Angles of Attack: Life & Career

I want meaning, money, a fulfilling romantic relationship, the opportunity to mentor people, the ability to give back to my community, a healthy lifestyle, to travel the world, and enough free time to read on the weekends.

Good Fucking Luck.

If you talk to me you will notice that I am quite ambitious. Since I was 13 years old I have wanted to change the world in evolving ways. Through much of my adolescence it was by being an author & writer. During my college years & young adulthood it was social entrepreneurship in developing countries. Right now I am 25 & focusing more on learning while having a semblance of balance in my life. If you prodded me enough I would admit to still wanting all of the above which I listed. Yet I've learned & with age hopefully everyone learns that we cannot have all of these at a given time.

What growing older is all about is choosing the angles of attack in life you want to focus on. Take two or three of the above list and focus on them for a given period of time. After you go through the list you will discover that some of it matters less to you than you thought. Perhaps a willingness to sacrifice a fulfilling romantic relationship for the freedom to travel the world, the inverse is just as valid. Find out your authentic truth of yourself as opposed to what you have heard is sexy by other people your entire life.

In general it is best to focus on two or three from the original list at a given time. Targeting a few at a time insures that you will never be truly miserable & always have positive areas of your life. Since moving to India I have been thinking of the angles of attack a lot - I am even focusing on areas that I did not intend on at the inception of my trip. I knew I would not be making money from this adventure, however did not expect to be writing nearly as much as I am which I am grateful for. I thought I would find more meaning in my work, yet did not expect to create such strong social relationships - people that I will likely have in my life for the rest of it.

I can't rule the world quite yet, I am not nearly experienced enough. I still do not know how I will change the world, it is possible my 13 year old self was onto something with being a writer. No angle of attack is going to be used forever but it is important in our youth to explore different ones. Give them the necessary time to cultivate & for you to learn the ins & outs. What is sure to fuck you up & leave you grasping at straws is focusing on too much at any given time. Be really good at one thing, then be really good at two things.

How to Read Mutliple Books at Once

The following is a guide from my personal experience of how to read 3-4 books at the same time. My reasoning for reading multiple books at once is that I often get bored and do not fully focus if I only read a single book at a time cover to cover.

Book 1: A book with a clear plot driven narrative. One of the beauties of reading for me is that it allows me to visit another world. Get into the shoes of one of the character or be a fly on the wall. When you are reading multiple books at once the plot driven narrative is often the book that I am most consistently reading but it might only be 15 minutes a day. With plot driven narratives consistency is the most important because if you do not read the book for a week or so the world in which you are diving into or some of the more subtle nuances of the writing or characters may become more difficult to pick up.

Book 2: A book that you can put down for a while. This book is the most dependent on the readers interests but the main goal is that it is non-linear, not heavily plot influenced, and does not have a large knowledge barrier to entry. The two most often examples of this type of book I give are Tuesdays with Morey by Mitch Album or a book of poetry. Each chapter in Tuesday's with Morey is its own anecdote about life. Books that do not need to be read cover to cover to give the reader value.

Professional interest book: This type of book takes components of the previous two types of book but is different enough to necessitate its own category. Professional interest books for me are often leadership or psychology books - they are usually abstract and philosophical. I may read the book and wholly disagree with the points that the author makes but this type of book is an investment in your understanding in a more complete way. These type of books are subject driven rather than plot driven - but can use stories to hammer home a specific point. An example of this type of book that has seen mainstream acclaim recently are books by Malcolm Gladwell. I find these types of books valuable because they expand my knowledge base and allow for me to have a greater understanding of the connectivity of everything.

I hope this was helpful to people as I have been asked by many people of the best ways to read multiple books at once. I have not been reading as much as I had previously due to focusing more on experience which I touched on in another blog post about personal growth. Would love to hear more of other peoples perspective on this - if they read multiple books at once or ways in which your method differs from my own.

-Tim

Thoughts on Social Media While living Abroad:

A little over a month ago I moved abroad to live and work for a year. These are a few of my initial thoughts about social media and how my relationship with people, social media, & writing have evolved.

Willingness to Reach Out: Living 10.5 hours in the future of the majority of people who I know has emboldened me to reach to people not in my direct social circle. I have never been afraid of strangers. However to reach to people in a direct way is new for me and I am happy for doing it. There is less of a pressure because by the time someone would respond I will be asleep.

If You Have something Nice to Say Say It: Building on the previous point I am a firm believer in complementing people & encouraging them on their endeavors. Thinking of how you can give value or someone who might enjoy a video you just watched is always a great way to make a connection. Do not get caught up on reciprocation if you genuinely believe they might enjoy it.

The People I Care About the Most Have Not Left: I have stronger relationships with some people since I left. I think part of it has to do with when it is so easy to interact with someone we are less inclined too, yet when we cannot always communicate we cherish it more. It surprised me who has reached out to me since moving which I am grateful for.

I am on Social Media Less: What we know subconsciously is that social media is incredibly distracting & addictive. My strategy since moving has been to only go on when I have something specific to do. With this rule in place I am less likely to linger on social media & waste time. This has freed up a lot more of my time to watch TED Talks & other educational videos.

I am Writing More: I am thinking about social media in a whole new light of how to give value to people. A factor in this change is that I am running all of my company's social media but it has extended to my own personal brand too. I am a goofball at heart, but have shifted towards thinking how each post can prove insightful or add value to the lives of people reading it. I am blogging more, & doing more lengthy posts which I love as I am a writer at heart.

Thanks for reading feel free to add thoughts or comments!

-Tim