WAKE UP! The Playlist To Get You Moving!

Just about a year ago I debuted the WAKE UP! playlist on YouTube & Spotify. Be sure to click ‘subscribe’ so you can also enjoy these rockin’ vibes!

Since the original version of this playlist debuted I have continued to add songs and tinker with the order. Today we rock 35 songs and continue to look for music that fits with the flow of this list.

The original list was meant for early morning to “get out of bed and start feeling GREAT!” I have since realized that I enjoy listening to the list on shuffle any time of day! The random factor is a muse…I might just be sitting at my desk and a song will come on that will get me out of my chair, free dancing like a maniac, feeling amazing! The energy that music can give off is spectacular if you let yourself absorb it and feel it. That inspiration cannot come if the room is silent!

 

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There Are No Annoying People

There is no such thing as an annoying person.

There is only your decision to be annoyed.

(not my original thought, though it is one I try to live by!)

Pelotonia 2018: Riding For L Brands!

Pelotonia 2018 will mark my 7th consecutive ride for #onegoal: end cancer! I am proud to continue to support this grass-roots movement that began in Columbus and has since raised over $150m for the cause!

Since my first ride in 2012 I have proudly ridden for Stefanie’s Team of Hope, the single highest fundraising non-corporate peloton involved! If you are considering riding, this is the peloton for you!

Starting in 2018, I am proud to announce I will be riding for L Brands International / LaSenza! (click here to donate to my ride) At a fortuitous 2013 fundraising event for Pelotonia 2013 I somehow convinced a pretty young blonde woman to give me her phone number. We got married in June 2017 and as a result I am eligible to ride for her L Brands peloton.

Why is this significant?!

L Brands MATCHES the fundraising efforts of it’s riders! I am now able to do 2x the damage as all of the funds I raise will be doubled by L Brands!

Now more than ever you should think about contributing & forwarding to your friends. With YOUR help, we can defeat cancer! #dontalmostgive

Our 2018 goal = $3,001. Click here to donate to my ride!! Thank you for your consideration!

 

A Solution To Police Shootings: Change The Rules Of Engagement

Should police be granted exclusive right to the use of force? Should police be provided solely by government? These are questions for another time.

The sad truth is that we live in a world where the police are agents of the government. The government provides them an outdated code in which they believe they are allowed to use lethal force if they fear for their safety whether that fear is justified or not. 

I do not disagree that if any public police or private human is in imminent danger they should be able to protect themselves against that danger, even if it means using lethal force against the threat.

However, I do disagree that a simple perception of danger is not a high enough standard. Thinking that someone has a gun is not enough to justify shooting first! 

The police should be held to a code where they cannot shoot first.

The rules of engagement must provide that police cannot fire until fired upon.

Following this code would ensure that no one is shot for holding a cell phone or a toy gun (toy guns = future essay, don’t get me started!)

If you choose to be a police officer you must accept that you may find your self in dangerous situations that do not allow you to use lethal force until lethal force has been directed at you. If you find this unacceptable you do not have to choose a career in law enforcement!

Forget The Official World Golf Rankings. Tiger Woods Is The #1 Golfer On Earth Right Now.

Tiger Woods has done more for the world of golf since 1997 than basically all other golfers combined.  Fans like myself have missed him, dreaming of the day he returns and is competitive with today’s younger stars.

It looks like (knock on wood) our wish has come true! After a hiatus that basically began in 2009 and culminated in retirement chatter in late 2017, Tiger Woods is back! For real this time. After a T-2 at the 2018 Valspar Championship in March 2018 expectations are through the roof. And for good reason!

Just one of these, and it's a playoff. pic.twitter.com/16xd7TiSPt

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 12, 2018

Tiger hit the ball so well at the Valspar and got very few breaks. At least a half-dozen chips nearly went in. Double that number of putts burned the edge. Numerous Par 5s were not dominated as they likely will be next time. Had Tiger gotten a break or two he could have won the Valspar by 3 or 4 shots, or more!

Tiger Woods at the 2018 Valspar Championship Image = Getty Images

The Official World Golf Rankings list Tiger as #149 in the world after his T-2 at Valspar Championship, a number that both fans and critics of the god superstar are clinging to. I for one think it’s impressive considering he was as low as 1,199 not too long ago.

But I must point out that these rankings are incredibly flawed! Tiger Woods is not the #149 golfer in the world. Tiger Woods is the #1 golfer in the world!

I don’t care what some point system tells me. I care what my eyes and brain tell me. And after watching every shot of every round Tiger has played this year my eyes and my brain tell me that there’s no one on Earth I’d rather have golfing in my corner.

Disagree?!

Let’s have a one on one contest where we each pick a present day golfer to play a round for us to the death! Give me the first pick and here’s how it’s going to go:

Nick, instantly: “Tiger Woods”.

Your move.

Who are you going to pick?! Sure there is plenty of talent out there. Not just talent, either. Insanely good talent! But behind all of that talent is a human being. And that human being is not Tiger Woods. That human being does not have 79 wins or 14 majors. That human being has not routinely competed under the highest of pressure.

Plainly said, that human being in a one on one match with today’s Tiger Woods, would be an underdog.

Now, let’s say you have the first pick, but you got to read this essay before picking.

Who do you pick?!?!

Letting Down Dale #DaleFail

Hey boys!

Dale. Dale. Dale. Dale.

If you live a #DaleApproved life you will be at peace and likely have many true friends.

If you do things that Dale would not approve of, well life may not be as fun and easy for you.  You might not know you’re letting Dale down. You might not even realize how much better your life can be.

You are committing a #DaleFail, perhaps many, and you might not even know it.

DON’T LET DALE DOWN! #DLDD

Some would say that pointing out a #DaleFail is a #DaleFail itself. I am up in the air on it but I see the point. Personally, if I am committing a #DaleFail I hope someone brings it up to me! I also hope I react properly, count to ten if needed, think about what they are saying and process the information without bias. I’d rather know I’m #DaleFailing so I can stop versus continuing to #DaleFail!

 

Why Is There No Shortage Of Unnatural Death?

It’s 2018 but sadly no one bats an eye at the idea of unnatural death.

Stop and ask yourself: why do people die outside of natural causes? Does it not seem a bit odd that despite the combined technological achievements of all mankind, society still seems to accept unnatural deaths as a normal way of life?!

This is insane!

Drug overdoses, gun related deaths, car crashes…these are all completely avoidable!

In my idea of a progressed society an unnatural death would be so rare if one happened it would be announced with a canon and broadcast worldwide, in the sky, for all to see. 

 

Adjusting Your Reactions To Ensure Personal Happiness

We cannot control other human beings. They exist and some do things that may start to irritate us. However if we get upset/mad/irritated, et cetera, the issue actually lies within us.

The reason is simple: We cannot control others, we can simply adjust our reactions to what others do. One key adjustment would be to be as stoic as possible in situations that may otherwise piss us off!

This is not easy to do (at first) but gets much easier with a little practice. Someone cuts you off on the highway? Sucks, I know. But you can’t do anything about it. It happened. That person might be an asshole. Or perhaps they are late for something important. Or maybe their house just burned down and they aren’t thinking/driving logically. Who knows?!

The point is, it doesn’t matter why they cut you off. It happened. It’s over. You can choose to be angry and act like a psycho or you can take a moment, count to ten, give the (asshole) the benefit of the doubt and decide to let it go.

After you do this a few times you’ll realize how much easier it is to choose to guide your reactions toward not being mad, upset or frustrated. You will see the positive results in all aspects of your life and you’ll start to realize that you never again have to make another person feel bad.

I often wonder, why would anyone ever want to make another person feel anything other than GREAT?! Your average internet troll lives for the opportunity to make other people feel bad by saying mean and hurtful things with no regard for how their words will affect the person on the other end of the screen.

Are we not better than an internet troll? If we are saying / doing mean and hurtful things in real life, than no, we are not better than the troll. We might even be worse! Therefore doesn’t it make sense to always go out of our way to not make someone feel bad? To instead try to make them feel GREAT?!

A simple example is when your food isn’t perfect or the order is wrong at a restaurant. I’ve seen people take it out on the server or chef and really make that person feel awful. Why would anyone ever want to do this?! Who cares of the server or chef messed up?!

People mess up all the time. You mess up. I mess up. We all mess up. We can’t control that a mistake happened, we can only choose how to react to the mistake. Instead of choosing to make the server or chef feel bad, simply choose not to! Go out of your way to do the unexpected and minimize the issue. You may make that persons night and even better, you might inspire that person to act in a similar kind manner the next time they are in a position to react to someone else’s mistake. There is no better feeling than helping someone else to feel better.

Apple Corporation: Please Make These (small) Changes!

Apple products are some of my favorite things on Earth. They make many things in my life easier, from work to travel to just plain fun. I am quite grateful for the innovation Apple provides that helps drive all tech.

While many of Apple’s products are quite good, all products everywhere can be improved upon. For if we stop trying to innovate and improve, research is at an end.

Here are my top suggestions for Apple

1. Allow devices to Bluetooth stereo sound out to multiple receivers at once. My wife and I were recently sitting in an airport trying to catch up on the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe, aka the greatest thing ever!),  and we had to revert to corded headphones with a splitter to connect to our iPad Pro. This clunky and uncomfortable set up was far from ideal as our AirPods and Wireless Beats sat useless nearby.
2. Downloading rented or purchased movies & TV shows is very clunky and worst of all, doesn’t seem to have a memory. In the same airport as above, we began the download of ‘Thor: The Dark World’ after paying $3.99 to rent it from the iTunes store. We had to restart the movie download numerous times – this is unacceptable! At one point the movie was 90% downloaded and sure to finish before we were to board our flight. The free wi-fi at LaGuardia Airport reset after 45 minutes and we had to re-login to the wi-fi, at which point our Apple iTunes download paused, and then re-started at 0%. Totally unacceptable! First, let me download from my LTE, after all it’s my data! Second, make it so that the devices start at the % they left off when a download is paused. Re-starting from 0% is terrible and makes me want to stop using iTunes to pay to rent movies.
3. When I rent a movie from iTunes, I’m given 30 days to watch it. Fair enough. However, once I start the movie, iTunes only gives me 48 hours to view it, and then it’s deleted from my system. This illogical thinking makes me not want to use iTunes to rent movies! I can’t control the next 48 seconds let alone 48 hours, so handcuffing me to finish a movie in 48 hours is not ideal for me. Why not just delete the movie after 30 days, or after I’ve finished watching it? Apple should be incentivizing me to rent movies, not instituting arbitrary time deadlines that make me want to find alternatives ways to view.

I will continue to add suggestions for Apple and (hopefully) make notes on the suggestions above as Apple incorporates my suggestions into future updates.

5 Books #RequiredReading To Be A Better Human Being

Use the links found here for affordable ways to purchase the following books. I highly recommend adding the Audible.com companion so you can listen to the books at your convenience.

I cannot place enough emphasis on how important each of the following books have been for me as I try to grow into a better human being. I highly recommend that every human being on earth read (or listen) to these books and strive to understand and live by the lessons learned on these pages.

1. Learn How To Properly Treat ALL Humans

How To Win Friends & Influence People

Author: Dale Carnegie [1888-1955]

How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie is amongst the best books ever written and should be considered required reading for ALL HUMANS. Read or listen to it ASAP. If you truly want to be a better human being you should be sitting up right about now.

2. Five Simple Steps To Living Your Most Meaningful Life

Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life

Authors: Ryan Nicodemus (@RyanNicodemus) & Joshua Fields Millburn (@JFM)

I have previously written about the importance of this book. I cannot emphasize enough the profound impact it has had on my life as I grow in the five categories it outlines to living a meaningful life. If you truly seek to grow and learn to live a more meaningful life, this book is a must-read for you.

3. Understanding Basic Economics Is A Vital Piece Of Being The Best Human PossibleEconomics In One Lesson

Author: Henry Hazlitt [1894-1993]

I have also previously written about Henry Hazlitt’s timeless book, Economics In One Lesson. Throw away your preconceived (and likely incorrect) ideas of what economics is and how it works, and let Henry explain, in very simple terms, the truth behind how economics works. Your basic understanding of these principles is a vital piece of being a better human being.

4. How To Build Wealth (aka Time)

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not!

Author: Robert T. Kiyosaki (@theRealKiyosaki)

Books on wealth building are a dime a dozen and I’m sure that many are very good. That said, nothing can compete with Robert T. Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad. This short book can open your eyes up to a different world – a world where people just  like you understand wealth building just a little bit better but enjoy a vastly different quality of life. Stop making excuses, invest $15 or less for the book and audible companion, and learn what many of us already know: true wealth is the one thing no one can create or buy more of: time.

5. Information All Humans Need So People Stop Dying Needlessly

Dreamland: The True Tale Of America’s Opiate Epidemic

Author: Sam Quinones (Twitter: @samquinones7)

Avoiding Opiates entirely is the BEST way to reduce and eventually eliminate death by opiate overdose. Fighting the system, which includes the Government and its insane prison system, evil companies like Purdue Pharma, crooked doctors and fake pain management centers,  is NOT the answer. The ONLY way to defeat the opiate epidemic is to ensure all people understand the dangers of opiates and choose, like I have chosen, to never take any opiate of any kind. EVERYONE ON EARTH MUST BE ADVISED OF THIS SIMPLE LIFESAVING INFORMATION!