Success Manifesto

In the past, many people have asked me what the most influential self-help books in my life have been. After much delay, I just made a list on Amazon.com. These books were particularly powerful because I had not been exposed to their ideas before and because I was ready to hear and incorporate those ideas into my life. Even if you think you already understand what these books have to say, these authors have written so cogently about important ideas that you will gain a deeper understanding of their importance and be able to use them more effectively in your life.

If you enjoy the list, it would be very much appreciated if you could give it a good rating.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

Thank God for people who love doing what most people are afraid of, hate, or resist. These people are proof that everything in life is lovable if we let it be or make an effort for it to be. Entomologists are proof to me that I can learn to be at peace with the bugs in our apartment.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 02:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (8)

Two and a half years ago, I took a semester off. Looking back, I'm extremely happy I did despite strong pressures the other way. At the beginning of the time off, I wrote out a curriculum. Here is what I wrote (comments in italics are what actually happened):

I?ve spent the last thirteen and a half years of my life attending public learning institutions and for the first time ever, I?m taking a semester off. I?m taking a semester off to rapidly grow and achieve my potential more than I feel I could in school. I?m taking a semester off because it's something that I?ve wanted to do, but never had the guts to do. And finally, I?m taking a semester off because I think I have more to lose if I don?t, than if do.

My curriculum was developed by the advice of many people. I?ve decided to list the main activities I will be doing and my rationale behind doing them:

1. Conferences/Seminars. I will attend conferences that are pique my interest. To save money I will use greyhound when close. I will also call all of the events in advance and ask to volunteer so as to not have to pay the hefty fees. So far I have planned a social business, creative problem solving, accelerated learning, entrepreneurship, and a consciousness and science conference. I am going to two for free because I?m leading a few breakout sessions or helping to plan it. I?m going to the other three for large (sometimes 90%) discounts because I?m volunteering. As for seminars I?m going to the Landmark Advanced Forum, seminars I find at The Learning Annex, The Seminar Center and those I find through word-of-mouth.

   Pretty much happened as I wrote it here.

2. Reading. I?ve created a list of prioritized books that I would like to read. I?ve chosen the books by asking people that I respect for their advice. Books that start to come up a lot go near the top.

   I read a lot, but not as much as I had planned.

3. Travel. I would like to travel to Europe, Africa, and Asia. While in Asia I would like to spend some time being part of a spiritual community. To make this cheaper I will be using my advantage miles. I also hope to be able to set up speaking gigs with organizations located in some of those countries to reduce the travel costs and give me contacts where I go. I hope to do this in late summer into next fall.

   Unfortunately, I did not go anywhere internationally. I am hoping to do this in the next few years.

4. Shadowing/Interviewing/Discussions/Meeting. I hope to be in touch with 2-3 mentors a week from different disciplines. I would like to target people that I find intriguing. Depending on the person I would like to either shadow them, interview them, or have a discussion with them. I would also like to add value to them in any way I can if this is possible.

   I met a lot of new mentors, but not 2-3/week. I have about 50 mentors right now from various disciplines.

5. Boards. I would like to be on the board of 2-3 companies that I?m interested in. I believe that this would be a good way to give back and to develop contacts.

   I am now on the advisory board for the New York metro region of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurhip.

6. Vuja Daze. Vuja Daze is sort of like D?j? vu except it means to experience new things. I would like to take advantage of activities that are new to me as they come up even if I would normally not do it.

   This definitely happened.

7. Meet 5 people a day. I live in New York City. I would thus like to spend time just meeting five random people a day. This builds my social skills, and helps me understand more people from different cultures and backgrounds, and helps me build contacts.

   I didn't even come close, or for that matter, even put much effort toward this.

8. Move. I would like to move to a new area with in New York City with new people so I can understand a different way of life. So far I?ve live in Greenich Village and the East Village.

   I moved to Brooklyn, where I would live for two years.

9. Daily Discussions. I plan to have daily discussions with my girl friend, Sheena who I live with. In these discussions that will be roughly .5-1.5 hours long, we listen to each other and share/teach what we learned. The goal will be for mutual growth and to form a synthesis of what we both learned during the day.

   This happened.

10. Partner Work. There are different accelerated learning techniques that I?ve learned that require partners. I would like to spend about 30 minutes per day working on these.

    I don't think this happened.

11. Junto. I plan to organize a group of 8-13 interesting and motivated people in the New York City area to meet once a week. Each week a topic will be chosen such as ?taking a semester off?, ?homelessness?, etc. and we will discuss the topics and expand ourselves. We also might use this forum to help each other solve one another?s problems.

    This didn't happen, but I'm actually in the works of trying to set it up right now with the some of the world's top young entrepreneurs.

12. Entrepreneurship. As discussed in my previous article, The Entrepreneurship Manifesto [name changed to "Why Every Student Should Start a Business", starting a business is an excellent activity for many reasons. I will be working on sustaining the web development company, Princeton WebSolutions and launch Emerald Bridge, a grassroots marketing company servicing companies who target college students.

    Princeton WebSolutions no longer exists except for some old clients I maintain. Emerald Bridge was never launched because I lost my passion for it. I did spend a great deal of time begining to write "The Student Success Manifesto".

13. Infopreneurship. Infopreneurship is like entrepreneurship except the service is your information and it can be distributed through books, articles, talking, seminars, and so on. One of the advantages of infopreneurship is that you specifically increase your brand power. From these I would like to write for different magazines and write a book. I would also like to speak to different colleges and organizations.

    I did get some articles published. I also began speaking at events.

14. Yoga and Meditation. For the past six years of my life I?ve been very involved in tennis. During high school I went to tournaments and played for the high school team. In college, I played for the NYU tennis team. Unfortunately, my knees started to give me trouble making it much harder to enjoy the sport as I couldn?t reach my potential and it was painful. I would really like to pursue yoga and meditation because the combination of the both increases health, flexibility, mental ability, and strength. Also, they seem nice because I can do them from the comfort of my own home once I get more experienced.

    I did this, but only very little.

15. Liberty Partnership Program. I will continue teaching web design classes on Wednesdays to middle school/high school students from the city.

    Did it.

16. Eat Well, Sleep Well. This is something I?ve wanted to do for a while. I really don?t like being having to worry about eating healthy or walk like a zombie during the day. I commit to eating a healthy a diet as I know how and sleeping 8 hours a day and getting into a routine.

    Yes, I did this, and have still kept this habit extremely well. I eat very healthily and sleep 8-9 hours/day.

17. New Therapy Techniques. There are a little of different therapies for the human psyche and physiology. As I get money I would like to learn more about and test different techniques such as Network Spinal Analysis, Acupuncture, Chiropractor, Therapy, Hypnosis, and so on.

    I did this a little, but not as much as I wanted.

18. Research. I would like to first research the different organizations and individuals that give grants to people doing research. Secondly, with or without the funding I would like to research some of the world?s most successful youth. These include youth who are enjoying life to the max and excelling at whatever they choose to do.

    I did this a little, and am still doing it to some extent.

19. Strategic Planning. I would like to re-examine my values, beliefs, short term, medium-term, and long-term goals.

    Did this.

Posted by Michael Simmons at 06:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)