"Seeing" The Matrix

 In an email I got from DrinksandGames:

But also, another video request! I think it would be great to hear you talk more about why the world/our culture is the "actual crazy" lol, and what you think the source of the vapid consumerism/money and "stuff obsession" is. 

I wanna keep learning from you about "the matrix" haha.. I feel it strongly, but you seem so much better at putting it into words and stuff.

Scene From The Matrix

Morpheus: I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?

Neo: You could say that.

Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?

Neo: No.

Morpheus: Why not?

Neo: 'Cause

How Can I Help?

I wasn't sure what to title this post/video. when I googled "How can I help?" this book by Ram Dass came up.

Seemed like a good sign to me so I just rolled with it.

It's that simple. Help can I help?

I don't have much money, but I have a lot of time, know a lot of people and have read a lot of stuff. If you think I might be able to help you out with something, try me. I'll do my best.

If you have questions about the Pwning Life system, ask me. I can post the bits that have been proven successful for myself and others.

I'm here. Leave a comment, or contact me however you like.

peace

mtk

Note: Here's the page with my personal pwning life stuff. I'll start using the tag pwning life on that blog when I blog about personal experiences, books and videos so you can check that out from time to time if you like.

Ubuntu

A few things. So (as you may know if you read the last post), I'm reading this book called "Tribal Leadership." I'm not done with it yet, but what's clear to me so far is that I want to focus on making this the Pwning Life community and not a story about what I'm going through and think (I'm going to move that to my personal blog).

Core Values

I titled this post Ubuntu because I think it should be a "core value" of pwning life. What does Ubuntu mean? You're probably better off checking out Wikipedia (there are multiple definitions there), but I'll give you my interpretation with a story.

Before I moved to Taiwan (in 2002) I was trying to figure out everything I should know about moving there. While searching around I found a discussion forum called Forumosa (here's a link to my profile, but you have to register to see it). I had messed with IRC and newsgroups for a while, but mostly as a lurker. This was the first time I got active somewhere and asked questions. I was ASTONISHED at the help and feedback I got.

I eventually got stumped by the Taiwanese Embassy in Chicago and went to Forumosa to ask how to get around the problem. Someone posted "It fucking doesn't! Go back and ask to speak to a manager," this was in response to the Visa officer telling me I needed a document certified. I went back, did what he told me and BOOM the next day I had my papers in order and was set to go!

I ended up spending a LOT of time on that forum, met a lot of cool people, started a "game club" (that's still going on even though I haven't been there for 5 years), got jobs, found apartments, macked bitches (not really lol.. I was married), etc. etc.

You got help and you helped others. Ubuntu.

Thank Dome For This Post

I already had Ubuntu on my mind then on Facebook today Dome posted this:

Boom! Don't know if that's a true story or not but I was like "Now I HAVE to write something." You can check Dome out at his blog.

What Core Values Do You Think Fit The Community?

Tribal Leadership listed two ways of coming up with values. One was through story telling (like I did above), the other was through asking someone a series of questions (which would be hard to do at this early stage). If you have a core value to share, throw it in the comments or even write your own blog post about it and throw the link in the comments. Would love to hear what you think!

This Is Just Funny To Me

I'm actually planning on using the Ubuntu OS when I setup a desktop computer. My laptop will be a Chromebook and the desktop will be Ubuntu (for editing videos).

Intro to Tribal Leadership

I originally read this book a few years ago, I'm rereading it in preparations of building this community. I've already learned a lot of things I will be applying in the next few weeks. If you want to check the book out for yourself, there's a free audio edition on the Zappos website. Otherwise you should probably be able to pick it up at a local bookstore, library or Amazon.com (that's what I did, snatched the Kindle version).

Here are a couple TEDTalks the author did:

Pwning Life: A Level 5 Tribe That Creates Level 5 Tribes

The general idea I have for the Pwning Life community is to create a large body of people working in the level 3-5 range that then break off into more specialized tribes. For example, the tribe I'd like to create (well... have created in a sense, the MilTownKlan) will be a vehicle to spread Daoism, Taichi and Pwning (among other things). Everyone couldn't or shouldn't want to be a part of that tribe. There is such a wide variety of things people could form tribes around (music, art, entrepreneurship, etc.)

Here are his 5 tribal stages:

1. Despairing Hostility - "Life sucks"
2. Apathetic Victim - "My life suck"
3. Lone Warrior - "I'm great (and you're not)"
4. Tribal Pride - "We're great (and they're not)"
5. Innocent Wonderment - "Life is great"

You're My Top Priority!

If you can't see the video it's because it's still processing. I messed up the scheduling thing.

If you don't feel up to watching me talk for 11 minutes, here's the breakdown:

• I'm in the middle of dealing with a manic episode.
• Visited my doctor and got my medication adjusted (increased with the addition of a sleep aid.
• I'm 100% focused on Pwning Life (both for myself and this blog/YouTube channel) going to treat it like a full-time job (I guess in a way... everyone should be treating it like a full-time job.)
• Read Goals for the Blog to see what I want out of all this.
• Levels will break up my larger vision (which I don't have a page for yet).
• I'll explain active goals and values later.
• Be sure to leave me feedback. Let me know what kind of information you like, what you don't like, what problems you're having with my system (once it's posted), etc.

The Old System Vs The New System

I'd like to note that as of yesterday I totally eliminated using pen and paper for goal writing/brainstorming. I've forced myself to go completely digital. That said, I think it's a good idea to start out with pen and paper for a lot of things. We'll get into those things in future posts.

The Old System
So my old system for setting and achieving goals was basically taking some time each day to write the goals (I have binders full, I'll show you when I move back to Milwaukee) and then coming up with some things you could do each day to move yourself forward. These goals you wrote were also suppose to be things you wanted to get done within a year.

Looking back on it there are some obvious flaws in that system. The easiest one to spot is that every day that goes by brings you closer to the end of a year. Over a couple of days that doesn't matter, but over months... It kind of messes the mindset up. Also, focusing on what you want to get done in the future takes you out of the present. This is probably the single largest change from the old to the new. Switching the focus from the future to the present.

Why Change the Focus?
I'll do a post about the epiphany I had, but it basically amounts to something you've heard before:

It's the journey, not the destination.

That's a simple enough concept and everyone will tell themselves that they know it. Well, speaking as a practicing daoist for the last 20 years or so of my life, I'm going to tell you that you don't know shit! (Well, maybe you do, but I'm certain I'll bat over .900 with that statement). If you don't know much about daoism, a large part of it's philosophy revolves around being in the present and how the past and the future are illusions. I'm getting side tracked...

The switch of focus is because you want to feel good NOW. Not in 2 years, 2 months or even 2 days (or later today for that matter). You want to feel good... wait for it... not... wait... NOW... no no... NOW! You get what I'm saying. So how do you cultivate the now? By switching your focus to the now (or as close as you can get to it).

The New System
The new system will still include long term goals and goals with fixed dates, but that won't be the focus. Instead of focusing on the future and fumbling in the present, you're going to focus on the present and glide to the future.

I've already spent a lot of time thinking about what I want my future to look like and things I want to accomplish. This will be a necessary step for you as well. I'll use an example to highlight what I'm talking about.

One of my old goals was :

I have my BJJ purple belt within a year.

Fine. But how is writing or thinking about that everyday going to help (especially when I'm in Iowa with no place to train!) The NEW system involves creating a daily goal.

I train BJJ.

That's all you need to say. Will it be everyday? If you're crazy like I am it will, but maybe for you that statement means you train when the gym is open... actually, fuck that. You train everyday! If you can't go to the gym and roll, then you should spend some time reading/watching videos, or even doing solo drills in your house.

So what you basically end up doing is creating your vision, coming up with specific future goals for you vision and then figuring out what you need to do everyday to make that vision a reality. The AWESOME part about this (and pretty much necessary component) is that once everything is aligned properly you'll realize how fun it is working hard each day to move closer to your vision. Once you unlock that state of mind (it could happen in an instant!) you'll TRULY understand the meaning of:

It's the journey, not the destination.

It's a hard pill to swallow but you MUST recognize that whatever it is you think you want... you don't. What you really want is that feeling you think you'll feel when you get what you want. The feeling will most likely be good, but it will be fleeting. Instead you want to cultivate that every moment good feeling of knowing your working towards building your dream existence. Whether you fail or succeed doesn't matter. Once your living in alignment (aka pwning life) you're officially a success!