Wake Up Tiger

time running out ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sat, 11 May 2013 20:27:00 PDT

Imagine a life without keeping time. Just about impossible.

We know the month, the year, the day of the week. There's a clock on the wall, a watch on your wrist, electronic digits on the dashboard of your car. You have a calendar, a diary, and a schedule. And that is how your days are run -- like clockwork.

All around us, keeping time is ignored. Birds are not late. Trees don't have a watch to check. Dogs don't worry about birthdays and getting old.

That's because time doesn't actually exist -- clocks exist. We made up time, and we alone measure time. And because of this, we alone suffer the biggest fear that no other creature endures.

The fear of time running out.

at the end of my comfort zone ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:02:00 PDT

For four years now I have asked groups of people to give themselves a score out of 10 when I make this statement: I am on fire and my work is remarkable.

And the average is a 7 ... ALWAYS a 7. They tell me it won't be a 7 in New York. It's always a 7. Without exception. That's because we have created a culture where we constantly remind one another about the dangers of standing up, standing out, being different, and being at odds with the group.

Nobody wants to be a 10 or a 4. Because the cardinal sin in the corporate cubicles and boardrooms is to be at odds with the group. The guy who scores himself a 10 is labelled "an arrogant prick". The girl who scores herself a 4 is labelled "loser". Not literally, or to their face, but everyone is thinking it -- and everyone knows everyone else is thinking it.

And so a 7/10 is the default setting. The comfort zone. Everyone in the room has been conditioned to prefer fitting in than standing out. Everyone in the room has been seduced into being invisible. Everyone in the room is there to do someone else's bidding, not to speak their truth. The comfort zone.

My work, and just about everything I do with every waking moment of my life, is to get people to shift from being a 7 to being a 10. To help people discover and realise their full 10/10 potential.

And the first thing I always tell them is Life begins at the end of your comfort zone, so stop being a fucking 7 :)

man ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:41:00 PDT

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered:

Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived.

superhero me

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 23:49:00 PDT

Sure there were still superheroes in the comic books hidden under our beds, but these heroes were never meant to be us – they were the idle pastimes of boys who handn’t yet come to realize that the army had no room for Captain America and that, yes, in fact, Spider-Man couldn’t get a job.

Our parents bought us Batman underoos and Superman t-shirts, but it was clearly stated; You can pretend to be a hero, but you are not one, and you will grow up to be an obedient member of society.

Seth Godin, The Icarus Deception

people playing dead

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 23:09:00 PDT

Last week it struck me, as I was sitting in a company meeting on a Monday afternoon, how many people in the room were playing dead. Keeping a low profile, not saying too much, not showing too much emotion, just being present and letting the daring few carry the day.

I studied the faces and the postures of those in the room, and I noticed how they were looking thoughtful, intelligent, earnest, subdued, and even sad. And then I realised they were all trying to not be excited. Wow. How many hours and days and weeks and years do some people spend trying to not be excited? Why do they do it? And what’s the price they pay?

Well, you see, the business of business is a serious matter. Showing or even suggesting excitement is like to laughing at a funeral; entirely inappropriate. And so, in order to take on the cover of sombre, serious, sadness, people dim their light a bit. They dumb down their feelings and emotions, and curb their enthusiasm.

After all, everyone in the room had their reputation to protect, and no one wanted to ruin their reputation by saying something stupid like, “I love that”. Or by smiling, or laughing, or doing anything else that might appear foolish and irrational.

They were playing dead because acting too lively, and being too alive, is just not a good look. It’s child’s play, and no business for the practical, responsible adult who is making his or her way in the serious world of big business.

That evening, when I got home, my mood was flat and I felt sucked dry. Sucked dry by a roomful of people who were playing dead. And as I thought about it some more – why is this bugging me so much? – I thought how these people are probably lying low everywhere in their lives. I thought how these people are probably always playing dead, dividing themselves in half, and then in half again, until what’s left is one quarter of their whole selves. Oh wow, what a way to live – or not live.

Two days later I had the privilege to listen to Andrew Denton make a keynote talk on creativity. He talked of overcoming fear, and being alive. And he concluded his talk by reminding us all of the saying, “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.”

Amen to that.

forget the fucking money

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:02:00 PDT

Dogs have got an itchy spot on their tummies. It’s called the blibula spot. And when you find it and scratch it, their legs gyrate like crazy.

What is YOUR blibula spot. What do you desire? What makes you gyrate like crazy? What makes you itch?

Suppose you’re leaving university and you haven’t the faintest idea what you’d like to do, and so you ask me for my advice. And let’s suppose I answered your question by asking you the question, “What would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really enjoy spending your life?”

We might discuss how you’d really like to be a painter, a writer, a musician or a horse rider. And you would say to me, “But I can’t make any money doing that”. I would ask you to forget that for now, and to keep focusing on what you’d really love to do. Finally we would get down to what you really want to do, and then I would say to you, “Do that … and forget the fucking money.”

Because if you make getting money the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time. You will be doing stuff you don’t like doing in order to go on living, which is to go on doing stuff you don’t like doing. Which is fucked.

Do what you really enjoy doing, and in time you will become a master at doing that what you really enjoy doing. You will then get a good fee for your mastery, and so you will be able pay your bills ... doing what you really like to do. Amen to that.

[with thanks to Alan Watts]

the door to possibility

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:48:00 PDT

The door to possibility is there to be opened. And you know that every day on the other side of the door is better than a day on this side of the door, and still you don't turn the handle.

Every day that you wait, biding your time, waiting for the perfect opportunity, the right time, is a day wasted.

Behind that door lies possibilities that come from having people who want to hear what you have to say, who look forward to having you be who you choose to be, and to make what you choose to make.

What is certain about the door is that the frustration you feel about being on this side of the door is only going to increase, and that while the door offers you no safe path, you will know what it feels like to be alive on the other side.

So what are you waiting for ...

how long are you going to wait?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:09:00 PST

They told you to get your resume in order, to punch your ticket, to fit in, to follow instructions.

They told you to swallow your pride, not to follow your dreams.

They promised trinkets and prizes and possibly riches if you would just suck it up and be part of the system; if you would merely do what you were told and conform.

They sold you debt and self-storage and reality TV shows. All in exchange for what would happen later, when it was your turn.

It's your turn.

-- Seth Godin, The Icarus Deception

YOUR original face

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 20:33:00 PST

Just be who you are and don't give a fuck about what others may think or say. Then you will feel tremendous relaxation and a deep peace within your self.

This is what Zen people call your "original face" -- relaxed, without tensions, without pretense, without hypocrisy, without the so-called 'conventional wisdom' of how you should be and behave.

The original face is non-judgemental, does not think poorly of others, and does not think you are inferior or better than anyone else.

The original face simply means that you are not being ruled or dominated by any kind of morality, religion, social norm, parent, teacher, or boss. Instead you are just living your life according to your own inner sense and sensibility.

You may spend your days happily fitting in with the crowd. But at the end of the day nobody can come home with the crowd. The person you come home with is YOU.

And the person who's face appears in the mirror when you brush your teeth before going to bed at night is YOURS. Make sure it's your original face that stares back at you.

talk is cheap

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 15:11:00 PST

You know what the most fucked up thing in the world is? I'll tell you.

Each week, millions and millions of well-to-do, respectable decent citizens put on expensive clothes, and load themselves into fancy cars and drive past homeless shelters, orphanages, prisons, missions and halfway houses on their way to a very expensive and nice church, where somebody tells them how to be more like Jesus.

That is what I call fucked up. Just saying.

risky business

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:33:00 PST

Courage is risking the known for the unknown; the familiar for the unfamiliar; the comfortable for the uncomfortable. One never knows whether one will be able to make it or not. While it is like gambling, only the gamblers know what life is.

wake up tiger

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 23:36:00 PST

The greatest fear in the world is the opinion of others. And the moment you are unafraid of the crowd you are no longer a sheep. You become a tiger. A giant roar arises in your heart, and you are free.

one of my personal heroes

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:27:00 PST

Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like whenever they like, with total impunity. Fuck that.

An advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not, is yours. It's yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, so don't even start asking for theirs.

-- Banksy

2013 = the year of speak up

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 23:11:00 PST

2013 is, for me, the year of speak up.

speak up

vb (intr, adverb)

1. to speak more loudly, be heard

2. to state one's beliefs, objections, etc., bravely and firmly

Sometimes we talk, but we don't speak.

To talk = to articulate words using your tongue.
To speak = to express your self + to convey your ideas and opinions.

Speak up is simply a honest expression of YOUR thoughts and feelings. Simple, and yet so hard. Hard because we have all been so totally conditioned to behave like mindless sheep. The thought of being "at odds" or "out of step" with mainstream views, sentiments, and doctrines, is for many a fate worse than death itself. And the price of that = You talk, but you don't speak. You're alive, but you don't live.

People say we're not good listeners. And I agree. What I'm saying is that we're even worse speakers.

And so I have chosen "speak up" as my theme, my rallying cry and way of being in 2013.

Watch out!

real men cry

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:57:00 PST

Hearing his neighbour cry, a little boy went into the old man's garden, put his head on the old man's knee, and just sat there.

When his mother asked what he has said to the old man, the little boy replied, "Nothing. I just helped him cry."

is there a god?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 18:18:00 PST

Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of skeptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This is, of course, a mistake.

If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense.

If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.

-- Bertrand Russell’s teapot as described in the article “Is There a God?” commissioned by “Illustrated” magazine in 1952, but never published. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

watching the waves ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:09:00 PST

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Perhaps, some day, people will look at the metal and paper in their pockets and if they all agreed to agree that it meant nothing, we could all just head to the beach and watch the waves come in.

the dream ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 18:22:00 PST

If when you lay your head upon your pillow tonight, you could choose to slip into a dream dimension where time would literally expand, so much so that you could live out an entire other lifetime within it as a person "designed" by you from head to toe, even choosing your name and who your parents would be.

Where every single day you'd be pushed on to greatness, every single challenge would invite you to become more, and all of your dreams could come true.

Where, no matter how things may ever seem, you'd be bathed in love, surrounded by friends, safe and sound in your very own bed.

And where, upon waking, all that you loved and learned in that lifetime would remain with you, and all that scared and threatened you would only have prepared you for even more love and learning in the near future.

Would you choose to go there just for one night, on the condition that during the dream itself you mustn't have any recollection of how you got there, its purpose, or what might happen next?

Of course you would. Which begs the question, "How do you know, then, this isn't that dream?"

LGBT

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:10:00 PST

Click on images to visit this site. Highly recommended.

http://selfevidentproject.com

the BIG win

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 17:58:00 PST

Rarely does one find the quick fix, the big win, or a home run looking forward on the horizon of time.

Yet when you do your best, one day at a time, while thinking of your dreams and not the 'hows', looking back you'll find that the quick fixes, the big wins, and the home runs found you.

the deep end

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 21:00:00 PST

If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area.

Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.

curiosity

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 21:51:00 PST

Curiosity never killed the cat.

Curiosity is why the cat had 9 lives.

one voice can ...

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:04:00 PST

One voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world.

Your voice can change the world.

Barack Obama

what odds

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 23:46:00 PDT

We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones.

Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara.

Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively outnumbers the set of actual people.

In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.

-- Richard Dawkins

everyman

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Mail Account) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 01:22:00 PDT

Brian: No, no. Please, please please listen. I've got one or two things to say.

The Crowd: Tell us! Tell us both of them!

Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong. You don't need to follow me. You don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals!

The Crowd: Yes! We're all individuals!
Brian: You're all different!
The Crowd: Yes! We're all different!

Man in crowd: I'm not...
Man in crowd: Shhh!

Brian: You've all got to work it out for yourselves.
The Crowd: Yes! We've got to work it out for ourselves!
Brian: Exactly!

The Crowd: Tell us more!
Brian: No! That's the point! Don't let anyone tell you what to do!

Monty Python's The Life Of Brian