Niall Doherty's Blog, page 212

9 Tips To Get You Reading More Books in 2015

The past three years I’ve averaged reading at least one book a week. In 2014 I’ve read seventy books. In 2015 I hope to push a hundred.

Why read more?

Because you’ll have more money and more sex:

“The rich are voracious readers on how to improve themselves,” says Corley. In fact, 88% of them read for self-improvement for 30 minutes each day, compared to 2% of poor people.1

“If you go home with somebody and they don’t have books, don’t fuck them.” — John Waters

Those reasons aside, books are fascinating. They get your mind racing with different ideas and associations. You tap into some of the best brains in the history of the world, getting all the benefits of their best work for next to negligible cost.

But how do you read more?

Maybe you’ve tried to read more but you just can’t manage it. Maybe you think books just aren’t your thing.

I used to think that. Even though I always liked to read, I never read very much. But over the years I’ve developed a few tricks that help me read more and read more effectively.

Here are those tricks.

1. Speed up and slow down

Chris Paul, a basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers was once asked about his speed. He answered that he didn’t consider himself one of the fastest players in the game. Plenty of other players had more raw speed, he said, but his advantage was his ability to change pace. He did that better than probably anyone in the game, and it was a big reason for his dominance on the court.

I believe that’s the key with reading, too. I’m not what you’d call a speed reader, but I’ve trained myself to speed up and slow down as appropriate. I’ll skim paragraphs, chapters or even whole books if I feel I already have a good grasp of the content or I’m not finding much value in there.

But when I come across something interesting, I’ll slow right down and spend a good chunk of time with it.

As such, this past year I’ve often read a whole book in a single day, but then something like Letters from a Stoic took me months to get through.

So don’t feel like you need to process every word, sentence, paragraph or even chapter of each book you read. Get good at skimming through and quickly discerning what parts are worth your time, and which aren’t.

2. Abandon books

Closely related to the above, don’t be afraid to abandon books that aren’t resonating with you. People often recommend books to me — sometimes even buying them for me — but if I start into one and find not getting much out of it, I’ll quickly ditch it.

Even if I’m kind of enjoying a book sometimes, I’ll still ditch it, because I remind myself that spending time reading average or even good books is time spent not reading great books. And there are plenty of great books out there.

So be selective. Quickly abandon books that aren’t serving you and move on to something better.

3. Read more than one book at a time

Some books are tough to read. You may recognize the value in them, but that doesn’t make them easy to get through. Often they feel like work, and if you spend too much time just reading these kinds of books, you’re not going to enjoy reading very much.

For this very reason, I usually have three or four books on the go at the same time, and they’ll be a good mix. For example, one will be a tough read, one will be entertaining non-fiction (e.g. Freakonomics), one will be a novel, etc.

This way, whenever I get burnt out reading one type of book, I can switch to another, rather than quit reading altogether.

4. Schedule time to read

This is especially important for tougher reads. It’s good to schedule time for them, ideally time when you’re feeling very mentally alert.

For me, that means morning time. I try and reserve at least thirty minutes every morning for reading one of the tougher books on my shelf. I’ll work through it in quiet over breakfast and a cup of tea.

I also try to read for at least a few minutes before bed every night, though I’ll stick mostly to novels at that time as it’s easier on the brain and let’s me wind down before sleep.

5. Always bring a book!

Apart from scheduling time to read, take advantage of all the opportunities you have throughout the day to sneak in a few minutes of reading.

To do this, you always need to have a book with you.

Better yet, always have a Kindle with you, so you can decide on the fly which book you’re in the mood for.

Because I always have a book with me, I don’t mind waiting on people. They can be as late as they like, and I’ll keep myself busy and entertained with my reading.

6. Take notes

I read mostly for knowledge, not entertainment. But reading for knowledge doesn’t really work if you quickly forget the key points from the books you read.

To help retain those key points, I take notes as I read. And I always do this on my phone, typing out sentences and sometimes entire paragraphs that I find interesting. I keep those notes stored on my phone and also email them to myself when I’m done with a book. That way I can refer back to the notes easily wherever and whenever, quickly refreshing my memory about any book I’ve read.

I used to use the highlighting feature on my Kindle instead of taking notes, but this isn’t ideal because a) you’re not typing in your own notes (this is hard to do on most Kindles) and b) the act of typing out the sentences and paragraphs you find interesting makes them more memorable.

(That said, I do intend to experiment with the voice-to-text feature on my phone, and see the effect of speaking my notes aloud instead of typing them out. Because all the typing is a bit time consuming.)

7. Keep track of the books you read

I keep a spreadsheet for tracking the books I read. On each line is the name of the book, the author, the date I began reading, the date I finished reading, and a one-sentence summary. I have a different tab for each year.

What’s the benefit of all this?

For me, the biggest benefit is being able to see my reading pace. My baseline is one book a week, but I get a kick out of staying far ahead of that pace, and I can measure it easily with the spreadsheet.

8. Write reviews

This isn’t something I do regularly, but I recognize the value of it, hence the mention here.

Much like taking notes as you read through a book makes the book more memorable, so does writing a review. You have to think back over what you read and figure out what you liked and what you didn’t, and then craft those thoughts into a few paragraphs that others will find insightful.

You can easily leave reviews on the books you read on sites like Amazon and Goodreads.

(By the way, you can find and friend me on Goodreads here.)

9. Teach what you read

Similar to the above. As they say, the best way to learn is to teach. So whenever you read something you find really interesting, try and relay that story/information to someone else soon after. You can do this via writing, conversation, a podcast, your YouTube channel, whatever.

By doing this, you push yourself to understand the information at a deeper level, or commit a good story to memory.

…

If you’re an avid reader yourself with some additional tips to share, please do so in the comments below.

To wrap this up, here’s a quick recommended reading list.

My Top Ten Books of 2014 (in alphabetical order)
1. City of Thieves

The only novel on this list, so good I re-read it this past year. Based on true happenings in the life of the author’s uncle, the story is set in Leningrad during the second world war. A quick, funny and thrilling read, that shows two very distinct faces of courage.

2. Guns, Germs, and Steel

A classic book that will change the way you think about the world. Ever wonder, for example, why Europeans built boats and sailed across the oceans and conquered foreign lands? Why didn’t the Incas or the Maori do that? And why did European diseases wipe out the Native Americans but not vice versa? Jared Diamond explains all.

3. I Think You’ll Find It’s A Bit More Complicated Than That

Read this and you’ll never trust another newspaper headline again (and that’s a very good thing). As the friend how loaned me this book said, your first thought after reading something on the Internet shouldn’t be, “Hmm, that’s interesting!” but “How do we know this is true?” Goldacre’s book will greatly improve your bullshit detector.

4. Models

Another re-read in 2014. Mark Manson’s book is by far the best I’ve ever read on the subject of women and dating for men. If you’re a guy struggling with the opposite sex, you absolutely need to read this. Multiple times.

5. Nonviolent Communication

Marshall Rosenberg’s masterpiece will make you a more effective communicator, both with others and with yourself. The most impressive thing in here is instruction on how to speak up and get your needs met without implying wrongness. You learn to take issue with the offending behavior, not the person display that behavior.

6. Quiet: The Power of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking

Whether you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert, I highly recommend Susan Cain’s book. It will give you tons of insight into the preferences and motivations of both types of people.

7. The Millionaire Next Door

The science of becoming a millionaire, based on decades of research, interviews and studies with seven-figure Americans. This book was a big reality check for me. How most millionaires build and maintain their wealth flies in the face of everything popular culture leads us to believe.

8. The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible

This whole book is fascinating, but in particular there’s a chapter in there titled “Judgement” that had a big impact on how I view the world and interact with others. I don’t think you can come away from this one without feeling inspired and empowered.

9. The Obstacle Is The Way

Ryan Holiday put together a great summary of the most practical Stoic teachings. This isn’t a message about blind positivity, but a smart framework for not only surviving tough times, but turning them to your advantage.

10. Wooden

No fancy shortcuts in here, just pure wisdom from one of the best sports coaches who ever lived, and lessons applicable to all walks of life. Take Wooden’s words to heart and you’ll live a better life.

What was the best book you read in 2014?

Let me know via the comments below.

Momentos: December 1st – December 15th, 2014

1.

Giant came to Colombia to live with me. I guess he expected we’d be out having fun and picking up chicks all the time. He has been doing that, perhaps better than anyone I’ve ever seen, but he’s been doing it without me. I’ve been something of a hermit here, work all-consuming. I’m well aware of the opportunity cost, and I’m at peace with it.

2.

I met TG more than four years ago in Vegas at a personal development workshop. Good dude, originally from Israel, he’s been lifestyle designing since before there was a name for it. He just arrived in Medellín, and we sit in a park/restaurant/bar chatting about money, work, women and plans for the future. Big plans. The adventure never ends.

3.

I try to read for at least an hour a day, putting in time while eating breakfast, lunch, and before sleeps. This gives me peace, quiet time with a book. So far this year I’ve finished sixty-three. Favorites: The Obstacle Is The Way; Nonviolent Communication; The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible; Guns, Germs, and Steel; Wooden.

4.

Whatever was wrong with my dong last year, it’s not wrong now. I feel like a horny teen again, insatiable. This morning I clicked off the neocortex and let the reptilian run wild. Skype calls were missed, emails went unanswered. Finally clocking in now to see that $3,099.43 has been deposited into my bank account. Not quite noon, and it’s a beautiful day.

5.

We went rock climbing today. The gym is good, cheap and uncrowded. I’d love to spend a few months immersed in rock face, make that my thing, then move on to dancing, fighting, music, swimming, surfing, public speaking, motorcycle maintenance… and a million more. But first I must crack the money nut. Until that happens, my attention is always divided, my efforts half-assed.

Leaving Medellín

6.

This dude at the juice stand talks fast and relentless. I barely catch a word he’s saying. Shouldn’t have asked him for directions in the first place. Finally I smile and nod like a light bulb went off: “Ah, okay! Muchas gracias!” We walk away and she asks what was said. “I have no fucking idea. I just pretended to understand so he’d stop talking to me.”

7.

We were fooling around, fell out of sleep and into each other. Then she stopped me, something not right. Lying on our backs now, I see the face of a dog in the ceiling, knots for eyes and a snout, as silence lingers. I’m resisting the urge to rush in with explanations and apologies. Because I don’t feel bad. I’m not sorry. I’d do it all again.

8.

I awake to sounds of screams and broken glass. It’s not the first time one of Giant’s ladies has disturbed my sleep, but it’s usually a soundtrack of moans and spanking that does it. This is altogether different. I check my clock. 5:30 a.m. Through the wall I can hear the volume increasing, yelling something about la policía.

9.

You leave tomorrow. The next eight weeks will take you through eight different countries. Leaving places and faces, it’s nice to think it’s not goodbye but see you later. Fact is though, most of these places, most of these faces, you’ll never see again. You say you’ll be back someday, you promise to stay in touch, but it’s not entirely up to you. Tomorrow has its own plans.

10.

Our third adiós, hopefully hasta pronto. I’m not sure if we’ve gotten better at this, or just grown accustomed. These last couple of weeks with her have kept my heart warm. Once upon a time I wrote about missing people, how that didn’t apply to me. But I’ll miss her. Through all the change and uncertainty, she feels like home.

Sunrise in Cartagena

11.

This lady on the bus has been groaning and dry heaving all night, like she’s got the world’s worst case of food poisoning. Weird thing is, nobody has come forward to ask if she’s alright. I wonder if she just died there in her seat would anyone even notice. Of course, I’m no better than the rest. I tell myself I’d attend to her if my Spanish was better, but that’s a lame excuse.

12.

Coming up on 7am and I’m running streets named after men I’ve read about. Someone’s playing a trumpet atop the murallas as gangs pull ropes in from the sea. The old city looks good, with sunlight creeping in through the terraces. I’d like to have more time to explore and experience this place, but lots of work to be done before my boat leaves.

13.

There’s this weird thing when you pass another gringo on foreign streets: you both kinda pretend not to notice each other. But then, what’s the alternative? Offer some kind of acknowledgement? Maybe a nod and a smile, as if to say, “Hello there, fellow white person. I can relate to your being white in a strange land. That is all. Carry on.”

14.

An epic work day if ever I’ve had one. Actually, the last three have seen me put in something like twelve hours apiece at the computer. Intermittent fasting today so I didn’t break for lunch, just plowed straight through. And it felt good, stretching my capacity to do hard, focused work.

15.

On a boat named Maluco, we’re literally sailing off into the sunset, heading west from Cartagena towards the San Blas Islands. The captain, his wife, and two bothers are from Venezuela. Myself and a couple from Australia has us at capacity. I lay out on the cramped deck for a few hours and watch the land fade with the light.

First evening at sea. View more pics from my sailing trip on Facebook.

In the comments below, let me know which of the above Momentos is your favorite. Which can you relate to?

« Previous Momentos | Comments

100 People Doing Extraordinary Things (2014)

The past two years (2012 | 2013) I’ve put together lists of one hundred people doing extraordinary things. The message is simple:

All these people listed are made of the same star stuff as you, me, and everyone else. Nothing supernatural about them, yet they went ahead and did exceptional things anyways, excuses be damned.

Now, in case you’ve forgotten just how extraordinary your peers can be, here’s a fresh list for 2014…

1. Jessica Cox is the world’s only armless airplane pilot.

2. These dudes from the Czech Republic have driven the world’s cheapest car across Asia, Africa and South America.

3. Charles Ramsey rescued two teenagers from a ten-year kidnapping ordeal, then delivered an epic interview to the media.

4. Paul Salopek is on a seven-year walk to recreate the migration of early humans.

5. Hollie McNish refuses to be embarrassed by breastfeeding.

6. Kris Dim is a paralaysed pro body builder.

7. Ben Randall returned to Asia to find 100 random people he’d photographed five years before, and track down his young Vietnamese friend who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery. He succeeded.

8. Dan Kraus has rescued a thousand cats.

9. Tania Hassounia is an illustrator and graphic designer, running her business remotely while traveling the world and offering her services (free of charge) to non-profit ministries. You can order some unique Christmas cards from her here.

10. Sam and Geoff dove into an active volcano.

11. A few years back an 8-second video of Lizzie Velasquez appeared on YouTube with the title, “The ugliest woman in the world.” In response, she went ahead and became a motivational speaker, wrote two books, and graduated college.

12. Peter Nonacs, a professor at UCLA, encourages his students to cheat.

13.  Ben Weiner paints paintings of paint.

14. Ghyslain Raza was made infamous and suffered relentless bullying on account of a video of him posted online eleven years ago. He’s since graduated law school and spoken out with words of encouragement for other victims of cyberbullying: “You’ll survive. You’ll get through it. And you’re not alone. You are surrounded by people who love you.”

15. This 12-year-old Egyptian kid is smarter than all of us.

16. The Pugh family spent a whole year without shopping in supermarkets.

17. Nathan Sawaya quit his job as a lawyer and became a LEGO artist.

18. Tyron Swan made a paraplegic’s surf dream come true by duct taping her to his back (no, really) and hitting the waves.

19. Thomas Backlund quit his job to live in a tent and write code.

20. Thor Pedersen is traveling to every country in the world… without flying.

21. Beth Whaanga, a mother of four, was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy and hysterectomy. Then she posed nude for a photographer and posted the photos online, proudly exposing her scars.

22. Jack Andraka developed a promising early detection test for pancreatic cancer that’s cheap, effective and non-invasive… all before his 16th birthday.

23. Shanna Syme bops along to your favorite songs in sign language. Like this one.

24. A group of schoolboys in the UK didn’t like an administrative ban on shorts. So they began wearing skirts to class.

25. Richard Dunn was trapped overnight at Las Vegas’ McCarran Airport with no one else around. So he made a music video.

26. Aaron Collins was just 30 years old when he died. In his will he asked his family to go out to dinner and leave an awesome tip, to the tune of $500. So they did. Word got out online and donations came flooding in, more than $60k in total, allowing the family to travel to all 50 states and keep on tipping.

27. This 65-year-old churchgoer sets an archbishop straight about gay marriage.

28. School clerk Antoinette Tuff encountered a man carrying an AK-47 assault rifle into an elementary school in Georgia and spent an hour convincing him not to hurt anybody. In the end, he didn’t.

29. Christina Stephens built a prosthetic leg from LEGOs.

30. Pieter Levels is launching 12 startups in 12 months while living out of a backpack.

31. Brittany and Scott both had life-long dreams of sailing around the world. Then they met, fell in love, bought a boat, and went for it. They’ve since started a family, and bought a bigger boat to accommodate the expanding crew.

32. Chinese artist Liu Bolin practices invisibility.

33. Maneesh Sethi and a few friends bought an island (more doable than you’d think).

34. Rob Lutter is cycling around the world and taking phenomenal photographs along the way.

35. Sébastien Soldevila et Mimi Bonnavaud pull off one of the most incredible dance performances you’ll ever see.

36. Andrei Rosu wanted to get in shape and set a good example for his son, so he began working out. One thing lead to another, and he became the first person to complete 7 marathons and 7 ultra-marathons on 7 different continents. He also became the first man to play drums at the North Pole.

37. Mitchell Roth saved $439 in thirty minutes of negotiation practice.

38. Mike and Anne‘s honeymoon lasted 675 days and took them through six continents and thirty-three countries.

39. Devin Lyttle helps you find places to refill your water bottle, so you don’t have to buy a new one.

40. Morten Rustad traveled 10,000 miles around Norway to create an epic time-lapse video.

41. Kirill Oreshkin takes selfies… while hanging from the top of very tall buildings.

42. Cheri Lindsay has a rare skin condition. Cassandra Bankson has had severe acne since she was in third grade. Both of them usually go heavy on the makeup to hide their imperfections. Until now.

43. Kate McCulley survived a shipwreck off shore of an Indonesian island most famous for its aggressive, man-eating Komodo Dragons.

44. This US solider would have made the forefathers proud.

45. Derek Cullen overcame crippling fear and anxiety to ride his bicycle across Africa.

46. Greg Goodman shares spectacular photos from nine years of world travel.

47. David Downie was more than your typical beer guzzler: he actually wrote the Australian portion of a famous beer bible. Then he quit drinking.

48. Leif Harum ran away from home at age 16 and traveled through Europe and the Middle East without a cent to his name.

49. Amichay Rab gets his picture taken at famous destinations around the world… while naked.

50. Eighteen years after a plane crashed in an African desert and all 170 people on board perished, the families of the victims gathered at the crash site to build a striking memorial.

51. Every day all around the world, millions of women living in poor rural areas have to carry big pitchers of water on their heads for miles and miles in blazing heat. Cynthia Koenig has a better idea.

52. Michelle Nickolaisen quit her job at an agency and started freelancing. Within ninety days, she’d replaced her day job income.

53. Josh Plotkin makes a hell of a Gangnam Style parody.

54. Canadian astronomer J. W. Campbell traveled the world for fifty years trying to see twelve different eclipses. He ran into overcast skies every time :-/

55. Frank Medrano defies gravity.

56. Scott Neeson was once president of 20th Century Fox International, overseeing films like Titanic and X-Men and driving his porsche around Hollywood. Now he lives in Cambodia, devoting all his time and energy to helping some of the poorest kids in the world.

57. Francis Tapon has walked across America four times.

58. This shirtless dude holding a dog at a wildfire is interviewed live on TV and immediately asks the reporter out on a date.

59. Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn paint favelas.

60. Maura Ward was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age sixty-four. For her sixty-fifth birthday, she skydived for the first time and raised a bunch of money for a Parkinson’s charity.

61. This flight attendant performs safety instructions like a comedian.

62. Stanford students were challenged to make as much money as possible in two hours starting with just $5, and then create a presentation to share their results. One group thought far outside the box and made $650.

63. Laura Hames Franklin invites people out to dance with her in public places.

64. A drag queen named Mama Tits grabbed a mic and bitch slapped the anti-gay protesters at this year’s Seattle Pride Parade.

65. Marina and Ulay ended their decade-long relationship by starting from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China and, after ninety days of walking, meeting in the middle to say goodbye. The plan was to never see each other again. But, twenty-two years later…

66. These three lads Irish danced their way around the world.

67. Benjamin Von Wong pulled off a surreal underwater photoshoot of beautiful women surrounded by shipwreck.

68. Andrew Lenz co-founded a climbing school which provides free climbing instruction to kids from the biggest favela in South America.

69. Anthony Vincent sings your favorite song in twenty different styles.

70. James Holman circumnavigated the globe… as a blind man… in 1832.

71. Xhongkai Xiang built a life-size Iron Man out of cardboard.

72. Claire Wyckoff combines her running routes with Nike+ to draw pictures of dicks (among other things).

73. Kayla Montgomery is one of the best young distance runners in America, despite suffering from multiple sclerosis and collapsing after every race.

74. Lee Thompson managed to convince the Brazilian tourist board to let him climb the famous Cristo Redentor statue in Rio de Janeiro.

75. Kawehi covers the uncoverable.

76. Anjan Manikumar‘s restaurant in downtown Toronto is completely staffed by deaf waiters and waitresses.

77. Jack Hyer decided he wanted to marry his girlfriend after their first date. But he also wanted to travel the world, so he traveled to twenty-six countries during four years of dating, filming an epic proposal video all the while.

78. Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman to win the Fields Medal — known as the “Nobel Prize of mathematics” — since the award was established in 1936.

79. Shantanu Starick is traveling the world without any money.

80. Kyle Maynard climbed Mount Kilimanjaro without arms or legs.

81. Bruce Campbell lives in a Boeing 727 in the middle of the woods.

82. Brendan and Gillian Lally are driving themselves and their three kids home to Ireland… via Alaska, Patagonia and Africa.

83. Sam Simon helped create The Simpsons back in 1991, and thus amassed a great fortune over the years. Having recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer, he’s spending his final months giving it all away.

84. Masarrat Misbah has turned her Pakistani beauty salons into refuges for women who have suffered acid attacks.

85. Alex Chacon takes an epic selfie.

86. Fearghal Jo quit his job as a vice-president at a private equity firm to cycle from Ireland to India, where he then lived for several months in a forest community.

87. Joel Runyon is running seven ultra marathons on seven continents in order to raise money and awareness to build seven schools.

88. Alfred Ely Beach built New York City’s first subway line… in secret.

89. Princess Umul Hatiyya Ibrahim Mahama is a mother of six from Ghana, on a mission to visit every country in the world.

90. At 64 years of age and on her fifth try, Diana Nyad became the first person to swim the treacherous 100-mile stretch of ocean between Cuba and Florida.

91. Back in the 1950’s, Miguel de la Quadra-Salcedo invented a new way of throwing the javelin that added twenty meters to the existing world record. However, the record was never approved because the technique was deemed too dangerous.

92. Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived two atomic bomb blasts.

93. A dude named Winter is on a mission to drink a coffee in every Starbucks in the world.

94. Chloe and Nikita trained a wild Kaimanawa horse to gallop through the surf with a wakeboarder skimming along behind.

95. Fr. Ray Kelly is not your average priest.

96. Seventy-seven years after her namesake went missing over the Pacific, a lady named Amelia Earhart flew 24,300 nautical miles around the world.

97. Mike Hrostoski fell out of his office chair and started crying.

98. At 65 years of age, Mervyn Kinkead crossed the Irish Sea in a bathtub.

99. Dean Potter base jumps with his dog.

100. These three Norwegians broke the world record by visiting 19 countries in 24 hours.

…

Like I said up top, all these folks listed are just like you and me. The only thing stopping any of us from doing something extraordinary is ourselves. Let’s set those excuses aside and go do something amazing.

In the comments:

Add to the above list with more tales of people doing extraordinary things.
Tell me what extraordinary things you’ve done, are doing, or are about to do.

Dig this list?

Do me a quick favor and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever else you like.

Over Beyond: Episode 001

I sometimes have these big, fascinating, meandering conversations with my cousin and best friend back in Ireland. We decided to record one and share it with you. Maybe it will become a regular thing.

In this first episode we talk about growing up in Ireland, protective parenting, time travel, books, commercialism, borders, etymology, woodworking, meditation, and a bunch of other seemingly unrelated topics.

Have a listen, and let us know what you think.

MP3 download available here (29MB, 1:01:47)

Momentos: November 16th – November 30th, 2014

16.

For the second consecutive morning, I sit alone and I listen and I cry. I cry fucking hard, man, tears streaming down my cheeks. Last night was awful, gut-wrenching. I went home feeling like a loser, like I was never worthy of a girl like her in the first place. It crosses my mind that I might have made the biggest mistake of my life, but I let it go.

17.

Discipline and spontaneity in a never-ending tug-o-war. Sometimes, when discipline wins, I wonder what it is I’m working for. Like last night: cute girl invites me south of the city to watch a meteor shower… and I pass it up, too much to do tomorrow. Now I’m regretting that decision. Have I mastered my will, or has my will mastered me?

18.

I don’t believe everything happens for a reason. Sometimes shit happens and it sucks. The Stoics acknowledged this, but they also saw each obstacle as a way to practice some virtue, never letting a good crisis go to waste. Accordingly, I appreciate that in recent days I’ve had ample opportunities to practice patience, acceptance, humility.

19.

Giant arranged a double date, somehow got them straight to our place. Physically, my girl is every man’s dream. But looks are about all she’s got going. Her wallpaper is stacks of cash, books don’t please her, and she browses Facebook mid-conversation. No indication she wants to fuck me, but if she did, I like to think I’d make like Rhett Butler and frankly-my-dear her ass.

Overlooking Medellín

20.

Last week was tough but I think I handled it pretty well, bouncing back strong. The important thing to keep in mind when going through a rough patch is that everything comes and everything goes. Emotions and situations are temporary. They don’t define you. Writing helps, too. Get those thoughts out of your head and down in print. You’ll feel better, trust me.

21.

I had her on a pedestal, but not anymore. Spending a lot of time together, living in the same apartment, she appears merely human now. Today we annoyed the shit out of each other, then spent several hours in silent treatment, no remorse. Glad my infatuation is gone, but, if we’re not careful, our friendship will be, too.

22.

It’s good to have a key phrase, something you let spill out of your mouth before your brain can conjure up a reasonable excuse. Once those words are out there’s no going back. For cold approach I use, “Disculpe, tengo una pregunta…” For difficult conversations I’d rather avoid but know must be had, it’s, “Listen, I gotta tell ya…”

23.

The plan has always been to hit up New Orleans first, then embark on a big road trip west, spending about seven months total in North America. But now I’m thinking twice. A trip like that is only worth doing if my finances are sorted, and I’m not sure they will be. So I might head east from NOLA, and just keep on going. I could be home and done by summer.

24.

That said, I have to be careful. It’s tempting to look ahead, waiting for the next chapter to begin. But I’m here now, in the prime of my life, surrounded by all things Colombian. I’m finding it hard to let go and be social though, focused as I am on the money-making. Some days I feel my life is way off track, others that I’m exactly where I need to be.

25.

Out the front door, headed for my usual lunch spot. It’s another sunny day, and I’m without sunglasses. My last pair may have been stolen. Two blocks up a beautiful woman crosses my path, watched by two men in a truck at the traffic lights. I don’t talk to this woman or make eye contact. I let her pass and glance at her ass, then at the two men in the truck at the traffic lights.

Salsa class in Medellín

26.

I’m pretty bummed here in Medellín. It’s a cool city and all, but I think I’m just over this whole foreign culture lark. It’s been three years since I’ve lived in an English-speaking country, really starting to miss effortless conversations, random banter, understanding and being understood. The US in February will be like a warm hug to a lonely man.

27.

I wonder if Bukowski faced this. He wrote raw, no holds barred. He must have upset some people, writing about private moments, ugly details. He probably killed some relationships being so candid. And yet that was a big part of his appeal, why we know his name. Maybe you have to cross that line… but not me, not yet. I won’t tell you what I did for the first time today.

28.

If I don’t make the call, I have to skip cheat day and fast for thirty-six hours. So I make the call. Her name is Eleanor and she’s easy to talk to. We stay on for close to ten minutes and I follow up with an email. Then I dip chicharrón in guacamole, give my lady a hug, and head back to bed. It’s ten past twelve in the afternoon.

29.

I was aiming to win $5,000 of new business in November. A big project put me over the edge on Thursday, and now some unexpected work pushes me further ahead. I’m happy, but not satisfied. Earlier this week I interviewed people making $10-15k a month online through freelancing. No reason why I can’t do the same.

30.

It’s about noon as I sit up in bed, listening to music from big pink, trying to be still. She’s at my side, dozing. I watch her eyes twitch behind skin and flash back a fortnight, how unlikely this all was. She’ll move out later today. I’m savoring these moments, because now could well be the end of it, the last time we’re together like this.

Writing home

In the comments below, let me know which of the above Momentos is your favorite. Which can you relate to?

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$5k November: Mission Accomplished!

November has come to an end, and therefore so has my self-imposed challenge to win $5k of new business within the month.

In my update last week, things weren’t looking too good. I’d secured only $2,005 worth of new business and I didn’t foresee any big projects falling out of the sky to save the day.

But, as it transpired, the sky did open and the day got saved.

One of my existing clients asked if I’d like to build a new website for him, and after chatting it out on Skype we agreed that my compensation for the project would be in the $3-5k range.

Adding just $3k to the pot to keep things conservative, while also adding numbers from a couple of other projects last week, that means I’ve exceeded my goal for the month by ten percent

Happy, but not satisfied.

So as well as having lots of work to do these next few weeks, I’m now also tasked with figuring out how exactly I managed to pull this off!

But before I get to that, I should say that I’m not entirely satisfied with how the month went. Sure, I managed to reach the $5k goal, but the bulk of my “winnings” came from two great clients I’d been working with since long before November. These past few weeks I was hoping to figure out a solid system for landing big projects from new clients, so I wouldn’t be as dependent on the few I’ve already got.

As such, I realize there’s still plenty I can learn about lead generation, and I plan to experiment a lot more with that in the coming months.

What worked?

Now let’s talk about what did work well for me in November. Luck aside, which of my efforts proved most effective in the quest to win $5k worth of new business?

I believe it boiled down to three key things:

I let my best existing clients know that I was hungry for more work. This accounted for the bulk of the $5k.
I shouted from the rooftops (via my mailing list, social media, and private messages) to let everyone know what kind of work I could do and that I was available to do it. This led to four new clients.
I kept myself motivated and staved off procrastination by writing publicly about my intentions and efforts here on the blog.

And what didn’t?

I’m hesitant to rule anything out because some efforts that have so far been ineffective may yet bear fruit. For example, I made several cold calls last week, while a friend cold emailed a bunch of businesses on my behalf. Nothing has come of those efforts so far, but we’ll persist a little longer before drawing any conclusions.

One lesson learned the hard way during the challenge: Identify and communicate the biggest risks to a project as early as possible.

I say this because I invested about six hours discussing and putting together a proposal for a big project mid-month, only to realize near the end of those hours that the timeline was too tight and the client would be better off hiring someone with more availability.

It really shouldn’t have taken me six hours to figure that out, so a lot of time wasted there.

How did you do?

If you set your own income challenge for November, check in via the comments below and share how you got on.

Specifically, tell me:

What worked?
What didn’t?
What are you going to do next?

…

P.S. For reference, here are the previous posts in this series:

November Challenge: Win $5k in New Business (You Too?)
$5k November: Finding Work
$5k November: Update #1
$5k November: Update #2
$5k November: Update #3

P.P.S. Last week I interviewed four different people who are earning between $3k and $10k per month freelancing online. I’ll have those interviews ready for your ears soon. Sign up to my Business & Entrepreneurship list below to make sure you don’t miss them.

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$5k November: Update #3

Now entering the home stretch, here’s an update on my goal to win $5,000 of new business in November.

As of this writing, three-quarters of the way through the month, my income from all “new” business is at $1,650, and I have another $355 due from unfinished projects.

So that puts me at the $2,005 mark.

Last week I reported that I’d reached $1,775, so I really didn’t do very well since then, securing just an additional $230 in new business. That’s a pretty bad week no matter how you slice it, and I’m still a long way off the $5k mark :-/

Shaking things up

My primary strategy up until recently was to reach out to friends and acquaintances and let them know a) what kind of work I do, and b) that I’m looking to take on new projects.

The idea there is that you’re more likely to have work sent your way if lots of people are keeping an eye out for opportunities on your behalf.

This worked very well the first week of the challenge, but the past two weeks have shown me that it’s not a sustainable way of finding new clients. I’ve started to run out of friends/acquaintances I feel comfortable asking for help, and if I persist much more I risk become an annoyance.

So, what next?

The value of putting yourself out there

This is where I’m finding a lot of value in having this here blog and writing about my efforts. Several people have contacted me in recent weeks recommending different things I could try to find new work.

For example:

My buddy Tyler sent me a link to this article: A (Proven) Freelancer’s Guide to Growing Your Business
Radhika reached out to me with some great recommendations for finding fresh leads (she’s a pro at that kind of thing).
Adam jumped on Skype with me and told me how he’s been finding work online through some creative approaches.
Michelle sent me a link to a screencast explaining the process she used to go from $0 to $3k a month in 90 days with her freelance writing biz.

Now it’s one thing to have people send you stuff like that, and it’s another to take action on it. But by virtue of publicly committing to this challenge, I’m being far more proactive than I would be otherwise.

Whether I fail to make $5k this month or not, I don’t want to leave any room for someone to say that I could have tried harder.

As such, last Thursday I picked up the phone and tried one of Adam’s recommendations. Nothing has come of that call (yet), but it’s an example of an action that I could easily have talked myself out of if not for the public accountability I’ve created.

How can you hold yourself more accountable?

If you’re having trouble being proactive with this challenge or similar, experiment with some public accountability. Facebook is an easy place to start. Jump over there right now and update your status to say you’re going to do X, Y and Z this week.

Example:

Hey everyone,

I need some public accountability to try reach a lofty goal I’ve set for myself. I’m trying to earn $X,XXX this month as a freelancer, and to give myself a good chance of succeeding this week, I’m aiming to do the following:

Create a pitch email template.
Make at least two new pitches every day (Monday-Friday).
Follow up with all past clients by the end of the week and see if there’s anything else I can help them with.

I’ll post an update on my progress every morning and evening here on Facebook. If you don’t hear from me, please call me out! A bit of social pressure will help ensure I follow through on this.

Thanks!

Another tool you can use for public accountability, with the added incentive of a monetary penalty should you fail to follow through: Go Fucking Do It.

How are you doing?

If you’ve come along for the ride and have set your own income goal this month, let me know via the comments below how it’s going for you. Specifically, tell me:

What’s working?
What’s not?
What are you going to do next?

Shout out to Sophia who has taken on the challenge this month and gave the following update in the comments of my last post:

I think that Nov. might be my biggest revenue month so far! I landed a new ongoing client who paid their initial planning fee early plus a one time client who paid $449 for a session. I also have been doing a bit more freelance writing and just got paid out for my Oct. writing gig (which was my biggest month). I’m hoping that Nov. is similar.

Hoping that I gross as much in 2014 as I did in 2012, before I was self employed. We shall see!

…

P.S. For reference, here are the previous posts in this series:

November Challenge: Win $5k in New Business (You Too?)
$5k November: Finding Work
$5k November: Update #1
$5k November: Update #2

P.P.S. If you know of anyone on the lookout for a great web developer, I’d love if you could send them this way!

Momentos: November 1st – November 15th, 2014

1.

It’s about a year now since I decided to quit that passive income biz, to give up $4k a month easy money. Not long before that I announced my goal of banking $100k before the end of 2014. Right now, with only $2k to my name, I still feel fine about the former and a little embarrassed by the latter. Indeed, long is the way, and hard…

2.

As the story goes, he was drunk, might have been spiked, brought some random chick back to his private room at the hostel. He passed out, but came to in time to see her trying to leave with his shit. He tried to stop her, knife came out, arm got slashed. A struggle ensued, the cops were called, but somehow she managed to get away clean.

3.

It’s an art. You want to be approachable and allow for serendipity, but at the same time you need to set and enforce strong boundaries. I go through this every time someone starts chatting to me here at the hostel while I’m working. I’d like to be friendly and explore new friendships, new opportunities. But sometimes I gotta say, “Sorry man, I really need to get this done.”

4.

Few people seem eager to understand others. We’d rather find something to disagree with, jump to conclusions, unleash criticisms. It’s telling that arguments rarely end with someone saying, “Ah okay, I understand where you’re coming from now.” It’s easier to blame, and more tempting to try prove ourselves right, despite the cost.

5.

Flakiness in full effect, this stunner who’s been flirting with me outrageously all week via ones and zeroes bails out on our rendezvous at the last minute. But I’m not mad. Frolics would have been nice this afternoon, especially in the new pad with the skyline view, but I’ll still mark the day a nine on the contentedness scale. Loving what is, not what coulda been.

My Danish flatmate plays online poker for a living, up to eight tables at a time!

6.

Hit a patch of burnout today. Still got some work done, but there were also a couple of hours of youtubing in there. That time would have been put to better use if I’d grabbed a good nap, rested properly. Obvious what I need to do to get right, yet often resistance blocking the path. Why the self-sabotage? What purpose does it serve?

7.

Half my life ago, I went to NYC. For all intents and purposes, my first real trip abroad. My cousin and I ate at McDonalds, bought baggy shorts, and flipped quick from over-cautious to over-trusting. I’ll never forget the man with one tooth we met at the Garden, said he could get us Knicks tickets. We handed over $150 and lost him in the crowd.

8.

Giant. I like his style. Whether we’re walking down the street, through the supermarket, or across the bar, he’ll throw out a calm and confident, “Hola, cómo estás?”, to any girl who takes his fancy. Depending on the response, he might stop and interact a bit more. Makes me realize how simple the game can be; complications mostly in my head.

9.

Wager and myself thinking we’ve done pretty well bringing two girls back (though my lady says she has a boyfriend) until we walk in the door and find Giant with a pair on the couch and another in the kitchen, no big deal. Looks like the two roomies are sorted for the night, but no telling how it will unfold for me.

10.

Evening intercambio after a long work day. My Spanish is improving slowly but surely. Even though I’m living here in the thick of it, I keep the bar fairly low: a half hour of practice cada día is all I need accomplish. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Better the small goal you stick with than the big one you quit.

Intercambio meetup in Medellín

11.

Grinding it out, another long day at the home office, earned about $300 for my efforts. Which ain’t much given that I’ve been staring at a screen for most of these past twelve hours. Between paid work sessions I spend chunks of time looking for new gigs, writing proposals, and, of course, procrastinating like a mofo.

12.

Eleven months and eleven countries later, here we are, together again. The needle returns to the start of the song and we all sing along like before… or so I expected. But it’s not like that. Part of me wants things to be like they were, to jump right back in, while another part is comfortable with this distance between us, even as we sleep in the same bed.

13.

I’m sitting in a warm room with a hundred Colombians. There’s an American dude up front showing pictures of himself driving fast cars and hanging out with Owen Wilson. It’s a pitch for a pyramid scheme. I came here for a girl, thought she was digging me, thought it was a date. Apparently she was thinking something different.

14.

We’re still sharing a bed. It got awkward, but we talked it out last night, after I got back from my non-date. Tim Ferriss once wrote: “A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” I don’t expect it to be easy going forward, but as long as we keep talking, we should be fine.

15.

Now there’s a competitive aspect. She’s going to get hit on a lot here (I’ve already seen it first-hand) and she’ll end up dating some alpha dudes. I’m not sure my ego can handle that unless I’ve got some plates spinning, too. So here I am, hanging out in Parque Lleras on a Saturday night, ready for a rampage.

Meeting Pablo Escobar’s brother in Medellín

In the comments below, let me know which of the above Momentos is your favorite. Which can you relate to?

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$5k November: Update #2

Here’s the mid-month update on my goal to win $5,000 of new business in November.

As of this writing, halfway through the month, my income from all “new” business is at $900, and I have another $875 due from unfinished projects.

So that puts me at the $1,775 mark.

Last week I reported that I’d reached $1,160, so progress definitely slowed for me in week two.

So far this month I’ve spent significant time pitching and discussing big projects. One of them — which would have easily put me over the $5k mark — fell through on Friday, so that was a bit of a bummer, though I don’t think there’s anything I could have done different/better to seal the deal. It just wasn’t meant to be.

The week ahead

I need to follow up with one big prospect and see if we can work together. Other than that I mostly plan to keep doing what I’ve been doing: reaching out to friends and acquaintances and letting them know I’m available for web design/development work.

Alternative methods of lead generation

Even though, for the most part, I intend to stick with what I’ve been doing, I’m trying to be careful not to rule out other methods of lead generation. Last week two friends sent me this article: How to use AngelList to win more than 30 consulting offers in 30 days.

So I put aside an hour and followed the steps outlined there for generating leads on AngelList.

The result?

Nothing

But the reason I bring it up is to encourage you to keep experimenting and taking action, even if you’re skeptical about certain ideas for finding work.

Doing something is always better than doing nothing. So don’t wait around waiting for the perfect plan to fall into your lap before taking action. Invest a little time in a few different ideas, track the results and see what pays off.

How are you doing?

If you’ve come along for the ride and have set your own income goal this month, let me know via the comments below how it’s going for you. Specifically, tell me:

What’s working?
What’s not?
What are you going to do next?

…

P.S. For reference, here are the previous posts in this series:

November Challenge: Win $5k in New Business (You Too?)
$5k November: Finding Work
$5k November: Update #1

P.P.S. If you know of anyone on the lookout for a great web developer, I’d love if you could send them this way!

$5k November: Update #1

Here’s a quick update on my goal to win $5,000 of new business in November.

As of this writing, a week deep into the month, my income from all “new” business is at $560, and I have another $600 due assuming two live projects are completed satisfactorily.

So that puts me at the $1,160 mark, which I’m quite pleased with.

Here’s a nice graph:

This weekend I’m also putting together a proposal for a pretty substantial project which could go a long way towards helping me reach my goal. We’ll see what happens there.

How am I getting leads?

As I mentioned last week, my primary strategy for finding work has been to reach out to as many people as possible and let them know I’m available for hire. After all, a client won’t think to hire me unless they know I’m available, right?

So part of my (almost) daily routine for the past week has been to personally reach out to 5+ friends and acquaintances and let them know that I’m actively seeking new projects and clients.

I’ve also been spreading the word via this blog, and I managed to drop a plug for my freelance services in a radio interview I recorded earlier today.

Every little helps

How are you doing?

If you’ve come along for the ride and have set your own income goal this month, let me know via the comments below how it’s going for you. Specifically, tell me:

What’s working?
What’s not?
What are you going to do next?

…

P.S. For reference, here are the previous posts in this series:

November Challenge: Win $5k in New Business (You Too?)
$5k November: Finding Work