Lethargic

You don’t merely feel tired or exhausted but you feel even worse.
You feel drained.
As if every inch of energy/life has been sucked away from you.
Sucked away, by “life” itself.

You feel as though there must be something more, something else that will make this reality worth living again. Something that will make Trying– actually worth it.

You feel bored with what you do on a daily basis. The monotony has caused you to become so good at that low-level job that you can do it with your eyes closed and your hands tied behind your back. So now, you’re stuck in a low-paying and unchallenging situation for more than half of your day. But you’re still determined, still aware that you can change your life at any given time- given the energy.

Energy from where? You get back to the home that you have decided will be your temporary night-office but as you rest your buttocks upon that tiny office chair- you fade away into “lala land”. Where everything is great, abundant and most of all: everything makes a little bit more sense than the real world. It makes so much sense, actually, that by the time you rise: you can not even remember the utopia that you have just woken-up from.

The concept of this utopia- is that foreign. So foreign that it can not be comprehended within the confines of reality. By the time you’ve awakened for the next day, you’ve left your dreams “where they belong” and you’re back into your own self-proclaimed living hell.

Many of us find ourselves living this life, not completely out of choice but out of neglect. Neglect of the nurturing that is required to cultivate our every dream and aspiration. There is a certain level of obsession that one must have. Not an obsession of the dream, that’s probably already there. But an obsession of realizing that dream, a keen want/need to do more; to “suffer” more and to WANT to see more. Make the dream your every-second-reality. When you’re not thinking of your family- you’re thinking of your dream. When you are thinking about your family, you’re thinking about them in the context of your dream. It’s so hard to stress the notion of the importance of affirmations in a world that seems locked into “reaction mode” and distanced from “action mode“.

A world where you just keep on keeping-on. Flowing with the current.
As a creator; it is your responsibility to go against the flow of mediocrity.

So keep raking the leaves, pruning the flowers and watering the soil of your potentially wonderful thought-garden and be sure to nurture your dream to reality.

Get back at us on Twitter @ZooLooConcepts

What It Feels Like to No Longer Worry About Money

Growing up in a poor neighborhood with a single mom was not, as they say, child’s play. Drinking and drugs and familial anarchy permeated the walls of our cockroach-infested apartment. Not to mention all the baggage that comes with that lifestyle: discontent, anxiety, uncertainty, depression.

To add insult to injury, we were broke. Like flat broke. Dead broke. Poor as church mice. I’d have to remove my shoes to count how many times our electricity got shut off on Warren Street. I shit you not.

By the time adulthood was at my doorstep, I thought if I made enough money, I could circumvent Mom’s path; I could somehow achieve happiness (or at least finance it). So I spent my twenties traversing the corporate ladder.

Fresh out of high school, I skipped the whole college route and instead found an entry-level sales job with a corporation that “let” me work six, sometimes seven, days a week, ten to twelve hours a day. I wasn’t great at it, but I learned how to get by—and then how to get better.

I bought a big-screen TV, a surround-sound system, and a stack of DVDs with my first big commission check. By 19 I was making over $50,000 a year, twice as much as I’d ever seen Mom bring home, but I was spending even more, racking up the credit-card debt. I obviously needed the three M’s in my life: Make. More. Money.

So I worked harder, much harder, and after a series of promotions—store manager at 22, regional manager at 24—I was, at age 27, the youngest director in the company’s 140-year history. I’d become a fast-track career man, a personage of sorts. Which meant that if I worked really hard, and if everything happened exactly like it was supposed to, then I could be a vice president by 32, a senior vice president by 35 or 40, and a C-level executive—CFO, COO, CEO—by 45 or 50, followed of course by the golden parachute. I’d have it made then! I’d just have to be miserable for a few more years, to drudge through the corporate politics and bureaucracy that I knew so well. Just keep climbing and don’t look down.

And so I didn’t look down; I looked up. And what I saw was terrifying…

“You shouldn’t ask a man who earns $20,000 a year how to make a hundred grand,”…[Read more on The Minimalists]

Join the Revolution on The Minimalists

We have come a Long Way

 

On Wednesday, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s memorable “I have a dream” speech. A speech that instilled in every African-American, the possibility of an equal and abundant society that doesn’t discriminate against itself as a consequence of racial, cultural or any other differences really. Dr. King had a vision of an America that wasn’t what it was-

That dream was realised.

30-years later, we can’t help but look back and think: “Damn, we’ve come quite far since then”. When I say “we”, I’m not just referring to Africans exclusively but to Society as a whole. The whole of society had to take a revolutionary leap towards a reality that wasn’t perceivable at the time. It was this transition that translated into a great lesson; a lesson of the essence of change and our willingness to adapt and derive from this change a better, fresher outlook on life. The transition highlighted how most people had an opinion that they had derived from those that lived before. People had views on race that weren’t much acquired by themselves as they were engraved within them. But once this veil was removed, People began to see the truth behind all the fear and hate:

We are all one.

This revelation, however, was only realised after much injustice; blood-shed and heart-ache. Imagine if we all took the time, every now and again, to reassess our views on all aspects of life. We would be able to identify which views actually belong to us and which were just passed down to us. We can then inquire of those that were passed down onto us, their current relevance in our lives. Do I still think that a formal education is the only way to survive life? Do I still believe that having more is what life is about? Do I still like this job or have I merely become accustomed to it?

This reviewing process would help us to stay true to ourselves and to then intuit our own reality as per our definition of real.

True to who we really are.

Become a part of The Revolution @ZooLooConcepts

Welcome to Prison

Too many of us are just getting on with things. We merely do because we have done. We speak because we have spoken. We move because we have Been moving.

Welcome to prison- The prison of monotony.

We are forced to wake up at a certain time, forced to worry at a certain time and even forced to think only at a specific time. This is the life of an ordinary citizen of the free-world. But how free are we, really? How free is a man that has to wake up everyday in the efforts to keep his secretarial job when he is actually a soccer player at heart? How free is a woman that spends 9-hours a day selling insurance to feed her family, when in actual fact she is a designer? How free is a man that wakes up everyday to face his dreadful reality knowing very well that he has the ability and all the tool(s) required to flip the whole situation completely- but he never does.

Society has grown accustomed to standards and laws that one must abide by in order to be accepted as part of the whole. But isn’t this perennial illusion to life a limitation on your true Self. Your Self is a creative and limitless organ, it is fed by action and belief. The more we do, the more belief we acquire. At that point, whatever action we take carries THAT much more weight behind it.

Yet many of us fall victim to our old ways and find comfort in the monotony. Perhaps we even find the euphoric elements that make this prison- Home.

But the truth is: there is a hidden, unawakened greatness hidden within the true Self inside all of us and once we realise that we were meant to live life according to our definition of a great experience. And that we can. We will Achieve.

If we take the first step,
The first step out of the gates of our fortress,
Onto the paths laid down by those great men and women before us,
Who dared to take that leap out of the ordinary,
We will begin to experience,
Life

 

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The Discomfort Zone

You know that dream when you’re buck naked at school? It’s terrifying, isn’t it? Everything’s unsheltered, out in the open, nude—a nakedness we’re thankful to wake from and ease back into our world of comfort and safety.

You see, we often feel an underlying trepidation whenever we do something new, something that makes us feel exposed.

Joshua notices this trepidation with his writing students whenever he ask them to do activities that’re outside their comfort zone: when he asks them to tell a stranger about their passion for writing, or when he asks them to write an essay or story that other classmates might read.

Likewise, when Ryan asks the people he mentors to publicly proclaim their goals or to find an accountability partner, these mentees often wince with foreboding. At first, at least…

We refer to this uneasy consternation as “stepping into your Discomfort Zone.” That is, we want these people—people we truly care about—to feel temporarily naked. Because when you’re naked, you’re most vulnerable. And when you’re vulnerable, that’s when radical growth happens.

So next time you feel naked, next time you feel defenseless, know that you’re simply operating from your Discomfort Zone, a place from which you’ll experience growth as long as you’re willing to sit with your vulnerability long enough to grow.

[Read more about The Minimalits and Check out their previous article Blogs, Books, and Businesses, Oh My!]

 

Follow  Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus

The Worst Thing That Could Happen

Risk scares the bejesus out of people. Many of us associate risk with failure, failure with pain. Yet we’re told we have to take plenty of risks to succeed. Thus, success must be painful, right? Not necessarily…

When it comes to challenging our preconceived notions about risk, the common platitudinal question that gets tossed around by kindhearted friends and self-help gurus is, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

Truth be told, some risks are fairly benign: jettisoning most of your material possessions, asking a cute guy or girl for his or her phone number, writing the first page of the book you’ve always wanted to write. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Likely, nothing at all. There is no real risk in these innocuous endeavors.

Other risks, however, probably should scare the shit out of you: skydiving, purchasing a home, quitting your job. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Umm, some pretty awful shit actually: death, debt, and poverty, respectively. Although that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take these risks; it means you should approach each risk with logic, reason, and intuition. Peer over the edge before taking your proverbial leap, and if it makes sense, then leap. Because not leaping can be a much bigger risk.

The difference, then, between the benign risks and the real risks, is that the latter possesses potentially life-altering worst-case consequences, while the former poses virtually no threat at all.

But, when you think about it, the benign risks can also hold life-altering consequences if you change the question: What is the best—not the worst, but the best—thing that could happen? Perhaps getting rid of your excess stuff will free up time and money and space and give you some much needed peace of mind. Perhaps that phone number will lead to a fulfilling relationship. Perhaps writing that first page… [Read more at The Minimalists]

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Wearing the Future

For as far as I can remember, at least in the 2000s, the idea of wearable technology has always been an avenue of interest.

The first watch phone Samsung SPH-WP10, 1999

We saw Samsung bring us the first watch phone way back in 1999- And today, the Pebble is creating a buzz.We’ve always seen those cyborgs in sci-fi films who had spectacles that seemed to have a brain of their own. Today, we have Google Glass. Science has always hinted at the possibility of wearable technology and we’re now witnessing this sci-fi reality materialize.

Introducing: The MYO

Image courtesy of MYO

 

“The MYO is a one-size-fits-all armband that is turned on and off via a hand gesture said to be unique enough to avoid accidental activation. Once on, users can control their computer or mobile device by a combination of gestures and arm movements, with the band being able to detect both. MYO reports that the device can detect subtle movements, as well as keeping track of where the user’s hand and arm is at for precise control”- from Slashgear.

MYO has confidently stated that the armband is so fast, that it can react to the electrical signal in the muscle a moment before the gesture is completed, making it seem as if the device is reading your mind. This device can connect with your mobile and computer via Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, and is powered by lithium-ion batteries and an ARM processor. Currently the device is compatible with both Windows and OSX and the company is in the process of implementing Android and iOS support.

The MYO seems to be exactly what your thumbs asked for: a break! This isn’t so much a review as it is a preview. The possibilities that this single product could suggest are vastly immense. Very soon we’ll be able to use our MYOs to change the channel, send a text and maybe even take the next Left?

With everything becoming more digitized, one needs to look at how each device can fit into this HUGE picture that is the “Tools of the future”.

Why don’t we start thinking about how these devices can maximize our daily lives?

Tell us what you think you could use these devices for @ZooLooConcepts

 

Haunted by Desire

The ghosts of desperation and lust and envy hide in the shadow of our yearning. Be it money, material possessions, or accolades, we are haunted by our aspirations. After all, we become what we desire.

Covet that shiny new truck, that next big promotion, that beautiful man or woman, and you will feel unspeakable pain until it/he/she is yours. When your desire is met, however, your flame is not extinguished. No, you are instead filled with brand new desires, a never-ending cycle.

The key, then, is to aspire toward something meaningful. Instead of jonesing for things, we must pursue those which are without definitive milestones: growth, contribution, love.

These qualities are self-fulfilling: Seek growth and you will grow. Endeavor to give to others and you will, by definition, contribute beyond yourself. Love others and your cup with overflow with the love you give.

It is not wrong to have aspirations, desires, goals. But it is wrong for us to imagine that we can ever satiate our ever-growing need for more.

[Read more from The Minimalists]

Your own Boss.

Image courtesy of http://www.businessuiteonline.com/

Productivity is such a major aspect of success, perhaps even the most important. When you rearrange your life with the purpose of doing more and actually end up doing more- there’s no way that you will not achieve your dreams and goals.

However, having been in the working environment for a few years now I have come to realize a little truism of sorts: it is a lot easier to work tirelessly and see the need for productivity when your progress is being tracked by some “higher being” who is largely responsible for your way of life- to the very last penny. Trying to become your own boss though, is a fearful and tough feat. The desire to take full control of your life and finances is admirable but the applications of its implications are very difficult. This is especially true if you aren’t really accustomed to being proficiently productive at all. We allow ourselves a lot of free will to do pretty much whatever we want with Our Time. We are robbed of 8-hours a day and would like to chill-the-f***-out for the rest of the day.

But what do you really want? To relax in your $250p/month apartment with less leg space than a shower? Or to relax in a new life where you don’t have to worry about an undesirable job, insufficient space and rent?

That’s the biggest obstacle between your habits and wanting to change your life- focus. Zen Habits author and creator Leo Babauta has simplified productivity in a series of different articles on his blog but if you want to truly grasp the true/practical secrets to productivity, I suggest that you check out his no-so-new eBook Zen to Done.

You need to focus on the goal, to achieve that goal. When your focus is locked within the crosshairs of winning/success, you will realize that you are the sole proprietor of your own life. And that the only push that you need is desire. Do you want it? Stay Focused .Get it. Simple.

The Futuristic Audio Mixing Workspace

Image courtesy of LifeHacker

 

If you’re going to make music on your desktop, you can’t make it look much better than this. Flickr user Caroline di Paola combined blacks, whites, and lots of lights and knobs to create a stylish and futuristic audio mixing workspace.