I learned more about filming in 10 days than I could have by reading 100 books.  Here are some of the bits of wisdom I picked up on making a film:

Acting

• Just like in improv, you have to interact with your fellow actors. Be paying more attention to them than yourself.
• Once you connect to your characters background, motivation, and objective, it becomes a lot easier to react as they would.
• Be willing to have fun with your characters and make interesting choices.  Something as simple as having skittles with you can turn into a symbolic moment for the movie.
• When shooting the film out of order, remind yourself in each scene where you are in the story so you still have the right progression as a character.
• When improvising scenes, establish the important beats of the scene that need to be hit and then go. On the next takes, keep what worked and refine what didn’t

Editing

• If you create a consistent hierarchy of folders on all of the computers you are working on, it will make it easier to transfer files and save the Final Cut Pro project files.
• Watching your edits on a big screen will help you identify small fixes such as needed cuts or audio issues.
• At the end of the day, continuity is less important than the performance. But it is what will set your movie apart from being amateur.
• If you “notice” an edit, it’s not good.
• Multiple camera angles make switching between takes easier. Also having shots of the other person (and not being able to see the speakers mouth) allows you to use the best dialog without worry about syncing.
• Just like in improv, reactions make the joke. Your edits should include the best reactions.
• Cut in the middle of dialog when possible to maintain audio continuity for the audience. This also looks more professional and allows you to see reactions.
• Shots without actors acting or speaking can be used to round out the movie (things like establishing shots)
• If you sync all of your angles into a sequence you can quickly jump back and forth between the two angles.
• One way to do editing is in the first pass “edit for radio”–just worry about getting the audio where you want. then you can adjust the video as needed.
• When possible, the editor should be the one to log and capture video since they will need to be watching all footage anyway to do their editing.
• When editing as an ensemble, you can create a master editing list that assigns scenes or chunks to each editor.

Directing

• When shooting two camera, if the OTS or CU shots are shot at the same time, then its easier for the editor to do back and forth edits (as opposed to shooting one cu and one wide and switching back and forth btwn takes).
• You can use lighting, sound, and camera placement to help tell your story.
• Allow for time to improvise in scenes. The best moments of the film can come from completely improvised bits in the moment.
• Having multiple cameras is easier on the actors, helps with continuity and shortens the shoot time, but is more footage for the editor, requires more people and potentially restricts the types of shots you can do.

Production

• Being able to do every role helps you appreciate them more and realize what you can do to make their jobs easier.
• The more filled out a continuity sheet, the more helpful it is to the editor.
• To help the editor, create a document that lists which tape and scene numbers were used for a particular scene.
• The setup is usually what takes the longest, not the takes. If the director can pre-plan as much as possible the crew can get there and set up. The talent can then come in once its setup (assuming they are rehearsed and have also already talked with the director).
• It can be tough to balance wanting to be efficient and stay on schedule and also taking the time to have fun and play with different decisions and options
• For scheduling, print each scene on a single strip. Highlight the different combinations of INT/EXT and DAY/NIGHT.
• Group each location time together and piece together the scenes that can be shot together.
• Organize all of the scenes into respective days taking into account location, time, characters, and costumes.
• With an ordered scene list, list the needed crew people for each one (and call time if different).
• The assistant director is there to make the directors job easier. They’re the ones that keep things moving, on schedule. They have to be more in command even if to the point of sounding like a jerk.
• The AD yells quiet on set and then roll cameras. When the cameras are rolling and focused on slate, they each say speeding. The slate person then reads the slate information and drops the clapper. The camera people then get to their frame and say frame when they are there. The director then says action when ready and cut when done.
• The clapper is incredibly important when using more than 1 camera. The visual helps with the editing process for logging and the clapper hitting is the first nonblurry frame and is what allows you to sync audio at the sound of the clap.
• When slating, its better to actually clap the sticks instead of letting them fall. This will help in editing because the clap will be more succinct and the top won’t bounce.
• Having a list of all of the beats of the movie is important. Then ultimately having a list of every scene plus a couple of sentences about the crux of the scene, major character changes or information, and any key lines
• Masking tape on floor can help you set your marks (even for things like tripods).
• Script supervisors are responsible for continuity of things like costume, actor movements, props, etc.
• You can take digital pictures to track prop locations and wardrobe.
• Slating at the beginning will help editing (both on camera recording and on the log).
• Script supervisor can also track how each scene went (good takes, mistakes).

Lighting/Sound

• When first setting up a scene, first try to control the environment (sound and lighting).
• Light is like water–you can have direct hard light or when you bounce it off something, it will spread and also become softer.  Gels can change the ambience of the light.
• Work to make your lighting and sound seem realistic (you almost don’t notice it).
• Top and back light can make someone pop out more.
• Use a blanket on the wall or floor to try to muffle any echo in a room.

Writing

• To determine the plot, think of each storyline separately and decide on each of their resolutions. Then list all scenes and beats for each one and match up where they overlap.
• For the story, write down all of the scenes on small cards and then rearrange them into the flow of the movie.

Camera

• For each location (and really any new shots) the camera settings for light and sound should be checked.
• To get focus, zoom in on your main focus point, get focus and then zoom to frame.
• Main types of shots include wide/master, establishing, closeup, ecu, two shots, over the shoulder.
• Remember the rule of two thirds when framing.

Monday – Acting Class Graduation Show

1. Commitment is key. If you don’t believe it, the audience won’t believe it.
2. Always think about stage picture, always.
3. Acting is reacting–to your scene partner, environment, and circumstance.

Tuesday – Upper Level Improv Class Show

4. The ending of the show will leave the most lasting impression.
5. Never leave your scene partners hanging.
6. The “star” of an improv show isn’t the person with the most stage time, it’s the person with the most support moves.

Wednesday – Amateur Improv Show

7. Bigger / louder characters does not mean funnier.
8. Amateurs go for blue comedy by default.
9. Emotional reactions are entertainment.

Thursday – Professional Dance Show

10. It’s the job of the performers to tell the audience what they should be paying attention to.
11. When the audience can tell you are having fun on stage, they’ll have more fun.
12. Repetition (plus variation) and mirroring actions is fulfilling for the audience.

Friday – Professional Improv Show

13. It is better to edit too soon than too late.
14. Be specific–it’s funnier.
15. Commit fully and do it immediately.

Saturday – Amateur Television Script Read

16. Make a choice. It doesn’t matter what choice, just make one.
17. Know your audience and know what they know.
18. You have to sell it. Hilarious lines are ruined by poor performance. Poor lines are improved by commitment and confidence.

Sunday – Semi-Professional Play

19. A mistake is only a mistake on stage when it is called out as one.  Otherwise the audience thinks that it was supposed to happen.
20. Know the history of the character, even if it never is said or written.
21. Look for the deeper meaning in the words or actions.

Naturally the decision isn’t cut and dried for me. On the one hand, I haven’t been a drinker thus far in my life, so why start now. On the other hand, there are a number of health and social benefits to having a beer or glass of wine every now and then. I’ve listened to a number of views on both sides of the fence on the topic, but ultimately it’s me, the one sitting on the fence that must decide. So, in attempt to decide once and for all (or at least once and for awhile), I’ve decided to debate myself in a showdown of the case for sobriety versus the case for alcohol.

My Background

With each passing year, I get more and more bewilderment and wonder from other people as to why I don’t drink. In high school I was a goody two-shoes because people assumed I didn’t drink because it was illegal. In college it was because I was “straight-edge” or some kind of religious nut. Post-college it’s because I used to have a drinking problem and am now a recovering alcoholic. None of those reasons are accurate.

My decision to not drink started with bad experiences with alcohol, or specifically, alcoholism. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I realized someone very close to me had been drunk for most of the moments I remembered with him.

I still remember the day that it sunk in–the realization was a blow to just about everything I knew about the person. Incidents that I once thought were attributed to accidents or simply forgetting were now finally linked to their true cause–alcoholism.

On that day I vowed that I would never allow myself to succumb to the disease, and the easiest way to do that was to not drink.

Throughout high school I went to plenty of parties where people were drinking. When asked if I wanted a beer, I declined. Every now and then people would want to know why, but my friends respected my decision and left it at that.

Over time I realized that not all people who drink do it the point that it interferes with their lives–although far more people could gain from cutting back than realize. Just because someone drank didn’t make them an alcoholic.

By the time I went to college I no longer believed that alcohol was the cause of all problems. I learned that alcohol was just a way some people compensated for a weakness or insecurity with themselves. While some people drank because they didn’t know how else to have fun or to drown out their feelings, others would do it merely to relax or to spend some time with a friend. There was nothing inherently wrong with alcohol itself–alcohol could be fine in moderation so long as the people choosing to consume it were behaving responsibly.

But by that time, I had found a new reason not to drink–I didn’t need to. I had learned that I didn’t need alcohol to have fun. While other people got drunk, I could have just as much fun being sober. And call it hubris, cockiness, or simply confidence, I also knew I didn’t need alcohol to get the supposed benefits alcohol provided, such as improved confidence or a relaxed state of mind; I had all of that on my own.

It wasn’t until I graduated from college that I started reconsidering my decision. Not really because it bothers me to answer the question “why don’t you drink?” (though I have to admit it can get old answering the same question fifteen times at a party), but because I’m wondering if it’s part of the next evolution of Drew, part of Redefine 2009.

The Case for Sobriety

1. I’ve Made It This Far
As I mentioned above, I’ve made it to age 25 without drinking and I think I’ve done alright. I live in NYC, have a career I enjoy, a hobby that I love, and great friends and family. As they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

2. Society Be Damned
One of the pressures to drinking is that by being an abstainer, I’m immediately cast as different. Most people say they have no issue with my choice, but I do know it changes how I’m perceived. But what should I care that “society” says I’m the weird one? “Society” used to encourage smoking, but that didn’t make it right.

3. Avoiding Temptation
Part of me, and a larger part than I’ll actually admit, worries that by starting to drink, I could open up the possibility of alcoholism. I’m an ambitious person, I don’t have time for anything that could potentially cripple my goals or drive. And while I’m confident of my own discipline and willpower, I am fighting genetics and a fondness for alcohol from both sides of the extended family.

4. Saving Money
Lets face it, alcohol is expensive. I don’t know how much money I’ve saved since I stopped drinking soda and have never purchased alcohol. For me, I can have a great time out at a bar without spending a single dime.

5. I’m Never Wrong
I often half-jokingly say that I’m never wrong, so by changing my stance now I run the risk of negating my prior beliefs and people thinking I’m a hypocrite. Though to be fair, I’ve never verbally chastised someone for drinking unless it was illegal or against a contract they signed stating they would not.

6. Seneca
“Drunkenness is nothing but voluntary madness” – Seneca

The Case for Alcohol

1. Redefine 2009
My whole goal for 2009, the year I turn 25, is to reinvent myself into the older, more mature Drew. This comes in many forms including my physical appearance, how my apartment looks, and my diet. There’s something seemingly mature about two friends being able to share a gin and tonic after a long day at work, or a beer during a football game.

2. Society Be Damned
As I get further into the corporate and comedy worlds, I’m experiencing more and more frequent “lets grab a drink and do some bonding” (though rarely do they say that last part). By not drinking, I immediately place myself as an outsider in those situations due to societal expectations. And when you’re trying to build a group-mind in an improv group, build a relationship at work, or make a pitch as an entrepreneur, being an outsider isn’t a good thing.

3. Health Benefits
If there were no health benefits associated to the occasional drink, I wouldn’t even consider it. But as I grow older, I’m trying to be more conscious of my health and diet (thus the resolution to eat more fruits and vegetables). And with study after study after study proving the benefits of the occasional beer or wine, it’s hard to deny that it would be a healthy decision (in moderation).

4. Culinary Enhancement
I’ve already mentioned a few times my push for dietary changes in 2009, but one part of that is to graduate my tastebuds to a more mature level. While I think I’ll always love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it would also be nice to be able to enjoy a fine piece of salmon. A number of cooking experts (friends and professionals alike) have said that the right wine or beer can completely change the enjoyment of a meal.

5. Opinions Change
One of my cons to drinking is that I would potentially negate former Drew, but that’s not really the case. Up to this point in my life, I know that without a doubt, the decision for me to not drink has been the right one. But the key is “up to this point.” I’m a very different person than I was in high school, when I first made the decision, and in college, when I stuck my guns. But what was best for me then isn’t necessarily what’s best for me now that I’m all growed up.

6. Benjamin Franklin
“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” – Benjamin Franklin

Final Arguments

The decision is by no means easy. I’ve been sober for 25 years, is it really worth moving on from that? Or is it a change that can help me grow? There are a number of health benefits to drinking, but there are also health benefits to eating spinach and I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon. I’ve always been an individual, but where’s the line between individual and outcast?

The question comes down to this: is drinking alcohol part of my new life, the 25-year old, redefined, Drew 2.0? And the answer is…

The Decision

Yes and no.  Of course a decision like this on a topic like this doesn’t come with a straight answer.  I say yes because it’s possible I’ll drink alcohol in the future, but I say no because I’m not going to “start drinking.”

Many people drink to get drunk.  I won’t.  My decision is to merely remove the ban on alcoholic drinks from my selection of beverages.  Just like water, Gatorade, or lemonade, wine, beer, or spirits are now an option for me to choose.  Does that mean I ever will? Not necessarily.  I’ve always had the option to drink Ginger Ale, but I never pick it.

So what does that really mean?  The occasion will dictate the decision.  If I’m in a situation where I feel like trying a glass of red wine, or a gin and tonic, I will.  If not, I won’t.  Who determines the decision? Me, of course.

The only rule I will add is that it will always be a 1-drink maximum.  Why?  Well I rarely have seconds of any beverage, besides water, in any given sitting, with perhaps the exception of Gatorade.  And on top of that, I am a skinny guy that’s never built up a tolerance before, and I’m not planning on getting drunk.

It was a difficult decision to come to, and would’ve been regardless of which way I chose, but it’s one I’m confident is the right direction for me.  After all, it is Redefine 2009.

I. Drew is always right, especially when it comes to things regarding his apartment or how to get to it.

II. If you are staying less than 4 days, then “Make yourself at home” means you are a visitor and are welcome to food and beverages you with no monetary contribution. If you are staying longer than 4 days, then “Make yourself at home” means you are a roommate and are welcome to food and beverages, but be ready to contribute.

III. Visitors are entitled to one “I’ll come down and get you” when you are in the lobby. After that, you can make your way to the apartment all by yourself.

IV. Women can always elect to be escorted to the subway. Drew, however, will not ride the subway with you all the way back to your place just to make sure you made it safe. That would be sexist.

V. When there are multiple visitors at one time, the futon, twin air mattress, single air mattress, couch and recliner are all on a “first dibsed, first served basis.” Drew’s bed is not “dibsable” and he is not required to share it with anyone.

VI. Try not to break any of the dishes. Also the dishwasher is generally just used for drying, so clean the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher. With soap.

VII. Use coasters and dinner mats. Clean up any messes.

VIII. Ask before using one of Drew’s computers. They are like his babies. You wouldn’t play with someone’s baby without asking first would you?

IX. Walking or running the 30 flights of stairs to the apartment makes you a certified guest in the apartment. Until then, you are merely a visitor.

X. Sometimes due to scheduling, or Drew’s sanity, you may be kindly asked to leave. This is not Drew “kicking you out,” but rather a “Thanks for coming by, but …”

The Holidays are over, it’s back to work boys and girls.
It was a great vacation, without a care in the world.
But it’s the new year, so it’s back to business.
Wow did it fly by, it went with a quickness.

My inbox is overflowing, with 1000′s of emails.
I’ve got sticky notes on my screen, and quite a few voicemails.
It’s worst than I had imagined, worst than I feared,
Why did I blow everything off, saying “I’ll do it next year?”

What does this note mean? What was I supposed to do?
Does that say email Jerry, or upgrade software to version 2?
I left too many cryptic messages, I’m now like my own detective,
I do this every year, by now I should expect it.

I need to talk to Sarah.  What?  She’s still on vacation?
What’s it been, a month now?  Doesn’t she know my frustration?
So what if I should have done this, way back in December.
No one was doing much work, don’t you remember?

Oh look, there goes Barry, he supposedly “worked” through the break.
What a smart move, no one was here to see if he faked.
That’s not really fair, perhaps he created a better plan,
Maybe he was more disciplined than I, though he seems a little tan.

But now it’s all caught up with me, I’m behind the 8 ball.
There’s an elephant in the room, and he’s 15-feet tall.
But maybe if I work, some 80 hour weeks,
I’ll be able to catch up, and my boss won’t freak.

Oh who am I kidding, I’ll never get this project to green,
And I’m already awaiting, the day-off on January 19.
I wish for this all this work, I could just hit the snooze,
Because I definitely have, the Post Holiday Blues.

Below is my unbiased review of the book (I don’t want you thinking that since I got it for free that I’d lean towards rating it positively. I’ve gotten a number of things for free that I’ve openly hated, like the flu for example).

About the Author

I’ve been following Steve Pavlina for over a year on his blog at stevepavlina.com. He’s written some great articles, such as his suggestion of using 30 day trials, experimenting with polyphasic sleep, learning how to wake up early, and making money from your blog. He also has some viewpoints that are very “new age-y” and there’s a bit of cheesiness to him (just look at his headshot). I generally ignore what he has to say about vegetarianism, veganism, and raw food; I disagree with the existence of the “law of attraction” (which incidentally can’t be proven so therefore should be the “theory of attraction”); and I don’t know what to think of his “paranormal encounters” with the dead and his wife’s psychic abilities. Like I said, a bit of cheesiness.

About the Book

I wasn’t sure of what to expect from Pavlina’s book. I know from his blog posts that he’s a good writer, but I didn’t know what side of Steve he was going to write about: the normal, more applicable personal development side, or the “I talk to ghosts” side. Luckily for us, he (mostly) stuck with the personal development topics.

The book is divided into two parts. Part One, Fundamental Principles, covers the explanation and exploration of what Pavlina calls the seven universal principles of personal development. The core principles of truth, love and power also combine (like in Captain Planet) to create the secondary principles of oneness, authority, courage, and intelligence.

Part Two, Practical Application, applies each of those principles to habits, career, money, health, relationships, and spirituality. Essentially the first part talks about the theory, the second part talks about the application.

Fundamental Principles

Truth, love, and power make up the three core principles of Pavlina’s philosophy.  In the subsequent chapters he explores the secondary principles that come from them.  Each chapter has a set of roadblocks and exercises to help you grow in each principle, but I’ll leave those for you to discover for the sake of brevity (which is weird to say considering this post sits at around 2900 words), and focus more on the core principles.

Truth

Pavlina tells us that “We primarily grow as human beings by discovering new truths about ourselves and reality.” (pg 3) All growth comes from finding out new truths, which makes sense because if you’re not discovering anything new, every day, week, or year is essentially the same as the one before.

But what is truth? The key components are perception, prediction, accuracy, acceptance, and self-awareness.

Perception, “the most basic aspect of truth” (pg 4), says that in order to improve something, you have to look at it, or more specifically yourself, first.

Once you have a sense of where you are now, you can use prediction to help you to grow. Prediction is the ability to draw from previous experiences to predict (and plan) future outcomes. The more experiences you have, the more accurate your predictions become. Accuracy becomes important for both perception and prediction, “The closer your internal model of reality matches actual reality, the more capable you become.” (pg 8)

Of course none of this really matters if you don’t have a high degree of self-awareness (your strengths, weaknesses, etc) and that you accept yourself as you are. And looking at yourself objectively isn’t always the easiest thing to do: “One of the most important skills to develop in the area of personal growth is the ability to admit the whole truth to yourself, even if you don’t like what you see and even if you feel powerless to change it.” (pg 11)

Until I admitted to myself that hitting snooze was a problem I wanted to fix, I didn’t make the conscious effort to remedy the problem. Once I accurately perceived my current situation through heightened self-awareness, I accepted my current state and used past experiences to predict that if I treated waking up early as weekly project, I would succeed at it. And I did (see “Stop Hitting Snooze and Wake Up Early“).

Truth doesn’t come without it’s challenges though. Pavlina points to a number of roadblocks, including media and social conditioning, false beliefs, and emotional interferences. For example, society (at least in the US) says that the week starts on Sunday, but the truth is that it starts on Monday (otherwise Sunday wouldn’t be part of weekend).

So how do you improve your truthiness (thanks Colbert)? Pavlina provides a few exercises, the most powerful of which is the Self Assessment (pg 20). The assessment has you rate your satisfaction for where you are in key areas of your life on a scale from 1-10. He then goes on to say that any area you rate less than a 9 or 10 is really a 1. “Either you have what you want, or you don’t.” (pg 21) It’s like the project management philosophy that a task is either complete or it isn’t . A task 70% complete is as bad as a task that’s 0% complete if the remaining 30% never gets finished. This isn’t too be confused with Pareto’s 80/20 principal – that applies to the design of a project, not the execution of the tasks.

It’s important to note that “an honest rating has more to do with your path than your position.” (pg 21) I’m far from where I want to be comedically, but I would rate the current path I’m on as a 10 since I feel I’m headed in the right direction.

Love

Pavlina’s definition of love is more than just the emotion, specifically that “the decision to connect is the essence of love.” (pg 27). He goes on to say “your life becomes a reflection of what you choose to connect with most often,” (pg 28)–meaning you are what you love.

But what is it to “connect”? Simply put, it means “to give something your attention, to think about it, to engage with it.” (pg 28) What you spend your time on is what defines you; your calendar (what’s on it, not whether it’s a Far Side calendar or a Fireman one) is a better depiction of who you are than any mission statement you claim to adhere to.

In addition to connection, communication and communion are the two other aspects of love. Communication is how we express love and communion is “the deep sense of bonding that gives rise to the emotional side of love.” (pg 31)  Based on this definition of love, it becomes apparent that you choose what it is you love, such as yourself, another person, or Chick Fil A.

Naturally there are problems that exist that can prevent you from forming new, or deepening existing, connections. The first one Pavlina mentions also dabbles in the realm of “new age” philosophies, stating “The assumption that we’re all inherently separate beings is among the worst of [disconnected] thoughts.” (pg 33) Pavlina gets into this more in the chapter of “oneness.”  I believe we are all connected, in the sense that we’re all on this planet together, and what I do ultimately affects what others do, but to make the leap that we’re all apart of the same being is a bit too big of a jump for me.

Aside from the disconnected mindset, Pavlina lists other blocks to love that cover the standard fare of fear of rejection and lack of social skills, both of which are solved by “get over it, the worst that happens in a failed connection is you move on.”

Improving your ability to connect with love revolves around accepting the concept of connectedness (in one form or another).  Each exercise presented builds on the most important point in the chapter: “Love is not an accident.” (pg 40)

Power

Power is about making things happen,  “deliberately creating the world around you.” (pg 47)  And until you take responsibility for your life, it’s impossible to have power.  The concept is actually related to the improv idea of “Yes And.”  “It’s entirely pointless to blame God, your parents, the government, or anyone else for your lot in life.  It doesn’t matter who contributed to your current situation–all that matters is that you must live with it.” (pg 49)  That’s essentially saying to accept the situation you are currently in (regardless of how you got there), and build from there to improve your life.

Power, like love, is also based on what you actually do, what you focus on.  “Time isn’t a disposable resource.  You can’t spend time.  No matter what you do or don’t do, time passes on its own.  You have no choice regarding whether to spend time or not; your only choice is how you direct your focus in the present moment.” (pg 52)  You are indeed what you do since that’s the only thing you have control over.

The tools that make up power are motivation and self-discipline.  “Motivation starts the race, but self-discipline ultimately crosses the finish line.” (pg 58)  When looking at the exercises Pavlina provides to build power, you start to understand that power is what drives personal productivity.  Building productive habits for the first waking hour of the day, establishing personal quotas, and working on your hardest task first are all great ways to be more productive.

Oneness

Pavlina returns to the concept that we are all a part of a greater being in the principle of oneness.  Oneness is truth plus love, taking love one step further: “Love is choosing to connect.  Oneness is knowing you’re already connected.”  (pg 70)  Luckily there is still much to gain from the principle of oneness without needing to fully believe this idea.

Oneness centers around the aspects of empathy, compassion, honesty, fairness, contribution, and unity- all building back towards this idea that we are all in this together and helping others is really helping ourselves.  But Pavlina also dispels the idea that you have to sacrifice greatly for the good of others.  “A sense of oneness encourages you to optimize and expand your contribution as an individual.  If you perform well below your capacity, you’re denying responsibility for your role in the larger body.” (pg 75)  Like Jay Z says, “I can’t help the poor if I’m one of them / So I got rich and gave back / To me that’s the win, win.”

Authority

“Truth without power accomplishes nothing.  Power without truth generates wasted action.” (pg 85)  Authority bridges those disconnects by combining truth and power empowering you to take complete control over your life.  Authority is also about taking action and persevering through failed attempts.  “Failure and success are not opposites.  Failure is an unavoidable part of success.” (pg 90)

As your authority grows, so too will your confidence.  And not the “cocky” confidence, but the truthful confidence that you are capable of greatness.  “Too often we fear our own greatness.  We pretend to be powerless, mistakenly thinking that this somehow frees us from the responsibility of power.” (pg 92)  It does not.  We are responsible for our own lives, no one else.

To build authority, we must become comfortable making independent decisions regardless of what others think.  It’s disagreeing with party lines, questioning religious dogma, and seeking our own truth and authority for ourselves.  As Cartman so gracefully put it, “you will respect my authori-tay.”

Courage

The combination of love and power yields courage.  “Courage is being ready to take the initiative, to make the first move, and to set things in motion.” (pg 104)  It’s being direct and asking for what you want, risking possible rejection in the process.  As you build the confidence that comes with authority, you start to recognize that this directness is a win-win situation.  If you ask and you receive, you get what you want.  If you get rejected, then you’ve eliminated one option and have avoided wasting your time on something that wasn’t meant for you.  It’s true, she/he/it doesn’t know what she/he/it is missing.

Courage also includes honor and your conscience.  Courage is discerning right from wrong and following up with what’s right, regardless of the consequences.  “Courage is a choice.” (pg 112)

Intelligence

“Intelligence is the highest form of human expression.” (pg 116)  It’s the combination of the three core principles of truth, love, and power.  Intelligence requires being authentic, expressing yourself creatively, and seeking continual growth.  If you’re not learning, you’re dying.  Pavlina considers growth such a key part of his book, he writes, “If you forget everything else from this book and remember only one piece of advice, it’s simply this: The most important thing you can possibly do with your life is grow.” (pg 120)

Intelligence also includes the concept of flow–once you align with the three core principles, you’ll work with the flow of life instead of struggling against it.  While I don’t know if I agree with the “flow” of life, I do agree with what it means–it’s the journey that’s the most important, not the end result.  After all, life is nothing but a series of journeys.  And once you combine all of the principles, you can sit back and enjoy the ride because “You know in advance that reaching your goals is basically a done deal.” (pg 122)

Living intelligently “results from an integrated process of perception, thought, and action.” (pg 124)  Pavlina provides a Conscious Assessment (pg 124) that assesses your alignment with each of the seven principles, helping to build that integrated process.  He also talks about “Growth Blitzing,” which is basically creating small challenges for yourself (sound similar to the aforementioned weekly projects to anyone?).

Practical Application

In the second part of the book, Pavlina applies the seven principles to six key areas of life: habits, career, money, health, relationships, and spirituality.  With each area, he steps through each principle and describes what it means to live in alignment with that principle.

Habits – Habits, which Pavlina calls “memorized solutions” (pg 138), are what allow us to go on autopilot and get into the flow of things.  Of course this is under the assumption that we have the correct habits.  Pavlina lists 66 productive habits to have (pg 149), including having daily goals, waking up early, being punctual and expressing gratitude.

Career – Your career is “your primary outlet for self-expression.” (pg 161)  Applying the seven principles helps us find an authentic career, one that satisfies what our bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits must, can, want and should do.

Money – “Money is essentially social credit.  The more money you have, the more society owes you, and the more value you can extract.” (pg 180)  The seven principles help us get into a contributor-mindset which recognizes that providing fair value is the best way to make money.  Of course, “Intelligence is the ultimate source of wealth.” (pg 194)

Health – The natural view of health is that it’s vitally important.  Pavlina goes off on a bit of a tangent about veganism here, but does make a good point in that “if the average person wouldn’t consider your current health practices extreme, you probably aren’t very healthy.” (pg 205)  This is an example where you must have the courage to stray away from society and say you deserve better.

Relationships – Relationships naturally align with love and oneness, but the other principles also apply by helping you find your honest connections, encouraging you to seek out those you want to connect with, and giving you the courage to forge new relationships.  “It’s been said that you can predict your future by looking at the people with whom you spend the most time.” (pg 224)

Spirituality – “Spirituality refers to your collection of beliefs about reality, including your understanding of how reality works, as well as your personal role in the universe.” (pg 235)  Exploring and defining your spirituality isn’t about finding a religion, but finding universal beliefs that hold up in every situation.  In that sense, the principles shared in the book align with that idea.

Review

Steve Pavlina’s book covers a wide variety of topics but ultimately breaks them down to the core principles of truth, love, and power.  Less a book about personal development (in the sense of “do this, do that”), and more an exploration for universal principals, Personal Development for Smart People is an interesting conglomeration of various theories (sometimes making the assumption that the readers already know those existing theories).  Though there are a few ideas that could be deemed “new age” or “hokey,” the majority of the book is applicable to any person seeking personal growth.  Like any good self-help book should, it encourages you to challenge the norms, to step out of your comfort zone and seek growth opportunities.  As Pavlina writes, “Real conscious growth is seldom undemanding, but it’s always worthwhile.”

I didn’t realize that the project would be so tough, rewarding, and powerful.  Throughout the course of 7 days, I experienced a myriad of emotions, and learned a lot about myself and my spending.  The best part is that I’m sure you would experience the same powerful effects I did.  Being poor for one week can give you amazing insights on how to save money every week that follows, more than passively reading articles such as 15 Tips for Saving Money or even Reviewing Your Personal Finances.  This provides real lessons taught the best way possible – through experience.

Moreso than any of my other projects, I highly encourage everyone to give it a try. Maybe $100 isn’t the right number for you, but based on your current financial habits, try spending 75% less than your normal weekly budget.  A quick tip: take notes throughout that week, because you’re going to learn a lot.

Still not sure if it’s worth trying? Or wondering what you could learn by doing the challenge? Keep reading to see what you’ll learn about saving money by being poor for a week.

Sensitivity to True Cost

When you have a very limited budget, you start to look at everything you spend money on in terms of “true cost” – the cost of the item or service compared to it’s value, and what you’re giving up in order to have it.  I especially thought about this in terms of food. When deciding between a $3 box of cereal or $5 pack of chicken nuggets, you have think of the actual “cost per meal” (the total cost of all ingredients divided by the number of meals it supplies). The box of cereal requires milk (+$2.39), but will also give you 6-8 light meals. The chicken nuggets will likely fill you up more and don’t necessarily require any sides, but will only get you 2-3 meals.

Why It Helps – Learning about true cost first hand will help you make better purchasing decisions in the future.  It’s foolish to spend $100 on something you’ll use only once.  It’s smart to spend $100 on something you’ll use 100 times or more.

Your Image Is Expensive

Living cheaply means choosing functionality over design or style. Though my leather laptop bag is more in style, my backpack can carry more stuff and has the added advantage of being better for my back. Similarly, it’s hard to justify the added cost when two things have equal functionality, but the more stylish one is more expensive- as is the case with wearing glasses versus contacts.

Your image can also take a hit if you go from a position of affluence to one of financial struggles. Keeping up the façade of having money is tough to do and at times not worth the cost. If you work in the corporate world, it may be important to keep a professional appearance. This means remaining clean-shaven, keeping your clothes pressed, and wearing more expensive dress pants instead of shorts. But living cheaply also means swallowing your pride and declining on Starbucks, even if you’re co-workers are going.

Why It Helps – Many fashion items have the highest true cost associated with them, and are often the least functional.  By thinking about the practicality of an item before purchasing it, you can realize if it’s worth the investment and hassle of even owning the item.

Variety Isn’t Cheap

Variety is the spice of life, but not of living cheaply. One of the things I noticed on my limited budget was that I quickly grew tired of having turkey sandwiches and carrots for lunch. But buying items in bulk is cheaper and drives down true cost. It’s hard to justify spending more money on different options for lunch when you know there’s very little money to go around.

Why It Helps – It’s the simple things that really make a difference.  Until you experience eating Ramen noodles every day, or doing the same activity daily, you won’t appreciate how the smallest changes can make a day more enjoyable.

Hard Times Inspire Creativity

As the days progressed and my budget shrank further, I found more creative ways to save money and still be happy.  Whether it’s new ways to cook chicken, or how you can have fun with just a pen and paper, your mind starts to see everyday things in a new way.

Why It Helps – There’s a common belief that you have to have money to have fun and be happy.  Once you accept your financial limitations and start thinking positively, you find ways to still have fun by experiencing the free (or at least cheaper) things in life.

Barebones Living

It turns out that one of the best ways to declutter your life also applies to saving money.  When you want to get rid of the crap of your life, one method is to put almost all of your belongings in a specified place in your home, such as a closet.  Then, as you truly need an item, you retrieve it from the closet.  After a certain amount of time (a couple of weeks), anything you didn’t get out of the closet that isn’t seasonal, you can  safely get rid of.

Well the same method applies to your finances. I realized that I didn’t really miss dining out that much, but that I couldn’t survive even a day without Internet access.  To cut my expenses, I know that I should focus on cooking at home more, not stopping my Internet service.

Why It Helps – If you cut down all of your spending (dining out, subsciption services, alcohol), you’ll learn what you really need, what you really like, and what you were mostly wasting money on.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

When you don’t have the money to buy new crap, you start finding uses for your old crap.  With a limited budget, I couldn’t afford to go to the movies.  But that didn’t really matter, because I had plenty of DVDs that I’ve either never watched, haven’t seen in a long time, or didn’t watch the special features for.  Also there are plenty of secondary uses for many items – plastic bags can carry your lunch or serve as garbage bags, junk mail can serve as scratch paper, and baking soda can be used for about 800 things (ok, maybe 60).

Why It Helps – Using that new-found creativity from a restricted budget, you can start seeing how items can be re-used before you even buy them, helping you choose the items with the lowest true costs.

Money Triggers

While trying to stick to my budget, I started to see where I would normally want to spend my money. Once you’re hyper-sensitive to where you’re money is going, you learn what triggers you to spend money in the first place.  Some common triggers include dating (you are, after all, trying to impress the person), friends, alcohol, poor planning (if you have a busy day and forget to pack multiple meals, you either starve or have to dine out), and laziness.

Why It Helps – The only way you’re going to prevent spending money is to know what causes you to spend it in the first place.  By identify the triggers, you can take steps to correct them, such as learning how to relax and have fun without alcohol, or waking up earlier so you have more time to prepare for your day.

Money Isn’t Everything (In Fact, It’s Hardly Anything)

I’ll admit, at the beginning of the week, I was not happy.  I made it a point to fully immerse myself in the experience and really believe that $100 was the absolute max I could spend during that week and for weeks to come.  As a result, as I made sacrifices and tough choices, I becamed depressed and pitied my situation.  But as the week progressed, as I learned ways to cope with my budget and accepted my situation, I realized feeling sorry for myself didn’t do anything to help put food on the table; it just demotived me.  I accepted my circumstances and decided to build from there- it was an example of “yes and” in real life.

Why It Helps - The cliche is that money can’t buy happiness, and you’ll start to realize that’s true.  There’s a reason that even the richest of people end up depressed- material things aren’t the answer.  Living a week without money helps you realize that, and decreases the importance of money in your life.  Sure you’ll still work to make dough, but you won’t put an unwarranted significance on it.

You Can Survive

The ultimate realization you’ll have at the end of the week is that you can survive.  Regardless of what happens, you can make it through it and come out in the end.  I know that I can live on only $100 a week, and even less if I had to.  I hope to never be in that position as I’ve worked hard to earn where I am now, but if something were to knock me down financially, I’d be able to get back up.

Why It Helps – Having the confidence to know you can take a licking and keep on ticking is powerful.  It emboldens you to make stronger choices and bigger risks.  At the same time, it helps you appreciate the important things in life.  No one lays on their deathbed wishing they had more money; they wish for more time with their friends and family, experiencing life.

A Poor Week Leads to a Richer Life

I can promise you, if you go through this experience, you’ll come out feeling richer at the end.  Not only will you actually be richer (you did, in fact, spend 75% less than you normally would), but you’ll also know how you can personally save some more money, and start appreciating the more important things.  Have you tried the challenge?  Post about it in the comments.

There are a number of different sites and services that offer ways to build a website; there are hundreds of ebooks available describing the best “online marketing” strategies; there are thousands of techniques that are supposedly guaranteed to get you traffic and generate sales.  That’s all fine and dandy, but what if you just want to create a personal blog?  A blog where you aren’t concerned with selling a product, or even creating sales pages for other people’s products?

This is the current state of my website, drewtarvin.com.  I’m not trying to sell a product or generate sales for someone else- I’m just sharing my ideas, writing articles to improve my writing skills and sharing what I’ve learned, and providing a place to find out more information about some of the other stuff I do (like stand-up).  That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t love to optimize my site.  I love seeing new visitors come to the site, I like seeing what search terms people are clicking in Google to get here (recently someone searched for “heterokini” … why?).  In short, I want to increase the traffic to my site.  Maybe it’s narcissistic to think that what I write is worthy of being shared with family, friends, and strangers alike, but if I didn’t believe that, why even write publicly?

A Little Background

With that being said, I am creating a few other sites with the intention of generating income.  As a result, I’ve done a lot of research on ways to organically drive search engine traffic simply by making some simple changes.  What follows below is the steps I took during last week’s project – “Optimize My Blog.”  Many of the steps come from a couple of different online marketing guides.  While the guides themselves are great resources in and of themselves, they are all focused on making money.  The steps below are specific just to optimizing your blog, and they leave out anything related to generating sales or affiliates or more involved promotional techniques.

Note: Most of the steps are links to external resources that explain in greater detail how to do what I describe.

How to Optimize Your Personal WordPress Blog

1) Set Up Your WordPress Blog

NOTES:

• If you already have a WordPress blog, make sure you upgrade to the most recent version.  You can also skip directly to Part 2.
• To find even more themes (Step 4), check out:
  • 83 Beautiful WordPress Themes You Probably Haven’t Seen
  • 100 Excellent Free High Quality WordPress Themes
  • Other WordPress Themes
• For Plug-ins, the definite ones to use are:
  • Akismet
  • All In One SEO Pack
  • Google XML Sitemaps
  • Enforce www. Preference
  • Google Analyticator
  • Feedburner Feedsmith
• Other good plug-ins to consider:
  • Brian’s Threaded Comments
  • WWSGD
  • Subscribe Remind
  • Sociable
  • Related Posts
  • Smart Archives
  • Post Views
  • Post Ratings
  • EMail
  • Stats

2) Tweak the Navigation

NOTES:

• Where John Cow mentions “Non-money” and “Money” pages, think in terms of “Non unique content” and “content” pages respectively.
• Hold off on creating the robots.txt file (Part 3) for right now.
• When linking to pages within your site, remember to “anchor” your links: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2004/04/08/anchor-text-optimization

3) Create your Sitemap.xml file

NOTES:

• Don’t turn on “Ping” yet.

4) Create your Robots.txt file

NOTES:

• In addition to the example provided on the site, add a sitemap.xml link in your robots.txt file.
• To create the file, just open a Notepad, copy the code from the site, save as “robots.txt” and upload to the root directory of your website.

5) Submit your Sitemap.xml and Robots.txt files

NOTES:

• To do this, create an account http://www.google.com/webmasters/.
• Follow the guides in Webmasters to see guides on how to submit each file.
• Make sure you “verify” the site.

6) Test Your Site

NOTES:

• Fix any errors or warnings listed in Webmasters.
• See how your site looks in different browsers – http://browsershots.org/
• Validate your site at http://validator.w3.org/checklink or http://www.xinureturns.com

7) Set Up Feedburner and All-in-One SEO

NOTES:

• Fill out the All-in-One SEO information for the posts you want to drive more traffic to.
• You can skip the steps related to Aweber (Steps 7-20).
• You can sign up for feedburner at http://www.feedburner.com.
• Once you have everything setup, make sure you add “http://ping.feedburner.com” under Update Services in “Settings -> Writing” in your WordPress blog.

What To Do Next

Once you’ve made the above changes, you’re well on your way to improving your blog for increased traffic.  The next step is to make sure you have good content and take a look at optimizing your actual articles for different keywords.  To learn more about promoting your site, or if you are interested in monetizing your site, I’ve listed the resources I’ve been using below.

A note of warning about “online marketing” sites in general.  Many sites out there will offer a free video or article talking about the next great way to make money online.  All of these sites will require an email address which they then use to try to sell you stuff through.  While you can learn a good deal for free from many of the sites, there’s a lot of garbage and spam-like email you’ll have to go through.  The links below are some of the best sites I’ve found that also don’t drown you in trying to sell you products.

• “How to Build a Business, NOT Just a Blog” – An entire ebook about optimizing your blog.  The full version of all of the John Cow articles I linked to above- definitely worth looking at for promotion strategies and if you are interested in monetizing your site.
• The 30 Day Challenge – A “challenge” held every August to try to create a website that you earn at least $1 from within 30 days.  You can check out the site any time of year and get access to the resources from the last 30 day challenge.
• Connected Internet – Various blog posts about how to optimize or improve your blog.

Cheers! =Drew