My First Week as a Caveman

Success isn't just making oodles of money, or being incredibly happy, or having everything you want. Part of success is also molding yourself into the perfect 'you' - the you that the Fate Computer* designed you to be. With that in my, my significant other and I decided to go on the Paleo Diet.

In short, this is the 'Caveman Diet'. Paleo - or Paleolithic - is specifically about eating the foods we have evolved to eat. Around 10,000 years ago, agriculture did not exist. Without agriculture, neither did a number of our modern food staples - such as breads, sugars, grains, legumes and so forth. Our species survived on a diet primarily of fatty meats, fruits and vegetables. There was no going down to Cave-Mart and picking up a juicy steak along with some Cave-Texas Toast and a Cave-Coke to wash it down. No.... if you wanted to eat, you had to kill. In a way, we are cursed with our intelligence, in that we are capable of looking beyond our food and thinking further about what it is and where it came from. True, all animals are capable of varying levels of advanced through, feelings and caring - but they lack the parts of intelligence that would otherwise cause them to think twice about killing their food.

(Added After Initial Post) As scientists have proven and the majority of us have accepted as fact, we exist today thanks to evolution and survival of the fittest. While agriculture has brought us numerous nutrients, helped feed people around the world and overall has been an incredible boon for our species, and the species we help, in this world - we have not had the true opportunity to evolve our bodies to a point that we can properly process the resulting foods. At least not completely - we can to a point. However our bodies process them in a way that shows we are in a crossroads of being able to properly sustain ourselves on them, and needing the foods we originally evolved to eat.

So here we are, 10,000 years later, fat sick and dying because of the foods we rely on, because we sit around and do nothing all day, and in general... failing. Failing is not success. Hell, they don't even rhyme. Me? Yea, I'm fat, sick, always tired and generally not really happy with myself. So it was time for a change.

I've tried lots of diets in the past. They never worked. They never worked because they were diets. They are meant to give you a sudden change in your eating habits that will cause you a temporary loss of weight. Problem is, most of them require you to find sustenance in the very foods we are not designed to eat - grains, legumes, breads, etc. etc. etc.

So, after lots of research, we pulled out the caveman-clubs and went primal with the Paleo Diet. Each meal consists of a large portion of meat, an even larger portion of vegetables, and a decent amount of natural animal fats. Everything is as organic as possible, and the word 'Growth Hormone' shall not dare ever grace our lips. (Although, we avoid growth hormones like the plague and always have, so there's nothing new to us in finding high-quality meats).

I have been off and on following the diet more or less for the past two and a half weeks, give or take. At first it was a slow transition, as we ate through the non-paleo food present in the house. We were not about to waste the money on the food we spent. As we ate through that however, we started switching over to a much more primal diet, and the most amazing thing happened.... WE STARTED LOSING WEIGHT! And on top of that, the energy levels improved by multiples.

So now, I have been very and primarily paleo for the past week. My energy levels are at new highs - I'm usually too filled with energy to get to sleep in the evenings, and I often wake up with 6 - 7 hours of sleep. And when I'm awake, I am AWAKE.

However, Thursday and Friday was rather interesting. Thursday we went out for a rather non-primal dinner. That night I felt really sick. The next night we went to a friend's house, who had no idea of our diet, and had cooked us dinner, and I would rather forgo my eating lifestyle for a night rather than make a friend feel bad, so I ate very non-primal. After that meal I felt tired, sluggish, and went to bed quite early compared to normal.

I am still, in a way, through the trial and error phase, and am learning how I always learn best - trial by fire, and learning by doing. All week I have felt fantastic and lost weight. Then the past 2 days I have felt sick, tired, and actually regained some of the weight I lost. This morning, however, I woke with lots of energy and have been buzzing around the apartment since I rose - cleaning the kitchen, living room, doing laundry, doing dishes and making breakfast - a very paleo eggs and zucchini. The past 2 days have taught me that yes, there is wiggle-room in a paleo lifestyle - and honestly, since we are not cavemen, trying to eat 100% like a caveman is not even fully practical. But eating 95% like a caveman? That is not only doable - it's extraordinarily healthy.

Success in life, success in mind, and now acquiring success in diet. Once this paleo lifestyle is a bit firmer in place, I think fitness will be next.


* If you get this reference - good for you! You get a cookie... no, wait... BACON!

The Successful Do Not Burn Bridges!

I've seen some bridges burned in my days, but what I saw this evening is comparable to Hiroshima had the bombs functioned at full capacity*. Time to move on. It is incredibly, and so important, to never burn your bridges with anyone. People work hard to build relationships - and even if you aren't happy, you have no idea what the person on the other side is thinking. If you burn the bridge, you'll never know what you just lost. Burning bridges places a lot of negativity in world, which will only result in sadness. Put happiness into the world, and keep those bridges standing - that is an important part of being successful. The bridges I saw decimated this evening are all bridges that could have remained standing had individuals simply have communicated with one another. Rather than communicating, they took a distrubing level of action that has resulted not in the pain they hoped to inflict - but rather a great amount of pain upon themselves, probably even more than they will realize anytime soon.

All in all, there are very important rules to being successful. The following 3 are rules that could have prevented future problems:

1.) Communication. Talk about issues, or they will never be addressed.

2.) Put into the world what you want back. This isn't some spiritual comment of any kind. Simply enough, if you act negatively and hurtful towards others, than that is how they will act towards you.

3.) Do not burn bridges. Relationship bridges are guarded by the best militaries out there. Nobody is capable of crossing them. You can peer over the chasm with a telescope and attempt to see what is on the other side, but youre only way of truly knowing what is there is by communicating across the bridge. However, if you burn the bridge, then whatever was on the other side is now lost to you forever.

It fills me with a great amount of sadness to see people consciously and intentionally break the above three rules. I am honestly writing this blog entry because I am incredibly hurt. And that doesn't make me weak - everyone can feel hurt. The difference is if I take up drinking as a result, or if I simply move on. I've been through a lot, and when I saw those bridges burning, I simply brushed off the ash and moved on. There are numerous connections to be made, and great amounts of success to make flourish. There's no need to waste time focusing on the pain others wish to cause. And that goes for everyone! If there is something hurting you that someone else did, chances are they are burning the bridge with you - or simply flinging grenades over it, seeing what they can break. DON'T LET THEM. But don't burn the bridge back on them. Just raise the gate, and don't let their communications through to you any longer - they are wasting your time, and will hinder your own success.

I hope this post helps others! If you are someone who has burnt bridges, then think carefully about what was said here. Most importantly, think about this one question:

"If I had not burned that bridge, what might I have gained?"

If you can understand why that question is true in every single situation - no matter who it is against - then you are mature enough for your success to flourish.


* The nuclear bombs dropped on Japan during World War II only actually functioned at 20% of the capacity estimated by Einstein. Keep that in mind when you drop a bomb or burn a bridge yourself.

The Wall Zero

Within everyone is what can be best described as an ethereal crossroads. We visit it every day, numerous times a day, circling back to it no matter how many times we have already been there. It is the crossroads of choice. Choices such as...

"Will I sleep in or wake up with my alarm?"
"Will I have coffee or tea?"
"Will I have a banana for my snack, or a cookie?"

These crossroads are visited anytime in a day that one must make a choice. It is widely speculated that each choice - each path in the crossroad - will create a new reality, forming infinitely until all universes turn to vapor. Though these choices I mention are the ones we think the most about, there are many that are much more subconscious...

"Will I have a successful day?"
"Will I finish what I started?"
"Will I be happy?"

These choices are within the ethereal crossroad, though they are more than often blocked by what we allow ourselves to accomplish. Today can be the most successful day of your life so far, even if it's a Saturday and you're on vacation in the Swiss alps. Let it be that successful day, and it will become the day of success.

I'm not preaching The Secret here, though I do think that it gives a good message. I'm explaining what the Wall Zero is.

Think of something you have wanted to accomplish or perform. It can be anything at all, big or small - but something you haven't yet done. Now focus on that one thing. Realize that the reason you haven't done it yet, as difficult as this may be to realize, is because you haven't allowed yourself to make the desire a reality. It's a subconscious thing, to not allow yourself to do something, but it exists. Between you and accomplishing that task is a wall. The wall is there, it is built, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Except go through it.

The Wall Zero is where every wall put in your path has a hole in it that you just go through. Whether the wall already had a hole or you smashed your way through it like it was a simple stack of toothpicks, the hole was there. And now the hole is behind you, as is the wall. And now you have completed your task. It truly is that easy.

Ok. So this blog isn't going to be me preaching the next version of The Secret or anything like that. I could probably write a whole series of books about the Wall Zero and make a successful franchise of burger-chains around it, but right now I'd rather not. This blog is going to be about success. It is going to be about the things I am doing to be successful, and how I am working with others to make them successful. We'll be talking about videogames, movies, business and the usual blog stuff. I might even bitch about politics at some point. I'm a business owner, an entrepreneur, a nerd and a geek, and I'm ready to live a long life of rampant success. And I want to see my friends, family and acquaintances - and all of you reading this blog - see the same level of success. Because unless you are a total asshole, you deserve it. (And if you are a total asshole, I suggest burying yourself - before the world picks up shovels and finds you. Because you're just standing in our way - and you've become the wall.)

But one thing you can be certain of - there won't be a wall I won't find a way to smash through. And I'm letting everyone through it.