EPTWhen the TL.net blogs first came out, I was slightly interested, but on the other hand I figured no one cares about random emo ramblings. So it took for BlizzCon to finally break me out of this shell and start a blog. Contrary to what I had thought previously, a lot of peoples' blogs are devoted to contributing to other TL.netters. So here is my contribution. I guess it could be placed in General Forum, but at the same time it's still a bit centered around my amazing self, so thus it belongs in my TL blog.
Here, I want to discuss to a small extent my goals for the future, but more importantly the issue of molding oneself into what they want to become and how to do it. If you're interested in improving your life socially, financially, and/or spiritually (lol), keep reading on
.Quick background information: My first couple years of High School, I was considered the "gamer nerd" - this directly resulted in no girlfriend, no popularity (though your mileage may vary on how important this issue really is), low confidence/self-esteem, etc. Overall I was okay with my life, but that's really like saying Michael Jackson would be okay with just women his own age - I wanted to go that extra step and molest small boys. God that was a horrible analogy.
Years later, I am reasonably happy with my life, I am making a decent amount of money from online poker, prompting many opportunities I plan to take later, and I am obviously a much different person with a newer outlook on my life. My future goals are to never work a day in my life after college (where I'm currently undeclared, but looking to go into something finance related), make tons of money, travel the world, and post a lot on TL.net.
Now that that's over with, here are some things I recommend to help out your own lives. Because I am a poker player, and because there is TONS of information that must be learned in [oker, I have become familiar with the task of reading an absolute buttload as a means of acquiring information. Therefore, my approach is largely based on learning via reading. If you think about it, reading on TL.net is a form of learning via reading, there is a LOT to be learned here, provided you stay out of the SC2 threads LOLOLOL JOKE.
Books I Recommend:
These won't be traditional self-help books imo, but more of stuff that would help you exceed far beyond the rest of the masses.
- The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene: A VERY good book that has 48 laws one must follow in order to have absolute power/control in their lives that applies to almost every social setting. Greene doesn't follow moral values, so some of these obviously won't apply if you have a heart, but regardless this is a very good read and is read by many famous people which include rap stars, CEOs, etc. What also makes this such a good book is that each law follows with a historical example of when the law was followed and disobeyed, and the results of those famous people that chose either route.
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki: There are a lot of self-finance books out there, and I haven't read many to be honest, but I really like this one. For one, it's not a hard read at all, I finished it in about 2 nights. Kiyosaki argues that the traditional idea of going to school, studying hard, and getting a good job is flawed in the modern age, and that to be truly financially independent, one must understand how money works, and a lot of that is taught in this book. The book is a bit controversial simply because it recommends a few high-risk ventures and discourages safe investing, and a few other points may be debatable, but on the whole this book is fantastic for anyone at college age or older who don't want to be stuck with a crappy job in middle management for the rest of their lives.
- Maximum Achievement - by Brian Tracy: Brian Tracy is a widely-renowned self-help author. I actually haven't completed this book, but it's designed to focus your own self-management abilities and hone yourself into becoming an efficient, positive human being, which has an application in almost every reasonable setting imaginable.
I've seen 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey recommended, but I read it in middle school and wasn't too impressed with it because a lot of it seemed like common sense. It's been a while, and I obviously have a different outlook and understanding of my life since then so I might have to review it one of these days. Feel free to Amazon.com any of these books, they're all pretty much like 10 dollars there.
Articles I Recommend:
HOWTO Be More Productive - by Aaron Swartz
http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/productivity
A guide to making your life productive, time-management basically. To be honest, time management is one of my worst problems - I spend WAY too much time browsing forums and talking about dumb crap on AIM where I could be doing much better things. It's similar to queueing up only more SCVs at your command centers even though there's a battle going on and your factories aren't blinking.
2005 Stanford Commencement Address - By Steve Jobs
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html
Steve Jobs' speech, which relates heavily on finding out what you love to do. This is a HUGE thing for most people, especially those who don't want to be stuck with their Walmart jobs for the rest of their lives.
How to Find What You Love To Do - By Brian Kim
http://briankim.net/blog/2006/07/how-to-find-what-you-love-to-do/
A follow up to Steve Jobs' article, this is an actual "guide" to finding out what you love to do and some extra stuff to prod you along your way. For what it's worth, my most optimal profession came out to be Asian Pop Star, haha. You guys will be seeing me on Asian TV soon perhaps
Ten Reasons You Should Never Get a Job - By Steve Pavlina
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/07/10-reasons-you-should-never-get-a-job/
This and Kiyosaki's book are both what inspired me on my current future goal of not working a day after I graduate. While it does have a little bit to do with me being a lazy computer gamer, it mostly deals with the fact that I'm the type of person that could never work underneath someone, and being completely dependent on that someone for my financial means.
On Seeing The 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning - By Haruki Murakami
http://www.mat.upm.es/~jcm/murakami-perfect.html
This is a very sentimental, yet short and sweet story (lol alliteration ftw) that famous writer Haruki Murakami wrote back in the day. I won't go into it too much, but basically 95% of people who have read this have loved it. If you're not too interested in anything else here, at least read this.
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I should also mention that I'm not even that huge of a fan of reading. In high school, I refused to read all the assigned reading (for example, The Scarlet Letter is the most ridiculous crap ever written), and I rarely ever completed a real "book" back then. In fact, I think the only book I had read from front to back in all my high school years was probably "Small Stakes Hold'Em" by Ed Miller. However, I've started reading a lot more these days simply because I feel that there are just so many valuable resources out there that I need to expose myself to, such as those I've listed above.
As of right now, I'm not exactly the perfect human being. I have my fair shares of upsets, but I take solace in the fact that I'm only 18 and that I still have a ton of things to learn, a lot to experience, and so much opportunity to grow. If one thing is for sure, however, I am MUCH better off than I was in high school, when I played 8 hours of War3 everyday.
There's a lot of stuff out there for anyone who is interested, and I've only just touched a little bit. For now, here is a very good quote from the 48 Laws of Power that essentially wraps up everything in a nutshell:
"The Promethean task of the powerful is to take control of the process, to stop allowing others that ability to limit and mold them. Remake yourself into a character of power. Working on yourself like clay should be one of your greatest and most pleasurable life tasks. It makes you in essence an artist - an artist creating yourself."
- Robert Greene
