For the last few months I have been playing with how to communicate on Facebook. Sometimes I will post something that will be of an emotional nature in different ways. Sometimes it will be a perspective I decided to take that day. What I’ve found is actually happening is that I am getting two different kinds of responses to either of these kinds of questions.

Either:

• They will tell me how to “fix” myself by giving some form of advice (I never asked for) which sometimes explains some story at some point in their lives where they have overcome a similar challenge
• They will challenge me and tell me how I’m wrong for feeling/believing that way, and then providing some form of alternative viewpoint

So often when we communicate with people, two things are often collapsed: what we say & what we really want from them.

Sometimes we think communication always has a request behind it. Some fun ones are:

• I have some bad feelings (and you need to fix them)
• I think this particular thing is stupid (and you need to tell me why it isn’t so I can be more loving/accepting/all-embracing)
• I am taking this path in my life (and you need to tell me why I should be doing this/shouldn’t be doing this so I feel better/get a better way)
• I need to make a decision (and you need to tell me which one to make)

People, not all communications have requests in them. Not all requests need to communicate anything more than “I just need you to do this, will you do it?” (yes or no are the only answers). When most people speak, they just want to be heard…and THAT’S IT!

I have seen/heard people who are in a great deal of pain being “forced” to listen to someone else prattle on about how they are “doing it all wrong” or trying to “fix them”. This person walks away feeling even more dissociated and disconnected than they went into it. They not only had to hold their own experience (which may have been incredibly painful) but they also had to take on MORE which felt like “I am doing it all wrong. And I am being ungrateful because I find it really difficult to listen to all this right now”.

The person who should have been the audience becomes the performer and the person who needs to perform (read: speak their mind) has to become audience (captive audience) to their “opinions” (sarcastic use of quotation marks intentional).

Where are you most likely to turn someone into a captive audience? Is there one circumstance where you are more likely to do this?

For me, I am most likely to do this when someone is giving me their personal brand of “personal development” that I don’t believe much in. I will try and “transform” them back with my bestest ninja skills with just a pinch of sarcasm to get them to realize how much better my way is…

No, I mean I REALLY LOVE technology. For so many years, I’ve watched in glorious delight at the amazing things that the geeks of the world have created. I have been most inspired by those pieces of technology that are built for those of us who want to grow into consciously evolved technological human beings (read: conscious cyborgs).

When I first heard of some of the gadgets I’m about to show you, I was amazed by how confronted I was by them. Should I REALLY need to use something that deepens my meditations? Would I not be more enlightened if I just meditated without it? Surely the universe would give the good karma points to the lo-tech meditate over the guy who has things hooked up to his brain…? Do I want to be DEPENDENT on technology to get my Oneness on?

I chose to suspend my judgment about any meditation tools, and all of the other tools below, because I wanted to know WHY they worked and to know what happened WHEN they worked. What new wonders could I be afforded? I’ve come to feel that saying that we should train ourselves to achieve the things this technology affords us WITHOUT teching-up is as crazy as saying “The sun and all the stars orbits the flat earth”.

Why?

Because although I do believe that any kind of dependence on ANYTHING to be unhealthy, I also choose not to separate myself from the wonders that people are discovering about human beings through “hacking humanity”. I think we can find out more about ourselves by using such technologies and seeing how they impact our human experience than trying to “get there on our own” (much akin to the Bob Newhart skit where he cures people by telling them to “STOP IT”, I believe we must also not try to get our enlightenment on purely off our own backs):

So I’m going to give you ten tools (most of them I’ve used personally) that I recommend any “technoshaman” should own:

1. Holosync

I use Holosync every single day for an hour. It is the best way I know to get yourself into a really deep meditative state. After I use Holosync, I feel completely focused and centred and ready for my day. It helps me plunge deeper into feelings I’m struggling to feel and, frankly, without it I don’t know what my life would look like.

Holosync uses Binaural Beats to deepen your meditative state. Binaural beats involve the playing of two different tones in each ear, 10Hz apart. Your brain tries to moderate the frequency difference, thus plunging you difference.

Pros: Intense focus. Puts you DEEP into your meditation VERY quickly. Greater athletic performance. Life-altering.
Cons: Expensive. If I don’t do it for a couple days, I get a little foggy. Only for the most committed of meditators.

2. Profound Meditation Program

What? Another binaural meditation program? Why would I include this? When my friend John Dupuy over at Integral Recovery sent me his new binaural beat program, I was dubious. Whereas Holosync helps to deepen my practice, every so often I crave the PMP too as it feels like it gets into all the nooks and crannies that Holosync doesn’t get to (yes, I just compared the Profound Meditation Program to a Swiffer).

I do really enjoy this program as it helps to shake things up whenever Holosync gets annoying or boring.

Pros: Less expensive than Holosync. It is the swiffer of binaural beat technologies.
Cons: Again, like Holosync, if I don’t use it I do get a bit foggy.

3. Wakemate

Wakemate monitors your sleep state and lets you set a 20 minute window to wake up in, and then waits until you are in a high-alpha sleep state before waking you up. This helps you wake up without that “Please kill me” feeling we all experience at some time in the mornings.

Although I haven’t used this product yet, it is on its way to me as I type this post. The testimonials on the site were enough to have me buy this. Wakemate monitors your sleep and gives you a SCORE (do I hear someone say “MMPORG sleep wars”?) and then calculates your “ideal wake up time” so you can sleep…LIKE A BOSS!!

Pros: As Tim Ferriss says “It helps me be less bastardly in the mornings”. Super cheap.
Cons: Umm, none I can tell so far…

4. Nightwave

Nightwave is designed to get you to sleep within 7 minutes. An outrageous claim, I know, but I like the look of their technology and feel they may actually be telling the truth. Although I haven’t used their technology, the concept makes sense.

The small Nightwave device displays a moderating light on the ceiling of your dimly lit bedroom that pulses. You follow the pulses with your breathing and within 7 minutes you’re asleep. I can believe that focusing on an object OUTSIDE of yourself can help you to sleep as some of the best sleep-aiding meditations help you to focus outside of your body so it can relax.

Pros: Helps you sleep in SEVEN minutes. Portable and light.
Cons: Frickin’ expensive for a light that shines on the ceiling.

5. Fisher Wallace Neural Stimulator

Stand back kids, this is not a toy. I was recommended this by a coach during a difficult time in my life. The job of the Stimulator (or as I like to call it “The Brain Zapper”) is to send an electrical pulse through your brain, moderating the activity of the hypothalamus. It is IMPOSSIBLE to overdose on this thing simply because its job is to BALANCE instead of “stimulate”. Even so, they only recommend you do it for no more than 40 minutes a day.

I found the concept intensely amusing when I first heard of it. It takes 2 x AA batteries to power…and I think the idea of using a couple of AAs to “fix” my brain to be hilarious, at best. Even still, it frickin’ works!! I used this when feeling completely out of whack with the world and it brought me back to centre.

I would combine this daily with Holosync for 3 months and then stop for 3 months. It is apparently SUPER effective when dealing with PTSD (like RIDICULOUSLY effective, I hear) and will help your brain to know what NORMAL feels like rather quickly. Although you feel like Dr Frankenstein while you’re doing it, if you can put up with the few days of haziness after you’re finished with your 3 month cycle, I couldn’t recommend it anymore!!

Pros: Returns you to NORMAL Operating Functionality in 40 mins.
Cons: OMFG SO EXPENSIVE!! It takes a couple of days after you stop using it for your brain to be OK with it being gone (first time round I did get a little dizzy)

6. Sota Bio Tuner

Less expensive than the Cranial Stimulator, the Sota Bio Tuner’s job is to balance the amygdala. You don’t attach this to either side of your brain like you do with the Stimulator, you attach this one to your earlobes. I have to say, I MUCH prefer the Bio Tuner simply because you get an instant buzz when you’re using it. Although you look like a complete loon walking around with it on, it gives your amygdala the love you never got as a child (remember, the amygdala is the emotive part of the brain).

Also, a VERY weird side effect I experienced as a result of using the Bio Tuner…in the HOUR after using it, I had THREE very powerful coincidences occur. It was as though it tuned my brain into incredible things happening.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Pros: Cheaper than Fisher Wallace Device. Gives you a light buzz.
Cons: Don’t wear it outdoors, you will look dumb!

7. Wild Divine

Ahhh, a classic. The Wild Divine biofeedback device is designed to help you meditate by using a computer game. Although I found it difficult to relax into some of the games (when you wait for 5 minutes for your body to relax and then suddenly the flower you’ve been trying to open actually opens, YOU try not getting excited again), it was a cool way to show that I do have SOME control over my body’s nervous system.

AND some of the games were actually quite fun. Having to keep myself QUITE relaxed, but not TOO relaxed was fun. I only wish they had built more fun game dynamics into it, and less annoying game software (no I don’t want to watch a 20 second video clip of a fox in the forest, dangit!!)

Pros: Fun to learn to control your body. Not too expensive. Some really fun games.
Cons: Irritating game software. Needs more game dynamics.

8. Q Link

Last but by no means least is the Q-Link pendant I have not taken off for more than a day in two years. The Q-Link’s job is to strength your body’s EM field to stop you from getting brain tumors from mobile phones and other high EMF-producing devices.

I bought this two years ago after I was getting intense headaches from using my phone too much. I looked around for a solution and although I thought £75 was a bit much to drop on a pendant that claimed to do something quite original, I did come across a video I saw of how effective it was at helping BBC staff from producing cancer-causing cells. Twenty four hours after wearing it for the first time, my headaches were GONE. I also experienced 3 days of buzzing in my chest as the pendant’s built-in Sympathetic Resonance Technology circuit board configured itself to be in line with my body’s EM field. I haven’t took it off since.

Pros: Stops your mobile phone from giving you a brain tumor. Relaxes you. Stops all other forms of EMF from negatively impacting your body. A range of colors to choose from.
Cons: Quite on the expensive site. You gotta be OK with having it on everyday if you want it to work.

What are your favorite hi-tech tools for enlightenment?? Let me know in the comments…

It’s not that I find myself to be an infallible human being who is too good to apologize, or that I’m Russian (so very sorry, guys!), it’s just that every time I do it I notice how I’m bordering on apologizing for my very existence . . . and often people aren’t even offended enough to warrant the requirement of an apology.

I’m sorry to tell you that I’m not sorry to tell you that I take full responsibility for my actions in every way I can, and yet if that offends you in any way, 99% of the time that’s your own damned problem (and thus your responsibility to say something about it).

So what would happen in a world without apologies?

People would understand that they really don’t have to apologize for their own little idiosyncrasies. They would see these as what makes them human, rather than what makes them inhuman – thus requiring an apology! And besides, when you apologize, it really has NOTHING to do with the other person. You’re not saying it make THEM feel better, you’re saying it to make YOU feel better.

If you REALLY wanted to make them feel better, you would really LISTEN for the impact of what you were doing. And that wouldn’t even mean you would have to change. Sometimes people just want to be heard. If you apologize, you miss that chance. You miss it so that later you can say “Well I did say I’m sorry”. It’s your get-out clause.

So without apologies, you have no way out but to recognize that something you did pissed someone else off or upset them. Even though that reaction is THEIR responsibility, it doesn’t mean you have to run away and leave them in their own misery. That’s just as dumb.

I challenge thee . . .

For ONE week, don’t apologize for anything. Notice all those areas you want to shrink and say sorry. Instead, hear why people are upset with you with lovely phrases like:

• Did I just upset you by doing that?
• Is there something you want to say to me about that?
• I’m sorry that upset you, but I’d love to hear why because this really is just something I do!

Although in this article, of course, I am not talking about ACTUAL murder (or am I? muahahaha). I’m talking about the metaphorical act of seeing how much you can get away with in the world. How far you can push the envelope, how much you can do before someone tries to stop you because they’re so confronted by your actions.

Some of you may be reading this as “Oh My, that sounds really wrong, why would I do such a thing?” but there is one thing I want you to leave with by the end of this article:

You are NOT responsible for other people’s reactions

We spend so much of our lives trying to protect others from our actions that we will PURPOSEFULLY limit and inhibit ourselves in order to not “cause a fuss”. And those times where we do strike out on our own and do our own thing regardless, we panic, fret and worry about the impact it has had on others. Thus, we tell ourselves “Never Again”.

Never Again is murder. It is murdering you from the inside out. It is all really a matter of priorities. If our goal is to “keep the peace” then sure, please feel free to inhibit yourself. Feel free to be the nice guy/girl. Just don’t ever count on truly “knowing yourself”. Seriously, sit on your cushion all you like, you’ll never actually see what you look like off-the-cushion with the brakes off, the sunroof open whilst you’re mooning the driver behind you.

Let me make you feel bad for a moment, if you will . . .

So you’re not interested? Let me have a look at that for you.

Of the limitless spectrum of the human experience, of all that humans have been capable of and are still capable of, for all the daring incredible things you can do with your life, you are going to choose to make a few select people like you over finding the colors YOU like to paint with?

You’re telling me that your mother and father did their happy dance X number of years ago to bring together an organism so beautifully complex and powerful so that you could make its most powerful expression “Getting By”?

So in the entire evolution of the human species (yeah, I know I’m stretching it a bit), of all the combinations it could have existed in, you’re going to use this wonderful creation to sit on the john reading the newspaper whilst feeling good about yourself for not challenging your friend earlier when they said they were getting married to that guy you KNOW has been cheating on her?

It’s all about Permutations!!

The world is all about permutations. Permutations, in mathematics the act of permuting is about rearranging objects or values in an ordered fashion. When these objects are arranged into an ordered fashion, you will find that there are many different “orders” they can take. It’s like the fact that there are more possible games of chess (permutations) than there are atoms in the universe.

If we keep choosing the same permutations, then we know what we’re going to get. If we choose others, are you not a little curious about what those could be?

So if you’re on board, but you’re like “OK but how do I start?” I want to give you some good examples of ways you can get away with murder in your own life:

• Try telling your friend how you’ve been judging them about that thing that they do that you don’t like. Tell them all the judgments you’ve had about them. Get them out in the open. Further, try telling them from a place of “I’m such an asshole” rather than “You’re such an asshole” for that. You may be surprised at how open they’ll be willing to be to YOU afterwards.
• You know how you’re frightened of doing anything OTHER than what your friends do? Next time they invite you to go out, refuse. Then take yourself out on a night out all on your lonesome.
• You know that shirt you really like with the care bears on the front? You know how you’re a man and you love care bears? You know how you keep dreaming about wearing that care bear shirt outdoors, DO IT!! Let yourself make a new permutation and watch the world react.
• REFUSE to get stressed about your exams. Just tell yourself that you’re not even going to worry. My friend Alex recently watched as his friends were trying to get him stressed out about his exams (how anxiety provoking it is to watch someone be so relaxed at something you’re panicking about), and he just sat back and enjoyed the show – refusing to take part in the collective “freak out”. What an asshole you’ll become!
• Say NO! That’s it, just say NO! See what happens . . .
• It doesn’t even have to be anything bizarre or even offensive. My friend Jonathan is the best example. He is now looking at becoming a professional racer after he realized just how much he loves his frickin’ bike. He is being totally unreasonable in going against the grain of what he’s used to, and

We good?

Murder, it just feels so much better!

Last night I attended an event here in London called “Events of Love”. I have to admit, the very “straight up” name did confront me somewhat. I was afraid of encountering flakiness, lack of depth, or even gratuitous expression that was not grounded. What I actually got from it was that it would have been very easy for someone outside to say that’s what was taking place there. My experience was far from this, however. I eased my way into it, slowly, carefully, remaining present with what was going on with me.

We had a game to play where we look into a partner’s eyes and just maintain eye contact. I have played this game many times before, although never quite this powerfully.

And I really felt as though my partner was partly to “blame” for that. She totally dropped in with me as much as I wanted to drop in with her when we first connected. It is incredible to notice such a depth available there with someone you have literally only just met. I have been DYING to experience this level of connection for a fair while now. Getting in there so easily was powerful and incredibly moving for me.

My partner, Dominique, had such a warm glow to her that instantly warmed me to her. Our eyes rested into each other’s as Beethoven played in the background of this underground bar we found ourselves in. At first I wondered if she was actually looking at me. Or rather, I became aware of the gap between what I wanted (deep unapologetic raw connection where every hiccup, contraction & melting point is felt, honored & embraced) & where we began (two people in a bar being asked to look at each other to see ourselves in the other).

I was amazed, moved and profoundly touched with every passing moment. Every so often, her eyebrow would raise curiously, as if to be curious of how I was looking at her. It was easy to let go into this woman and just surrender into the moment with her. Occasionally we would smile at each other warmly, sometimes sheepishly, sometimes nervously. Our connection moved in waves. In those moments where I felt more stillness and less heart-thumping rawness, I noticed how I wanted to forcibly “do” something to get it back there. And yet, I let go again. By the time we were asked to finish, I was beyond moved. I simply didn’t know what to say to her when we re-connected with words.

We hugged. And I could have stayed in that hug for the rest of the night without a care in the world

I had completely melted through feeling met by someone totally capable of following me into those places I’m capable of going . . . those places that I sometimes think make me “not like other boys”. As I was compelled to write about this experience this morning, I sit on the 1107am train to Liverpool with my heart in my mouth, and my guts seemingly exposed.

Writing about this now brings me back to that place, and I find myself longing to return to that moment. The most painful thing about reaching those higher places of connection with someone is that coming back down can feel profoundly disorienting and even painful.

I have been struck lately by how much my motivations differ from so many others. I have a part of me that is intensely motivated to earn a very healthy living. And yet underlying that, there is a part of me that (with the right partner) can go into some incredible depth that will shock and move us both. Ultimately, that part is the one I feel most drawn to in many ways. I have, for a long time, been fascinated about how to deepen and broaden my experience as a human being. Depth in connection with others, and a broadening reach of ways to enjoy & lavish in that connection.

And yet, ultimately I don’t yet know what I want to do for the rest of my life other than the flavors I want access to on a daily basis. Those of profound connection with those I am working with, joyful productivity (thank you Jane McGonigal for that one), meaningful rebellion against the status quo, service to the unappreciated / downtrodden / overlooked in our society, and more play than I can handle.

In the past, my spirituality came from believing in an “other” who was “out there” rather than in my everyday world. I have come to realize that who or whatever “God” is is very much in the present moment in the many interactions, many opportunities to play, and meaningful ways I bring myself into the world. Staying open to the fear this can sometimes bring up is a profound opportunity to experience more and more of what I want: unabashed, raw LIFE.

Bring “lost” and being multi-passionate about so many things can be seen as a sign of flakiness – if you really wanted to go there, that is. And yet, I am coming to discover so many more nooks and crannies of my human experience I am wanting more of simply by staying with this epic search & discovery mission I find myself in the midst of.

I mean…how can I possibly enjoy my ultimate life if I have yet to fully discover & encounter all the dimensions of what I am capable of creating & experiencing.

In some ways, this has been a rant. In others, I am glad to finally be able to share what REALLY matters to me

I recently came to realize that I have had a recurring thought milling around in my head for about 10 years. It has a lot to do with marketing. It has a lot to do with engaging people in things that are important to them. It has a lot to do with progressing the world from something being unimportant, to it being INCREDIBLY important in the eyes of people.

I’ve come to know this thought as my Einstein thought.

Many years ago, Albert Einstein wrote one of the most prestigious pieces of physics research of his time. It changed the way we viewed the world, the cosmos, pretty much everything. Einstein had spent YEARS imagining what it would be like to ride on a beam of light, and what would happen if it were to approach another beam of light head on (if the two could collide, would that be 2x Light Speed impact?). For over 10 years, Einstein was obsessed with this thought. It formed a key part of his thinking on the Theory of Relativity.

So when I was asked this question about having this long-term passion, I realized I had this “thing” I was always really thinking about…whether or not I wanted to think about it. It just came to me. Wondering “Hey, how do you get people to be engaged in positive world-changing things rather than them seeing them as boring, or flaky, or a waste of time?”

And so I am in marketing. The beginning of my search for answers to this. And I am by no means anywhere close to finding out where this thought will take me. The difference is that now, everyday, I get to take a step towards this thought showing me what it wants me to know.

What’s your Einstein thought? What can you not help but think about even when you just want to lie down and relax?

Find it, and then go after it. It’s important!! You care about it whether you want to or not…and it probably will never go away. I certainly hope mine never does.

Without it, I could not do my job. I’m not being melodramatic here. It has helped to birth a new breed of web designer. One that is not restrained by arduous amounts of code, programming or the need to build a whole new Content Management System (CMS). So the question to ask is “Do we really need to know how to raw code sites from scratch?”

The answer is no. Web designers should not have to spend hours re-inventing the wheel each time they want to build a site. And that’s what I like about Headway. Things don’t have to take forever to build, and I can get some incredible WordPress functionality in there also without having to completely start again from scratch.

Long Live the Live CSS Editor

If you want some more awesome in your web design toolbox, you will find the Live CSS Editor to be a supremely powerful tool to use. Without this, it would take me hours longer on each project to get things looking just right. I have not seen anyone else do this kind of live editing in CSS before, but this shit blows me away!! I have often opted to just use this and not even touch any of Headway’s impressive array of display functions.

This is a short post for now. Some day I want to dive in deeper but I’m glad I know Headway as it has given me the opportunity to make a living without needing to know everything about web design. That way I can focus more of my time on giving my clients what they want, and building web sites that work, rather than fiddling about with technology that, it turns out, I don’t actually need to know that much about to make it work how I need it to work.

• I don’t like holding the pages open
• There is never any incentive to finish reading
• There are no pixels

So I asked Santa (mum) for one for Christmas. What better way to begin my Kindle career than to buy “Game Based Marketing” by Gabe Zichermann & Joselin Linder. I could not have chosen a better book. Not because it was such a great book to read (it was!) but because I soon realized that the Kindle was, in fact, a game.

A large portion of the book was dedicated to unpackaging the world’s most prolific game – Frequently Flyer Programs. FFPs, some might not realize, are simply giant games that encourage flyer’s activity in the most bizarre ways – last minute dash for miles to achieve greater status by taking long-haul flights to Singapore, getting off the plane, and getting on the return flight straight away. Turns out these “games” are so successful that about 40% of an airlines’ business is derived simply from its more popular Frequently Flyers (the top 1.5%).

The book makes frequent mention to FFPs as being the best example of game mechanics in the real world. Other examples such as America’s Army, Nike+ and RecycleBank. What was most entertaining for me to read was all the different ways that the authors had ideas for how to gamify existing brands and platforms. Although I was screaming internally saying “Nooo don’t help McDonald’s with free advice” when I read how they could improve their brand loyalty with game mechanics, I found a lot of the examples really exciting. This, for me, was the meat of the book.

Although I don’t consider myself an avid gamer – I used to play lots of first-person shooters back in the day, now it’s just Angry Birds – I appreciated having the game mechanics themselves being broken down into smaller bitesized portions that I could digest. The idea of going to learn about gamification by playing Farmville is not as appealing to me as having this information there for me to know how I could run a game online myself.

Absolute vs. Relative Leaderboards

The section on leaderboards fascinated me the most. Leaderboards were responsible for Orkut being Brazil’s largest social network simply because they had a leaderboard saying which country had the most subscribers. Brazilians saw this and decided they wanted to be at the top, and so jumped in to get as many people as possible on the network.

This is an example of an absolute leaderboard. What fascinated me was the notion of Relative Leaderboards. What if a leaderboard were to simply encourage further participation rather than saying “you’re still not #1″. If you’re at #1027 at the start of the game, how much motivation will you have to get to #1? Not many people will find it worthwhile to invest time in moving up 1026 places to get to #1. By showing how much you have to fight to beat the person ahead of you, the leaderboard is much more digestible for new players.

This whole notion had me wondering about how people could be encouraged to be competitive in positive behaviors that will serve, rather than harm the planet. I have long been a fan of making a difference but am simply too bloody lazy to see complex behaviors through to the end. Now if I could be incentivized to complete those tasks, and could be seen to make incremental progress in these things, then how cool it would be to see more of the “crap I don’t want to do” as fun!

Life is a game…

Game-Based Marketing had me want to reinvent my whole life as a game.  Greater connections with others, greater opportunity for achievement and “making progress” is appealing simply because things I HAVE to do don’t have to be seen as massive things that overwhelm me. It has me really excited to take part in this revolution to gamify more of our experience. For people who lack motivation, this is perfect. A lot of kids are said to have “no motivation” lately, although I’m starting to be grateful for that. Because what they are asked to be motivated about is frankly sometimes quite harmful and has a long-term negative effect on them living a life they are passionate about.

One of the concluding chapters to GBM was titled “Do it for the children” (did anyone else hear Mrs Flanders shout this in their head when they read it?) and laid the case that kids that are described as being “unmotivated” are often motivated only by things that are deserving of their attention – and games are winning. I started to see that we are not “losing our kids to video games”, but that we are losing them to shitty interactions they know better but to get involved with. Would you really be motivated achieve “A+” on your homework that you are forced to do (where there is a negative outcome for non-completion) when you could work with friends in a collaborative and mutually beneficial manner on World of Warcraft to collectively defeat an enemy?

I’d say that we need to teach kids more about collaboration than how to “do what you’re told” where they are being forced into a dislocated system of reward that does not give them a good enough incentivize good behavior. I’m starting to believe we’re losing the best of our world to video games. We are losing them simply because they no longer wish to involve themselves in reality. Reality is nowhere near as exciting as the game. Has it got anything to do with the extrinsic factors of games: alternate realities, trolls, explosions or magical powers? I think not, I think it has more to do with the intrinsic reward of collaborating, overcoming almost “impossible” obstacles, and achieving many more rewards than reality will give us.

In Short…

I’d highly recommend Game-Based Marketing to ANYONE who wants to add gamification to their marketing. I am planning a couple of projects involving game mechanics myself and will definitely be using what I have learned in this book as a great start-point.

Check out Gamification.co for more info on Gamification, and if you want a good place to start with this whole arena, check out Gabe Zichermann’s talk at Google Tech Talks, below:

This morning I awoken feeling sluggish, overly-emotional and afraid of my life. I had a meditation practice for many months but that evaporated on a trip to the US last year as I realized I had begun to hide out in my practice. However, I have come to realize that without my practice, I am also hiding. In fact, I was not only hiding, but also slipping away and losing my connection to my emotional body. I had a pit in my stomach which had been hiding out there for a couple of months now.

This morning I slapped on two hours of Holosync, and everything I wanted to feel but was afraid to came rushing to the surface

It was a roller-coaster of a morning but I am grateful for it. I was finding all the old familiar things that Holosync does to improve my life were flooding back. I found myself feeling my heart open. I was not afraid of feeling sad. The overwhelm I have had in my life for the last few weeks was gone, replaced by more grace and ease. Yes, this is just from two hours of Holosync after months without it.

Sometimes I find that if I don’t do Holosync, my head feels foggy that day. I lose my connection to who I am. Sometimes I do actually get extremely foggy-brained without it. Some people find this worrying. But after a couple of days without it, those symptoms fade. I have come to realize that with Holosync in my life, things are a lot brighter and more colorful. It may be cheating the spiritual path sometimes, but I’ve had so many meditations that haven’t worked at all. With this, I am guaranteeing a deep meditation EVERY TIME. The effect this has on my day is insurmountable. It blows me away what I can achieve and how my fears don’t bother me as much.

Having shortcuts that become daily seem like a dependence to some. I wear something called a Q-Link which helps keep stress levels down, but also help keep me safe from mobile phone radiation (which it does rather well – no more headaches!). I wear this everyday. I haven’t taken it off in a year (apart from showers), and I’ve come to realize that these things simply elevate us.

Elevation not Dependence

When things are elevated, coming down feels like a “I need this or my life will suck”. Powerful Daily Routines help to ready people into a superhuman state of clarity. Without those routines, things seem dull. So someone would say “There is a dependence on that because they can’t seem to function without it”. Well, functioning is one thing. Thriving is another. I can function just fine without Holosync. No, I’m not as clear-headed, I’m not as focused, and I’m not as contented with myself. But sure, I function.

Yawn.

I’m tired of functioning. Now that I’ve seen what it’s like to have this superhuman state of clarity in my mornings, why would I want to be without it? To me, saying that these “routines, shortcuts & cheats” are unnatural and wrong is like saying “The Earth is the Centre of the Universe”. In fact, they are performance enhancers. And although people have problems with this (if I sit in my pyjamas all day I should be able to feel as attractive as I do if I put effort into prettying myself up), it is simply a matter of “What is the game you want to play?” If you want to play the game of extraordinary contribution to your life and your work, then of course you would want to find out what helps you get there.

So, thank you Holosync for your extraordinary contribution to my life! I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long. It is truly time to get back on the Holosync Horse!!