August 2010 | Passionate Being

Monthly Archives: August 2010

How a system can help you attain your goal

Who needs another constraint in their lives? Between jobs, opening hours, taxes, and other rules, systems have a bad rep. Not surprising, they are limiting your freedom. The magic box photo credit: ralphbijker But systems aren’t all bad, if you learn to use them well, they can be used to help you attain your goals. How come? They give a direction, helping you visualize the goal They create space to focus In time, they provide the comfort of a known situation and process But be careful, not all systems are created equal. Think outside the box For a system to be truly effective for you, its goals and limitations need to be clear, which means, you have to look at it from the outside. No system if all-encompassing, they are all limited. Decide what you want a system for, and look for the limits of the system, so that you are not subconsciously constrained by them. Let’s take an example. If you want to do some exercise to keep in shape, you know that a certain regularity is needed. Depending on how you feel in your body and mind, you could need to show up once a week, or every day. Let’s say you decide to run twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, at 6.30 am, for 30 minutes, before you go to work. So, that’s your system. Sounds good? Take a minute to imagine what its limits are. Done? Here’s what I came up with: I have to wake…

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What to do when you’re scared of change

by Sylvain

You want to improve your health, finances, your life. You really want to go forward towards your goals, but you’re afraid of what it takes to accomplish a change. A world of changes where everybody stays the same photo: woodleywonderworks Everybody wants to change something, but everybody is also scared of it. Have you noticed how most people, when talking about change, want the change to come from someone else? The government, a company, their employer, their spouse or friends. Rarely we find someone who truly understands that any change worth making comes from within. And that’s not surprising, humans are creatures of habits, we cherish both comfort and safety, and we find them in routine. However messy and always-changing the lives of some of us are, they still provide habits and comfort, if only by their unpredictable nature. It can be the food you’re eating, the TV you’re watching, but most importantly the image that other people have of you. Change IS scary. Why? Simple: you know you can survive in your current situation, you know you can handle how people see you, because you are! But any change that threatens the status quo begs the question: will I survive this? How much pain might I encounter along the way? Will I succeed? Will I fail? How people will look at me either way? It doesn’t matter whether it looks like a good change or not, if it is significant enough, fear always creeps up. It doesn’t mean you should…

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The 30-day Passionate Being challenge

by Sylvain

Good day, Passionate Beings! How’s life going these days? Pretty good? Not bad? What about making it Passionately Awesome? If you’re interested, it’s your lucky day, as today marks the launch of the Passionate Being 30-day challenge to help you build your Passionate Life. What I believe Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Helen Keller photo: The Wandering Angel I believe that a life lived at 50% is a life half-wasted. I believe that doing something because you “should” instead of because you love doing it is a cry for change. But most importantly, I believe it is possible to live a life filled with passion, creation and pleasure. I believe this kind of life is the best there is, not only for ourselves but for the world. I also believe that if you want to leave a truly positive mark in the world, you have to be passionate about your life. Finally, I believe I can help you build a life that you’ll be so passionate about, you wouldn’t change it for the world. But who would I be if I believed I could help you build a passionate life but limit myself to helping a few friends here and there? It is time to step up and share my beliefs and skills with the outside world. This challenge is how I’m doing it. The Challenge During 30 days, from today August 23rd until September 21st 2010, if you allow me, I will help you get clear…

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The value of an idea

by Sylvain

Do you have more ideas for new projects than you can keep up with? Or are you waiting for the million dollar idea to quit your job? How many times did you see a new object/software/thingy being released to the world and think “Damn! I thought about that! Why didn’t I do it?”? The 260-million sales idea photo credit: Eddi 07 If you have a really great, innovative idea, you can surely create a new market, crush the dull competition, and make billions in revenue in only a decade. Take the iPod for example, it seems like everyone and their mother have one or two. 260 millions units sold since the launch of the first, Mac-only, iPod on October 23, 2001. Even their competitors have to agree Apple did an awesome job, putting thousands of songs in our hand. And they succeeded because they came up with the idea first. Or did they? In 1996, Audio Highway announced the first ever portable MP3 player, Listen Up, which was released in 1997. Then came Saehan’s MPMan, Diamond’s Rio and Compaq’s Personal Jukebox in 98 and Creative’s Nomad in 2000. Apple entered the market after most of its competitors in 2001. And they still took most of the market share (72.7% in 2007). How did they do it? Making an idea real Was there a new, killer idea/feature in the iPod which justified such success? Did the iPod do more than the Rio for example? Not really. Their success came from great implementation and…

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11 ways to be a better you

by Sylvain

I assume you’re not here cause you like my beautiful blue eyes (they’re brown, by the way), so my guess is that you want to improve your life, be more passionate, and ultimately, be a better you (and if not, why are you here?). That’s a very noble cause, especially since by improving yourself, you improve the world. But where to look? Maybe you’ve been at it for years and came to a stall, not knowing what to do next, or maybe you just made the decision (congrats!), and don’t know where to start. In both cases, it is time to get back to the beginnings. Are you a good you? I’m not asking whether you’re good or evil, but whether you make a good representation for who you really are. If you’re a salesman for GM, and when nobody’s looking, all you want is drive a Toyota, you’re not being congruent with yourself. Getting to the foundations It’s not so much about what you desire than it is about uncovering the diamond inside you, polishing it, and allowing it to shine. Follow these steps and I guarantee you’ll be a better you (or you get your money back!) 1. Be open to change The first thing to do if you want to be better, is accepting change. Change within yourself, but also change outside, in the environment, the people around you. If you don’t allow them to change, how are you going to allow yourself to change? 2. Reevaluate…

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Can God save everyone? Why would he?

by Sylvain

photo credit: markhillary Do you think God can save us from evil, wars, pain, everything that’s bad or that we don’t want? There is a number of believers who say that if we act “right”, God will save us. But if we don’t, well, I guess it’s hell and eternal damnation. I’ve never tackled spirituality on this blog, but the human mind has a desire and a need to believe, and whether we admit it or not, religious beliefs have a huge impact, on most aspects of our lives. And unfortunately, our religious beliefs are not questioned enough. Suggested music while reading this post: Linkin Park – The Catalyst. God and the universe According to most religions on this earth, God created the universe, all the planets, including our own, nature, all the animal world and finally, mankind. Never mind the number of (Earth) days it took to do that, it was a huge undertaking. From what I understand (and I’m no expert), we are all children of God, and God loves mankind more that he loves everything else: more than the trees we destroy for plantations, more than the mosquitoes we kill when they bother us, more than the cattle we slaughter so we can have burgers everyday. When taking a human perspective, even though we despise the thought or the accusation, it is not uncommon for a parent to have a preference for one child over the others. So, like a random parent, God loves us more than his…

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