Sunday, November 25, 2012

Enter to Win Today!


  
Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Inspire Me Daily team, we welcome you to participate in our first ever giveaway in thanks for helping us reach the 1,000+ fans milestone!

Enter to Win a 18x24 Print of one of our favorite manifestos that is guaranteed to inspire you daily. Feel free to share the love and forward this contest to your fellow dreamers, inspire-neers, friends and family. 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
THIS CONTEST IS IN NO WAY ENDORSED BY FACEBOOK

Continue Chasing Your Dreams,
Inspire Me Daily

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Iron Man 3 Official Trailer



Is it just me or is the trailer very dark and reminiscent of work by Christopher Nolan?
Looks very good and I can't wait to check it out next April!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Art: If Disney Villains Won


"As children we grew up with fairy tales and cartoons that ended with our protagonists living "happily ever after." But what if things were different? Illustrator Justin Turrentine explores alternative resolutions to some of Disney's most popular feature-length animations. In these tales, that the artist visually re-imagines, we're exposed to a different kind of "happy ending" where the characters we're most used to referring to as the "bad guy" winds up victorious.

In Turrentine's Happy Endings for Disney Villains series, evil has won over good and the villains basque in their glory. Cruella de Vil models her fur coat made of Dalmatians as the evil sea witch Ursula feasts on Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle. We also get a glimpse of Maleficent's victory as she towers over the three fairies who have turned them into stone. After all, in a battle between good and evil, only one side will eventually win."
via mymodernmet

Monday, October 15, 2012

Spacediving: Surpassing Our Limits


Records are meant to be broken. 
It is not until we surpass boundaries that we realize just how far we can go.

Thursday, October 04, 2012

SPECIAL POST: Why One Life




Shot during the opening of my first art exhibit since graduating from the uni, this video recounts the story of how I discovered my brand's name, it's slogan and a new way of viewing life.

Taken from One Life: The Show at DreamWorks Animation's campus on 6.14.12


One Life, You Decide™

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Be Creative, Successful and Your Own Boss!



By: Rae Ann Fera


When talking to creative freelancers, there’s one phrase that’s often repeated: “I don’t mean to sound cheesy or cliché but…” What follows that "but" ranges from waxing lyrical about the ability to control the professional and personal work they do, to an appreciation of work-life balance, to a full-on embrace of occupational joy and diversity. “It sounds cheesy, but if I’m not having fun, I’m not happy.”

That many freelancers sound like they have to defend their chosen career path says something about the state of the work world. It’s as if being satisfied in your work and how you go about it is something to feel guilty about; like somehow being your own boss is equated with not having a real job and faffing about in your jammies; as if in order to do real work you have toil away at a "stable" job with an office and its attendant politics. But, really, it’s the full-timers who should be defending the act of working at a desk inside a big office. Because, as we know, the state of work is changing.

As Fast Company has documented at length in its Generation Flux series, work can’t be defined in the old ways.

The pace of change in in business and culture is breakneck, and predicting what that job at that big company is going to look like next year, or what creative opportunities are going to present themselves to you, more difficult. As noted in Generation Flux: "what defines GenFlux is a mind-set that embraces instability, that tolerates--and even enjoys--recalibrating careers, business models, and assumptions." It’s a mind-set that’s shared by people who choose to pursue a self-driven creative career.

But what advice do successful freelancers give in terms of actually living and working this way? Mainly: get over it and just do it. While working independently is not all lollipops and rainbows, what with the added responsibilities of business finances, the stress of erratic income, and the unpleasant prospects of hustling for work, freelancers will tell you that the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

We solicited the opinions of nearly a dozen creative freelancers, from the established to the newly independent, to get the skinny on being your own boss. They shared candid insights on everything from building their own personal brand, to the ways in which they choose and create their work; from the sharing tips on navigating the annoying bits like finances (spoiler alert: get a great accountant), to the lifestyle perks that seem to trump the pain of going it alone.

Click Here to Continue

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Start a Revolution with Purpose

By Robert Hof

Jack Dorsey is a latter-day legend among entrepreneurs, and no wonder. Not only did he help found Twitter, where he serves as executive chairman and head of product development, but he’s also founder and CEO of Square, which is trying to foment a revolution in payments by allowing people to use their mobile devices as wallets.

Revolution, in fact, not simply disruption of the existing way of doing things, was Dorsey’s main message in a keynote talk this morning at TechCrunch Disrupt, a startup tech conference in San Francisco. “We need to change the name of this conference,” he told thousands of attendees hanging on his every word. Here’s a sampling of what he had to say, mostly aimed at dashing precious beliefs of entrepreneurs:

"I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. I never woke up one morning and thought I need to get a ticket to San Francisco. I actually wanted to be Bruce Lee.

Actually I wanted to be a sailor, to explore the world. I wanted to be a tailor, to build things myself that I could share with other. I wanted to be an artist, specificallly a surrealist.

Along the way, I realized life really happens at intersections. Literally for me. I was fascinated by cities.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Know Who You Are



In her 2012 commencement speech to the graduating class of Spelman College, Oprah Winfrey gifted three pieces of advice that could lead us all to the 'sweet' life:

1. Know who you are and what you want
2. Find a way to serve to others
3. Always do the right thing / be excellent in everything you do

Oprah is a phenomenal woman. I hope you take the time out to listen to her words.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Alice's Will to Finish

Article by Tara Thean

Swim with sharks. Meet a famous pop band. Stay in a caravan. These are all rather standard items to scribble on one’s bucket list – though there’s an inherent problem with most lists: they often languish, unachieved. But a British 16-year-old, facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, set out to tackle her list. And just a year after its creation, she’s managed to strike through all 17 items.

Alice Pyne, from Ulverston in northwest England, created her bucket list after learning more than four years ago that she had terminal Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She posted them all on her blog, which she started in the summer of 2011, to help her keep track of her progress. Just under her blog’s main banner, she alludes to her skepticism in completing all the items on her list: “Some are possible, some will remain a dream.”

It’s time for Pyne to update that text, because in July, Pyne ticked off the final adventure on her list: whale watching in Canada. Though whale watching had long been one of her most important to-dos, Pyne had almost given up hope of ever being able to go. “I just couldn’t believe that I was actually there,” she wrote. “I’m sure that the whales heard that I was about, cos they came out and I know that we’ll all remember it forever.”

Just 12 months earlier, she launched the blog to some unexpected fanfare. She quickly became something of an Internet sensation – the hashtag #alicebucketlist began trending on Twitter, attracting the attention of celebrities from David Cameron, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and Johnny Depp, according to the Huffington Post. The hashtag even became the top trending term one morning in June, The Guardian reported.

Through her Internet stardom, Pyne has managed to get 40,000 people to join the Bone Marrow Register, according to ITV News. But Pyne, cognizant of her terminal illness, hopes the trend will continue far into the future. “It’s really good that I’m getting so many people to join the register, but what about when I’m not here?” she wrote in 2011. “I don’t want it all to stop.” Pyne then explained her next mission: to have large card companies such as Hallmark, Camden, and Phoenix become involved in spreading the word as well.

Pyne’s blog continues to attract volumes of traffic, drawing over four million readers with dozens of encouraging comments written on each post. But perhaps the greatest inspiration comes from the young Pyne herself. Near the top of her blog, she writes: “You only have one life…live it!

via time.com

Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Emotions of Color in Commerce

"We usually associate fast food brands with warm, bright colors because they catch our attention. Vibrant tones are, in fact, well received by just about everyone. More often than not, fast food is an impulse buy: while driving down the road, the flash of gold or red catches our eye and our ravenous hunger sets in, not to be satisfied until we've chowed down into a Big Mac.

Imagine if McDonald's changed out the golden arches for muted blue ones. The restaurant would lose the pizzazz and immediacy of the promise. The arches would blend in with the sky and competitors' brands would stand out and take the lead.

Blue represents security and solid stability. Because of this, banks often use blue in their visual brand marks. The light blue color Pepsi used in the Pepsi Refresh project was a nice modern blue, which stands for health, wellness, and balance.

As we all know, green has become a very important color and word in the last decade. Companies that want to be known as “green” often incorporate the color into their palette. On the other end of the spectrum, red is one of the colors most widely used in advertising. It is everywhere from fast food to lipstick, and red stands for passion, love, food, and vitality."
via themcreativegroup.com

Monday, August 27, 2012

School of Athens


Regarded as one of my favorite paintings, The School of Athens is one of the most famous frescoes by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, painted between 1510 and 1511 as a part of commission to decorate the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The picture has long been seen as a masterpiece and a perfect representation of the High Renaissance

More information from Khan Academy below.

The School of Athens represents all the greatest mathematicians, philosophers and scientists from classical antiquity gathered together sharing their ideas and learning from each other. These figures all lived at different times, but here they are gathered together under one roof.

The two thinkers in the very center, Aristotle (on the right) and Plato (on the left, pointing up) have been enormously important to Western thinking generally, and in different ways, their different philosophies were incorporated into Christianity. Plato holds his book called The Timaeus.

Plato points up because in his philosophy the changing world that we see around us is just a shadow of a higher, truer reality that is eternal and unchanging (and include things like goodness and beauty). For Plato, this otherworldly reality is the ultimate reality, and the seat of all truth, beauty, justice, and wisdom.

Aristotle holds his hand down, because in his philosophy, the only reality is the reality that we can see and experience by sight and touch (exactly the reality dismissed by Plato). Aristotle's Ethics (the book that he holds) "emphasized the relationships, justice, friendship, and government of the human world and the need to study it."

Pythagoras (lower left) believed that the world (including the movement of the planets and stars) operated according to mathematical laws. These mathematical laws were related to ideas of musical and cosmic harmony, and thus (for the Christians who interpreted him in the Renaissance) to God. Pythagoras taught that each of the planets produced a note as it moved, based on its distance from the earth. Together, the movement of all the planets was perfect harmony -- "the harmony of the spheres."

Ptolemy (he has his back to us on the lower right), holds a sphere of the earth, next to him is Zaroaster who holds a celestial sphere. Ptolemy tried to mathematically explain the movements of the planets (which was not easy since some of them appear to move backwards!). His theory of how they all moved around the earth remained the authority until Copernicus and Kepler figured out (in the late 1500s) that the earth was not at the center of the universe, and that the planets moved in orbits the shape of ellipses not in circles.

via KhanAcademy

Thursday, August 23, 2012

I Beg Young People to Travel

“A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”
-Muhammad Ali

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

TEDx: Discover Your Capital


The 4 'Capitals to a Successful Career.'

Jullien “Purpose Finder” Gordon covers the importance of discovering the other 4.0.  
--
1. Personal capital: Strengths, talents, gifts, and unique characteristics.

2. Intellectual capital: Knowledge.

3. Social capital: Network (mentors, not just Facebook friends).

4. Influential capital: Impact.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Visionaries: Tom Ford



Designer. Director. Idol.
from OWN's Visionaries

7 Tips for Creating Your Own Destiny

 .
By Kevin Daum

Are you working on your life or just in it? Here is the perspective and method you need to plan and execute the life and career worthy of your potential.


Too many people whine about not having the life they want. The main reason people fall short of their own expectations is the same reason most companies fail to achieve their objectives: poor planning and execution. In fact, I am amazed at how many successful executives create strategy for their business, leaving their life to chance. Often it's more comfortable (note I didn't say easier) to complain and blame outside factors for lack of accomplishment or unhappiness than to take time to work on life rather than in it.

I choose otherwise. A close entrepreneur friend, J, and I are taking our annual four days away to determine our futures and hold each other accountable. Here are the tips that will assure us of success.

1. Plan a Preferred Future
As Lewis Carroll said: If you don't know where you are going, then any road will get you there. Both J and I are close to 50, so our 60th birthdays are the milestone for this journey. Twelve years is plenty of time to make course corrections and absorb any external factors thrown at us. Our planning will be specific and measurable. We'll take time to examine and discuss the details of every aspect of our lives, personal and professional, to achieve integrated success and happiness.

2. Be Pragmatic
Neither of us will be playing for the NBA at our age (or my height). The future has to reflect what is physically possible with available resources and limitations. Pragmatism isn't in itself restrictive, however; J and I will harness our creativity to design aspirational futures that exploit every opportunity and asset we have. We'll also create filters to keep us from wasting time and energy on what's unachievable or irrelevant.

3. Decide the Who, Not the What
We're defining who we want to be at 60, not what we want to be doing. The who centers on passion, core competencies, and core satisfaction, such as material requirements. If I know who I truly want to be, I can detail what to do, own, resources I need, etc. I can also determine what not to do, own, etc., focusing time and resources where required.


Entrepreneurs Change the World

Remember when you were a kid and has dreams of changing the world? 
This video says, 'there is still time.'

Dream Big.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Keep Resisting Success

9 Reasons Why You Will Never Be Successful
By Joel of Addicted2Success.com
Photo Credit Unknown

1. Because You're Procrastinating - Yes this is one of the more common reasons for most people to never excel in fulfilling their chosen field or business. Instead of taking advantage of every waking moment you make excuses on why you can put it off until tomorrow or put the “grunt” work off until later, which is usually the most important of your daily task. Many will complain about why they’re not successful, but continue to put unimportant events ahead of what really should be a priority to anyone trying to better their situation or build a successful business and the answer is right in front of you and the sad thing is most know it, but fail to do anything about it.

2. Because You Don't Believe You Have Enough - Nine times out of ten if you ask any person or entrepreneur why they have failed in finishing or accomplishing a goal their sentence will begin with Because I don’t…. Depending on what field of business they’re in many of us could guess how that sentence will end. The sad reality is that most of us lack one thing or another and many of our predecessors have overcome many obstacles and proven time and time again that where you live, your financial status, your race, location, height, and/or belief has no take on whether or not you will be successful and it is ultimately up to you.

3. Because You Don't Truly Believe in Your Ideas - I know this doesn’t come as a a surprise to most of you especially if you have ever started a business or had an idea that you thought was just revolutionary or unique with no competition, but once you do a little research or decide to launch you see ten other businesses doing the same thing. As I’m sure you have heard this before, but it is obvious most need to hear it again a successful business begins with a great execution and a failure is well… lack there of. Most ideas have been thought of or tried and tested, but many failed because of their execution and how it was brought about. There are many reasons why the same businesses fail while others succeed timing has a lot to do with it, capital, the person or entrepreneur, knowledge on the subject and much more.


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

A Wednesday Message: Don't Settle!

 
“There is no passion to be found playing small -
in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
-Nelson Mandela

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Inspire Me Daily


“Leaders are visionaries w/a poorly developed sense of fear & no concept of the odds against them.”
-Robert Jarvik


Become a Fan and Be Inspired Daily!

Monday, August 06, 2012

4 Ways to Conquer Fear


Article By Geoffrey James
Photo Credit Unknown

Fear is the enemy of success. Large rewards only result from taking comparably large risks. If you're ruled by fear, you'll never take enough risks and never achieve success you deserve.

If I've learned anything in this life, it's that the actions that scared me the most at the time--leaving a cushy corporate job to freelance, asking my beautiful wife for a first date, and adopting our two kids--have also paid off the most.

That doesn't mean these moves aren't hard at the time, but I've managed to retrain my brain to get past the momentary fear and push toward the payoff. Here are four ideas that I've made an integral part of my thinking:

1. Value Courage Over Security
Repeated surveys have shown that most people value "security" over just about everything else in their lives. People will put up with jobs that they hate, marriages that make them miserable, and habits that are killing them (think "comfort food") simply to feel more secure.

To conquer fear, you must consciously dethrone "security" as the thing that you value most in your life and replace it with the active virtue of "courage." You must decide, once and for all, that it's more important for you to have the courage to do what you must to succeed, rather than to cling to the things that make you feel safe.

2. Differentiate Between Fear & Prudence

Most fears are irrational and unreasonable. For example, you might be afraid to make an important call because if the call doesn't go well, you'll have to face the fact that you "failed." Or you might be afraid to confront a co-worker who acts like a bully, or to start your own business because you're not certain you've got what it takes.

It's these irrational fears that hold you back and keep you from being more successful.

That said, there are other kinds of fear that are actually just simple prudence. For example, you might be afraid to drive aggressively because you might cause an accident. Or you might be afraid to be arrested if you sell a product that kills people.

Prudence is a good thing. Just make sure you aren't pretending to be prudent--when you're just trying to avoid taking reasonable business risks, for instance, or putting yourself on the line to do what's necessary.

3. Treat Fear as a Call to Action
If what you fear is outside of your control (like an economic downturn), write down a specific plan of the exact steps that you'll take in order to adapt, if and when it happens. Once you've completed that task, put the plan aside and have the courage to forget about it. You've done what you can; it's time to move on.

But if what you fear is inside your control--some action that you're afraid to take, that is--take a few moments to prepare yourself, then do the thing that's scaring you.

I mean now. Not tomorrow; not next week. Right now, before you read the rest of this post. Call that person. Write that email. Create a business plan. Do it now!

4. Reframe Fear Into Excitement
Finally, tune in to the aspect of fear that's really fun. Think about the last time you rode a roller coaster: You probably felt plenty of fear, but you were also having a great time.

Let's face it, a life without fear--and without the courage to overcome fear--would be pretty bland and insipid.

A personal note: I want to add that there was a time in my life when "security" was so important to me that I was willing to tolerate being truly miserable. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that it was only when I changed my thinking (using the formula above) that my life came together.

Today, I'm actually really excited whenever I discover something that I'm afraid to do, because I know that something wonderful is going to happen--provided I summon the courage to take action!
via Inc

Turn Your Fears into Excitement

.
Translating Our Feelings
Are You Excited or Scared?
via DailyOM

When new challenges and opportunities show up in our lives, we may diagnose ourselves as feeling scared when what we really feel is excited. Often we have not been taught how to welcome the thrill of a new opportunity, and so we opt to back off, indulging our anxiety instead of awakening our courage. One way to inspire ourselves to embrace the opportunities that come our way is to look more deeply into our feelings and see that butterflies in our stomach or a rapidly beating heart are not necessarily a sign that we are afraid. Those very same feelings can be translated as excitement, curiosity, passion, and even love.

There is nothing wrong with being afraid as long as we do not let it stop us from doing the things that excite us. Most of us assume that brave people are fearless, but the truth is that they are simply more comfortable with fear because they face it on a regular basis. The more we do this, the more we feel excitement in the face of challenges rather than anxiety. The more we cultivate our ability to move forward instead of backing off, the more we trust ourselves to be able to handle the new opportunity, whether it’s a new job, an exciting move, or a relationship. When we feel our fear, we can remind ourselves that maybe we are actually just excited. We can assure ourselves that this opportunity has come our way because we are meant to take it.

Framing things just a little differently can dramatically shift our mental state from one of resistance to one of openness. We can practice this new way of seeing things by saying aloud: I am really excited about this job interview. I am really looking forward to going on a date with this amazing person. I am excited to have the opportunity to do something I have never done before. As we do this, we will feel our energy shift from fear, which paralyzes, to excitement, which empowers us to direct all that energy in the service of moving forward, growing, and learning.

Friday, August 03, 2012

Raising an Olympian: Gabby Douglas



Yesterday, Gabby was named the First African American Gold Medal Olympic Gymnast.
Congrats! You've inspired A LOT of people.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

The Entitled Bus Rider


Me: Hi, would you like to go on a date?
Girl: Yes
Me: Great!...There’s only one caveat… well…um, can you pick me up?

Chilvary is not dead, it’s just my car is. Well, the truth is I don’t even have a car and I may not have one for a while. I don’t come from money, and I didn’t have a silver spoon hanging from my mouth when I popped out of my mom. I moved to Hollywood literally with a dollar and a dream.

I am like a walking contradiction when I am invited to parties in the Hills and galas in 90210 as I roll up on my two feet, most of the time with a bead of sweat falling from my brow. While everyone else is hopping out of their 430s and 911s, I just hopped off one of the sexiest 704s or 212s you’ll ever see – some even come in fire engine red. Still, I walk in like I own the party as I wipe the bead from my forehead. I am here because I belong here.

Why? Because:

I’m an Athlete
Everyone who is someone knows this: buses do not always run according to schedule so sometimes you will find yourself at your stop on time only to find yourself there nine minutes later - still waiting. On the contrary, there will be these times: it’s 7:03 AM and you’re bus is not scheduled to arrive until 7:08. But you hear it approaching with its roaring motoric tones. “Damn, it’s early,” you think to yourself as you strap up and prepare to blast off, dipping through the crowds and spinning like a pro-football player avoiding those who aren’t paying attention and speeding up like a Olympic runner as the timecode counts down on the stop signal. Your bus arrives and so do you, a little sweat and all.

I’m a Power Networker
Most people know this too: there are some really crazy folks that ride the bus and I am happy to be one of them. You’ll find just as many people smiling and talking to their imaginary friends as you will those who are conversing with other lively beings. I am one of those too. No matter your circumstances or if you have a bag of plastic bottles on your shoulder, if you can hold a conversation then we are going to have a damn good conversation. I’ve listened to tons of stories from how people have met their spouses to advice about ‘getting laid’ to ‘living with minimal regrets.’

I’m an Adventurer
I once took the bus to go wine-tasting. Period.

But after all that, let’s just say, hypothetically speaking of course, your car happens to break down and there are no nearby taxis, your closest friends aren’t returning your calls and we only have a few dollars between the two of us. What do we do? No worries – I will know what time, when and where the bus will be to pick us up and take us to our destination.

The real adventure is in the journey.
So hey, how about 7:00 on Friday night?

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The 6 Personalities Every Startup Needs To Thrive


By
Jon Stein
via FastCompany.com
Photo Credit Unknown


Assembling your team is like putting together a puzzle. To succeed, you need to find the proper combination of complementary talents.

A desire to change the world, think creatively, and to work in a culture of innovation, are all reasons people pursue careers in startups over big companies. America's best and brightest are no longer seeking the corner office--instead, they're offering up their talents to technology companies in the hope of building something better.

Most startups come with a caveat: the agile, fast-paced nature of a newborn business isn't for everyone. The risk-adverse, status quo, complacent-types need not apply. Yet, hiring a bunch of go-getters is not the sole solution to creating a successful team. Big egos and arrogance can turn the office into a battlefield--a killer for a small company.

Instead, strive for balance as you hire. Here are the six personalities every startup needs:

1. The Dreamer
Every startup needs a dreamer. It's a motivating force in creating the company from day one and a sustaining force every day after. Most CEOs and founders have this characteristic, but it's not exclusive to management. The dreamer inspires, excites, and leads the company from a sky-high view.

Don't rely solely on your own leadership. Hiring other dreamers will help sustain momentum when your energy lags. Cultivate this quality in your employees by sharing your big, scary ideas and encourage them to do the same. Consistently communicating your vision to the team empowers them to help you build it (or come up with angles you missed entirely).

2. The Manager
The manager takes a dream and makes it happen. He or she is pragmatic, reliable, and has the initiative to turn ideas in action items. Charisma is less important here, it's all about being approachable, trust-worthy, and forward thinking. The manager understands that while the team needs a vision, it also needs tangible tasks to execute. The manager defines roles, outlines goals, and ensures that each individual is hitting the mark.

Most articles about hiring for startups don't talk about structure--it's not sexy, but it's the most crucial ingredient to achieving the things you envision. The manager will get you there.

3. The Builder
The builder thinks like an architect and acts like a tradesman. He or she has a clear understanding of the company vision and knows how to create it. The builder knows when to seek counsel and when to make an executive decision. He or she is intuitive, bright, and inventive. Ever worked with someone who, with little direction, seems to understand and create exactly what you want? That's the builder at work. I can't emphasize the value of this person enough.

4. The Workhorse
The workhorse is happy to step up and do whatever it takes to make the company engine purr. You will never hear the words: "It's not my job" come out of this person's mouth, and as a result, they will become your rock. The workhorse gets things done behind the scenes, be it ordering office furniture, assisting other team members, or following up on a suggestion you once made in a meeting. In all honesty, chances are most people in a startup will have the workhorse personality trait. Their egos don't need to be stroked, but a little recognition goes a long way.

5. The Penny Pincher
Anyone who's been part of a founding team will empathize with the experience of boot strapping. Funding (if and when it comes) is sweet, but you can never quite shake intolerance for wastefulness and the joy that comes from frugality. I respect team members that understand the importance of being efficient with budgets. The penny pincher questions every purchase and never commits to a cost without first considering the alternative options. He or she is creative with budgets, doesn't spend unnecessarily and understands the difference between need and want (and is accepting of the difference). The penny pincher personality trait speaks volumes to me--it means he or she cares about the long-term health of my company and is committed to getting me there.

6. The Social Butterfly
When there's work to be done it's tempting to create a vacuum. The earphones go on, the chat is switched off, and the body language shouts, "do not disturb." Removing distraction is a vital strategy in getting meaningful work done. Yet, what happens when there's always work to be done? These individual cells of silence can kill company morale when repeated over the long term. Never underestimate the importance of creating strong morale and a fun culture. The person with the ability to create connections among team members, laugh at themselves and others, and shift perspective at the right time, is an essential ingredient to a happy team.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Procter & Gamble: Thanks Mom



Another beautiful spot for the Summer Olympics. Thanks Mom.

Nike: Find Your Greatness



Amidst the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Oylmpics in London, Nike has released this pretty clever TV promo. "Somehow we've come to believe that greatness is only for the chosen few, for the superstars. The truth is, greatness is for us all. This is not about lowering expectations; it's about raising them for every last one of us. Greatness is not in one special place, and it's not in one special person. Greatness is wherever somebody is trying to find it. Find your greatness."

Monday, July 23, 2012

G.O.O.D. Music | Cruel Summer


Those looking forward to a 'Cruel Summer' in August, as per Pusha T, will have to wait a little longer. Not too long, though. The anticipated G.O.O.D. Music compilation album will be available digitally and through retailers on September 4.

In time for the album news, G.O.O.D. Music graces the cover of Complex's August/September issue. In the "Good Music: New Religion" cover story, seven of the group's most illustrious members -- sans Kanye West -- share secrets behind the group's dynamic and the place commander in chief, West, has in each of their lives, musically.

G.O.O.D Music affiliate, 2 Chainz, opened up about his actual connection to the organization, stating he's not signed; but has discussed the matter with 'Ye many times, developing a situation workable for both parties.

"I'm not officially signed, paperwork-wise, to G.O.O.D. Music. But I have a great rapport with 'Ye. He called me before Watch the Throne came out," he said.

In a twist of fate, Pusha T also revealed, "N*ggas in Paris," off "Watch the Throne," was intended for him, but he ended up passing on Hit-Boy's beat.

"He ain't lying. I thought Pusha had that beat. I heard that three or four times, and it wasn't for him," Kid Cudi added.

G.O.O.D.'s summer hit, "Mercy," sits atop our R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at No. 1 once again this week for the fourth time. Their second single, "New God Flow," is currently No. 6 on iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap singles.

via Billboard.com

TEDx: How to Start a Movement



"With help from some surprising footage, Derek Sivers explains how movements really get started. (Hint: it takes two.)"

Say & Mean These 12 Things

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1. I am following my heart and intuition.
Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams. Live the life you want to live. Be the person you want to remember years from now. Make decisions and act on them. Make mistakes, fall and try again. Even if you fall a thousand times, at least you won’t have to wonder what could have been. At least you will know in your heart that you gave your dreams your best shot.

Each of us has a fire in our hearts burning for something. It’s our responsibility in life to find it and keep it lit. This is your life, and it’s a short one. Don’t let others extinguish your flame. Try what you want to try. Go where you want to go. Follow your own intuition. Dream with your eyes open until you know exactly what it looks like. Then do at least one thing every day to make it a reality.

And as you strive to achieve your goals, you can count on there being some fairly substantial disappointments along the way. Don’t get discouraged, the road to your dreams may not be an easy one. Think of these disappointments as challenges – tests of persistence and courage. At the end of the road, more often than not, we regret what we didn’t do far more than what we did.

2. I am proud of myself.
You are your own best friend and your own biggest critic. Regardless of the opinions of others, at the end of the day the only reflection staring back at you in the mirror is your own. Accept everything about yourself – EVERYTHING! You are you and that is the beginning and the end – no apologies, no regrets.

People who are proud of themselves tend to have passions in life, feel content and set good examples for others. It requires envisioning the person you would like to become and making your best efforts to grow.

Being proud isn’t bragging about how great you are; it’s more like quietly knowing that you’re worth a lot. It’s not about thinking you’re perfect – because nobody is – but knowing that you’re worthy of being loved and accepted. All you have to do is be yourself and live the story that no one else can live – the story of your own unique life. Be proud, be confident, you never know who has been looking at you wishing they were you.

3. I am making a difference.
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.

Is it true that we all live to serve? That by helping others we fulfill our own destiny? The answer is a simple ‘yes.’ When you make a positive impact in someone else’s life, you also make a positive impact in your own life. Do something that’s greater than you – something that helps someone else to be happy or to suffer less.

You are only one, but you are one. You cannot do everything, but you can do something. Smile and enjoy the fact that you made a difference – one you’ll likely remember forever.

4. I am happy and grateful.
Happiness is within you, in your way of thinking. How you view yourself and your world are mindful choices and habits. The lens you choose to view everything through determines how you feel about yourself and everything that happens around you.

Being grateful will always make you happy. If you’re finding it hard to be grateful for anything, sit down close your eyes and take a long slow breath and be grateful for oxygen. Every breath you take is in sync with someone’s last.

5. I am growing in to the best version of me.
Judy Garland once said, “Always be a first rate version of yourself instead of a second rate version of somebody else.” Live by this statement. There is no such thing as living in someone else’s shoes. The only shoes you can occupy are your own. If you aren’t being yourself, you aren’t truly living – you’re merely existing.

Remember, trying to be anyone else is a waste of the person you are. Embrace that individual inside you that has ideas, strengths and beauty like no one else. Be the person you know yourself to be – the best version of you – on your terms. Improve continuously, take care of your body and health, and surround yourself with positivity. Become the best version of you.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Loving Life and Living Forever Young

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"Mexico-based photographer Joel Sossa visually expands on themes of loving life and living forever young. While the carefree escapades of the young can't be contained in a bottle, a version of it can live forever in photographs. His mix of lazy summer days and sun-kissed adventures further enhance a sense of youth and freedom in the outdoors. The photographer manages to capture modern, nomadic youth culture by merging nature hikes, camping, and dirt road adventures with technology to memorialize and share those priceless moments. Love, friendship, fun, and adventure are all present in the ongoing project by the photographer who self-admittedly lives the "vagabond life."'

Thursday, July 19, 2012

10 Lessons from a Well Lived Life

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Photo Credit: Hartwig HKD


Lessons Learned from My Father
By Marc

1. Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the sacred experience of living every moment with love and gratitude. There is always, always, always something to be thankful for and some reason to love. So be sure to appreciate what you’ve got. Be thankful for the little things in life that mean a lot.

2. Be a student of life every day. Experience it, learn from it, and absorb all the knowledge you can. Prepare yourself for greatness by keeping your mind conditioned with fresh knowledge and new challenges. Remember, if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready when great opportunities arise. Read The Last Lecture.

3. Experience is the best teacher. Don’t try too hard to memorize the things others are teaching. Learn the best practices and then do your thing. Life itself will teach you over the course of time, and often at the right time and place, so that you will remember forever what is truly important.

4. Your choices, your actions, your life. Live it your way with no regrets. Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do. Continue to work hard at what you love no matter what the challenges are. Be persistent. Life eventually rewards those who do.

5. No one is ‘too busy’ in this world. It’s all about priorities. What you focus on grows. Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, etc… Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

6. Be patient and tough. Someday this pain will be useful to you. You will never realize your true strength until being strong is your only option left. Until you are broken, you won’t know what you’re truly made of. Pain doesn’t just show up in your life for no reason. It’s a sign that something needs to change – it’s a wake-up call that guides you toward a better future. So keep your heart open to dreams, and make that change. For as long as there is a dream and positive action, there is hope; and as long as there is hope, there is joy in living.

7. Oftentimes it is better to be kind than to be right. We do not always need an intelligent mind that speaks, just a patient heart that listens. Be kind whenever possible. And realize that it is always possible. It takes a great deal of strength to be gentle and kind. And when you practice kindness and bring sunshine to the lives of others, you cannot keep it from yourself.

8. You can become a magnet for good things by wishing everyone well. Judge less and love more. If you want inner peace, resist the temptation to gossip about others, or portray them in a poor light. Instead of judging someone for what they do or where they are in their life, figure out why they do what they do and how they got to where they are.

9. Only you are in charge of your attitude. The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that that situation is over, you cannot move forward. You are responsible for how you feel, no matter what anyone else says or does. You are always 100% in control of your thoughts right now, so choose to feel confident and adequate rather than angry and insecure. Choose to look forward, not backward. Read Awaken the Giant Within.

10. Satisfaction is not always the fulfillment of what you want. It is the realization of how blessed you are for what you have. It’s not that everything will be easy or exactly as you had expected, but you must choose to be grateful for all that you have, and happy that you got a chance to live this life, no matter how it turns out.

via marcandangel.com

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

700th Post: A Must See!



TEDxSF
Mel Robbins gives this amazing talk on 'How To Stop Screwing Yourself Over.'


Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Young Hollywood Panel



Last week I had the opportunity to sit on a panel: 'Young Successful People in Hollywood.' Not too bad for a kid from the South-Side of Chicago. Dream Bigger!

Check out the rest of Michael Masterson's videos at www.youtube.com/BehindtheMindFilms

Monday, July 09, 2012

Please Support - Inspire Me Daily!


Please Support a Fellow Dreamer
Check Out the All-New Facebook Page at
www.facebook.com/inspiremexdaily

Returning to Creative Dreams

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Photo Credit: John Lund/Getty Images

Returning to Creative Dreams Return and Reclaim
dailyom.com

As children, many of us entertained fantasies or even goals of being an actor, singer, dancer, artist, or musician. In some cases, we received enough encouragement to develop our abilities in those creative arenas, but somewhere along the way we stopped. This stopping may have been due to circumstances beyond our control or to our own unconscious acts of self-sabotage. Being creative can be scary in a world that seems to value logic over imagination and practicality over dreaming. We can forgive ourselves for shutting down or turning our attention away from our inner artist, but perhaps we can also take steps to reclaim our dreams.

In certain times and places, developing a creative ability was considered an important part of being a well-rounded human being. It was not necessary to be a professional or a masterly genius, because the act of creativity was valued in and of itself. It gifts are manifold—from the sheer pleasure of allowing our imaginations free reign to sharing and enjoying the fruits of our labor. Children share drawings and songs freely, without self-consciousness, and there is no reason why we cannot do the same thing. You may already be remembering some lost form of expression, such as making jewelry or writing songs. Your soul may be responding with an energetic lift as it feels its way back to a time when it was allowed to express itself freely. Your brain, on the other hand, may be throwing up obstacles, like the idea that you are too old or do not have the time.

The truth is, you are not too old, and if you have time to pick up a pen, you have time to make a doodle or write a haiku. Recognize that the obstacles you find before you have arisen from a place of fear and that they will wane in power every time you do something creative. Each creative act takes you deeper into a realm of beauty and magic, a realm that you have every right to return to and reclaim.

Monopoly in Chicago!



"It's always exciting to find new artworks in public areas, especially those that transform the space and add a bit of humor. In Chicago's Logan Square, passersby can enjoy the subtle additions of Monopoly-inspired sculptures strewn about as though pedestrians are part of the life-sized board game."

Bored, the artist behind this installation, explains the purpose of his work: "the goal of this entire project has been to present something different than a stencil painted on the ground or a poster pasted to a wall. Something 3-dimensional that can be picked up, beaten down, kicked, yanked, grabbed, and broken. And if someone ever put forth the effort to remove it, like a weed it will always grow back. And if left alone it will evolve into something different."




13 Minute 'Dark Knight Rises' Special


10 Days!

Thursday, July 05, 2012

2012 Inc. 30 Under 30


It's that time of the year again. Inc.'s 2012 30 under 30 List includes some of the most promising young entrepreneurs, class of 2012, includes the founders of Pinterest, Spotify, and 28 other awesome, visionary outfits. Click above or HERE to check out this year's list.

5 Things Every Presenter Should Know


1. People learn best in 20-minute chunks. There must be a reason for the successful TED-sized talk format.

2. Multiple sensory channels compete.
During a talk, you engage both the auditory and visual channels — because we’re visual creatures and the visual channel trumps the auditory, make sure your slides don’t require people to read much or otherwise distract from the talk.

3. What you say is only one part of your presentation. Paralinguistics explores how information is communicated beyond words — be aware the audience is responding to your body language and tone. Record yourself presenting to get a feel for those and adjust accordingly.

4. If you want people to act, you have to call them to action. At the end of your presentation, be very specific about exactly what you would like your audience to do.

5. People imitate your emotions and feel your feelings. If you’re passionate about your topic, this excitement will be contagious for the audience. Don’t hold back.
via brainpickings.org

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Life's Equation


What Choices Will You Make?

Want to be Inspired Daily?
Check Out the All-New Facebook Page at
www.facebook.com/inspiremexdaily

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Free Yourself From Your Desk


Photo Credit: Brandon Christopher Warren

Post By Riley Gibson

Like sharing war stories, entrepreneurs love to talk about everything they sacrificed to make a business successful.

From the outside, it might feel like a pre-requisite of success is sleeping in the office every night and working until you pass out. It has always been part of start-up folklore that when you start a company you give up your life.

This is certainly true in some sense. When you start a company, the drive to succeed and do well by your investors and team is a monumental weight, one that's best described by Paul DeJoe in a recent post on Quora.

The passion for changing the world and creating something truly great is plenty of motivation to take over your entire being. The problem comes when entrepreneurs assume that working hard means never leaving the office.

Our society has such a narrow definition of "work." For many, work occurs when someone is cranking away at their desk, in a meeting, or on a trip to meet with customers or investors. Obviously, hard work is par for the course at a start-up, but work can come in many forms and some of the most valuable "work" can come from getting out of the office.

Whether it is running, biking, golfing, or dirt biking, stepping back and getting some exercise can be the most valuable time you spend. Being left alone with only your thoughts for long periods of time can help clarify problems and enhance creative capacity to come up with valuable solutions. Just Google search the phrases "exercise and creativity" or "exercise and productivity" and you will be swarmed by a list of research studies linking exercise with enhanced problem solving and focus.

Think beyond the desk. Create a culture where work is defined by hitting ambitious goals, making great things, and building valuable solutions. Encouraging exercise and time for your team to escape the day to day and let the bigger picture come into focus cannot be underestimated (but can be easily eroded).

via INC.com

The Busy Trap

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Photo Credit: Brecht Vandenbroucke

By Tim Kreider

If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” “So busy.” “Crazy busy.” It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: “That’s a good problem to have,” or “Better than the opposite.”

Notice it isn’t generally people pulling back-to-back shifts in the I.C.U. or commuting by bus to three minimum-wage jobs who tell you how busy they are; what those people are is not busy but tired. Exhausted. Dead on their feet. It’s almost always people whose lamented busyness is purely self-imposed: work and obligations they’ve taken on voluntarily, classes and activities they’ve “encouraged” their kids to participate in. They’re busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety, because they’re addicted to busyness and dread what they might have to face in its absence.

Almost everyone I know is busy. They feel anxious and guilty when they aren’t either working or doing something to promote their work. They schedule in time with friends the way students with 4.0 G.P.A.’s make sure to sign up for community service because it looks good on their college applications. I recently wrote a friend to ask if he wanted to do something this week, and he answered that he didn’t have a lot of time but if something was going on to let him know and maybe he could ditch work for a few hours. I wanted to clarify that my question had not been a preliminary heads-up to some future invitation; this was the invitation. But his busyness was like some vast churning noise through which he was shouting out at me, and I gave up trying to shout back over it.

Even children are busy now, scheduled down to the half-hour with classes and extracurricular activities. They come home at the end of the day as tired as grown-ups. I was a member of the latchkey generation and had three hours of totally unstructured, largely unsupervised time every afternoon, time I used to do everything from surfing the World Book Encyclopedia to making animated films to getting together with friends in the woods to chuck dirt clods directly into one another’s eyes, all of which provided me with important skills and insights that remain valuable to this day. Those free hours became the model for how I wanted to live the rest of my life.

Monday, July 02, 2012

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Want to Publish a Book?



The editors, designers, and creative directors at Random House offer a behind-the-scenes look at the process of publishing a book.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Diddy CÎROC House Party



Hosted house party by one of my idols. He worked hard for his.

Which College Major Will Make You Rich?

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By
Nona Willis Aronowitz

Every few months, like clockwork, a new study (the latest from researchers at Georgetown [PDF]) concludes that arts majors can't get jobs and that engineering degrees are the only way to guarantee a living wage. Then The New York Times prints the study's conclusions under a glib headline like "Want a Job? Go to College, and Don’t Major in Architecture." Oversimplifications like these, combined with initiatives in the U.K. and China to do away with non-lucrative majors completely, make me want to throw up. Not only do they laugh in the face of learning for learning's sake and put pressure on kids to choose their careers too early, they also reinforce cultural biases about what professions deserve to make money.

We get it, Georgetown, English majors are poor. But instead of accepting that people like teachers and journalists get paid shitty salaries, how about re-evaluating why we give those professions the shaft? How about encouraging new grads to be creative about what they do with their majors? College students should certainly know what they're getting into when they choose to study, say, philosophy or German, especially with tuition costs and student loan interest rates rising. But those figures should be coupled with a few important caveats.

A future of unhappy robots is pretty bleak. It's well-documented that a good salary alone can't make you happy. That's doubly true if the job isn't suited to your talents. Doing away with arts or humanities, whether in kindergarten or college, gives credence to those horrible parents in movies who crow that "singing doesn't put food on the table" before their kid turns out to be Lauryn Hill. Steering young people into career paths they'll hate is the oldest parent faux pas in the book, and often leads to a midlife career change—or crisis.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Have More Fun

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Photo Credit: 123RF.com


By Alex Echols
A few nights ago, I had the opportunity to have dinner with a very successful family, both economically and socially (many may say the two go hand-in-hand). Nevertheless, the night was filled with conversations ranging from my aspirations and current projects to what I like to eat to what I do on the weekends. Out of many of the things we talked about that night, some pieces of advices stood out the most:

1) Have more fun. If you think you are having fun in life, try to have more of it. Party hard, practice safe sex, have more movie nights with friends. You will look back and smile instead of looking back and wondering 'what if.'

2) Passion pays off. Many individuals of my generation see the likes of Mark Zuckerburgs and David Karps, young 20-something entrepreneurs/CEOs, and decide they want the same things for themselves without realizing how important passion, hard-work, connections and hard-work really are. If you are passionate about anything, it will shine through because your work will be great and genuine. But never get too comfortable.

3) Have faith in the future, but live for today. Honestly, you don't know if you will be here tomorrow - so as it's very important to try and plan your entire life, focusing on these moments will allow the years to take care of themselves. Carpe Diem.

4) When an ability is innate, follow it. Many times we hear the word 'destiny' and wonder if it truly exist with its evanescent undertones. But it's very important to recognize the blessings of abilities. If you were born to be a writer, singer, dancer, chef, athlete - do it. Maybe you won't storm into the office and quit your job. Maybe you will. Just listen more to what life is trying to tell you. Listen deeply.

5) Wear sunscreen. Towards the end of our dinner, I was introduced to a video by Baz Luhrmann, who once gave a graduation speech to the class of 1999 (time flies, huh). In this video, Baz reiterates some advice we have heard for years, but still do not follow. Why? Maybe because we are scared. Or. Maybe because we take too much for granted. Whatever it may be, an older and much wiser person than myself stated that he agreed 100% with Lurhmann's commencement speech and now, I want to share it with you:



As with all things in life, you will decide which advice you will take. Choose very wisely. But if there is nothing else you take away from this post, let it be this:

"have more fun."

One Life, You Decide™

A Congrats for Creativity



On April 22, Lawrence Yong wrote "I'm on the wait list for University of Michigan and I really want to get in, so I decided to make them a little video!" Well, he's now on another list: Michigan's 2012 incoming freshmen. As a young adult entering college, it is clear that Yong possesses fearlessness, a very creative heart, and drive.

I wish him nothing but the best.