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Economics & Time Travel

Posted by John-Erik in Articles

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WARNING: Upon review this post is so nerdy and geeky you may just want to skip. It will though give you a brief insight into what haunts my brain.

I love economics because it involves equal parts philosophy and numbers. Economics is the connection of money. The first thing you need to know about economics is that you don’t spend money, you circulate money. When money leaves your account it doesn’t disappear, it just moves to a different place. To become wealthy you need that money to flow to you instead of away from you.This is why debt is so dangerous. Debt cuts off your circulation.

Time on the other hand is not circulated, it is spent. When you spend $20 that money changes hands and can be spent again, but when you spend 20 minutes that time can only be spent once. Time is much more powerful than money because your time is rare while your money is replenish-able.

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Awareness Test

Posted by John-Erik in Wonder

Can you count how many passes the team in white makes? Innovative thinking requires observation and often seeing what others don’t.

~J-E

Click here if the video doesn’t load: Awareness Test

 

 

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. ”

— Benjamin Franklin

Ben Franklin on Blogging

Posted by John-Erik in Quotes

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.
~Benjamin Franklin

Your blog should either be incredibly compelling or it should be about your compelling adventure. Don’t write about that you had pancakes for breakfast (unless of course your writing from Mt. Everest).

~J-E

Vader hits 100k

Wonder Wander : Edition #001

Posted by John-Erik in Wonder Wander Round-up

Wonder Wander is a collection of just some of things I have written in my moleskin (journal) this week:

  • Great article by David Messner about the power of a good coach. He is spot on with the summary and I plan to share it with as many people as I can. Check it out here: Power of a Good Coach
  • While many people resolved to stop drinking coffee this year, I resolved to start. Starbucks sizes and names messed me up until I realized that Venti is Italian for 20 and it means the 20oz version. Your welcome.
  • Tweet of the week: Your insecurities are just really bad assumptions. Follow me for more @johnerikthinks
  • I decided to upgrade and spend a Saturday learning Final Cut X on a live project because it would specifically push me out of my comfort zone.
  • I recently fulfilled a life-long dream and bought a jeep. I named it Vader because it’s all black. This week Vader hit 100,000 miles, which is sort of like having a birthday.
  • If any of you have a dream or an idea, I highly suggest subscribing to the Dream Year Subscription Service. It is fantastic and you can preview the first lesson free.
  • BLOG is short for Web Log. By definition it is the journal of the adventure. It is not your adventure. Go outside and make the world a better place.
  • I’ve been impressed with the switch over to iCloud from Apple.Technology is like plumbing: When it works, you take it for granted but when it doesn’t there is crap everywhere.
  • Best advice for conflict: A soft answer turneth away wrath. ~Proverbs 15:1. Be gracious in your communication and especially in your confrontation.
  • The app went into development this week :)
  • Don’t hate on anyone’s win, attempt, or failure. Don’t be a snob about someone else’s dream. There is enough critics in the world. Help someone win.

~J-E

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

Garbage In, Garbage Out

Posted by John-Erik in Articles, John-Erik Thinks, Quotes

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Everyone wants to live an incredible story — the fulfillment of a great destiny. The problem is that we pursue destiny as if it was a late night informercial. We want riches or the abs without the work or in this case, without working backwards from your destiny > to your character > to your habits > to your actions > to your words > all the way back to your thoughts.

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You Are Hope

Posted by John-Erik in Projects

Nothing has impacted my life more than missions trips and my times with World Hope all around the world. Here is the latest video that two of my friends (super talented guys credited below) and I put together.

  • Day 1: Wrote the script
  • Day 2: Voice over and Music
  • Day 3: Edit Video
  • Day 4: Color Correct

The video was shot on my 9th and 10th trips to Africa on a Cannon 7D.

You can be Hope,

~J-E

Connect with my friends:

David Messner (blog) (twitter)

Ryan Wakefield (blog) (twitter)

For more information on World Hope visit www.weareworldhope.com or follow them on twitter @weareworldhope.

Shark Tattoo AmputeeWhen the world hands you lemons . . .

When the world hands you lemons . . .

Posted by John-Erik in Wonder

When the world hands you lemons, punch the world in the face.

This is a brilliant example of taking a bad situation and turning it into a win.

Brilliant! ~J-E

“Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

— Howard Thurman (1900-1981) [minister, educator, civil rights leader]

What makes you come alive?

Posted by John-Erik in Quotes

If I could leave each one of my high school students with one quote, this would be the one. The world needs more people who are passionate.

~J-E

My Limited Edition Star Wars Moleskine to start the New Year.

Dream Year 2012

Posted by John-Erik in Articles, John-Erik Thinks

An elderly man, in the final days of his life, is lying in bed alone. He awakens to see a large group of people clustered around his bed. Their faces are loving, but sad. Confused, the old man smiles weakly and whispers, “You must be my childhood friends come to say good-bye. I am so grateful.”Moving closer, the tallest figure gently grasps the old man’s hand and replies, “Yes, we are your best and oldest friends, but long ago you abandoned us. For we are the unfulfilled promises of your youth. We are the unrealized hopes, dreams and plans that you once felt deeply in your heart, but never pursued. We are the unique talents that you never refined, the special gifts that you never discovered. Old friend, we have not come to comfort you, but to die with you.”

The above passage gets to me every time I read it.  How many of us will have our dreams buried with us? I don’t want to measure my life by the numbers in my bank account, but instead by the number of people I helped and the number of ideas I give birth to. I always carry with me a Moleskine journal. It contains my ideas, hopes, observations, and sometimes frustrations. It is my dream book.

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Peyton Happy riding in the Jeep (Vader) with the top down on New Years Day.

Do we have an Economy Problem or just a Happiness Problem?

Posted by John-Erik in Articles, John-Erik Thinks

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To our children, happiness is beginning to just mean a state of entertainment. Entertainment places you at the center of the universe. It is trending towards having every preference served, every difficulty removed, and giving complete control to the “user”. This is cultural happiness.

To our grandparents, happiness meant fulfillment. Fulfillment requires sacrifice and at minimum inconvenience. Fulfillment is serving others and step #1 is understanding that the world doesn’t revolve around you. This is true happiness and the only way to find purpose.

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