Friday, Saint Patrick's Day, I turned 51. As young Zonker put it- "you're not really middle aged, anymore." I guess, technically, he's right. Statistically, it's unlikely I'll live to be 102, although not impossible. One maternal grandmother managed it... we'll see. First of all, I'd like to submit a suggestion. Would all of you not born on a holiday please move your birthday to a day I can remember? It's unfair. Pat O'Bryan, born on Saint Patrick's day... aside from being an obvious cliche, it's easy to remember. People born on, for example, October 7th, expect the same level of remembrance, without offering the same opportunities for remembrance. Birthdays, like all boundaries, offer an excellent time to stop- take a deep breath- and analyze where we are, where we're going, and how we feel about that. That's not a "papal" we, by the way. This is something we can do together. "What's working, what's not working?" In other words, have I learned anything at all in my 51 years on the planet? I think so. Nothing is real. No two people can look at an event and experience it the same way. Nothing is but thinking makes it so. So- with an entire pirate ship of salt at hand- here's some of what I think I've learned in my 51 trips around the sun. No warranties express or implied... ♣ Love. Can't beat it. I love my children, my domestic partner, my friends... and, basically, the universe and everyone and everything in it. It may not make the world go round, but it makes the trip worthwhile. Love is the hot-sauce on the tortilla chips of life. No pain is quite so exquisite as the pain of love. No pleasure is anywhere near as intense. Highly recommended. Like life itself, it's a journey, not a destination. Love is the drug. Might as well admit it, you're addicted to love. If you love somebody, set them free. ♣ Responsibility. I am responsible for everything that occurs in my life. You can look at this from an "Attractor Factor" point of view. We attract what we focus on. You can look at this from an NLP point of view- you control the frame. What happens is irrelevant, what counts is how you frame it- and what you do in response. You can look at this like Dr. Len does, from a ho oponopono point of view- that you really can control the universe through your interaction with the divine. My frame for this is pretty practical. It doesn't matter which filter you use, as long as you realize that you get to choose how you respond to stimulus. Don't whine. If you're not living exactly the life you want to live, take responsibility for that. Visualize the life you want and create it. Start now. I'm not kidding, by the way, and I'm not going to sell you any kind of internet snake oil to help you do this. Ultimately, you have to sit down with yourself and commit to embracing your brief time on this spinning globe. Nobody is going to hand you your life. You have to create it. You may need to get pissed off at yourself. I did. I wasted decades waiting for somebody else to come along and make me happy. Now, those years are gone and I can't get them back. I'm responsible for that. And I'm grateful that I "got it." And I got really sad and angry... and then I had a long talk with myself about what kind of life I wanted to live and set about creating it. Again- highly recommended... If you're not living the life of your dreams, don't be outraged. Be outrageous. Nobody is going to give it to you, but (and this is the key) nobody can keep you from living it. ♣ Life, the Universe, and Everything. This is a subset of "responsibility," but it deserves its own heading. There are some practical things I've learned about getting along in the United States in the 21st century. Credit. Don't do it. If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. If you can't pay for it with cash reserves, you haven't done your homework. "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," is the textbook for this. You can have all the luxury toys you want, as long as you buy them out of income from investments. Earned income is to be spent on investments. Investment income can be used for more investments, or for toys. This is a simple lesson, but it's a tough one- because you have to defer your gratification. You look at the bank account and say, "I can afford it." No. You can't. Unless you are buying your toys with investment income, you can't afford them. Which brings us to- Marx and Engels. Some people read the "Communist Manifesto" and decide to take arms against the capitalists. Not me. Those guys wrote a fascinating book that describes the workings of the capitalist society pretty accurately. Well, that's where we live. I feel about capitalism kind of like I feel about gravity. It just is. Tilting at windmills is fun when you're young. After a while, you recognize a pattern. Every time you launch yourself at the windmill, you wind up on your ass. If you're clever, you'll find a way coexist with the windmill peacefully. And, if the windmill is especially offensive to you- you'll find a clever way of dismantling it that doesn't involve bruises and contusions on your part. Invest in the means of production. That's the key concept I took away from Marx and Engels. The guy who owns the factory makes the money. Well, your computer can be your factory, and if you provide your own labor, you get to keep all the money you make. Freedom of the press is only useful if you own a press. Luckily, presses are cheap. If you teach your computer to do the labor, too, you're in a lovely karmic zone. You get to make exactly as much money as you want without exploiting anybody. I invest the money in other "factories." I've had a music recording studio since the early 1990's. At one time I had 3,500 square feet of studio space filled with clunky tape-recorders the size of commercial washing machines. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stuff. Now, my entire studio fits in a backpack. And cost about two grand. And that's just because I like gear- you could duplicate it all with a fifty dollar MP3 recorder and a free editing program. Considering that it would cost about a thousand dollars to hire a professional engineer to go on location with me when I do audio interviews- bring their studio, set up the mics, record the interview, and then do the edits and convert it all to MP3... by the time I've done two interviews, I've paid for the factory. From there on, the synergy of capital and labor provides profit. I'm currently buying video production equipment. It's my opinion that the internet is heading for video at warp speed, and I want to be waiting with plenty of programming when it gets there. So I'm buying the kind of gear that indie film makers use to get high-quality video. My video editing software will transfer files to my audio editing software, so I can do sound design, music, sound effects and voice-overs in Sonar, then pass the files back to Vegas to do the actual video edits, graphics and titles. Sure- I want luxury cars and a big house. But I want to buy them out of passive income. I've already played that scene where the house gets repossessed because you can't make the payment. Very valuable experience. I think I'll invest my money and let the investments buy the cars and houses. Invest in yourself. First. This is SO important, for so many reasons. If you're not learning, you're dying. In internet marketing, especially, the more you know, the more you make. Learn copywriting. Learn advertising basics. Learn relationship marketing. There is nothing you can do with your time that will repay you as quickly and as well as knowledge. ♣ Art, music and history. And then... well, there is a depth of experience factor. I've mentioned before that standing where Napoleon and Goethe had their little showdown was important to me- and listening to Bach played on Bach's organ in Bach's church... There is a rich vein of beauty and power that runs through our experience on this planet that requires a little effort to see, hear and feel. It's not required, but- in my opinion- it makes the trip much more interesting. Learn to understand a Charlie Parker solo. Why did Woodie Guthrie and the Carter family have to go to Mexico to get on the radio. Who was Joe Hill, and why are his ashes in every state but Utah? What's up with Maplethorpe, and what did he do besides piss off the rednecks? (pun intended) Picasso? Why is that picture of French hookers so damn important to art historians? And, once in your life, go to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. You'll never see the sun the same way... I'm in favor of art, music and History... I don't think you can understand life fully without an informed frame to hang it on. and listening to politicians, without a knowledge of NLP, hypnotism, and having experienced other politicians through history books, will just confuse you. Confused people are easily led. With that knowledge, you'll get the joke. (side note- if you don't understand Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover, you're at a real disadvantage in the U.S. right now. If you don't understand McNamarra and Kissinger, you're missing a lot... please catch up with the rest of the class. It might be important. Don't "believe." Know.) ♣ There is nothing to fear but fear itself. This is true. The "terra-ists" may be a problem, or they may be a useful tool for some cynical power-junkies to use to control the proletariat. I don't know. Heaven and Hell may exist, or they may be useful constructs for cynical power-junkies to use to control the weak. I don't know, but I'm curious. ...if their riches are in Heaven, why are they buying so much real estate? hmmmm? I note the windmills in passing, and keep on truckin'. Those are some very well constructed windmills, aren't they? It's possible to waste huge chunks of time worrying about stuff we can't control. I'm trying to learn to note what's going on, stay in the moment, stay curious, and then get my work done. Politicians, preachers and Popes aren't asking my opinion at this point... in November, I'll voice my opinion at the polls. In the meantime, I've got work to do. I do know that we live in the world we want to live in. We create it. Which leads us to what I think is the big one... It's better to know than to believe. I'm not talking about the existential things, here. Your personal beliefs about what happens in the great unknown are yours, as long as you don't try to force others to share them. Some people are satisfied with a nice garden. Others need fairies under the flowers to make it work for them. I think they're both nice. I like gardens with and without fairies. And I've never even been to San Francisco. But when it comes to the physical world... you need a map that actually describes the terrain, or you're gonna stub your toe. At best. Let's take this to the practical- you may "believe" that marketing your ebook about 14th Century merkins is they key to all your money problems. So, you put up a sales site for your ebook, you buy adwords to drive traffic to your site, you seek affiliates... Still no sales. Now, you've got a choice. What you do at this point will determine your outcome. You can "believe" that marketing merkins is the way to go. Maybe some guru mentioned it in a newsletter, so you "believe" him. Or, you can "know." You can look at your track record. See how many searches were done on "merkins" on google. Where do the "merkin" sites rank on Alexa? Then, you can use your new knowledge to change your map to reflect reality- or you can continue to "believe." I'd rather know. This is a handy-dandy little trick you can use for analyzing politicians, lovers, religious leaders, or others who ask you to "trust them," by the way. Back in my accounting days, I used to work on audit teams. We'd interview bank presidents and politicians and carefully note what they said... later, we'd have meetings, and when we came to something we were asked to "believe," our line was "confirm that." My favorite was the bank loan officer who finally showed us a picture of the real estate he accepted as collateral for a substantial loan. It was a picture of an East Texas Lake, with a little red arrow affixed to it... pointing at the water. It turns out that the collateral was in the flood plain. His line, "it's only underwater when it rains," became kind of a rallying cry for our audit team... I still use it like a mantra when somebody says "trust me." Trust is earned, based on track record- which you can confirm. What else have I learned in my 51 spins around the sun? ♣ Gratitude. Thank you, universe. Thank you lovers and friends. Thank you for the bad, and the good, and, the trip, and the epiphanies, and the wasted time, and the poverty, and the wealth, and the pain, and the transcendent golden moments of pleasure... every damn second has been great, and I treasure and honor each one. And I'm going to try very, very hard to be worthy of the next second- and squeeze every ounce of juice out it, and be mindful of it... and the next... and this one... and this one... Thanks.
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Pat
O'Bryan is the CEO of Practical
Metaphysics, Inc You can find out much, much more at the Your Portable Empire University- http://www.portableempire.com This article may be reprinted in its entirety, including contact information, freely.
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