Friday Freestyle - 4/30/2016

May Can-Will Challenge

Doing More in a Month

I challenge you. You, the reader of this blog. If you're a first-time reader coming across this blog or you're a regular follower or someone who recently discovered this, I strongly encourage you to do this challenge. 

As the month of May kicks off this Sunday, May 1st, you should change the thought process and decisions made through that process. How do you do it? Here's a little overview of how it works. 

1. There is an obstacle, opportunity, etc. An event that occurs where a reaction and decision is required from you.
2. In situations where you would usually catch yourself saying one of the following:
•  "I think I can" 
• "I can probably do it"
• "I can try"
• Or any other sort of semi-enabling statements
3. You change that "Can" to "Will"
• "I will..."
• "I will do it"
• "I will try"
4. Final step: Do it through the approach and belief that you will achieve that task or that opportunity

This is not an overtly original concept. It's not groundbreaking, but it's also not exercised regularly. So try it for the month of May, instead of "Can" say "Will." Let yourself see what happens once you enable and believe in yourself first. Go ahead, I believe you will blow them away. 

Thursday Thought - 4/28/2016

Plaid: 

A Pattern is My Favorite Color

As my closest friends know, I love to wear plaid. The cross and checkered pattern with those stripes being a variety of colors and sizes. I will don the pattern on a dress shirt, on a flannel shirt, or even on my boxers.

We usually choose types of colors to describe parts of who we are. There are mood rings that read your body temperature to tell you what mood you're in, that is if you can't tell on your own. Next is the ever-popular Teen Cosmopolitan-esque quiz where you answer a series of questions to determine which color is your spirit or your aura. The final option I will list, but it's certainly not the last option, is the type where you associate your favorite color with the way your attitude and personality is defined. 

Why do I love a pattern as some of you love a color?

I appreciate its complexity and brilliance. To me, plaid is most like our personalities, with some of us being more intricate and use colors in different ways. Once I tried to describe my own pattern, as if I was a flannel shirt, and although I can imagine it in my mind the imagery when trying to explain it continues to shift and change, all the while challenging my ability to articulate its cross between simplicity and complexity. 

There's something about the brilliance of the colors and how they play together in such proximity to one another while remaining isolated or collaborating with one another to create something new. It's just simply brilliant. In life, there should be an appreciation and celebration of those things that are brilliant in themselves and through their existence beautify our world. 

What colors are in your pattern? What pattern is your plaid? You are encouraged to spend some time thinking about how you would explain yourself in a plaid format, doing this could shed some light on your brilliance. 

Tuesday Take - 4/26/2016

Make it simple, but significant.

- Don Draper -

When I first heard this on AMC's "Mad Men," a show that I was hooked on, I dismissed its relevance in both the series and in life. Just like the quote states, it only takes a few words to make a big impact.

Do things in the simplest ways and they will make the biggest impact. How do you efficiently pack significance into a small package with brief exposure? You invest emotion into it. You include something that they empathize with. You give them something remarkable. 

Being significant is simple. If you keep it simple, it can be remembered. It takes only one bite to make you call a dish delicious. It takes one glimpse to make you call a scene stunning. It takes one memory to make someone want to recall that experience. 

Spark a feeling in their soul, from flint that was formed in their past, and you can ignite a fury of emotions.

Monday Mountain - 4/25/2016

Attitude towards altitude

Sky's the limits. Fly high. Reach for the stars. And so on.

In so many ways we encourage one another to strive for something established in a lofty location. Now imagine the heights of some goals that they can set their mind to. If they set these goals, at what altitude do they rest? Does the elevation dip and rise depending on your actions, or does the flying machine dip and soar?

While reading Quintessential Voyage, you may have noticed that the establishment of high-reaching goals is encouraged and should in-fact be habitual. Committing to your goals is a commitment to your success and future self. In these situations, where does the elevation of your objectives come into play?

Personally, analogies to "flying" freak me out, specifically when it comes to striving towards risky accomplishments. Rather than to call it "flying," I prefer to call it "climbing."

Climbing mountains is hard, arduous, and constitutes moving upward and onward. Having climbed a few mountains in my life, the amount of effort it takes to reach that destination is huge. You must travel over vertical elevation, horizontal distance, push forward, take it one step at a time, look up, consistently progress, and keep in perspective where you've gone and where you're going.

What mountains will you climb? Are they seemingly insurmountable or are they majestically moving?

Friday Freestyle - 4/22/2016

For the love of life

Life is not always sweet, nor is it always bitter. It is both, as well as spicy, savory, bland, etc.

There's a lot you experience in life, some are not always pleasing to your pallet. You don't always have to be able to stomach what happens to you either.

In the past few years, there has been a shift in the presentation and composition of the stories told in movies and books. These appear colorful and full of life, but as it is digested it may become sour or bitter. Occasionally, it will end on a sweet moment warming your heart or as something you will savor and cherish.

In this trend of telling "realistic stories," those ones where dark events occur and gives you  wretched gut check, we tend to find ourselves drawn to them more. Some of us crave to witness those experiences in a fictional setting felt by someone else, why is that? In my case, it's a cross of feelings I have felt myself and experiences I have seen others in my life go through. It allows us to relocate our emotional islands to be somewhere less isolated and alone.

Idling watching these aching characters navigate the rapids of life, we hold our breaths as the next life rocking obstacle approaches fast from down-river. We cannot help them. We can only watch. As we watch the frothing water of time and turbulent tide of life, their decisions and actions are the oars and help them to guide through these treacherous times. In every case, although the rapids someone is going through may look the same, everything they have experienced, felt, and witnessed up to this point has not been the same as your own.

Why do we love to see real life stories dramatized and exaggerated on the silver screen? Because it hands us a magnifying glass. This object does several things, it makes some of our stories seem small and easier to handle, it helps us shed light on the burning issue at hand, it can also give you a chance to look at it more closely, and all in the end it's a tool provided to help you solve the mystery and provide conclusive evidence.

I encourage you to go forth and enjoy those dark stories told on the bright television, dive into that streaming movie. Warm your heart under a blanket made of the story well-spun. I hope that you find piece to the puzzle that is a hard time in your life, and that in time it can help you go out and tell an eerily similar story to your own that could help a stranger in the midst of their own quiet chaos.

Thursday Thought - 4/21/2016

Provided by Power

I am a big advocate of strength in many forms. Strong Character. Strong Personality. Strong Bonds. I believe that Physical Strength and Power is very important. It's something that has helped me shape who I am today and has enabled me to become better each day.

If you know me personally you might be thinking to yourself: "Well of course you like physical strength, you're freaking huge." Or something of that sort. My friends, I will say you're not wrong. I do have a big and powerful stature, but I was not simply given this by the grace of God. This all rolls into my belief about why you should be strong and how it grows your other forms of strength.

Here are some reasons why you should pursue physical strength

1. Enables you to defend yourself (and others)
• As you become stronger your ability to stand up for yourself and others in situations grows into stronger defenses. Nobody really messes with the person they know that is strong, why? Because they don't stand much of a chance.
2. Provides you ability to better perform daily tasks
• I was once a Contractor and still help my parents with their Home Improvement. Having muscular strenght makes the simplest tasks way easier. Such as pushing a wheel barrow, moving mulch ot dirt, carrying lumber, or whatever it may be. Being strong helps you to handle those tasks with ease instead of just getting by.
3. You can gain social respect
• You can play the numbers game where you say "Hey man yeah my one-rep max is 250 pounds." Or you can just show them your abilities. When you begin to carry tables or move heavy objects without thinking twice (and by yourself), your friends and family will be amazed. Their amazement is a sign of respect. 
4. Develops your work ethic
• As you weight train you don't just go in and do a couple of lifts and go home. In order to be good at it you have to plan it out, practice form, pay attention to rep count, and then put in the work to attain your goals. Having a strong work ethic in the gym spills over to other areas of your life, if you're really determined. 
5. Strengthens your attention to detail
• Mentioned above, you have to pay attention to get really good at being strong. You have to do things the right way, a specific number of times, and keep yourself humble. Doing this helps you learn to pay attention to detail in other parts of your life instead of "just doing the reps"
6. Forces you to practice your virtues
• Perseverance. Passion. Humility. Honesty. Courage. Etc. It all helps here. Morals can be trained just like muscles are trained.
7. Builds self-confidence 
• Imagine how you'll feel after training, after improving, after enabling. Strive to be better and stronger, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish once you begin to believe in yourself. 

Wednesday Word - 4/20/2016

Alpha Male

Man Series, Part 4

Other Parts of the Man Series:  

1. Masculine
2. Brute
3. Gentleman

Merriam-Webster:

Dominant male; a male tending to assume a dominant or domineering role in social or professional roles.

Quintessential Voyage:

Male who resides in a dominant role in social situations and relationships, not to control or manipulate but rather to lead and protect. 

Alpha Male has this negative connotation to it nowadays. This has nothing to do with being antiequality. Hell, there is no reason against there being an Alpha Female. 

An Alpha is the leader of the pack, they exude this feeling of confidence that makes people want to follow them. In modern society, this has little to do with brute strength and bullying, in fact usually the alpha establishes dominance through intellect and emotional strength. An alpha should do what they can to groom future alphas, and they encourage strength throughout the pack.

Here are ways someone can prove to be an alpha from primal to modern:

• Physical strength and stature
• Emotional stability and control over their reactions
• Self-Confidence 
• Creativity and intelligence
• Nurturing, developing, and enabling

How do the Alphas in your life exhibit their dominance? What abilities to they demonstrate? What are their strength and weaknesses? Do you think you can be an Alpha?

Tuesday Take - 4/19/2016

"Sympathizing with someone and their shortcomings demonstrates your own inability to believe in who they are and what they could be, thus enabling their weaknesses."

- Cole Cook -

This is a simple struggle between having sympathy for someone and feeling empathy for them. 

1. Sympathy - feelings of pity and sorrow for someone's misfortune.
2. Empathy - the ability to understand and share the feelings of one another. 

Do Not: Feel sorry for them. You will put yourself on a stage higher than theirs. You shall look down upon them. 

Do: Understand where they are. You will offer a hand to enable them. If they accept your assistance, then they can grow and overcome their weaknesses.

Do not make excuses for them, that play is in their court. You should give them opportunities to grow and develop. 

You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it. Simple provide people with the tools to succeed and allow them to produce their own victories or they can falter themselves.

Monday Mountain - 4/18/2016

Fueled by Fury

Turning Negative Emotions into Positive Energy

In your daily life, it is not unusual to experience events that may inspire feelings of disappointment, anger, or stress. Every so often, those emotions can build up and seem overwhelming. I've experienced times when I had to deal with a compound of stress and rejection that made my knuckles white. It's a fact of life that we have to deal with the negative to balance with the positive.

So how does one handle these feelings? The feelings that are brought on from negative events that occur in life must be dealt with, now sometimes those require a 12-step process (e.g. dealing with the death of a loved one) but other times they must be funneled into an outlet. 

Let me break it down for you... For example, if you get a ton of items dumped on your plate at work and you have a short amount of time to complete all of that and your regular tasks, you're going to experience increased levels of stress. Now if this was you last week, you may be thinking "Shut up already." 

In order to return the balance of between positive and negative a conversion must take place. Take that fury and stress and disappointment or whatever it may be... Funnel it into something creative that benefits you.  This could be using your creativity or exercising your body or cleansing your soul or whatever you may do, but please be productive in response to whatever may be emotionally destructive. 

What I do is I take that anger or stress to the gym. I zone it out with music between sets and I convert all the mad thoughts and feelings into physical exertion of moving iron against the force of gravity. Once I am done with this process, I leave the gym with a weight lifted off my shoulders, my mind clear, and a system cleaned of negativity.

You are encouraged to find an outlet for those negative emotions in order to convert it into something positive and productive for yourself. Find that outlet, stick that fork of negativity into it, and feel the electricity of positive productivity course through your body. 

Thursday Thought - 4/14/2016

Who am I?

Why I feel compelled to motivate and inspire others...

When I was growing up, it's not hard to meet the standard to continue moving on. It is not difficult to even exceed the set requirements to succeed in school or at a minimum wage job. The mindset that low-effort was good enough soon spilled over into my extra-curricular activities, I was a part of a math and science team, social studies team, the Boy Scouts, and high school football. There was a point in my last two years of high school where I realized that it would require greater effort to become successful in the long run.

I began to date someone my senior year of high school, they were okay with the status quo and were as average as average can be. Here my standards began to drop again... The standards were resting at the standard for everyone else.

At a certain point of my college life, I began to read a book called "The Heart and the Fist" by Eric Greitens. This book helped me to understand what it's like to be a man who possesses both courage and compassion. Page by page it tells the story of his life, his achievements, and how he has learned to grow and challenge himself. There was my turning point. 

Since having a realization that no one is responsible for my success but me, I have been able to challenge and grow and develop. My goal now is to help you understand what it is you want to do and how it rests on your shoulders for you to do it. 

I am a believer that any person can do great things if they want to, but as I have learned it is not the responsibility of anyone else to help you do them. In order to achieve wonders, the matters of how it gets done is between you, your tools, and the raw materials it takes to construct any significant accomplishment. 

I have not done anything great or everlasting in my life, yet. Through most every day, I have this gut feeling that begins in my metaphorical heart, the feeling that I know I can be a great man who will do wonderful things and in turn will enable someone else to do something awesome. That's who I am. I am a man who is going to be successful, who will spread positivity and change, I will foster growth, and reestablish our foundation on strength. 

Wednesday Word - Gentleman - 4/13/2016

Gentleman, Man Series Part 3

Part 1

Part 2

Merriam-Webster:

A man of high social status; a man who treats other people in a proper and polite way; a chivalrous, courteous or honorable man

Quintessential Voyage:

A man who practices manners regularly, cares for others with compassion, understands that all humans are equal regardless of social standing, and exhibits behavior that is becoming of himself. 

For the third part of the Man Series, I chose the word "Gentleman" because it is a word that is not often used to describe modern man. You should demonstrate common courtesy and be kind to others, it's not hard to do such a thing. Go forth, be polite, and understand that everyone you come across day to day are having some sort of struggle. 

Next week, what's the role of the tribal chief? What does it mean to be on top?

Tuesday Take - 4/12/2016

"By perseverance, study, and eternal desire, any man can become great."

 - Gen. George S. Patton

Patton, a man known for no apologies, brash statements, leaning forward, and awesome philosophy. He is an embodiment of what Quintessential Voyage is about. This quote of his is quote remarkable at how it is simply put yet intricately worded.

If you work hard, through hard times, and commit to it, add in some knowledge and experience, any many can be great. What a recipe. 

Believe you can be great, commit to being great, envision becoming great, and you will in time become great. To achieve something so grand is really so simple, apply yourself plus believe that you can and then you will succeed. 

What say you? Give a try, worst thing is you stay where you are now. 

Monday Mountain - 4/11/2016

Ascend and Defend

How Growing Your Success Increases the Target on Your Back

Feed off your drive and commitment to personal growth, with a dash of luck, you will most certainly experience success. It's something that not everyone is guaranteed in their life.

Success is actually based off of two things: your goals and what you desire to achieve and also a continual growth towards the "peak". What do I mean by the peak? It's the top point for your career, it's moving up in an organization, it's making enough money for a comfortable living, it's being rewarded for your hard work. 

As you gain success and move onward and upward in your career and life, the people who watch from below you begin to take notice to your ascension, and they don't like looking up at people who used to stand next to them. Jealousy and envy are not unusual to those who look up the mountain to those who used to be their peers. I am not saying everyone is jealous and envious of those who succeed, but the greater victories you experience the bigger the target they place on your back.

What does this target on your back mean? It represents the downfall they wish to see you experience, a stumble or hiccup you may encounter that will humble you, or however you may perceive it. Just because you're successful does not mean that you're cocky, however with growth and development confidence is gained. Often someone who lacks self-confidence interprets confidence another person possesses as cockiness.

As you gain professional success and personal growth, you must be weary of others and their attempts to being you down thus be prepared to defend yourself against an onslaught of backhanded comments, attempts to sabotage, manipulation of your position, or whatever manner they wish to tie an anchor to your feet. Don't let them bring you down, you are ascending towards your own beautiful future.

Thursday Thought - 4/7/2016

Too True Crew

Finding a Good Friend

Every one deserves a good friend. It's a part of our human needs and desires. There is always a need fora human companion. In romances, they always say that their significant other is their best friend. In my life, I have always strove to maintain a friendship that carries a lot of value to me. 

For instance, in High School I had made a lot of acquaintances and friends. There are only two that I have kept in contact with, partially due to mutual effort, consistency of personality, and the connection we had together. I have those two friends who I have made communication and seen several times over the past months. I see them at least once every couple months or so, during each reunion we spend several hours going over the events that occurred since we saw each other last. 

College is a different story because you grow and mature so much during and right after college, there are also a number of huge life changes that occur soon after graduation. If you do keep in contact with some friends, then there is usually some reason as to why.

When you find someone you connect with, whether it be on activities, experiences, personalities or whatever it may be. You can usually tell within your soul whether or not they can be a good friend to you. I encourage you to be a good friend to those you deem worthy and to politely and subtly ask the same from them. This would mean staying in contact, giving temporary updates, informing you of huge life announcements, including them in some sort of tradition, or whatever you deem necessary from them. 

I encourage you to find good people, have great times with them and create an unbelievable life with them for your future and for yourselves. 

Wednesday Word - Brute - 4/6/2016

Brute

Man Series, Part 2

Merriam-Webster:

of or relating to beasts; cruel, savage; purely physical

Quintessential Voyage:

a human possessing strong physical characteristics, relying on physical presence and prowess to exhibit abilities in a social setting; a physically strong and able individual

I am a strong believer in strength. Men are biologically built to be strong and able-bodied, it is a modern tragedy. Now men should not be brutish in the sense that they are primitive, lack logical thought, and depend on physicality to get things done. 

Life is a game of balance, your success is relatively similar. In this modern age, you cannot depend on your physical abilities to make you successful and gain you influence in order to achieve what you wish. Having a physically healthy, able body that exceeds the average expectation of cardio-endurance, strength, ability, or any other category, it assists you in gaining respect and admiration from others. This is not a jab where I say you need to live in the office and then in the gym. This just means that if you want to be successful in and out of the office, you need some other way to develop yourself other than investing in your career. 

Balance between your cognitive, social, professional, and physical development and abilities, that is key to building well-rounded success in life for this modern day and age.

Check out our take on Masculinity from last week.

Next week, we will read into how manners and courtesy shape who you are and how you're perceived in society. 

Tuesday Take - 4/5/2016

Dunning-Kruger Effect

"A cognitive bias in which relatively unskilled persons suffer illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability to be much higher than it really is. Dunning and Kruger attributed this bias to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their own ineptitude and evaluate their own ability accurately. Their research also suggests corollaries: highly skilled individuals may underestimate their relative competence and may erroneously assume that tasks which are easy for them are also easy for others." 

What does this even mean? I'll put it into Layman's Terms for you, see below.

In short terms, the Dunning-Kruger effect states that the greater level of idiocy an individual has, the less they realize their own folly. The dumber you are the less you acknowledge your own stupidity. The same goes for the inverse, the more intelligent and well-educated you become, there is a realization of how much you actually know. The more informed and able you become, the greater you tend you underestimate yourself and your abilities and knowledge. 

So do you rest confidently on your knowledge? Or are you actually so dumb you are ignorantly confident? Or is this paradox a false idea?

Monday Mountain - 4/4/2016

Putting Forth the Effort

Finales are the sum of all your work

When you create an assembly line with machines, something that is often looked at is how efficient each machine is in the process. Imagine with me that each machine has 98.5% efficiency, so out of every 1,000 pieces crafted there are on average 15 that are not up to par. Now multiply that times ten machines, the number of actual pieces out of 1,000 that complete the process dwindles dramatically. 

The same efficiency is applied when you don't put in all the work that is required for your success. Just good enough is not actually good enough if you have the right goals. What is "good enough"? It can be calculated through the height of success that you wish to achieve and the end-state that you wish to be at when all is said and done. 

Your goals should be lofty and require efforts beyond the average work. If you choose to pursue something simple and average, then go for it, there will be less competition with those of us who are constantly hungry for success. If you have passion for success and wish to stand atop mountains, then I applaud you, but the effort required is greater than that of the average dream. 

Once you decide to establish your eyes on a high prize, the work required for each step of the way is already greatly increased. It's not easy to tell what is needed in order to achieve greatly. It's for sure not a minimum amount of effort or the average input. You will get out what you put in. So what is it that you are putting in for? Where do you see your hard-earned steps taking you on this journey?