. If you’re used to planning your days to the minute, then make one day a week completely unstructured, and see if you can still get a priority task done. If you tend to fly by the seat of your pants all the time, then see what happens if you hold yourself to a schedule at least once a week. Can you still hold yourself to your goals, even when outside circumstances aren’t absolutely agreeable?

This works in all kinds of areas, by the way…

• Nutrition: If you plan your meals out religiously, then give yourself a week of whipping together what you can, when you can. I’m not saying eat junk, obviously, just see if you can still eat well without the control. Perhaps have your spouse/friends make a few meals, and see how you do. Can you stick to your plan, even when presented with less than optimal choices?
• Exercise: In a rut? Doing the same thing over and over? Get thee to a CrossFit gym, and see what they can do for you (trust me). Can you stick with it, even when it’s uncomfortable? (And if you’re a CrossFitter already, then experiment with MEBB, CFSB, or check out Catalyst Athletics’ workouts.)
• Leisure: Do you tend to pick the same activities week in, week out? Movies, television, walks in the park, etc.? Mix it up, then! Go to a funky live music venue you’ve never been to before, check out neighborhoods near you you’ve never been in, read books in genres you’ve ignored. Talk to strangers at coffee houses, volunteer at a soup kitchen, or go out and get your hands in the earth by planting a tree or tending a garden. Can you still relax and have a good time?

Discipline isn’t about regimens, controlling your environment, or being anal about having things your way. It’s about following through, no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. It’s about keeping your eyes on the prize, and toughing it out. It’s about digging deep in yourself to remain committed to your goal, no matter what life throws at you. (And yeah, few people like hard work. That’s why success isn’t as commonplace as it should be.)

Not eating the french fries is easy when you’re at home, but can you leave them on your plate at the restaurant? Not watching TV is easy when the cable’s out. And not wasting your day on Twitter is easy when the Fail Whale is running the show.

It’s inconveniencing yourself when life’s making everything convenient that shows you what you’re made of. That’s how you make your systems work. That’s how you achieve goals. That’s how you win championships.

Image by Susanica.

Possibly related posts:

• Productivity Is A Full-Body Exercise
• Are You Breaking Your Own Spirit?
• Put The Power Of Ritual To Work For You

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | No comment

If you aren\'t seeing the embedded video, click here to view.

But there’s a big difference between writing for the heck of it, and actually expecting to get some positive return out of it. There’s also a big difference between writing a five-post boom-and-crash, and blogging for a lifetime.

Hoping to get some help both of those points, I recently watched an excellent video by Mr. 4HWW, Tim Ferriss, and I thought it was fantastic. He calls it “How to Blog without Killing Yourself”, and says, “one of my favorite presentations I’ve given in 2009.” After watching it, and taking notes of the highlights for myself, I’d have to agree.

Now, for anyone reading this who’s anti-Tim, just let me say this: On one hand, that’s cool. Like who you want, and don’t who you don’t. I’ve got no beef with you. But, if you’re thinking to leave me a trollish comment because you’ve got an issue with him, then answer this: Who are you? What have you done with your life so far? How many people have you impacted? Smile on your brother, y’know?

What I’ve written below is my own personal commentary on the notes I took from the above talk. He covers a lot more than what I took notes on, which is why I recommend you watch it – my takeaways are going to be different from your takeaways, by necessity and design. My hope in adding my notes is that it’ll help add some context to quotes taken entirely out of context, and lend some insight from my own personal perspective, for what it’s worth (and hey, if you’ve read this far, then maybe it’s worth enough to you to keep reading…).

On fun:

• It has to be fun, or your readers will not have fun.
• If you’re not having fun, it will come across very clearly in what you write.

Darn tootin’. That’s precisely why I moved my blog to adamkayce.com, and why I’m writing about this. I dig Tim’s stuff; his approach to sucking the marrow out of life is, I believe, admirable. I like his perspective, and how he’s not afraid to go against convention.

And, I also believe that fun has to be paramount in your life. If it’s not, what are you doing it for? You only get one shot at life, and it’s your choice completely if you want to spend it miserably or enjoy every last minute of it.

On fun and blogging:

• Think big, but play often. Take fun seriously!
• Blogging can be your own self-imposed hell if you let it. Most people do that; they follow rules from people who are not paying them to blog.
• Don’t take advice from people you don’t want to emulate.
• My blog is not a source of stress for me. It has been a huge, hugely positive thing in my life, and I plan to keep on doing it for a long, long time.

This spoke to me greatly, having gone through what I’ve been through in blogging so far. I got so wrapped up in what the “experts” were saying needed to be done, that I lost sight of what it’s all about: joy.

I love to write. I’ve been writing for fun since I was kid. I used to write stories while the tv was on, because I loved having paper in front of me, and I loved being able to express in words what was going on in my head. I think it’s only natural that English was always one of my top subjects in school (I even won awards for it), my college degree is in writing, and I’m writing this right now.

Writing is cathartic. It’s ecstatic. It’s a gateway to a fuller expression of who you are, and it grows you as you go, like Seth said in the video up top. And yet, if you’re not careful about the reasons why you do what you do, it most certainly can become a prison, and a self-inflicted torture device.

My advice: Get really clear on why you’re blogging. Chances are, there are going to be a lot of reasons, both business and personal. Just make sure there’s joy in it for you, and that the foundation of the reasons is a personal one. Otherwise, you’ll run out of gas, out of juice, and it’ll sputter and die.

On negative comments, trolls, hate mail, etc.:

• There’s enough negativity in the world; you have no obligation to put it on your blog.
  [He says he treats it like his house; if you come to a cocktail party and start cussing him out, you're gone! And you're not coming back.]

This one took me a while to grasp.

When I had my first troll appear on my first blog, I didn’t really know what to do. Unfortunately, I tried—too quickly—to address all the issues the person had with what I had wrote, taking it way too personally, and way too far. I was coming from a mindset that wanted people to like me, and that liking = agreement. And that if I could please them, everything would work out fine.

Big, big mistake.

One of the greatest lessons I ever learned from marketing champion Sean D’Souza was that—no matter what you do—you’re never going to please everyone… and that’s a good thing. If you are, you’re probably either being too bland, or too afraid to say what you really think. And that doesn’t attract people to your cause, or help you to spread your message. (Great example: Tim Ferriss. The people who love him spread the word about him as they praise him, and the people who hate him spread the word about him as they denounce him. Either way, he gets more press. It’s the classic Law of Attraction at work: What you give attention to, grows.)

On multiple topic blogs:

• If you run a niched blog, the every once-in-a-while stray post is fine.
• Otherwise, you want to make it clear by the branding of your site that it’s fairly broad. (The blog of Tim Ferriss: Experiments in Lifestyle Design.)

Hallelujah.

In case you aren’t familiar with Tim’s philosophies, he’s a big proponent of examining the status quo and seeing if so-called “conventional wisdom” has any wisdom in it at all. Because you aren’t obligated to follow the herd, unless you choose to… and many times, you’ll get the best results if you don’t.

When it comes to blogging, the advice you’ll often read is that you should create only niched content, specific to a certain audience, and never stray from that course. Keep it tight, keep it focused, and keep everything else out of it.

But there are plenty of examples of people who have defied that convention, and had spectacular success because of it. Tim is one. Christine Kane is another.

So, am I saying you should write about everything, conventions be dammed? No, because it depends. It depends on your goals, your attention span, your passion, and the kind of person you are. What’s right for one isn’t necessarily right for another.

The takeaway here is that there’s not one right way – and many of the self-proclaimed masters would love to sell you on the idea that it’s their way or the highway. And that’s just not true. You have to take a lot of factors into account, and make the choice that’s right for you.

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© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments

I’ve been meaning to write a post about it, just so you all know I haven’t fallen off the wagon completely… But then Fabeku beat me to it. Brilliantly.

Of course, our histories are different. And each of us has our preferences, and brings to it what we do. But all the reasons Fabeku speaks about as to why he chants… how it rejuvenates him, how it cleans him out and fills him up… he could’ve been channeling me, there.

Why it matters

So I chant. Fabeku chants. Big whoop, right? Well, as I’ve been a fan of saying for some time now, when it comes to spiritual practices,

It doesn’t matter so much what you do… but it matters a ton why you do it.

I stopped working as a healer a over year ago now. I was talking about this with my wife the other night, and I told her that one of the big reasons why was because I felt dry. I didn’t feel I had anything left to give… I just couldn’t be there for my clients the way I could before. And to be honest, I was never completely satisfied with my answer as to why that was.

I chalked it up to the thought that I had been doing it for too long. Or that I was having doubts about my spiritual path, and that was the reason. Or that I had this, or that, or whatever. But now I see pretty clearly that the reason I burned out was because I wasn’t replenishing my reserves. I was running on fumes, and didn’t have anything left in the tank to give, because I had lost my connection to the divine flow that all my juice was coming from.

But, I know my story. What’s yours? And will you know before you burn out?

The point is this: You had better have a way to tap into whatever gives you juice, long before you give it all away. No matter what your line of work is, you expend energy when you do it. When you give to others, it’s gotta be coming from somewhere. I’m not saying that the work itself can’t be partially rejuvenating; it often is (I hope it is, otherwise you probably aren’t having much fun doing it…). And I’m not taking a “scarcity mindset” here, either, and saying that you’re automatically in trouble. There’s more than enough for everyone to drink, all the time.

What I am saying is that everyone who gives is tapped into a source, whether it’s conscious or not.

My advice is to get to know what fills up your tank. Really well. Really consciously. And not just what you do to take a break—taking a break isn’t filling you up, it’s just slowing down the rate at which you’re emptying the tank.

Chant seems to do it for me. What does it for you?

Image by metal-armz

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© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments

This question was posed at the end of the article, after talking about the b.s. of the US government’s food pyramid: Do we as a whole have a responsibility to change the health recommendations to something that works?

And here is my reply:

Yes and no, imho, I think that people have their personal responsibility first, of course. And then, those that get called by the personal passion to take the truth to the FDA/whoever should totally do it.

But, not everyone who ‘gets it’ is going to have that passion. They may feel more inspired to open a CrossFit gym. Or a healthy restaurant. Or keep working at their jobs, but share happily with people who ask them, “Dude, what have you been doing?”

Changing the governmental juggernaut is a task that I believe will happen, but not through rebellion. Too much resistance that way. Instead, enough people will be lovingly loud, and change will happen from within.

Just look at Wal-Mart’s environmental initiatives. People have hated WM for years, complained, etc. – nothing. But then, the President/CEO dude gets an awakening moment about going green, and blamo – there they go.

So keep preaching it, brothers and sisters. Share your loving message, and those whose ears are open will hear it, one at a time.

And even though I may have gotten a bit kum-ba-ya there at the end, I do believe that this is how change happens. Just like Margaret Mead said:

Never doubt that a small group of commited citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

We can rail against the powers we perceive, claim unfairness, or judge the policy-makers as evil SOB’s… but if you understand the Law of Attraction, you know that this is not a good way to go about things. It’s downstream. It’s giving energy in the wrong direction.

Focus on what you want to see happen. Don’t sit on your ass complaining about how sick everyone is; if you want to see people get healthier, then work to make them healthier. Focus on health. Focus on transformation. Focus on the goodness.

Image by psoup216 on Flickr via Creative Commons license.

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