You may have heard it before, but have you ever posed this question to yourself? When was the last time you sat down to create something you really felt strongly about?

A couple weeks ago, I awoke to a quiet and sunny morning. I sat in the silence, and I wondered. I wondered what, of that which I’ve created, will live beyond me. I wondered what my lasting impact would be on the Earth.

As I sat there contemplating this, I realized that much of what anyone does will be forgotten in time. The meals they made, the possessions they owned, the places they lived in. None of these things would be relevant in even a hundred years time. I continued contemplating, and I asked myself, “What does the world need, right now? Where does it stand, and how can I help it?”

Have you ever asked yourself such questions?

In contemplating what the world needs, I thought about the different theories regarding climate change, impending prophecies, and the rapidly changing times that we are now all living through.

I realized that my actions already showed part of my answer to that question. I believe people need to continually push themselves into new experiences and stretch their boundaries, travel being one of the best examples of this.

I soon came to the conclusion that there was no way to be sure of what my final impact might be on a larger scale. No way at all, really. And I realized that this fact is one of the mysterious aspects to being a creator: you never know precisely what you’ll be remembered for. Do you think Benjamin Franklin would have chosen to be remembered primarily for his kite-flying lightning experiment? Maybe, maybe not. Certainly he had far more influential enterprises in his life. But of those other pursuits, none had the iconic imagery that the key on the kite provides us, so that is what he is most remembered for.

How are you serving your era?

If I had to say right now, I’d guess that perhaps three bits of my work will be remembered: a piece of travel poetry, a destination-focused article, and one or two of photographs in the Byteful Gallery. And if they are, it’ll most likely be because they’ll have documented a moment in the early twenty-first century that is interesting or important to future historians. Then again, I could also be dead wrong.

But how’s that for a thought? Every time you take a photo and put it on the web, it has the potential to be part of a historical archive, perhaps well into the twenty-second century. Since, year after year, storage space continues to increase in dramatic leaps and bounds, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire web as it exists today (in 2011) will be someday preserved on a crystal that you could hold in the palm of your hand. (And hopefully by then we’ll have decent 3D interfaces so we can more efficiently sift through these vast archives of history.) In fact, it’s pretty likely that something you do today will be accessible for generations to come.

The Currency of Expertise

The point is, you never know what bits of your work are going to be relevant in the future until the future arrives. But even if something you’ve made is preserved… will it be remembered? Will it be notable? Will you have had a true impact? In order to do that, you have to create something of value in the first place.

Are you?

In my experience, the greatest value we ever create is when we work towards something we actually care about. You can tell when someone’s heart and soul has gone into their work, can’t you? I know I can. Think about the affect that kind of work can have on people. Don’t you want to have the same affect? Sure, the first time you try to do something, it will probably suck, but it’s the trying that makes you better. The number of mistakes made is all that separates a classical pianist from someone who stopped after learning a few chords. The price you pay for expertise is experience. Or, put another way, Experience is the currency of expertise.

The Highest Expression of Who You Are

When was the last time you sat down to create something you really felt strongly about? If it’s been more than 3 months, then what are you waiting for?

Too often, when I talk to people, they tell me how busy their lives are and that they see themselves not having the time to create anything. Perhaps they’re exhausted after a long day at their job, or perhaps they already have too many other commitments. But what if they’d made a more sacred commitment than a job contract? What if they committed to become the highest expression of who they could be, in every area of their life? How do you think their life might change when they whole-heartedly followed that commitment?

Apply it to yourself. What if you made a commitment to be the highest expression of your true self, and followed it wholeheartedly? How would your life change?

Now, I completely understand that when you’re starting out, things can be on a bumpy road for a while. But what if you’re in your 30s or 40s (or beyond) and you still haven’t made anything you’re proud of? How do you feel about that?

Let’s get to the Nutshell

Let’s get to the nut of the nut. At what point does going to a job, cranking the crank, coming home, watching TV, and hitting “repeat”, not enough?

If you need a reason to do more than the 4 things I listed above, consider this: Your fellow humans need you. Only you are able to create what only you are able to create. You have a unique light, and no one is going to shine it for you. You’ve probably heard this before, but did you really internalize it? Remember, everyone has unique gifts, abilities, and propensities that they were born with. And they exist of a reason.

Even if you’re not entirely sure what your unique gifts are yet, that doesn’t mean they’re not there. If you keep trying different things, you will discover one of your gifts. In my case, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I was in college, but somewhere along the way, I realized my love for travel, writing, and design, among other things. Some take longer than others to discover their passions, but all can (and do) in time.

And when you use these gifts, you shine your light. And this is very powerful.

But this can only come out of making a conscious choice. That can be a daily choice of deciding to create just one thing or to do “your thing”, whatever it may be, on a regular basis. Whether it be through photography, dance, song, poetry, prose, drawing, or anything — express yourself. Perhaps 10 minutes a day, or even one hour a week. Whatever works best for you. Just remember, you won’t feel fully alive until you do.

So, what will You be remembered for?

When was the last time you asked yourself, “What will I be remembered for?”

If you skip the opportunity to create your life, you slip into the habit of simply watching life go by. And, what’s worse, you deprive us of your voice and, quite frankly, you do the entire world a huge disservice.

Yet if you have the courage to create from the deepest places in your heart (and have the courage to share) the world will respond to it like a birdsong on the wind. And in time, it will enchant us and make the world seem that much more alive, because you gave yourself fully to it. In that moment, you will learn more about yourself and feel more connected to the planet than you ever have before.

And there are few things more beautiful than that.

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Does the concept of Oneness relate to travel?

And how important is the concept of Oneness when travelling?

Today I’m going to discuss some of the answers to those questions. Consider this as a thought-provoking reminder: while you may not consider yourself a creative person, you most certainly are. Even if you never write, photograph, or make a single coherent note, your friendships are your creation. So today we’re going to talk a bit about purpose, growth, oneness, and how they relate to your role as a creative being. Yes, you’re a creative being. Sorry, but its unavoidable; you can’t help it.

An Unexpected Outcome

The Element of Surprise is often overlooked as a key element in creation, whether it be visual, audible, or the written word; so this certainly applies to travel writing. For instance, travel writers must constantly put their readers into a state of wonder and surprise. Without it, the writing feels stale and predictable. Even if you never write, a good example of creativity in a social setting is humor; and as any comic will admit, surprise plays a key role in humor, as well.

Have you ever sat down and asked yourself, “What exactly is humor anyway?” If you think about it, humor can only arise out of an unexpected outcome. It can only arise if there is some flavor of surprise. Good writing is no different.

Our Shared Mission on this Blue-Green Planet

As a travel writer, it’s my mission to provide you with enlightening new perspectives of this beautiful blue-green planet we call home. It really is a magical place, and too often we forget that as we sit in our man-made above-ground caves as beauty lurks outside. Life is so much more than our routines. It’s about discovery. It’s about growth. It’s about inspiration.

And as a travel writer, I deeply feel that it’s my purpose to inspire you with these new perspectives, and (if I’ve really done a good job) make you think differently about the world around you. Perhaps through what I share, you’ll realize more and more that the Earth isn’t the dangerous, unforgiving place that some sources would have you believe. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying it’s without danger. Any environment that fosters growth will have dangerous elements, but danger is certainly not the defining characteristic of Earth. In my experience, the defining characteristic is Growth: a natural unfolding of progress.

You’re lucky, because people who live in a growth-inducing (catalyzing) environment such as Earth’s, will mature over time. Life paths that are dangerous and self-destructive are not a sign of a mature, conscious person; but mature, self-aware life sees itself as a fragment of a larger whole and doesn’t seek to destroy its neighbors because it realizes a universal truth: by hurting others, it hurts itself.

Our mission is to always remember and act on this truth.

It Takes 10,000 Hours

A popular idea floating around right now is that it takes 10,000 hours to become a professional at a skill, so it’s no surprise to me that after writing over a hundred articles, I am only now finally beginning to feel good about how I balance length, depth, and personality in my writing. And I’m excited that I can see this improvement quite obviously when comparing some of my articles from years passed. It’s truly a great honor to be able to share my experiences with you, and I feel that I’m just beginning to hit my stride in my writing capability.

I’ve realized that as I mature as a creator, I become better and better at discerning the quality of the creations around me, and what I see in the writing sphere is a good example.

What’s the deal with travel sites “churning” out content?

These days, I’m surprised sometimes at how some sites seem to write rather passionless articles again and again. I find myself asking certain questions: Does the web really need another story about how to best spend your money? Does the blogosphere (if that’s actually a thing) need another guide on how to use your time most effectively? Does the computer-internet really need another post talking about how “blogging saved my life”?

Maybe, just maybe, it doesn’t.

Maybe this whole web would be better served if writers were painfully honest and wrote about what they actually cared about instead of what they felt would generate page views (or worse, what they were being paid to write so someone else could generate page views).

At what point do people begin to stop recycling ideas and start actually doing their life’s work?

More Honesty = More Value

So here’s the crux of the matter: the more honest you, as a creator, are about your own feelings, the more valuable what you create is. Say it out loud if you didn’t the first time: The more honest you are, the more valuable what you create is. You need to say that out loud because your more likely to actually remember this timeless piece of information.

No matter what kind of content you create, it’s very important to be really, really aware that you’re creating for a real person, who may have arrived at what you’ve created from a variety of places. They may be seeking inspiration, comfort, or any one of a million things.

If you’re a travel writer, they may want a specific question answered, they may want to hear a story, or they may want to just look at some of the beauty you captured on your last trip to Galapagos. But no matter what they seek, the more honest you’re able to be with yourself when you create it, the more they’ll be able to identify with what you’ve created. And the reason for this relates to the concept of Oneness I mentioned earlier.

You see, when you’re really, really aware of how a person enjoys your work, you can put yourself in their shoes. When you can do this, you can anticipate their needs. When you can anticipate their needs, you can make smart choices about how to frame what you’re trying to say. I’m not saying you should only write what you think you’re audience is expecting. That would actually be the stupidest thing you could do, because if you depend on your audience for guidance, the chances of you ending up in a place that resonates with your heart’s path is close to nil. So find the message that resonates with your heart. Then, stay true to your message, but don’t forget who’s hearing it.

How Travel Writing Encourages Oneness

As I see it, one of the highest goals a travel writer can have is to inspire and grow the awareness of Oneness between people, and other kinds of creativity are no different. In the case of travel writing, when you honestly relate your experiences of another culture, not only do you highlight some of the fascinating qualities that are unique to the culture.

But more importantly, if you’re honest with yourself, you invariably come to the conclusion that, once you look under the surface-level appearance, the similarities between peoples and cultures far outweighs the differences. And sharing these types of stories affects us on a deep level, because we already know in the unspoken places of our hearts, that we are all One People, and always have been.

An excellent expression of this is in the song “Braided Hair” by 1 Giant Leap:

“Because We are One, and We Should Know We are One”

In short, by expressing yourself honestly, you help the entire planet. The practice of telling stories and relating your experiences of other cultures is just one example. Through honest communication, we realize more and more how we are so incredibly and intimately connected as a people on this planet, and it serves as a wake-up call for us all. The more harmony and cooperation we can create between the differing cultures of the Earth, the more loving and enjoyable this planet will become; and perhaps most importantly, the sooner this planet will become a congruent, harmonious society that’s poised for exploration beyond our own little star.

I look forward to that day… don’t you?
Let’s make it come faster.
We can, when we decide.

Read related articles

1. Personal Development for Smart People & Travel
2. How to Plan Intuitively to Travel, Create, & Work Effortlessly & Abundantly
3. Travel Writers Need Time to Reflect, too.

Where was I?
Ah yes, Creativity.

In the last article, we discussed how beneficial it is to reflect the attitude that the Master Creators hold by being aligned with passion when we create; and how creative output, when produced this way, tends to be much more impactful and relevant. A few days ago, a visual summary of that message, a high-resolution image that can be printed out or used as a desktop wallpaper, was uploaded to the Byteful Gallery. Behold, Walt Disney’s famous words:

“We don’t make movies to make money,
we make money to make more movies.”
~ Walt Disney

So beautiful in its simplicity. So rewarding to contemplate.

I won’t lie to you, it takes a lot of effort to get to that place in your own life, but it’s one of the most worthwhile accomplishments you can ever make.

As I said in the last InspirationEverywhere entry, it’s important that you be patient with yourself and remember that everyone is a work in progress. Along that journey of self-improvement, Disney’s words serve as a useful guide of what it really feels like to be aligned with your passion. You see, what Disney is really describing here is his company’s alignment with three things: what they enjoy doing, what work they feel is important, and what other people enjoy.

Let’s deconstruct that for a minute. If Disney didn’t enjoy what he was doing, he wouldn’t really care about making movies that exemplified timeless lessons. If he didn’t feel that the messages could benefit people, he wouldn’t create movies at all. And if other people didn’t enjoy the movies, he simply wouldn’t have the resources to make more.

A Positive Spiral

Another way to describe being truly aligned with passion is the idea of a positive spiral. If you were doing the work you really loved (work that also fed/clothed you), you’d allow yourself really dive into that work, wouldn’t you? And what would happen to your skill level? You would improve in that work, wouldn’t you? Which means your level of contribution would increase, which would in turn increase the amount of people who benefitted from your work. And this would increase your income, thereby freeing you up more and more to increase the quality of your creative output. This is the positive creative spiral: a place of alignment and congruency with who you truly are.

Today, make it your aim to create a positive spiral in your own life. To help facilitate this process, you can print this poster out and put it somewhere you’ll see it so you can be reminded of his message everyday: Disney Quote – “We don’t make movies to make money…”

— — —
The poster of this quote is in the Byteful Gallery > InspirationEverywhere Motivational Quotes album. Selected Quotes from the gallery are now available on T-shirts and mugs at the Byteful Store. (Specific quotes added upon request.)

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1. Create with Passion or DIE
2. It Takes A Long Time to Become Fully You. ~ Björk

Questions for today:

1. Are you doing work you’re passionate about, work that you were born to do?
2. Are doing work that provides real value to the world instead of temporary distraction?
3. Are you allowing yourself to explore new territory so you can learn what works for you and what doesn’t?

Today I’m going to show you that, although it takes time to find what you enjoy creating, once you find it you can embrace your unique contribution and start creating for passion instead of just survival.

This is one of the best feelings in the world.

Over the years, the focus of byteful.com has morphed considerably. At first, it was an experiment to see how I felt about communicating through the medium of blogging. (And it’s important to remember that blogging is a medium in the same sense that newspaper is a medium. Blogging is not a genre, and it is most certainly not a verb!) I finally zeroed-in and started focusing on travel sometime 2008, because, after trying lots of different things, I discovered that this focus is something I’m really passionate about. And, lucky for me, it was complimented by my passion for photography, too.

But I didn’t discover this right way. Only after many experiments in writing about different topics and using different styles had I come across a focus that I really felt good about. Not just good: I really love writing about my experiences, and I came to realize that true adventure, the spontaneous exploration and documentation of powerful experiences, was something that I would be more than happy spending years writing about. And because I finally felt really passionate about what I was doing, I would regularly put in the time to write, which meant I would improve more and more at what I was doing. You see, when you feel passionate about what you’re doing, you want to put in the time to get good at it, too.

Something to know about me upfront: I’m really bad at getting up the motivation to write something when I’m not interested in it or if I have any doubt whatsoever that what I’m writing about actually matters from a higher perspective.

I’m not going to be shy about this: certain articles I’ve posted here are complete drivel, and I felt pretty tedious while writing some of them. (Hint for the wise: you’re probably not writing compelling content if you, the writer, are bored to tears.) So why did I write them? Good question!

Every Misstep is a Growth Experience

At the time, for some mindless reason, I felt like they needed to be complete. I felt that articles such as Visiting the Minneapolis Central Library were somehow meaningful.

HAH! Perhaps I felt that way because I wanted completeness in my chronicling of my experience in Minneapolis, but my values were out of whack: my focus wasn’t on creating with passion. My focus seemed to be on completeness instead. With what I’ve learned now, I’m not convinced the world needed another 672 word article describing a public library… (Even if it did have interesting architecture.) Honestly, the article was boring!

Sure, some of the pictures are interesting, and the bit about the moving bookshelves was cool in an “I, Robot” sort of way, but really. If I don’t enjoy reading my own article, I don’t expect YOU to either. I promise.

That bulbous blubber of an article never helped anyone, did it? The only person it may have helped was me. Do you know why?

It helped me because, every mistake, every misstep, is another experience mark on the chalkboard, another experience you can grow from, another step toward success… if you have the ability to learn from it. You’ve got to find how to get into your own creative flow, and you learn that through experience, through DOING.

This is the crux of everything I’m saying here.

I focused on being thorough instead of writing with passion for far too long, and do you know what resulted? Boring beige blather. Perhaps I used thoroughness as some kind of demented crutch, I don’t know.

Perhaps I was hypnotized at points, like some kind of sleepy polar bear. Yeah, maybe I should release a formal statement that goes: “Sorry folks, I was in a zombie-like walking-coma for the year of 2008 and probably at points in 2009, as well.”

All joking aside, metaphorically that’s not far from the truth. In some of the articles, I was like a zombie of heartless thoroughness, but never again. Over time, I have grown much in my wielding of the art of communication. The blubber has been going down and will continue to go down as I improve as a writer, as I align more and more with creating with passion.

Walt Disney once said,

“We don’t make movies to make money,
we make money to make more movies.”

Now slow down. Take a breath. Read Disney’s words again. Inside this quote is the essence of creating with passion. So, why should online content be any different?

It isn’t.

You Will Suck… but it’s temporary!

In the early days of byteful.com, I wrote a little article giving myself permission to make mistakes as I grew as a writer. I recognized that experience is the only way to improve, so I embraced the fact that I was definitely going to make mistakes and probably write a lot of boring beige blather (though I didn’t call it that at the time). I knew I was going to suck… a lot.

For a long time.
And the best part is: that’s okay!

Do you think anyone is born knowing how to write compelling articles or compose an inspiring photograph? Heck, no! Each success is marked by uncounted reams of blather: learning experiences about what works and what sucks. And it’s okay because I was doing something that I enjoyed, something that I would continually improve upon.

And please don’t get me wrong. I don’t claim that I’ve stopped sucking, only that my level of suckage has reached a tolerable level in such a way that my work is actually shared between people now. Remember, this is a journey. As long as you keep working at it, keep creating with passion, you will improve! And if you stick with your passion long enough, you’ll start creating content that really speaks to people on a deep level. When you’re passionate about something that’s important to you, you can’t help but do this.

People are Starved for a Message that Speaks to Them

A good explanation of this was discussed at last year’s South by Southwest conference. Merlin Mann and John Gruber held a panel on this subject and have even offered the discussion as podcast for free download. If you create web content, or any kind of creative output at all, I highly recommend you listen to this. I cannot recommend this podcast enough. I’ve linked to it at the bottom of this article so you can grab the mp3 of their panel discussion once you’re done here.

Some of my favorite ideas from the podcast:

“People are starved for content that speaks to them that’s not a reality show.”

“You have a certain obligation to reinvent yourself.”

I would tweak the first statement and say that, beyond content, people are starved for a message that speaks to them. All content has a message whether you realize it or not, and last time I checked, the Earth could use more empowerment and more gratitude in its messages.

We’re all here to do What we’re all here to do

Khalil Gibran once wrote, “Work is Love made visible.” And I’ve never come across a better way to describe the mindset of what it feels like to be doing the work you were meant to do.

When you commit to putting time in doing work you’re passionate about, you will “level-up” in your ability to do what you’re doing. Here’s a useful analogy that came to me while writing this article: The difference between one level of skill to the next level is similar to the feeling you get when you’re trying to see a 3D hologram embedded in a 3D stereogram.

For a long time, you squint and squint, but you just cannot see the 3D image embedded in the pattern. After a while, someone comes along and tells you to focus beyond the image and suddenly:

BOOM.

Your eyes relax as they focus beyond and an amazingly detailed hologram of a dinosaur, or a boat, or Merlin Mann’s face appears in front of you and has depth. And for the first time, you see that this new perspective is pure magic and you say, “Wow! I never realized I could do that, but it makes so much sense: Focus Beyond…”

This is what it feels like when somebody shows me something I’ve suspected in the back left-hand corner of my mind, but never fully articulated. The work of people like Khalil Gibran, Merlin Mann, or Steve Pavlina make truths pop-out in 3D for me every now and then. It’s ineffable, and I’m so grateful for them.

Create with Passion or DIE

You see, when you create with passion, you use your divine ability to create something new that also shimmers with the love energy you put into it. If you get proficient at this, it will be significant on a very deep level. Life is too short not to create with passion. Yet many people misuse their abilities and write drivel that’s only designed to be a momentary distraction with no longterm benefit to the reader. Some writers don’t even realize they’re doing this. And from a higher perspective, this is very disrespectful to the reader. The most valuable gift you can receive from anyone is their time, and when someone gives your article attention, they are giving their time to it. Thankfully, smart people have gotten wiser about what articles they actually decide to read and which ones are just fluff that only deserve a 3 second skim. So, do you really want to end up in the fluff pile?

It’s all about flow. It’s about embracing what your unique contribution is, whether it be writing, photography, videography, animation, speaking, or anything creative really. The more aligned you are with what you’re passionate about, the more congruent you are with your work, the easier it is to be in the flow and to start doing some seriously great work.

Don’t forget the words of Disney. He didn’t make movies to make money. He made money to make more movies. He created his company because of his passion, and that’s the exact mindset that all of the Master Creators embody, the exact mindset I seek to embody more and more. So this year, I’m going to tweak the experiment that is byteful.com: I’m not going to be quite as constricted about which topics I write about for this site anymore as long as the topic relates back to embracing freedom, which is one of the core messages. My focus is on passion. And I can assure you that Disney answered all three of the questions at the beginning of this article with a resounding, “Yes.”

So, what would it be like if you embodied this attitude in your own creative work? How would you feel? And what effects would it have?

These questions are important to consider in this new year. After all, the year is what you make of it. Make it a year you’ll look back on with warm gratitude at how far you’ve come. Don’t die with your music still inside you.

Create with passion!

~~~~~~~
- Merlin Mann and John Gruber’s Panel Discussion -

Read related articles

1. How to Plan Intuitively to Travel, Create, & Work Effortlessly & Abundantly
2. How Walt Disney Created a Positive Spiral

As you probably have guessed by my unexpected hiatus, I’m currently on-assignment exploring the world while I still have time.

Last September we talked about the options a travel writer has for staying fresh and current on the web: either wait until after a trip to write to gain perspective, blog from the road, or find a balance between the two. And as I’m sure you can see, I’ve been leaning towards the first option thus far on this current (and quite extensive) tour through various cities. This hasn’t always been by choice, but equipment occasionally fails at inopportune times.

Believe me when I say your positive thoughts and intentions toward my travels are greatly appreciated and truly do help!

Touching Down to Write

During this current hiatus, I’ve gained some new clarity toward those three options mentioned above.

When I wrote about the options a travel writer has, I was not in a travel mode of thinking, and I didn’t realize I was actually looking at the scenario from the outside looking in. When I wrote that article, my life was physically, mentally, and spiritually “on the ground” in the metaphoric sense, but now that I’ve “taken off” into a mode of long-term travel, I realize more and more the importance of finding a place to “touch down”, a place to allow my mind to become quieter and ease into more of a reflective, writing mode. I don’t expect this is true for everyone. But as for myself, I find that I’m able to reach greater depth of reflection and objectivity when writing about a place when I’m able to transition, if only for a while, into my writing mode.

When I look at the time that has passed, I see that this hiatus is giving me a new perspective on this weblog, and I sense a turning point is approaching. And I suspect this hiatus will be a catalyst for more than just new photographs. Beyond that, we shall see.

Many Stories are Ahead

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to sharing my explorations of cities such as Denver, Portland, and San Francisco with all of you. Many photos and many stories lie ahead.

All is well. I leave you now in love and light of the Infinite Creator.

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1. How to write Powerful Travel Articles that Matter
2. Lan Su Chinese Garden Review: A Visit that Transcends Portland (& Time itself)
3. It Takes A Long Time to Become Fully You. ~ Björk

On this day each year, I like to write something profound, and I have a reason for this.

Over the last few years, something profound, usually relating to crossing a threshold, has “coincidentally” happened to me this date, so I’ve decided to celebrate today by writing the poem below. Reading it reminds me that it’s harder to make excuses when you’re dead.

— — — — — — —

What would you say
If I said, you died yesterday
And this whole day, you’ve been inside a dream

You’d probably
Laugh and shrug it away
If true, you would not want to believe

What if I proved it?
Beyond a reasonable doubt
Today, what if you’d really withdrawn?

You may shout out
And fall into despair
For all your possibilities gone

~

Lucky for you
That is not yet the case
You still have some more time to breathe

You have it all
All the time you will need
To see failure enough to succeed

A wise man said
Pursue what you love
Take your talent’s sword out of its sheath

Pursue what you love
Please develop that skill
And be paid fairly for every deed

When you do that
You help the whole world
And then, in time, your soul will be free

Indeed you have it
All the time in the world
To see failure enough to succeed

~~~~~~~

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1. Permission to Err (Fail more to succeed more!)
2. Waves Beyond Sand poem
3. A Golden Age, On Paths of Light poem
4. Ode to the Travelling Soul poem
5. You were Always Truly Safe poem

What I didn’t mention was that he was, and still is, of incalculable inspiration to me.

For those of you who have never heard of Steve Pavlina before, he created what has become the most-read personal growth site on the planet: StevePavlina.com, and deservedly so. Podcasts like Podcast #014 – Embracing Your Passion and articles like 10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job contained ideas that were as encouraging to me as they were inspirational. Steve’s message painted a new picture. And it was on Steve Pavlina’s forum where I learned about Blog Carnivals, an extremely useful tool for networking with other bloggers that has proven to be indispensable.

But this post isn’t about blog carnivals or inspirational posters. This post is about “Personal Development for Smart People”, Steve’s new book, a book that has given me an entirely new perspective on the field of personal growth.

Thank You, Steve!

But before I delve into that, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Steve publicly for all that he’s done, including the powerful example of human growth that he’s set for millions, and eventually billions, of readers throughout time. From reading the thoughts he’s shared on web these past years, I’d say he’s one of the few souls on this planet that has maintained focus and committed themselves to a life of service.

Personal Development for Smart People

Recently, Steve’s first book, Personal Development for Smart People, went on sale around the world. And I consider this book as one of the most holistic and purest distillations of fundamental growth principles of our time. The book’s underlying principles relate to every aspect of the human experience, including travel and especially art. For instance, Steve mentions that money isn’t a barrier as nearly as often as we make it out to be. Quite correctly, he points out that:

People who are dead broke have travelled the world.
~ Personal Development for Smart People p.188

But I may be getting ahead of myself. Before I discuss any more specific applications, it’s important to understand some of the underlying theory.

Unified Development Theory

So much could be said about this book, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Steve has tapped into a system of thought that has its roots stretching far back to the very foundation of the human race. Once you read the book, this becomes more evident. The book’s underlying purity of form and focus reflects how much work Steve put into distilling the core principles of personal growth. Overall, the book could be considered the first book to propose an all-encompassing Unified Development Theory. For decades, scientists have been searching for a Unified Field Theory to explain all four of the basic universal forces under a single theory. These four basic forces are gravity (or the gravitational force), the electromagnetic force, and two forces you may not be familiar with: the strong and weak nuclear forces.

Although physicists have thus far been (apparently) unsuccessful at discovering a workable Unified Field Theory, Steve Pavlina has succeeded in doing this with human development theory by distilling personal growth down to three universal principles: Truth, Love, and Power. Steve recognized this parallel to mathematics, and on page 122 he notes that discovering truth, love, and power operating in your life is “almost like discovering a new law of mathematics or physics.” The elegance of how these three principles work together is where his book’s timeless quality arises from.

When isolating the core principles of human development, it was important to Steve that the principles be universal, applicable to anyone, anywhere, in any culture, at any time, to all areas of life, and be essentially timeless. Tall order perhaps? When searching for a fundamental principle of consciousness, we should ask nothing less; and the principles Steve isolated meet these qualifications.

How the 3 Principles Work Together

The first part of the book focuses on the fundamental principles of Truth, Love, and Power; and how these 3 core principles work together to form Oneness, Authority, Courage, and ultimately Intelligence. Summarized, the core principles are defined as:

Truth: The ability to perceive ourselves and reality as accurately as possible.
Love: The essence of the decision to connect with someone.
Power: The ability to consciously and deliberately create your world around you.

The book then focuses on how these three principles work together to form Oneness, being Truth and Love working in harmony; Authority, being Truth and Power working in Harmony; and Courage, being Love and Power working in Harmony. And when Truth, Love, and Power are harmoniously aligned, Intelligence is the result. Looked at another way, your intelligence is proportional to your ability to be aligned with Truth, Love, and Power. The first 7 chapters of the book outlines these 7 core principles.

How to Practically Apply the Core Principles

The second part of the book focuses on the practical application of each of these principles and dedicates a chapter each to habits, career, money, health, relationships, and spirituality. Most of the pragmatic advice is contained in the second half of the book. Steve devotes a section to each of the 7 principles within each chapter, so no angle is left unexplored. That’s roughly 42 sections. Interesting how many places “42″ pops up…

One of my favorite aspects of the second half of the book was a list of 66 habits that can help boost your personal effectiveness. My favorites were:

27. Insanely Bad. Defeat perfectionism by completing your task in an intentionally terrible fashion, knowing you need never share the results with anyone. With a truly horrendous first draft, there’s nowhere to go but up.
30. Intuition. Go with your gut instinct. It’s probably right.
40. Mastermind. Explain your most challenging problems to several other people, and invite all the advice, feedback, and constructive criticism you can handle.
46. Paying it forward. When an undesirable task is delegated to you, re-delegate it to someone else.
61. Troll Hunt. Banish the negative “trolls” from your life; and associate with positive, happy people instead. Mindsets are contagious. Be loyal to truth, love, and power; not your pity posse. (I recently did this on my Twitter account.)

The book’s probing nature provides a fresh perspective to the deep questions of life while still being extremely accessible to a casual reader. Throughout the second half, he offers an excellent variety of questions, challenges, and real world exercises in relation to these 6 areas of life. When these questions, challenges, and exercises are honestly answered, attempted, and explored, they have the potential to reshape your entire perspective on reality.

A Personal Adventure for Smart People

One part in particular caught my eye. When Steve discusses how a message is separate from a medium, he makes an interesting statement that teased my imagination:

My message is about consciously growing as a human being, but I can express that same message through different media. I can write about it, speak about it, or even make a movie about it if I wanted to.
~ Personal Development for Smart People p.162

I realize that Steve is discussing his work as an example of how a message can show up in different media, but one does wonder. Since Steve has already written and spoke about personal development at great length, could it be that he’s entertaining the idea of writing a movie someday? Consider that with over 2 million monthly readers to his website, Steve has already more than proven his ability to write compelling content, and I would be quite interested to see his talents applied to scriptwriting. Perhaps this is only wishful thinking, but what if it’s not?

The Shoulders of Giants

It’s been said that inventors always stand on the shoulders of giants, and I’ve found this equally true of writers. One of the foundations of Human civilization is the new generation’s ability to make improvements on the previous generation’s work. In Personal Development for Smart People, Steve made some of the best possible decisions on what to quote from the generations before him.

For instance, one of my favorite additions to the book was the inclusion of Dale Wimbrow’s poem “The Guy in the Glass” at the end of the first chapter. The poem struck a chord in me because it elegantly pointed out how important it is that, at the end of the day, you must live in a way that is true to yourself or you’ll live in a pit of regret. You can fool everyone else, but you can never fool your heart into thinking it’s fulfilled if it truly is not.

In a way, that poem sets the tone of the book, but as one turns the page a new quote sets the tone for the chapter about Love. In fact, every chapter begins with a profound quotation that sets the tone for the rest of the chapter. Probably my favorite chapter starting quote is at the beginning of the 2nd chapter:

Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough.
~ George Washington Carver

Another beautiful quote is at the start of the Career chapter:

Work is love made visible.
~ Kahlil Gibran

A Plethora of Profound Passages

Overall, I found the book to be incredibly encouraging and consciousness-raising, Below is a collection of my favorite excerpts from the book:

1. You are meant to be free. (p87)
2. You can’t be a true authority unless you commit to being a lifelong student. (p89)
3. Does it make any difference what percentage of white belts eventually become black belts? Maybe the answer matters to a statistician, but it shouldn’t make any difference to you. All the matters is whether you’re committed to becoming a black belt. You decide whether you make it or not. (p172)
4. Don’t let a few failures get you down. Just keep making the best decisions you can. (p172)
5. Don’t let moochers dissuade you from your path. Let your inspiration come from the desire to provide even more social value. (p186)
6. In order for your financial goals to be sound, they must reflect your truest, deepest desires. (p187)
7. Instead of focusing on specific financial goals, I decided to aim directly for what I thought money would give me. I thought it would provide me with the freedom to travel, so I set travel goals instead. (p188)
8. The truth is that you don’t need any specific sum of money in the bank or a specific level of income to achieve your goals. There are countless ways to do so, and my of them require little or no money. People who are dead broke have traveled around the world. Why not you? When you decide in advance that a lack of funds is an obstacle to achieving your goals, you disempower yourself. If you want something badly enough, target it directly. Don’t automatically assume that money is necessary to achieve a particular goal; this narrows your options and stunts your creativity. (p188)
9. Don’t force yourself to choose between your integrity and your income and your income — demand that both be satisfied. (p189)
10. Often the simplest way to create value for others is by sharing what you love to do. (p190)
11. True wealth comes from within. (p194)
12. If you give more value than you receive while ensuring you’re being treated fairly and not falling into a pattern of self-sacrifice, the excess value you provide will overflow into public goodwill. Superior service gets noticed because it’s so rare. (p195)
13. Do your best to create and share your value with others, and you’ll help create a richer and more abundant world for all of us. (p197)
14. If you find yourself in a situation that weakens you and you don’t choose to leave, then you’re choosing to stay, which means you’re choosing to abuse yourself. (p223)
15. It’s been said that you can predict the future by looking at the people with whom you spend the most time. That isn’t far from the truth. Your relationships will have a tremendous influence on your self-development. (p224)
16. If your primary relationship prevents you from connecting deeply with others, you have a cage, not a conscious partnership. (p228)
17. In all its various forms, human relationships are a beauty to behold, well worth the price of admission. (p233)
18. It can be disconcerting to stop identifying with any fixed ideology and to realize that all beliefs are lenses and cannot define us. (p243)

The emphasis is added by me. Numbers 7, 8, 10, 11, and 12 resonate the most with me currently. What about you?

You are a Single Cell

Throughout the book, Steve often makes the analogy that a human being is like a single cell in the complete body of Humanity. How one cell acts effects the rest of the body. He highlights that:

The health of the body cannot be maintained when the cells choose to fight amongst themselves.
~ Personal Development for Smart People p.247

Using this analogy, I’d say that Steve, and others working to contribute positively to humanity, are the brave white blood cells of our time. It isn’t easy being on this path. It requires determination and commitment, but it’s incredibly worth it. Reading this book was transformational for me, and I highly recommend that you check it out for yourself. Steve has even provided the entire first chapter for free on his website so you can get a taste before you buy. If you do purchase the book, please use a link from this post. Byteful Travel gets a very small percentage of all sales which goes to support the operating costs for this site.

To conclude his book, Steve summarized the core message the book at the end of the last chapter, and I’d like to close this article by sharing the last part of that summary now:

Enjoy your incredible human journey. Accept the highs and the lows as equally valuable. Recognize that your deepest sorrows reveal your greatest joys. Share your stories with others, and know that you’re not alone. Be grateful for your time on Earth.

Live consciously.
~ Personal Development for Smart People p.254

Thanks again, Steve.

Checkout Personal Development for Smart People on Amazon.com —>

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It takes a long time to fully become who you are.
~ Björk Guðmundsdóttir

Inspontaneously True

When I first heard Björk say that, I instantly knew it to be true based on what I’ve been experiencing in my own life and my experience of growing this website. For someone like me, I find her words relieving. If you’re reading this site, you must have a bit of right-brain creativity in you, otherwise you’d already be running for the hills, watching the news, or digging that trench you’ve been planning to dig. But if you’ve made it this far, I’d like to remind you how important it is that you be patient with yourself and to remember that everyone is a work in progress.

If you consider Björk’s words further, you may realize that this is also a deeply encouraging message, as well. It implies that it is indeed possible to fully become the highest expression of who you are — the best person you can be on this planet, if you only have enough desire and commit to that path. Fully becoming who you are isn’t actually a goal you can attain in your lifetime, it’s a lifelong mission. But by committing yourself to creating your best possible self, you are spending your time on Earth in the best way possible.

The Definition of Personal Growth

For those of you who know a bit about Björk, you’ll know what I mean I say she is quite a unique individual and had to overcome many internal blockages, just as we all must, to reach the heights of musical expression that she’s reached today. In fact, the quest to become the best person you can be is the definition personal growth. The closer you are to being the full expression of you, the more aware you are, and the more expressive you can be. As an artist, this means you will produce the work that is most meaningful and powerful to you, and as a traveller it means you will delve into locations and adventures that are meaningful to you with confidence and excitement. Committing to this path is not easy by any means, but isn’t the time going to pass anyway? Why not use it to become the best person you can possibly be?

If there is demand, I can add items featuring the quote to the new Byteful Store. For now, you may want to print the poster out and put it somewhere you’ll see it so you can be reminded of her message everyday: Björk Quote – Become Who You Are

— — —
The poster of this quote is in the Byteful Gallery > InspirationEverywhere Motivational Quotes album. Selected Quotes from the gallery are now available on T-shirts and mugs at the Byteful Store. (Specific quotes added upon request.)

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— — —

under a full moon
a plan is considered
though unresolved

opportunity
discovering the journey
action without fear

independence
is it just an illusion
of men filled with pride

so nonlinear
the thoughts of him become a
revealing gesture

above a bright sky
imagination sparks
the path that we fly

Post-publishing note: Thanks to Haiku-koo Carnival for including this article in their carnival. Their site is pretty new, but it has the potential to be best blog carnival for haiku poems.

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I’d like to share a little bit of the history of Byteful.com, where it is now, and where it is headed. This article is as much for me as it is for you.

Once Upon A Byte

To be completely honest, I planned to launch a site as early as May 2006, but I let it slip. Back then I wasn’t committed to this project and merely entertained it as “something I’ll get to.” As you can probably guess, “something I’ll get to” almost always equals procrastination. Today, I would have written the goal down and added it to my list of projects. Of course, I didn’t have a project list back then, but today I do because of what I’ve learned from a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen — but the discussion of that book and the principals found in it is for another article altogether. Because I didn’t lay out a specific attack plan, I had trouble even deciding on a name and wrestled with choosing good name for months. Then in October, I began to more consciously pursue a suitable name: I joined the Wordlab forum.

After a letting the idea of this site fall on the back-burner for months, I began to get intuitively nudged repeatedly. Something told me that this website I’d been putting off for months, perhaps years, could become really important in my life, pivotal in fact. So I put out intentions for help, and the universe in its infinite reflectivity began to echo a response. You may laugh, but I even got a fortune cookie that said, “You will conquer obstacles to achieve success.” Now, I’ve had many a fortune cookie in my day, but never anything about success or anything so applicable to my situation. I took the cookie as a small sign that things were beginning to shift — soon I would begin making a dent.

I want to put a dent in the universe. ~ Steve Jobs

Taking Action

Even more important than outward signs, I began to take serious action inwardly. Encouraged by the yearning in my heart for an outlet to my creativity, my desire to improve the world through my work, and yes, even the fortune cookie, I joined the Wordlab naming forum, confident that the naming geniuses would impart some wisdom.

Now, the odd part is that the forum didn’t help me in the way I anticipated it would. It helped me in a more introspective way. While I valued every naming suggestion I received, a part of me — call it gut, intuition, or even a spirit thing — knew that none of the suggested names were quite right. Instead of having the perfect name fall into my lap (as if that ever happens), it happened that the forum merely acted as a vehicle for my subconscious mind (or unconscious mind if you’re uptight about terms) to deliver a good name into my conscious awareness. If that sounds strange to you, in laymen’s terms it means I used the forum as a sounding board for my ideas, and it worked. The first time I typed the word “byteful” I didn’t think much of it, but over time it revealed itself to be more and more appropriate name, as well as a versatile adjective.

On the 17th of November in the 6th year of the new millennium, I committed to that name and bought byteful.com. At last, I decided to go for it, and it felt wonderful. Later that day, I even felt inspired to write a short poem in my journal about the decision. Then I went out and did absolutely nothing website-related for about two months. The domain was basically useless, just a parked page, for over sixty days…. Why would I let this happen?

Refocusing Time

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have basically wasted two months of my registered domain time. The problem was I didn’t have a set plan on what to do after I bought the domain, and I wasn’t yet prepared for my Great Host Search of 2007. Only when I refocused my objectives in January did I begin to put my attention towards finding the right web host for my needs. Once I secured a reliable web host, things began to get interesting, and Byteful Travel was born.

Sometimes procrastination manifests itself from fear of success. If anything I create is seen as valuable in some way to others, I have to “show up” in some capacity and be responsible for it. Over the past months, I’ve been coming to terms with what this means. As with any creative endeavor, there is a fear of making “mistakes”, but I think we both know that the only true mistake would be missing the opportunity to learn in the first place.

I’m reminded of a quote by Marianne Williamson:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

~ Marianne Williamson

There Are No Limits

Beyond everything, it becomes more and more clear to me that providing valuable, timeless, digital content is one of the reasons I am on this planet. The fear of success is a reality for me because of what success might mean. Imagine an income stream uncoupled from time, and an ability to contribute uncoupled from location. With that kind of freedom, life would be more like a dream I create day to day. With that kind of freedom, I would have the flexibility to travel to other lands and document my travels in great detail. With that kind of freedom, imagine what I opportunities I could seize.

I realize that I’m not really pushing reality’s limits: I’m only pushing back my own self-imposed limits. This is a process that everyone must go through when they want to make a big change in their life. Are there really any limits outside of your mind? The ancient Hawaiians had a principal called Kala that states: “There are no limits.” Right now, you may think there are limits outside of yourself, but I encourage you to ponder the possibility that there are none. As for me, I realize that there is a point that every person must reach as they decide to take complete responsibility for their life and begin to follow their true purpose. As Marianne said, every time you embrace who you truly are, it helps others do the same. But I’ve also learned that it’s important to imagine and visualize yourself there first — you have to feel it. Everything you’ve ever created, every experience, every object, every relationship, started in your imagination first. So dream big, feel it, and choose to pursue it. Only when you make the choice to begin to live big and follow your purpose will you realize that the Creator has had your back all along.

This website was created for a reason, and it wasn’t because of a mere fortune cookie.

You can begin right now to feel healthy. You can begin to feel prosperous. You can begin to feel the love that’s surrounding you, even if it’s not there. And what will happen is the Universe will correspond to the nature of your song.

~ Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith

We exist to share.

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Creation starts in the heart. Michael Korda, whom Wikipedia calls “one of the most influential people in the business of book publishing”, is quoted as saying:

“Your chances of success are directly proportional to the degree of pleasure you derive from what you do.”

I’ve had a printout of that quote taped on the side of my dresser for weeks now. It’s where I can see it from my desk while I work. There is something subtly beautiful about your unconscious mind absorbing an empowering quote like that over a long period, and I believe that’s what’s occurring in me. The truth of this quote has hit me again and again. It just makes so much sense. If you enjoy what you do, then you will naturally be motivated to do it well and continue to improve. And after further reflection, I believe this is how it was meant to be with humans in general. On a perfect planet, everyone would have a job and set of responsibilities that they felt naturally motivated to do instead of being motivated by fear as they often are. On this kind of planet, everyone would have a job that was a natural extension of their inborn talents and preferences.

Obviously, that’s not the planet we live on. We live on a small blue green planet orbiting third in a series of eight planets (speak not of Pluto) on the outskirts of the western spiral arm of a beautiful galaxy which may or may not have a black hole in it’s center. On this tiny rock we call the Earth, people often carry a job for many years (orbits) that they do not feel passionate about, and may even dislike intensely. But these people carry these jobs because they have surrendered into believing in a forged painting of reality. People seem to think, “There is job scarcity right now. I should just be happy with the job I have.” The problem is, this thought is based in fear, which means the chances of the person actually feeling that their current job is part of their life’s purpose is next to nil. I’d like to echo what others have said because it resonates with my experience of life: Find your passion. A life lived is worth living courageously, and it’s better to live courageously than to live a “safe” life with your soul dying quietly inside of you.

I was blessed; I found some of the pieces of my own heart puzzle at a young age. Before I began this little blogging adventure, I created another site. This site contained some of the best creative output at the time. Much of this creativity manifested as a myriad of desktop wallpapers and icons, among other things. I love working with 2D graphics programs like Photoshop and 3D graphics programs like Bryce. I will always remember the joy I had tweaking every last pixel of the website’s layout and color scheme. In fact, I would go through alternating periods of web development for a few months and then content creation months after that. I loved creating, and I loved art. I still do. But that site only received about 10,000 hits during its entire 3 year existence. Why?

The short answer is that I didn’t know how to network back then and sites didn’t know either. To be perfectly clear, I am not disappointed in 10K hits. I’m actually proud of it, yet I sometimes wonder how many people might have benefited from my work but never got the chance to find out about it. Today, it’s easier. Blogs actively advertise your new postings for you, and their dynamic nature allows for content to be added hundreds of times easier and quicker than the process I had to go through back then. How would you like to manage HTML tables every time you wanted to add an icon? Today, this problem is solved through software like WordPress which is used to run this blog and Gallery2 which is the foundation for the newest feature of this site.

After much research and some stimulating experiences with the Linux command line, I have a little gift for you all. I present to you the
Byteful Gallery.

For your viewing pleasure, the gallery contains an array of digital artwork that I’ve created since the 21st century began. (Seriously, they just make the cutoff date.) Along with the wallpapers is a very different flavor of art, though it’s still art in a sense. I could fill an entire entry about the game called Starcraft, suffice to say I played it for years. I was never very good at it, but I loved creating maps. The maps, while only being pseudo-3D, were a unique opportunity to literally play, or more accurately battle, in the worlds that I wrought. For those of you who still play this game, I hope you find some value in these maps. Everything on the Gallery is provided free under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative license which means you’re free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the works as long as the use is noncommercial and you attribute the content to Byteful. For more information, checkout the license.

To wrap up this wonderful cocktail of an entry, I’d like to clarify that the introduction of this gallery does not mean that blog postings will stop, far from it. The Gallery is simply another extension of my creative nature, and there is more to come.

In any case, I hope you enjoy using this content as much as I enjoyed creating it.

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