Archive for the ‘Worth A Look’ Category

Just wrote a post focusing on musicians and the issues I have faced on my journey as a musician.

It contains some pretty universal points so will be of help to any people who have struggled with things like self-worth, self-identity, growing older, lack of focus.

It also partially fills in a gap in the Special Theology of Relativity series (which I will finish shortly).

Musician 2.0 – Redefining Your Self-Identity

Enjoy!

Seamus Anthony

Reading multiple “how to” blogs and books is a complete waste of time and here’s why…

The secret to success in life is simple. It goes like this:

1. Decide what the One Thing you really want to do is.
2. Work relentlessly at being great at doing it.
3. After you’ve been working at it for a while honestly appraise whether you are talented enough in this area to succeed (believe me, I have seen enough live music to know that sometimes hard work just ain’t enough to cover for complete lack of talent).
4. Keep working at it.
5. Get it out there (don’t hide under a bushel).
6. Don’t get distracted.
7. Keep working at it until you succeed.

This is the conclusion I have come to after years and years of digesting just about all the self-help and “how to” literature that one man should ever read.

Of course everybody’s journey is different and I am generalizing, but my point is that at the end of any self-help journey this is where you end up if you are actually going to go on and succeed.

Hi there – just a quick note to alert you to a new article by me over at The Change Blog:

The Power of Monomaniacal Obsession

If you like it please do give it a digg or a stumble – cheers!

Seamus Anthony

Just a quick post to point you to my latest article over at The Change Blog: A 7 Step No-Waffle Plan for Real World Success.

The hits just keep on comin’

Cheers,

Seamus Anthony

I sure as hell am. Didn’t stop me getting on one though…

I have a new two-part tale of high horseback adventure up over at LivingNow.com.au

How To Conquer Your Fear of Abandonment (and Horses) Part One

and Part Two is here … but it would be just plain contrary of you to start there

Hope you enjoy!

Seamus

Well back on board after the weekend and just spent a few minutes reading some cool stuff before retiring for the day. As the hail pelts down on my little bungalow in the mountains, here’s five posts that I reckon are worth your time:

8 Great Anti-Hacks to Fundamentally Change Your Life

This is some Rebel Zen in action right here. An anti-productivity rant from Clay Collins of Project Liberation and The Growing Life that advises us to “be flaky and denounce the cult of permanence”.

Sound advice that, denouncing the delusion of immortality that is, which leads me to my next recommendation for the day:

Death and Happiness – a Paradigm Shift for the West

This is a powerful article that reminds us all not to forget that at any time now we may die. I’ll let Steve Jobs sum up my opinion on this matter:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

Well the bad news is that I got slapped by Stumble Upon on Monday for trying to promote this (sadly overlooked) post and learned that it is uncool with them to promote your own stuff (which I think is crap, but anyway …) and the good news is I have a new article up at PickTheBrain.com called 7 Reasons to Set Fire to Your Career Plan.

So seeing as I can’t do it myself – feel free join all those who have already dugg it or stumbled it (but only if you like it of course).

In other news I just read an article which kind of compliments the above mentioned article – and although it’s not a new post, it was good timing for me to read it today because Steve and I are busy blasting out some new projects which we will be able to share with you very soon.

That’s it for tonight, back with more in a jiffy, what what …

Here’s three great personal development articles that are worth a look:

How to Climb Up the Ladder of Healing and Growth

Ari Koinuma gives us a short and a long version of this post. Having the attention span of a gnat, I went for the shorter version first but in fact the full essay makes more sense (although if I were Ari, I’d steer clear of calling something an essay, makes the schoolboy in me want to run a mile).

The concept he is exploring is that we are at any one time set to a default state-of-mind that appears on a scale of what he terms a “healing/growth spectrum”. This idea will be great for systematic minds that like classifications, numbers and graphs. That’s the complete opposite of how my brain works, but still I really enjoyed this post. Ari has good storytelling skills and the guts to reveal information about his personal journeys. And as a new father, I was especially interested in the idea of young children starting out at a fairly positive level, then moving up or down according to what cards life deals them. Definitely worth a look.

Steve and I have been trying to define what Rebel Zen is all about and one thing we want to convey is that it’s not just meant to be a mega-phone for what we have to say, but rather what we really want is to be part of the conversation.

Ok, that sounds like a bit of a Web 2.0 cliche I admit, but nevertheless it’s true.

Our reason for starting this website was to help others to see that there is so much information out there now that everybody who is seeking what we loosely call “Enlightenment” can truly ‘do it themselves’. Hence the DIY Enlightenment tag.

As for what enlightenment means, well that’s not something that we feel we have the right to define for you either. Defining what enlightenment is (and realising this enlightenment) is a totally personal and subjective thing. You might completely disagree with us, for example, by believing that your guru is the one and only path to true salvation. That’s okay as long as you’re prepared to enter into a discussion about that.