77.75 Exposure

1577. from 2018.07.04

Fourth of July.  Again.  I am reminded that Jefferson and Adams both died on the Fourth of July in 1826.

(the Fourth is almost here again - time seems against me)

One Must Do - One Word

Multiple goals, even one each in the three main areas of life - health, wealth, and relationships - distract.

While I will be working on a number of habits to build my life, I have boiled it down to one daily word and must do achievement for 273 days.

Word:  solopreneur

Must Do:  write 3,000+ words per day

That’s 819,000 words over the course of this monster pain and agony event where I push myself to limits I attempted in 30 years.

Why?

If I don’t do it now, when?  When I grow up?  When the moon is in the Seventh House?  When they find Jimmy Hoffa?

Why solopreneur?  It’s a term that has fallen in prestige over the years as millennials seek out safe spaces and meaningful jobs.

Sorry people, but that’s what we all are under the surface.  A job is a means to an end.  You take it on to make money or solve a problem, but we are not our job.  Nothing wrong with taking a job to take care of your family and pay the bills, but it’s not you.

A solopreneur is an old school chief cook and bottle washer.  (Reminds me of Boy Scouts.)  You have to take on all the aspects of owning and operating a business from accounting to HR to actually doing the work of your business.

Why now?

It has never been easier at any time in human history to learn all of the tasks related to going it alone.  The Internet and related technology has changed everything.  You have app after app that can handle about any business task, or you can find cheap outsourcers around the world to take care of any task for you.

Before I discuss the downside of doing it alone, let me cover the upside:

1. In the big scheme of life, you are only responsible for yourself.  You may take action to benefit your friends and family, your church, or even your country, but that is just to make yourself feel better.  You die alone.
2. You can’t solve the world’s problems, but you can take a shot at solving your own.
3. Work your own schedule.  I tend to work in bursts of two to four hours when I can scratch them out of a busy life.  Eight hours a day is the Industrial Revolution exploiting workers for a maximum amount of time to keep them alive and prevent revolution.  Work 16 hours today and take tomorrow off if you want.
4. Until you are able to hire, automate, or outsource, you get to do all the grunt work.  Pro and con.  I believe you should know every aspect of your online business so you can know what to stop doing and give to someone else.
5. The money you make is the money you keep.  Set up your business to legally write off virtually everything.  See my Beneficiary Controlled Trust Fact Sheet from 2006.  (You can also see where some Colorado attorneys stole it word for word and illegally put their own copyright notice on it in 2010/2011.  No shame.  No integrity.  Makes me want to call the Colorado Bar Association, but I don’t need to waste my life trying to make others do what’s right.)
6. You begin to realize that employees are a burden, and that you can take care of 99% of the tasks you can’t or don’t want to do with automation and outsourcing.
7. You get to do work worth doing and in harmony with your nature.
8. If you have made a mistake, and are traveling down a wrong or unprofitable path, pivot.  You are only accountable to you.  Not shareholders, stakeholders, board members, employees, or investors.
9. Your schedule is your own.  I do most of my writing before 7 a.m.  I have obligated to help my 89 year old mother when the health care workers are not here, so I grab early morning hours when no one is making demands.
10. When you need a break, you take one.  No one “gives” you 30 minutes for lunch or a 15 minute break when they say you should take it.  If you are like me, you may put your head down for 2 - 4 hours at a pop when concentrating on a problem or writing.  Why be constrained by someone else’s artificial schedule?
11. When work is a struggle, you have to option to take a walk, visit the gym, or seek out nap time.  We all need more exercise and sleep.  Why not put them to use?
12. Not only is your schedule your own, your workplace is your own.  My office is at home, at the public library, at Barnes and Noble, or at Starbucks.  In fact, my 30 liter daypack contains my entire office.  All I need is a wifi connection.  There is no need in this 2017 world to rent office space to run your anytime, anywhere business.
13. Having your own business allows you to take advantage of those stupid downtimes in life, like visiting the DMV or waiting for a doctor.  You can now put that time to use on your mobile devices promoting your blog or website.
14. I find working in a public setting to be less distracting than to be at home.  It’s easier to focus on the task that needs to be done next.
15. You are responsible for your own success.  This is a big pro and con.  It’s a con because if you fall short and get discouraged, you have no one to blame but yourself.  But then again, if you shine, no boss or co-worker can seize credit for your work.
16. I believe all work should contribute to your life theme.  You envision where you want to go and how you want to live.  As an employee, you are depleting your life energy serving the vision of others.
17. For better or worse, every day is a new adventure.  High risk.  High rewards.

Cons:

1. Isolation.  If you are an IBM (Introvert Boomer Male), this could be a plus for you.  I hate committees.  I hate having to meet someone else’s metrics for a job when you know some corporate hack made this shit up to make his job look important.
2. If you want, you can join Facebook or LinkedIn groups for some human contact, but I find them distracting from my main work.   Save them for late at night when you’re watching TV or multitasking.
3. If you receive joy from titles like CEO or supervisor, and need to be praised by others for doing a job, solopreneurship may not be right for you.  Do you crave prestige or want to live off the beaten path?
4. You are responsible for all of your mistakes.  No hiding your deficiencies inside the team or company.
5. You could be a target of litigation from creditors and others.  If you structure your business and life carefully, this is not likely to happen.  Don’t be a sole practitioner.  Use the law to shield yourself from legal vultures.

1578. One thing I’ve forgotten is how big and beautiful a country the United States is.  I would love to find the right woman to explore the backroads with.

1579. I came across the book Unfu*k Yourself by Gary John Bishop that covers:

7 Personal Assertions:

1. I am willing.
2. I am wired to win.
3. I got this.
4. I embrace the uncertainty.
5. I am not my thoughts;  I am what I do.
6. I am relentless.
7. I expect nothing and accept everything.

What I like to do is turn affirmations into afformations:

1. Why am I willing to do whatever it takes to live my perfect life?
2. How I am wired to win?
3. Why do I have this so under control?
4. Why do I happily embrace uncertainty?
5. Why am I not my thoughts but what I do?
6. How do I show relentlessness?
7. Why do I totally expect nothing and accept responsibility for everything?

Our takeaways:

1. Seek answers inside yourself.
2. You don’t have to find the answer - you are the answer.
3. Shift your self-talk from narrative to assertive.
4. Assertive self-talk stakes a claim for this moment of time, right here, right now.
5. You have the life you are willing to put up with.
6. You cannot dwell in any blame game.

1. Stop blaming luck.
2. Stop blaming other people.
3. Stop blaming circumstances.
4. Stop blaming your childhood.

7. Willingness is a state where you engage life and see a situation from a new perspective.
8. Either you control your destiny or it controls you.
9. “I am willing.”
10. Am I willing to go to the gym?
11. We are not procrastinators but merely unwilling.

You Won’t Believe Introvert Boomer Male Reboot

IBM* Restart

(*Introvert Boomer Male)

As an Introvert Boomer Male, I don't feel mature, and I don't feel like my entire life is over. I'm just mystified.

When did I decide to relax?

Why did we not learn from the Stoics, the Greeks, or the Code of Bushido, how to live a healthy and worthy life?.

Leave it to semi-frauds like Napoleon Hill to make you feel like a failure if you can't think and grow rich. As a general rule, self-help pablum tends to make us all feel like failures when we can't move in some self-anointed guru's path.

Perhaps more than once.

Irregardless of how hard you try to remain positive, negative thoughts defeat your sense of happiness and self-esteem. Fear wells up in my thoughts when I contemplate taking on a new undertaking. How much time do I have left? What if I choose the wrong path?

Chatter in my mind makes it challenging to scrutinize my life. I want to compare my lot in life to others I have known. I've had some superb jobs. And I've settled for shitty jobs when I needed the money. But I have yet to live the life I secretly desire.

Most of us value the opinions of others over our own. Your point of view is as least as important as that of others. Value it.

No one is perfect. We all move through life the best way we can. Mistakes are inevitable.

To know an IBM is the first step to enlightenment. Especially if you know yourself. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Walking the walk is the challenge. We don't know how much time any of us has on Earth. Time is of the essence.

We're IBMs dammit. We're not done yet. Or dead either.

I don’t know where feelings of uncertainty and low self-worth crept in. No fears. Start at the beginning. I can only share what I learn and test - on myself.

Only you can decide if these approaches will work for you. For whatever reason, we see our own problems as unmanageable. Given enough time and information, we can solve almost any problem.

Everyone has their own set of unique problems. Focus on solutions.

Actions you can take to reclaim your integrity and self-esteem:

1. Reboot your life style, or life theme, and start living the life you want.

2. Overcome fears that you are choosing the inappropriate path or that you are too old to make effective changes.

3. Trust your gut. Take action.

4. Face fears of being rejected and insecurity and squash them once and for all.

5. Comparisons to others are counter-productive. And detrimental. Stop.

6. Stuck? Think like an iphone and jailbreak. Do things no one thinks you can do.

7. Learn from the Stoics and take one action at a time.

8. Fix your personal relationships. Drop friends and acquaintances who drain your energy. Run from women who are sucking your soul and finances dry.

This article and upcoming reports and ebooks are created to move you away from ground zero and on to the life you are entitled to. The road to healing and reboot is a fantastic path, and I welcome the company and accountability.

Chaz Lamm

http://chazlamm.com

If you are an introvert, male, and born between 1946 1964, you are certainly one of us. Join us at https://www.introvertboomermale.com.

Going Vegan: Answers to Your Questions

Veganism is defined as a way of living that excludes all types of animal exploitation and cruelty, whether for food, clothing, or other uses. The vegan diet is devoid of all animal products, including meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy.

Moving towards a vegan diet is quick and easy, especially if you bear a few things in mind when just beginning. The most evident way to become vegan is eliminating animal products from your diet. Surprisingly, however, this gradual method of transitioning is hard. The people who choose this route are less likely to stay vegan over the long-term.

I went vegan in a single day, and if that's the right method for you, outstanding. It’s like gradually becoming Catholic or Buddhist. If you are not committed, you will likely fail.

Like any other lifestyle change, going vegan not only takes becoming familiar with, but it takes time to determine what will work best for you. You will come across gurus who suggest all raw food, or fruit only. It's not a one size fits all life experience, and there are several approaches you can take.

But know this, vegan is 100% plant based. No meat, poultry, pork, seafood, fish, eggs, dairy, or honey. None.

To live as a vegan in a non-vegan world takes guts. Veganism has been around since 1944, but it’s a relatively new notion to nearly all people in the developed world. Permit yourself time to learn about the different styles of veganism, and congratulate yourself along the way for the improvement you've made.

A correct vegan diet that is comprised of plant proteins from sources like nuts, beans, soy foods, quinoa, and seeds, like pumpkin seeds, can certainly fulfill protein demands.

Back in the 1960s, Frances Moore Lappe wrote Diet for a Small Planet. She undoubtedly went over the edge on food pairing for protein considerations to calm the carnivores. I used her plan for well over 1 year in the 70s.

Most plant proteins are considered “incomplete” proteins, meaning they don’t have all nine essential amino acids that animal proteins do. Provided that you eat a wide selection of protein sources on a given day, you’ll be covering your bases.

B12 is something every vegan should certainly supplement. Fortified soymilk is a good option. Don’t believe the myth that you can get it well enough from the dirt in vegetables.

The only reliable vegan sources of B12 are foods enriched with B12 (including plant/nut milks, some soy products, and some breakfast cereals) and B12 supplements. Vitamin B12, whether in supplements, fortified foods, or animal products, comes from microorganisms.

Luckily, vitamin B12 is fortified in many vegan foods such as certain plant-based milks, breakfast cereals, and soy products. There are also vegan vitamin B12 supplements that can be taken to make up for the gap of B12 sources in the diet. The key is using those fortified foods on a regular basis, or using a vitamin supplement if needed.

The vegan diet can be a wholesome eating pattern for individuals who ensure they are meeting all of their macronutrient and micronutrient requirements, such as iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Even athletes, who have particular protein needs, can meet their quota by choosing a variety of plant protein sources, according to a recent study.

I say go all in because of my own addictive personality. I’m a sugar addict. Adopting a vegan diet helps keep my blood sugar in check and type 2 diabetes at bay. Just cutting back on processed carbs does not work for me. It was either all in or diabetes will kill me.

Beyond the obvious environmental and animal welfare benefits, you can expect some big health perks by sticking with a totally meatless menu. Evidence points to a lower risk of cancer, which goes along with the fact that a vegan diet includes plenty of antioxidant and fiber rich foods, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.

Vegan diets seem very effective at helping people naturally reduce the amount of calories they eat, resulting in weight loss.

While you may lose weight on a vegan plan, it’s not a guarantee. Vegan does not always mean low calorie. You still need to eat well. Filling your plate with fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains should leave little space for less nutritious "food products." Cutting out certain processed options may make your diet lower in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar.

No matter what food camp you’re in, choose whole foods over processed ones is nutrition. Focus on plant-based whole food staples, like beans, nuts, whole grains, fruits, and veggies, and you’ll be setting yourself up for a nutritious vegan diet.

Then I ran into a YouTube Video “<a href="https://youtu.be/es6U00LMmC4">Best Speech You Will Ever Hear - Gary Yourofsky</a>” that changed my opinion. Gary Yourofsky is a lot extreme, but there's no denying he's made an impact on many omnivores (myself included). The comparison of animal slaughter to the holocaust only seems to offend non-Jewish people, since using that exact argument has turned a huge portion of Israel vegan.

People don’t like you to talk about the incredibly inhumane way that animals are treated especially while they’re eating the animals. It makes them feel bad, defensive, even angry. That’s not a way to open people’s minds. If they ask while they’re eating, just give them the bare minimum, smile, and enjoy your vegan food.

No one likes to be preached to, and in fact, others will start to resent you and even be defensive about their own ways of eating.

There's a plant-based alternative for almost every type of food you can think of, so you don't have to miss out on any of your favourite foods. I will eat substitutes on occasion, but I prefer real foods and not frankenfoods.

As Jordan Peterson and others have said, put your own house in order before you go out and try to change the world.

Cutting your typical meat portion in half and doubling up on veggie servings is the best and easiest place to start.

When done right, adopting a "part-time" vegan diet can increase the plant foods in your diet while decreasing animal products high in saturated fat. Emphasizing whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes force you to rethink the way you fill your plate.

There are different varieties of vegan diets. The most common include:

Whole-food vegan diet:

Eat exclusively plants, choosing those that are as unprocessed as possible. Most experts will tell you that you don’t have to count calories or focus on macronutrients at all. Whole, unprocessed plant-based foods are nutrient dense and contain a lot of fiber which helps you fill up without consuming too many calories.

Raw Vegan Diet:

The thrive diet is a raw-food vegan diet. Followers eat plant-based, whole foods that are raw or minimally cooked at low temperatures.

This is a top-tier level of the plant-based diet, however, raw diets can also be high in fats as well. If you like raw fruits, veggies, and nuts, the raw vegan diet just might be your calling.

80/10/10:

The goal is to get 80% of your calories from carbohydrates - primarily raw fruit - and 10% each from raw, plant-based protein and fat.

It is very easy for a vegan diet to meet the recommendations for protein. Nearly all vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds contain some, and often a lot of protein.

The Starch Solution:

A low-fat, high-carb vegan diet similar to the 80/10/10 but focuses on cooked starches like potatoes, rice and corn instead of fruit. Dr. McDougall believes that once we stop poisoning ourselves with rich foods like vegetable oils and animal products, our bodies are able to heal and thrive.

Raw till 4 (or 6):

A low-fat vegan diet inspired by the 80/10/10 and starch solution. Raw foods are consumed until 4 p.m. or 6 p.m., with the option of a cooked plant-based meal for dinner.

Junk-food vegan diet:

People who eat a junky vegan diet are usually ethical vegans who didn’t come to this lifestyle due to health reasons, but due to animals or the environment. They typically don’t care so much about what they eat as long as it doesn’t come from animals.

Some people like reading books or regularly watching uplifting videos about the vegan life, or keeping motivating visual reminders like photos of your favourite animals. If you need this bullshit to want to live a healthy life, prevent or reverse disease, or not kill other living creatures, a vegan diet is probably not for you.

Decreasing animal protein intake by following a plant-based diet is suggested to have a lower carbon footprint on the environment and to be more sustainable.

Animal production requires water and crops for the animals, and transportation of the animals and products. It also produces methane - a destructive greenhouse gas - from cattle. The need for grain to feed animals for slaughter contributes to deforestation as well.

A vegan diet excludes all animal products. Many people choose to eat this way for ethical, environmental or health reasons.

Make sure that you do things along the way that remind you of the joy of vegan living, and take it one day at a time. You've chosen an amazing, exciting and profound way to live your life – be sure to enjoy it.

Notwithstanding your reason for becoming vegan - health, heart disease, diabetes, weight loss, animal rights, or the environment - all elements of your life and the lives of your fellow humans will be advanced. Oh, and the animals who are not being killed will be delighted too.

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