I’ve considered myself a minimalist for a couple years now and have been working towards a lifestyle that is based less on consumption and more about sustainability and contribution.  I came across this website the other day and the author has a nice little creed that sums up what a minimalist thinks like:

A Minimalist’s Train of Thought

Less money spent means more money saved

More money saved means the longer you can live in financial peace and security

Financial peace and security comes from owning less

Less stuff owned means less to carry around, move or have to travel with

Less responsibility for your stuff also means less maintenance and more time

The more time you have, the more relaxed you will feel

The more relaxed you are, the less you will care about stuff

If you care less about stuff, it means you’ll care less about image

If you care less about image, you will care more about experiences and memories

If you care more about experiences and memories, you will be happier with less

If you are happier with less, you’ll never want or need for more

The less you want or need for more, the more you will feel free

- The Everyday Minimalist

/Ethan Caine

A number of days ago I tweeted something to the effect of “Time to give Polyphasic Sleep Another Go”

For those of you that don’t know what a Polyphasic Sleep Cycle is its quite simple.  You sleep for only 2 hours a day.  Those 2 hours are divided up into six 20 minute naps spread every 4 hours.

So basically I would nap for 20 mins at:  0200, 0600, 1000, 1400, 1800 & 2200.  It does work and has been adopted by many however it is very hard to adapt to at first.

Just think what you could do with 22 hours a day? You would get so much done.  I could study for 4 hours and play video games for 4 hours and still have 12 hours of time to fill.

I did polyphasic sleep 2 years ago for a week and it was really cool.  The reason I stopped was that I got lazy and missed naps which caused me to crash.  Polyphasic sleep requires much discipline.  If your in the middle of something at 2 in the afternoon and you have to stop it and go to sleep this isn’t always easy.

There are also other constraints like work which can be awkward finding a place to nap while on the job.

STILL I maintain that a polyphasic sleep schedule is completely worth the minor pitfalls.  I was all gung-ho on Friday to try it out but didn’t make it past the second nap and just fell asleep.  At that point I put Polyphasic Sleep on the back burner and decided to adopt the Everyman Sleep schedule.

The Everyman Schedule is similar but instead of 6 evenly spaced 20 min naps you have one CORE 3 hour sleep and then 3 evenly spaced 20 min naps through out the day.

So your still only sleeping for 4 hours a day which leaves you 20 hours a day to do whatever.

The reason Polyphasic and Everyman work is because after you adapt to it your body goes into REM sleep almost immediately.  This is the state where you dream and is essential for a healthy lifestyle.  During a normal 8 hour sleep most people get you will go into REM sleep every 90mins.  That means you are getting about 6 REM sessions a night.  With Polyphasic sleep you are getting the same 6 bursts of REM sleep but in quicker more efficient 20 min naps.

I won’t go into it here as there are plenty of other blogs that cover this subject.

The reason I am adopting the Everyman Sleeping Cycle is because I want to get more things done.  I have a long list of things I want to do:

-Study for 2 courses I am taking
-Play the boatload of video games I haven’t touched
-Learn and Practice Piano
-Learn and Practice Drawing
-Learn French, Russian, German, Japanese, Mandarin
-Blogging
-Starting a business so I can replace my working income
-Exercise
-Watch the ever growing “Movies to Watch” list
-Read the ever growing “Books to Read” list

…you get the idea.  I have a lot of things I want to get done and this seems like the best way to do it.

I will be posting updates in the very near future documenting my progress with the Everyman Sleep Schedule.

/Ethan

Do you want to get more things done?  We all do.  For many of us the reason we aren’t getting things done is because our attention and efforts are divided.  You run around doing many things at once but your results are mediocre at best.  Many of us go through this cycle perpetually and it is very frustrating.

Focussed concentration is required for you to get the results you want.  This is perhaps the most valuable skill you can learn.  The person that masters focused concentration is the person that gets an enormous amount of things done.

My To Do List:
Blog Post for “Focused Concentration” EthanCaine.com
Develop website ideas for gaining quality traffic
Implement ideas
Practice Piano
Read Chapter in Text Book
Mindmap Chapter in Text Book
Memorize Mindmap

Usually this list just turns into a list of things I didn’t bother doing because I got distracted and decided to just play xbox.  With the power of focussed concentration I set aside a small block of time, usually 25mins  to focus 100% no distractions on the task at hand.  If an arrant thought pops into my mind I acknowledge it, say not right now, and move on with my work.  If the thought is something I have to do I simply write down what I have to do on a note pad and continue with the original task at hand.

After 25 mins I stop regardless of if I am finished or not and take a 5 min break.  Some of you may recognize this as the Pomodoro Technique, and it is.  I will write a post about the Pomodoro Technique in another blog post.

So how do I get this “Focused Concentration?”  Pick up a book or turn on your iPad and start reading.  Set a goal to read for ONE MINUTE with out any distractions.  I am of course talking about internal distractions such as arrant thoughts that will pop up to distract you.

I know ONE MINUTE doesn’t seem like much but just try it.  You will be surprised how intrusive your thoughts are to gettings things done.
Once you have mastered ONE MINUTE of reading without distraction move on to TWO MINUTES then THREE MINUTES.  Eventually you will get to 25 MINUTES of Focused Concentration and you will be amazed at how much you reading you got done & how much of it you absorbed.

/Ethan Caine

Often we are told if you want to really succeed in life you need to “THINK BIG.”  While the people dispensing this advice are usually rich and famous they are at the point in their lives where they can actually make thinking big work.

Lets take Donald Trump, one of the most successful real-estate / business moguls of our time.  I have personally read 3 of his books and he consistently tells the reader to not do anything small and to THINK BIG.

The problem with this advice is that Donald can make one phone call and get more work done in 5 mins than we can in an entire year because of the leverage and resources he possesses.

Therefore I think it is important to amend the “Think Big” advice to “Think Small, at first.”

Humans Are Hardwired to Fear Big Changes
If you wanted to start a successful online business the “Think Big” advice would probably work against you.  Most would visualize a grand website with thousands of people visiting and purchasing products everyday.  Once the grand image of their online empire is firmly in their mind they would become discouraged at this point because they have no idea how they are going to get there.

Think Small & Build Momentum
The key to success with this situation is to Think Small.  Focus on getting 1 sale a month.  That should not be too hard to accomplish, right? Anyone can get at least one sale a month if they put a little bit of work into it.  Once you have figured out how too get one sale a month you can easily increase and/or multiply your marketing efforts in a slow consistent manner.

Fast forward 6 months from know
You are making 1 sale a day and making a nice little income. Your still not at Online Empire stage but your well on your way.

Most people give up at the very beginning because they think the task is too daunting.  Its the smart ones that think small and focus on doing the little things in a great way that will be successful.

/Ethan

Recently I had to write a qualifying test for a position at work.  There were two parts – a complex multitasking test and a simple business letter.  I was a bit stressed about the multitasking one, but I did it first and passed.  The business letter I threw together quickly because it was such simple task.  I simply clicked next once I was finished and didn’t really look it over.

A few hours later I got an email saying I passed the multitasking test but failed the letter.  Turns out I forgot to put the address!

Long story short a girl who had only been there a month got the job because she passed everything.  It was quite embarrassing and if I had just stopped and assessed the situation properly I wouldn’t have made that mistake which was so costly.

I realized then and there that I needed a system to stop myself from making stupid decisions.  Lets apply the above scenario to the steps below and see how my little blunder at work could have turned out.

Step 1:  STOP – Nero Linguistic Programming Types call this interrupting the pattern of behaviour.  If you want to make a change you need to acknowledge your current behaviour and alter it.

I simply take a deep breath, hold it, and look up from what I am doing to interrupt the pattern.  The pattern of behaviour is now interrupted.

Step 2:
Ask your self 3 questions:

1.  What is likely to happen if I keep going the way I am going?
2.  What is the worst case scenario?
3.  What is the best case scenario?

Answers:
1.  I will probably pass but that is not certain because I am not taking the time to check for errors because I am to tired / lazy.
2.  Worst case scenario I don’t get the position because I fail the testing and look stupid in front of everyone.
3.  I will pass all the tests and get the promotion I wanted.

This little interaction in my mind should take no more than a minute.  Sometimes its instant and BOOM – I move on to step 3.

Step 3:  Action
You have taken some time to assess the situation and see how your behaviour is affecting the outcome.  Now you take action in direction you want to go by altering your behaviour if need be.

If I could do this all over again I would have stopped, realized I was being careless and taken more time to confirm I was doing everything properly.

The reason we are ONLY focusing on your behaviour is because its the only thing that you can control!  We do not want to even attempt to control things that we have no power over!

This exercise can be applied to so many situations in life.  Get creative and try it out.  You will soon see your life improving as a result of making better decisions.

/Ethan

If I told you I was going to drink ONLY water for the next 40 days you would probably think I was a bit of a nut job.  Well the truth is people go on lengthy water fasts all the time.

Socrates, Hippocrates, Da Vinci all promoted water fasting as a way to cleanse and heal the body.  There is hard modern scientific evidence that water fasting gives your digestive system a well deserved break so it can put its energy towards healing the body.

Here are some of the things water fasting can do for you:

* More energy
* Healthier skin
* Healthier teeth and gums
* Better quality sleep
* A clean and healthy cardiovascular system
* A decrease in anxiety and tension
* Dramatic reduction or complete elimination of aches and pains in muscles and joints
* Decrease or elimination of headaches
* Stabilization of blood pressure
* Stronger and more efficient digestion
* Stabilization of bowel movements
* Loss of excess weight
* Elimination of stored toxins
* Improvement with a wide variety of chronic degenerative health conditions, including autoimmune disorders

While I am interested in many of these points, weight loss is the MAIN thing.   I am OVER 300lbs and I am sick of going through life looking like a lardo that can’t walkup a flight of stairs with out being winded.

This is also a personal development experiment in pushing myself to see whats possible.

Another benefit I am really looking forward to is clarity of thought.  This is will allow me to accelerate and fufill all of my creative projects faster and more efficiently than before.

Just Drink Water
Really that is the entire diet.  I just drink water whenever I am thirsty.  Fasting websites and books I have read say I should AT LEAST down 2 litres / quarts of water per day.  I will make sure I do that.  Otherwise its pretty simple.  Just drink water.

How Much Weight Will I Lose on the Water Fast?
I can expect to lose 20% of my weight during the fast.  That means 60+ pounds gone in the next 40 days.

Why 40 Days?
40 days seems like a nice number only because thats what jesus did in the bible.  Other than that I have no other reason for picking it.  Obviously if I start to get sick as a result I will stop the fast immediately.

What Can I Expect?
Detox symptoms!  Headaches, nausea, etc on the first few days.  After the first 3 days I have read its smooth sailing from there on in.

Important thing is to stay focused and stick to the plan.  I have a habit of cheating a lot on diets.  This however is going to be my first public diet where people I know will be rooting for me via this website and in real life.  Obviously I don’t want to let them down.

Tomorrow is DAY 1 – I will wake up, have a sip of weter, go to work, drink more water, and continue for the next 40 days.

If you have any questions or comments post them below.

/Ethan

I recently finished reading Lying by Sam Harris.  This short 80 page book discusses that all lies, even those innocent seeming “white lies” need to be eliminated for us as a civilization to build a better world.  The over all premise of the book is essentially, transparency of our communication  leads to deeper and more fulfilling relationships.

Easier said than done for many of us.

A common example of lying that occurs is when someone gets sick and keeps that information to themselves.  Example:  A woman was diagnosed with MS.  The doctor informed the husband of this but they both felt it would stress out the wife so they told her she had arthritis.  The woman meanwhile went to the library and self diagnosed herself taking into account symptoms.  Her children were told by both the husband and the wife that she only had arthritis.

Eventually the woman was hospitalized 1 year later.  The husband admitted to knowing and the woman also confessed that she new she had MS.  The real tragedy here is that because the lie halted communication between parties the chance to deepen and strengthen their relationship as a family was now lost.  The children were more than taken aback when their mother went into the hospital for arthritis but never came back out.

“When we pretend not to know the truth, we must also pretend not to be motivated by it.”

A less extreme example but just as damaging is the classic, “Do I Look Fat In This Dress?”  Many women and men say that the correct answer is to lie because what the person is really asking is “Do You Still Love Me? / Tell Me I Look Good.”

Lets say your friend asks “Do I Look Fat in this Dress?”  She looks fat in the dress because she IS fat.  Lets also say you happen to know that your friends greatest desire is to get married and have a family.  By telling her she looks good you are perpetuating her delusion that she looks good and ultimately robbing her of chances to get what she really wants.

“White lie is a denial of all these realities”

One of my favourite parts of this book is when the author is telling the story of when he was 20 years old coming back from India.  He was at airport customs and the agent was searching his luggage.  The agent asks him if he did any drugs while in india?  The author says yes he did pot and opium.  The agent proceeds to search his luggage more thoroughly.  As the author had nothing to hide a frank but pleasant conversation arose between the customs agent and the author about mind altering drugs.

The most important thing that came about from this interaction was that by the end of it both parties felt really good about themselves.  This is because:

“Willingness to be honest – especially about truths one might be expected to conceal often leads to much more gratifying exchanges with other human beings”

This book has been called a firmware upgrade for your brain.  I tend to agree.  Up until know I never really understood why honesty is so important but now I see it as an essential part of our civilizations evolution.

Speak, act, and be honest and people will regard you with utmost respect because they know when you say or do something they know you mean it.

Try it for your self and you will see.

/Ethan

Early last year I made a commitment to eliminate all unnecessary dead tree paper reading products from my life.  Books, Newspapers, Magazines were all on the chopping block.

The Enviornment

The average North American consumes 7 Mature Trees worth of paper per year!  The Minneapolis Star Tribune uses an estimated 232544 trees per year.  Thats 232544 trees cut down just so the good people of Minneapolis can get their news in the morning.

This process is being repeated all over the world in cities big and small.  Millions upon millions of trees cut down just so we can read the funnies, and look at over priced real-estate listings every year.

The solution is obvious, switch your dead tree news paper subscription to an online subscription.  Read it on your iPad or Kindle.

Same goes for books.  I have a big pile of books in my house.  I scoured the internet for online PDF versions of these books and found about 70% of them.  I loaded all of these books on to my iPad and backed up in a  couple other places just in case.  I then gave away these books as presents and donations to friends and family.

As for the other 30% I realized I didn’t really care for them that much so I gave those away too.  The only books I kept were my High School Year Books.

Clutter Free Book Shelves – Clutter Free Mind

Junk accumulates fast, once all of your books are gone or at least significantly reduced you will be amazed at the amount of space you have.    Also this has the added psychological effect allowing the mind to be at peace.  By cleaning your environment and ridding it of clutter you will feel better and get more done.

Productivity & Efficiency

Reading on the iPad is a lot faster.  One can skip through and search entire sections instantly.  I’ve read dozens of books and thousands of pages on the iPad.  Its the perfect device for doing it.

For those of you that say “I can’t read on computer screen” you need to wake up and give a modern device like a Kindle or iPad a go.  I’m talking about actually sitting down and trying it out an hour a day for a week.  Then if after that week you still feed me that line about “I can’t read on a computer screen” I won’t judge you.

Digital reading material also allows me to keep my entire library on me anywhere I go.  My iPhone, iPad, iMac, MacBook Air are all synced together so there is no excuse to not study.

Whether I am in the middle of the mall, sitting in a movie theatre waiting for the show to start or queuing in a line somewhere, I have all my material with me.

Make the jump to a digital library, you will thank me for it, but most importantly the Earth will thank you for it.

/Ethan

I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time now.   Ever since I was 15 I realized that eating meat was ethically wrong.  Around age 18 after some reading I learned that eating meat is also very unhealthy.  Sure you get your protein, but your also getting a myriad of hormones, bacteria, urine, faces and other such goodies when you ingest meat.

There is no doubt in my mind that diet based on S.A.D or the Standard American Diet is a recipe for death. Studies back up my opinion with hard evidence as well.  Obeisity rates are through the roof!

Over a third of all American’s are overweight.  This trend is rising dramatically.

Why “raw food” vegan?  Good question, heres the answer:  cooking food destroys almost all minerals and nutrients, especially with Fruits & Vegetables.  The living enzymes contained within fresh raw fruits and vegetables is vital to having a healthy body.

Of course I am telling you things you are already aware of.  I am currently one of those obese people and to solve this problem I am going to adopt a raw food vegan diet.  I have done a lot of reading and a lot of research points to this diet as being the best.

My diet will contain only raw Fruits / Vegetables / Legumes.

A standard day will consist of:

0700 Fresh Fruit Salad
0930 Banana & Apple
1200 Vegetable Cocktail (Celery, Spinach, Garlic)
1430 Apple
1800 Fruit Salad
2000 Vegetable Cocktail (Celery, Spinach, Garlic)

I will interchange with different fruits but this is the plan so far.  You will notice I don’t have any lettuce.  Thats because I hate lettuce and only eat it if i’m desperate which is never so I don’t eat it.

I will be getting my blood tested to see if I am deficient in anything probably at the end of March.

This is going to be an ongoing process so check back for updates.

If anyone has any advice I would love to read about it in the comments below.

/Ethan

With New Years come and gone many of us look to completing our new years resolutions.  Like many out there I have the tried and true “exercise more” resolution.  Usually this fizzles out after the first week however this year things are different.

Step 1:  Clear Definition of What You Want To Accomplish
I am going to workout for 30 mins each day, 5 days a week.

This is where many people fall down because there is nothing making you follow thru with your plan.

Step 2:  Get An Accountability Buddy
Each time I workout I email my friend John telling him I just finished my workout.
John adds up all the emails and if its less than 5 times in a week I have to incur a penalty.

Step 3:  The Penalty
I have given John an envelope with $50 in it.  If I have worked out less than 5 times in that week he gets to keep it.

When your alarm goes off at 6am and you are trying to decide whether to go back to sleep for an hour or get up and exercise the thought that you will instantly lose a respectable sum of money if you don’t creeps into your thoughts.  This, so far has been more than enough motivation to get up and Just Do It.

I’m sure this plan will evolve over time but for now the negative reenforcement of losing money gets me up almost instantly.

/Ethan