I’ve just finished reading Felix Dennis’ book “How to Get Rich”. Brilliant. Finally a guy who’s done it explaining how - not just in vague terms and endless passages of subtle self-praise but in real concise strategy and mental approach. As Dennis points out, many of the books on the market are written by those who have not attained any staggering wealth and are abound with all too obvious tips such as “be good at what you do” or “be a leader” (ok, he mentions these too, but goes into lots of juicy detail). Dennis also airs some distaste for the feel-good strategies of cooperation and partnerships abound these days, seeing the attainment of wealth as a more predatory undertaking. While I’m still in denial of that part of the equation, I can say that the book is a real page turner. It stirred me to the point of insomnia.

Book praise aside, Dennis’ dislike for self-help is understandable to a degree. It seems it was a conversation with a friend about the book “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell which spurned him to write his own book. There does seem to be an accent on concepts and attitudes (positive ones, of course) which override the self-help industry. How could it be otherwise? My own theories purport self-help to be more akin to a skill like boxing - you need to start with a clear definition of rules and theory, but at some point you need to jump in the ring. From there, it is a constant back-and-forth of practice and execution, practice and execution. Perhaps in the business world, the execution is all you get (aside from occasional courses or your college degree), so you’ll need to use reflection as your trainer. So, self-help books focus largely on the principles and theory. They are text books, and did you really ever learn how to do anything from a text book? Nothing related to the outside world… I’ll bet.

What self-help does achieve is the molding of a mindset - giving the reader the option of a life and set of beliefs different to the ones a mediocre, ignorant environment has drilled into his head from the start. You’ll need a good mind set when executing. As Dennis himself writes, you’re unshakable belief in yourself and your ability to control your fears are half the battle. This is mindset.

The other half, is indeed the work. There is no substitute for hard, focused, effective work. Work which leads to positive results. Once you get that, you’ll abhor anyone who is not a hard worker. Like a smoker who quits and becomes an uber-anti-smoker. Perhaps I am now partaking in the obvious tips Dennis rejects, but the fact of the matter is, you only need a few bits of wisdom to have the life you want. The trick is incorporating those bits into every fiber of your being. People are shaped by just a few events or thoughts, namely the ones with the most emotional weight behind them. Emotion is the welder of learning, without it, everything just glides right off. But I digress. Once you know what you want (no small feat), then hard work must follow. The beauty of it is, that hard work toward a most desired goal is enjoyable. Many people who have never had the pleasure of experiencing this are turned off by hard work. In effect, if you find yourself enjoying the hard work you are doing, then you will know that you are doing what you want. If you find your daily toils to be an unbearable burden, then you know that you are doing what you are made to do. Sort of working backwards, I know. Preferably, you know what you want before you start working on it, but things will not always be so clear for everyone. And indeed it is a pain to give something a try and then find out after months of invested time and energy that you hate it.

So, let us have a brief overview of the best way to begin hard work. And as I start to think up things, I see that they fall into categories, and I notice that self-help deals largely with the first category. Maybe it’s the most important one. If you have the first category set, the rest comes by itself.

Preparation
1. Find what you love
This is harder for some than others. A lucky few know what they want to do right off the bat, while others may look their whole lives. The mind is intricate and there are a million reasons why these differences may exist. What I’ve also noticed is that some people really don’t care what they’re doing. They feel no real passion for anything. Should they then have less drive and thereby less chance of being successful? I don’t know. Maybe less of a chance at being fulfilled. But if you are about to embark on a journey of hard work, you’ll be best prepared to be doing what you love. More so than by doing what you are good at, I would venture. Talent can be developed. More often than not, people love the thing they are talented in. But if you love something, but lack loads of talent, do not fret. Neuroscientists claim that anyone can become a virtuoso with about 10 years of hard work. Still, Paul McCartney was a talented motherfucker, and I can’t imagine anyone being able to emulate him with any amount of elbow grease.
2. Love yourself/Believe in yourself
These are the same thing really. Many books have been written on the subject and many therapists do quite well to help you along in this, so no need to go into details here. But notable is the relevance to hard work. People who work hard love themselves and believe in themselves. No point working towards a goal if you do not believe you can accomplish or if you feel the benefactor is not worthy of the rewards. Are you worthy? Are you capable? No more and no less than anyone else, I suppose. It is thereby, in reality, a neutral factor. Of course, in your mind’s eye, feel free to believe that you are slightly more worthy and capable than your peers. It can only help.
3. Choose to be positive
The truth is, all situations are neutral. Good and Bad exist in the minds of the men and women who experience a situation as one or the other. As Bugs Bunny used to say: one man’s meat is another man’s poison. This gives you carte blanche to judge any given set of circumstances as is most beneficial to you. Poor? You just have nothing to lose. Rich? You have the means to accomplish your goal. The economy is booming? Enjoy the plentitude of cash and options. Market is declining? Enjoy the low prices. There is good to be gotten from every situation and success will favor those most able to see it and prosper from the mental benefits this investment returns.
4. Get motivated
I used to (actually, I still do) marvel at the drive that world class athletes possess. They have to be the best. They have to win. I would like to win, and that is why I’ve never really been that good of an athlete. Motivation is nothing more than perceiving that the benefits of a result are in dramatic contrast to the consequences of not obtaining that result. In this sense, there are no lazy people, only demotivated people. Your brain, being the lump of malleable shit that it is, is fair game for self-inflicted brain washing. Grab a pen and paper, draw a line down the middle from top to bottom and make a list of benefits on the left and consequences on the right. Con yourself by making the left side into everything you’ve ever wanted and the right side into being absolutely unacceptable.  Keep the paper on file and look at it regularly with a dollop of emotion.
5. Plan it
As an entrepreneur myself, I’ve had to write a business plan. It was one of those things people recommend you do, but you think it’s silly, until you actually do it and you see how useful it is. It is so friggin’ useful, I can hardly imagine doing anything major in my life without some detailed plan prepared in advance. It’s not written in stone and no, it doesn’t suck all the spontaneity out of life and/or business. It gives the gift of clarity and keeps all your actions aligned. It can change dramatically from one day to the next but at least you know where you stand and what you’re dealing with. A good business plan will eliminate inconsistencies and justify every move you plan to make in the achievement of your goal.

Damn, and that’s just preparation. But I’m sure you’ve guessed that preparing for hard work is itself a lot of work. Does everything have to be perfect before you start? No, but it helps. Anything which is not set up at the start will probably come under the loop once you’re underway, and it will cost time, but hopefully will not cost much more than that.

OK, go!

How to work hard. As I outline the points, I see that Dennis himself has actually noted many of these. Will he sue me for plagiarism? Only time will tell. Despite the fact that most of these points are common knowledge, he probably has some good lawyers.

1. Stay focused/Keep your eye on the prize
I think these are the same thing. All the effort in the world will not help you if they are not directed at a specific goal. There are a million different distractions in life and you must stay vigilant to keep them at bay. Constantly ask yourself: is this helping me accomplish my goal? If not, scrap it.
2. Delegate
As Dennis points out, delegating is not avoiding hard work, it’s just being smart.
3. Get healthy
Hard work involves physical energy. Even the act of thinking is an enormous drain on your energy. The healthier you are, the less you’ll ake an excuse out of fatigue. Take care of your body in the same way you would a car which is taking you on a road trip. Find time to choose and eat healthy foods and work out regularly. Nothing wakes you up and energizes you like a good work out.
4. Study time management
Time is the one area in life where we are all equal. 24 hours in a day - for everyone. There must be a zillion books on the subject. Find one good one, apply it, and you’ll be way ahead of the rest of them.
5. Measure results
This may be a part of the whole “planning” thing. Your plan should have some clear and measurable targets - preferably with sub-targets. Are you getting them? If not, no big deal, but at least you can evaluate your strategy and change it accordingly.
6. Visualize your goal being achieved
Your brain doesn’t know the difference between something you imagine vividly and something that actually happened. This is why a bad dream can screw up your week and how athletes who visualize tend to perform better than those who don’t. Tons of literature on the subject, but the bottom line is, you want to be visualizing yourself attaining your goal regularly. Feel how good it feels with as much intensity as possible. If 80% of any game is mental, shouldn’t you be spending a good deal training mentally? Yes, the answer is yes.
7. Use the 80/20 rule
The rule is as follows: 20% of the things you do contribute to 80% of the results. Focus your efforts and give priority to that 20%. Do an evaluation from time to time of all your activities surrounding a particular goal and see which ones are part of the 20% and which ones are part of the 80%.
8. Make yourself happy
Make sure you are enjoying the process. Otherwise you’ll start to slack at some point. Your brain will take off like a bored party guest if he’s not having fun.
9. List the many different ways you can end up successful
If your goal is to build a successful company with 50 employees and 10 million in annual revenue, try making a list of all the other accomplishments you will be proud of. Not that you need to focus on them, but show that they come with the territory as well. A hitchhiker of sorts. Like, learning about financing, having employees, being interviewed by radio stations, giving speeches at conferences, etc. Anything which allows you to be proud of yourself along the way.

This is just a primer, but again, you’ll only need to have a few of these sink in for real effects. This stuff applies to everything, not just making money. Use it in relationships, in sports, arts, you name it. It’s the framework for success at anything, even if your goal is just to be happy. Those of you who want the Quan, the Good Life, had better be prepared to work. Hard! Look at all your idols, all the people you think have it all and, on closer inspection, you’ll see that they work their tails off. Maybe you didn’t notice because they’re enjoying it so much.

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Sometimes, you start with a title and go from there. Although I specify writing, this pertains to all forms of art. “Writing” just happened to be in the sentence that was floating through the cosmos.

The artistic and technical types (like me) can be jealous of that small percentage of guys that women drool over. But those guys can be jealous of the artistic for their wealth of creativity and ability to satisfy cultural urges…that is, if those guys can feel jealousy, they probably feel nothing at all, those pretty boys with their square jaws and accentuated Adams Apples walking up to any woman they fancy… (oh, there’s the jealousy right there…).

People want to write and create things with their minds like they want to bonk with their bodies. Proliferation via cultural channels is not as old and not as strong as via biological channels but it is just as widespread. It feels good to create art just as it feels good to fornicate. Every body wants to write a book just as everybody wants to have sex. The former is executing cultural proliferation strategy while the latter executes a biological one. It has been built in by evolution as a means of gaining cultural credibility which, in turn, leads to genetic proliferation…statistically speaking. These are the major drives in life. Sex and art. And status, I might add, which may have a finger in the cultural and biological jars.

I’ve heard of a book called The Instinct of Art or something. Wait, let me Google it. The Art Instinct. Right. Denis Dutton. He claims that art should be on the list of cultural universals with religion, language, social structures, and discos. I’ll agree to that.

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It’s Charlie D’s birthday, so I thought it fitting (pun intended) to do a quick review of the wonders of evolution. There’s been a lot of mud-slinging in the past 150 years, and one cannot escape the irony that evolutionary theory itself is involved in the very struggle for survival that it attempts to explain. And of course, understanding why religions fear and denounce evolution can be explained by evolution. Now that’s a theory! Let’s have a look at some of the finer points and what they mean for you. 

Evolution takes place on the gene level
None of this “survival of the fittest”. It is not the individual who struggles to survive but the individual genes inside him. This distinction is super, super important. Not only can helping someone lead to personal benefits in the life of an individual, it can benefit the common genes in both parties which will are helped to live on over generations. The closer the relation you have to the person you are helping the greater the genetic reward, and the stronger the innate drive to help. This also explains the love/hate relationships in so many families. On the one hand, you love them because you share the same genes, but on the other hand, you try to use them because you don’t share all their genes. Parents feel compelled to give to their kids, but are always expecting results inline with their wishes. Sibblings too have an innate love for each other but will always fight over toys and compliments. It is a constant back and forth of altruistic behavior and competition.

Biological evolution occurs when traits in individuals lead to improved genetic proliferation
Since humans got so good at manipulating their environment, physical traits no longer provided a big enough advantage to warrant changes to our DNA. As a result, we stopped physically evolving some 10,000 years ago. This means that our bodies were really best suited for life 10,000 years ago, including our brains. If you want to understand your brain, you’ll need to put everything in the context of life at that time. If you want to feel good and be happy, look into what was natural and fulfilling back then and you’ll be sure to feel a certain innate joy in partaking in those activities. Hint: physical activity, natural foods, contribution, sex, and achievement did a body good. Cheating, lying, there were no unhealthy foods, sitting on your ass all day was also not an option….but all these things did a body bad.

Evolution is not just a biological phenomenon
Actually, everything is evolving. Quanology (and other scientists) contends that evolution itself is simply a manifestation of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. That’s right: entropy. That cool word you learned back in high school is actually the motor behind evolution. In its quest for equilibrium in an ever expanding universe, entropy is constantly looking for new ways to dissipate energy. And it gave evolution the job for living things. If Jesus is the son of God, then evolution is the son of entropy. That being so, the real goal of evolution is to dissipate energy and the genes which contribute best to the universe’s energy dissipation needs at the current moment in space/time will get to do their thing while the others die off. Right… It therefore happens to be that evolution doesn’t care how it fulfills the universe’s energy needs. It can do so with genes, but also other things, like cultures. Cultures evolve just like species evolve. Some traits get some cultures farther ahead than others. To find out what cultural traits fare best, you need only look at the most successful cultures in the world. Some are doing well and some are not. And the ones that are not will need to change… we don’t make the rules, we just follow them.

We are still involved in evolving
To continue from the last point, the good news is: we are still evolving. While we quit biological evolution (that was sooo 10,000 years ago), cultural evolution continues. See Quanology’s article An Introduction to Cultural Evolution. Every day we are learning new traits which will help us adapt to the fast changing environment we live in. And just like with biological evolution, these traits can be passed on to future generations.

Cultural evolution and biological evolution have different plans for you
Like having two parents who want different things for their child, biological and cultural evolution want different things for you. This will lead to bouts of confusion and frustration. It’s natural. You can’t make everyone happy. Can’t be the Spiritual Leader of a Generation and the owner of a Hedge Fund. But human creativity was spawned in trying to appease these two demanding parents. Morality itself evolved as a template for successful living on the cultural side of things. See Quanology’s article on The Evolution of Morality.

Men and women are playing the same sport but have different equipment
When God was handing out reproduction methods, humans must have been off watching Lost. Sexual reproduction, though a great way to end a game of ping pong, does not come without its share of pitfalls. Although it ensures that men and women must live together in a certain degree of harmony, its biological implementation ensured that they should seek completely different traits in a mate - with men focused on quantity and women focused on quality. And so male aggression was born. With women being so damned choosy about the men they reproduce with, men are forced to compete. This means, war, greed, crime, and bar fights. But also art, technology, interior design, gourmet cooking, and luxury automobiles.

The third layer is upon us
Biological evolution is the first layer in our existence, cultural evolution is the second layer, and the third layer is already here: digital evolution. Those jag-offs with the bluetooth headset in their ears are actually highly evolved individuals. They get it, and we will all soon emulate them. It freaks me out too but hear me out. Evolution is simply Mother Nature saying yes or no to a series of choices. These choices deal with genetic survival. She says yes, and a choice gets implemented. She says no, and it goes back to the drawing board. Nature has the ultimate say in what flies and what doesn’t - not the government, not the UN. If nature likes it, it’s gonna happen. And nature likes communication. Nature likes effectiveness - anything which ultimately leads to energy dissipation. The acceleration in technology is completely in line with the increasing needs of Nature to dissipate energy (as the rate of expansion of the universe increases). So nature loves technology. People doing three times as much work in a day is the nicest Mother’s Day present she could get. And at the end of the day, that stupid ear piece does allow you to call more people than a phone in your pocket. And this is just the beginning. Look at the incredible growth rate of the internet. The blogging engine this site uses is used all around the world and has facilitate the expression and compilation of unprecedented loads of garbage. There are technologies being developed right now that would blow your mind. It’s all happening so fast… The point of all this is that these technologies become extensions of its users. It’s all part of the same storyline: we adapted opposable thumbs to help us use tools better, we “adapted” spears to help us hunt better, and we will soon “adapt” chips in our brains to give us omnipresent computing power and globally integrated systems to guide our cultures.So, that’s evolution - 150 years old, and still evolving.

Note: Charles Darwin is certainly a historical giant. But, let’s face it, the time was ripe for humans to get what was going on around us. If he didn’t discover and detail evolution, someone else would have. In fact, someone else did: Alfred Wallace - Pete Best to Darwin’s Ringo Starr. Now, that’s not to steal his thunder - the glory is all Darwin’s. But let us not confuse Darwin as a person and a scientist with evolution as a theory. It was 150 years ago, the theory has since been adapted and tweaked, all for the better. Hell, Darwin didn’t even know about genes back then - and, as you see above, the differentiation to individual-level evolution is fundamental. For the sake of proper discussion, I’d like to try to leave his name out of it and focus just on the theory. I’m sure that’s what he would have wanted.

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The lines of the new age and scientific communities seem to mirror those of the US political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. On the on hand you have a group of New Agers who are approaching health and life and fulfillment from an almost religious point of view. Heavy on the “heart” and easy on the “brains”. On the other hand you have a scientific community who approach the same topics dressed in lab coats and engulfed in methodology. No scriptures, just journals. No transformed lives, just experiments and data. Heavy on the “brains” but lacking the “heart”.

If you’re into mental health and well-being, which side do you choose? Just like the Republicans and Democrats, there is much to be gained (and avoided) on both sides, so no need to limit yourself to just one.

I liken the mental health and self-help industries to big, tall apartment buildings. Ideally, you want a room with a view on the top floor. But this room needs a good foundation. The New Agers seem to have gone straight to the goal and built the penthouse. Problem is, they are not too concerned about the foundation and as a result the penthouse is a bit shaky. The scientists are building from the ground up, building a nice firm foundation which is rock solid. But it’s complicated. They demand perfection and they focus on the smallest of details. They spend so much time and energy on that foundation that they can lose sight of the ultimate goal - the room with a view.

The only solution is not to fall into the partisan trap. Be open minded for either side. If you’re a scientific person, open up for the wonders of all this spiritual crap that’s out there. At the risk of sounding cheesy, it can help you to experience the most profound feelings there are - to build a full life beyond anything conclusive data can bring. If you’re a New Ager, check out some of those science books. Lots are written for the layman these days. They may all be theoretical but they can be entertaining as well. And don’t be afraid, they may have prove that some of your beliefs are bullshit, but who cares.

You don’t have to be right to be happy.  And that’s the goal, remember?

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