Ken Christian: Top 10 Ways To Choose Losing Over Winning

DON'T THROW IN THE TOWEL.

It's at about this point in the new year that some people feel the worst. It's not because of SAD—Seasonal Affective Disorder—it's because of a different kind of sadness.

If you made promises to yourself this year that you so far haven't kept, this can be the moment you turn on yourself accusingly and turn on a stream of self-attack.

Don't do it. Because you don't deserve attack and it certainly won't help. In fact it cripples you. And there's no reason for it. You don't deserve scorn.

Get this. If you didn't have high ambitions—the very thing required to do important things—you'd have no chance at all to achieve the heights you want to reach.

If you're not on your side, you weaken yourself—seriously weaken yourself to make an assault on the inevitable barriers. The people who look glorious receiving awards all thought of quitting repeatedly. Some did quit. But then they reconsidered and relaunched.

Instead of attacking yourself, rethink your plans. And quietly, without announcement, revisit your strategies and find the small things you can do each day to move you closer, step-by-step, to your objectives.

Help is available. In fact it's here. Reach out for it. But reach out to you first. Have a meeting with yourself and the do a reset.

You won't regret doing that. You will regret not doing it.
Dr Ken Christian

Don't Throw In The Towel - Ken Christian

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Daring Greatly - A Message by Teddy Roosevelt

THE REAL PROBLEM...

MOST PEOPLE SAY THEY DON'T WANT PROBLEMS, BUT WHEN ASKED, THEY MAKE AN EXCEPTION FOR THIS ONE.
There's this little problem you have: you're amazing. You know it, but maybe you've fought fully acknowledging it. As a consequence, you've made excuses.
You know all of this. You've been over it a million times. But the closer you've come to backing some new move you've postponed, the more fear has gripped your heart. And then you've responded by accusing yourself, as if feeling bad would make up for what was lost.
None of this is the real problem, though.
The real problem is that you remain amazing, despite this form of self-neglect.
None of your delays, self-accusations, or shame changes any of that. And deciding that it's too late—that you blew your opportunities—justifies nothing and isn't the truth anyway.
A decision now will take you further than you've imagined. And safely, intact, happy and fully capable of handling the demands that a new direction might bring.
It's not like you've doing nothing all this time. Despite yourself, you've gained perspective. What you at one time feared you could never do is now within your grasp.
You have another chance. It's right now.
Make good on it.
—Kenneth W. Christian, Ph.D.

The Real Problem - Dr Ken Christian

A response to one of the most edifying posts ever received. Thank you, Dr Christian, for allowing me to be your post-model!

Ken Christian Rox - Edification With Edumacation

In Praise of Lightening Bugs.

We all have them: Those persnickety friends, or foes, who it seems are dedicated to being a pain in our respective derrieres.

It’s almost as though it’s their mission: 
To bug you. 
To tease you.
To challenge you.

These are Lightening Bugs.
Yes, I spelled that right: Lightening.

Because in the end, if you choose to act, they're there to lighten your load.

How? What? Really?

Yes, really.

The things they say may be vivid truths.
Wreching realities.
Or even blatant lies.

But regardless, they will make you pause.
Reflect. Think. And maybe even Act.

And in that, they will inevitably lighten your load.
They'll remove an overhead you’ve been carrying.
Sometimes for mere minutes.
Often, for most of our lives.

Here’s the deal: 
Truth or fiction, reflection provides direction.

Often it’s real. 
It’s a move you’re afraid to make.
A fear you’ve made a mistake.
A decision you’re loathe to take.

But in this moment, you begin to reflect.
You see the sparkles, like fireflies taking shape.
Are they stars for you to follow?
Or distractions in which we wallow?

It matters not, for the moment.
What matters, really, is that we’re on it.

If they be truths, then it behooves us to move.
If they be lies, then removing the source guarantees a good high. A weight, gone. A foe, done.

I used to fear Lightening Bugs.
They always seemed to unearth my deepest fears. 
My nightmares. My tears.

Now? 
Now I welcome them with love.
As though they’ve graced me from God above.

I’m no longer locked into their outcome.
That’s not my focus.
It’s the here and now.
That’s my locus.

So, next time you peer deep into the night sky.
Remember your lightening bugs.
And praise them from On High.

Lightening Bugs - Mark Alan Effinger

If you could only imagine the elation.
The one of my morning equation.

It’s a simple formula, really.
Waking to the drops on the roof.
A spear of light piercing my room.
Four corners of draped windowpanes
Are not enough to call off the rains.

I pop nootropics, thyroid, prehormones, and then
A stick of celery as big as your head.
My body follows my mind in the morn
Feels not unlike I imagine to be born.

As the neurons fire and metabolism peaks
I sit down to a 30 minute oxygen feast.
EWOT is such a crude acronym
For the elation I find, within.

A few minutes spinning in place
And the O2 fills that space
The one we seek. The one to find.
The one you rediscover your incredible mind.

Like a voyeur I click through Vimeo from my pad.
SciFi, songs, indie films make me glad.
Glad I’ve come here. 
Glad for my simple life.
Glad to have survived this knife-fight called life.

I know it won’t last forever
Or so we’re told.
Someday we’re supposed to succumb to the old.
But until that day, before the call of death.
I’ll find new ways to extend my breath.

They won’t always work.
Some will call me insane.
Others think it’s all in vain.
But I’d rather live oh-so-complete
Powered by my mind and my feet.
Than give way to Father Time, Mother Earth.

For a moment, each morning, I remember my birth.

Morning's Unbroken - In Praise of Life. And Breath.

I’ve just had a big gulp of NZT, and am reflecting on the experience. 

It continues to be transformational. And, thanks to Tim Ferris, Joe Rogan, Dave Asprey and a host of others, body and brain hacking have become all the rage.

Frankly, I kind of dig it.

Knowing you have the ability to tweak a sleep cycle to generate more Human Growth Hormones. 

Or to modify your diet to enhance your creative, logical or productive mind - that’s like magic.

When we take control of our physiology, we become true Masters of Our Universe. We are no longer subject to outside events, forces, a poor night’s sleep or a bad chilidog.

And when we can refine the process to extend our capacity beyond our normal operating levels... that’s when things get really exciting.

Maybe it’s my youthful fascination with Lee Majors as The $6 Million Dollar Man. Or jumping off the roof of my childhood home with a plastic bag parachute to slow my descent.

But whatever it is, the desire to experience life beyond the norm has become ever stronger through the years.

The coolest part for me is being able to share not just the experience. But to provide simple nutritional blends anyone can take. And within an hour, or a day, have a very similar experience to my own.

When we realize that we are living life in a bit of a fog. Sometimes a big, gnarly fog. And that we have the power to do something about it. That it doesn’t take weeks or months to get clarity. More like minutes and hours. 

It’s then that we experience the exhilaration of knowing we can live our superhuman potential.

The way I feel about it is this: Nobody can f*ck with me when I am playing my A-Game. They can bump me around. They can cause me to think about what I’m doing. But they can’t knock me off my new state of being. Because I am in control. 

Of my power.
Of my energy.
Of my emotions.
Of my mind and body.

This is not some hype, or a pipe dream.
This is the reality of optimizing our physiologies.
And once there, reverting to “normal” isn’t even a consideration. 

We experience a NEW normal. A new state of being.
We experience the best of ourselves.

And everyone around us gets the same benefit.

I encourage you to find the things. The processes. The people and books and movies and exercises, foods, drink and dialogue that fuel your superhuman potential.

Then go live those things. 
Embrace them and make them permanent parts of your life. As long as they serve your greater purpose, do those things.

You will never regret being your greatest self.
You’ll never want to face your old self in the mirror.

Go. Do. Be. Awesome.


Live Your Superhuman Potential - Mark Alan Effinger, WebNutrients.com

Chasity is driven to do good. 
Here's a great example of her spending an afternoon delighting and surprising people, anonymously.

We need more of this in our lives.
The total damage? $10.
The ROI? Infinite.

Chasity Doing Good - Buying Ice Cream for the whole Burger King Restaurant.

A short read and reflection of Page 111 of Richard Florida's "The Great Reset". This one deals with the financial sector's migration from low-friction middleman to high-friction parasite. Deep, but essential read.

The-Great-RESET-Page111-Mark-Alan-Effinger

Raise your kids on music.

No matter what, raise your kids on music.
Teach your children to listen closely to the words.
To appreciate both the simple and the complex.
To engage polyrhythms and 4:4.
To emotionally dance with chord changes.
To engage their heart of hearts.

Teach your children real music, not the slop dished out by the popular music machine. 

Every question ever asked has been answered in song.
Every emotion every experienced has been lyricized and prophesized by a musician connected to the soul of man. The heart of God.

Teach your children well.

Teach your children the expanse of the universe, captured in song.
Show them that no question is too complex for the meter of music.
That every answer is but a drum beat away.

Guide your children with the rhythm of love.
Encourage your offspring with a trick of the tale.
Embrace the fruit of your loins by enlightening them with the words of truth and curiosity and adventure and passion chanted by the couriers of song.

You will make a million mistakes.
Suffer a thousand cuts, raising your children.
Give them, and you, the ministering salve of music.

Your failures will be forgiven.
The seed of knowledge will bloom.
The grace of the Almighty will smile upon them.

Give your kids a fighting chance.
Give them the sword of Lyricism.
The heart-beat of Rhythm.
The shield of the perfect chorus.
The Bridge over every troubled water they will ever experience.

Whatever you do, do this.
Give your kids the love of song.

Teach Your Children Music - WebNutrients

Mark Effinger is vocal.
About a lot of things.
But not usually rants. 
More about encouragement.

Vocalizing what might get lost in the written word just makes sense. And maybe, make it even more intense.

Popular tracks by Mark Alan Effinger