LegendaryLife Blog

Most people, like it or not, stick with being themselves most of the time. They don’t go out trying to be somebody they aren’t nor do they try to change others to become one of them.

Why would you assume an alter ego / persona?

You see this a lot in artists of all types, from Madonna to movie stars, the public (their fans) get tired of seeing the same-old all the time, so to re-invigorate the interest in them (income)… they make a change. Sometimes it’s a drastic one, other times, it’s barely noticeable. It all depends on how the person markets themselves towards others. It isn’t just the rich and famous who change their looks and even mentality, we ALL do it to a certain degree! Sometimes it’s to forget something from the past, other times, it’s to begin anew. You see a lot of this around New Years Resolution time. Change is good!

Halloween: the ultimate excuse to try on a new persona

Today is Halloween, what better time to make a drastic change! People will enjoy the change and then, you can either go back to your old self or keep the new personification of yourself. I am not saying come into the office on a daily basis from now on wearing a “Scream” mask but who knows… for some people, it might be an improvement!

Top 10 Dos and Don’ts of Personification Modification

10: DO include both an attitude and mental state change that matches your new outer look

9: DO make a change you are both comfortable with and can stick to, if you choose to keep the new YOU.

8: DON’T warn others about what you are about to do… new first impressions are important!

7: DON’T allow others to stop you from making a change in your life, you are an individual, act like one!

6: DON’T make a drastic change on a daily or weekly basis, this works against you in the long run. A change every quarter or two is more the adequate.

5: DO spend a little time thinking, planning and studying what you will become… you don’t want to change into something you HATE but others love!

4: DO it all in one shot, migrating from an old persona to a new one will deaden the blow, changing your persona is as much to shake up your life as those around you.

3: DON’T ask others if they like or dislike the new “you”, this kind of defeats the purpose. Make the change for yourself and others just have to accept it, if they don’t, that is their problem, not yours!

2: DO make sure that you truly believe in the new you, commit to it and no matter what, stick with it!

1: DO IT!

The Bottom Line

A new you is always in fashion… have fun with it!

Love him or hate him, Gene Simmons, the KISS front man, has had more success then the average band leader all while keeping his composure, staying away from drugs and successfully creating arguably the biggest merchandising machine of any band.

Who is Gene Simmons?

Gene Simmons is easily the Sir Richard Branson of the merchandising world with thousands of KISS related products from coffins to kids toys and everything in between. He was born in 1949 and raised as an Israeli-American and released his first album with KISS in 1974. He has appeared on a number of films, television shows, published author of three books and even released solo artist albums since his initial success. He doesn’t drink, smoke nor do drugs and that makes him that much more of a role model. By far, his greatest success has been in the field of marketing, first his band, KISS, and now himself. He’s an idea man with the ability of implementation.

Correspondence between a fan and Gene

Erik (Fan)

Dear Gene, I was wondering you policies on pitching a product to you in an untapped market. I have several ideas and would like to collaborate on them with someone . If you would like, I can have a non-disclosure agreement drawn up and we can possibly get started on this. Thank you for your time. Sincerly Erik

Response from Gene Simmons:

Ideas mean less than nothing. Sorry. “Ideas are a dime a dozen.” The only thing that counts is THE ABILITY to make things real. Just thinking about something doesn’t lead very far.

What are ideas?

Ideas are the first step along what can become a very long path towards turning something into reality. Even after an idea is fully implemented and working, that is still no guarantee of any type of success. As Gene Simmons said, ideas are a dime dozen and are the equivalent of nothing unless it follows a plan of implementation.

How to turn an idea into success?

Ask any top entrepreneur, from Sir Richard Branson to Bill Gates and what you will hear time and again is that they fail far more then they succeed. It can be said that the road of entrepreneurship is actually built on the bricks of failure more then success. Even Thomas Edison, Walt Disney and Henry Ford had incredible, mind blowing failures that ruined them many time but they eventually succeeded by shear will towards achievement. Are you willing to spend a decade or more in poverty to implement an idea? If you aren’t, find a 9-5 job and enjoy your life. Success is an incredibly difficult thing to achieve as it requires a mixture of opportunities and luck happening at just the right time.

The Bottom Line

Success is built on a road of failures.

Buzvia Gene Simmons Site

I love weight training, it’s one of those things that no matter how your day is going… it will always be there to give you the ultimate challenge… the one against yourself!

Weight Training: the natural drug (dopamine)

If you don’t follow a weight training regimen, you are missing out on the best natural drug in the world called dopamine. Unlike alcohol, alcohol or other poisons people use to get over their life’s hurdles, those produced by the body as you reach and beat new challenges only provide benefits to your life. It costs nothing to get a rush of adrenaline right before you attempt your first 300 lbs squat or the sense of achievement once you complete your first 20 consecutive chin-ups after having lots of trouble completing only one a few weeks earlier. Dopamine is what is released when Cocaine or other hard drugs are used… so you can imagine the invincibility and absolute power that you feel after an intense yet very rewarding workout.

What does Weight Training Provide?

Weight training helps every aspect of your life!

Self-Esteem

It feels great walking next to a mirror and seeing the body that many WISH they had, there is nothing wrong with vanity when you work so hard on diet and training to achieve the body you want. It also boosts self-esteem when people stare at your arms or a lover comments at how much they enjoy the sight of your body. I am by no means a mass monster but walking into a gym with mass monsters and holding your own, sharing mutual respect feels amazing to me!

Central Nervous System Optimization

Weight training increases the efficiency of your Central Nervous System, making everything you do in life that much more enjoyable. From improving the quality of sleep to being able to eat twice the amount of anybody else around you without having the gut to show feels great! The ability from all these internal efficiencies also allow you to run up a mountain without running out of breath, improve all the senses within your body and, ultimately, get more out of every experience!

Business Relationships

Weight training improves both your mental and physical projection that comes in very handy during any type of business related activities. Nothing shows strength like the ability to give a vice-like grip when shaking hands… there is nothing worse then giving a limp handshake! Sadly, most business people have a gut to match their wealth, when you walk into a meeting with a solid body and mind… you have a large psychological advantage over your client when tough negotiations are needed. People want to be around success and nothing says this as strongly as a powerful physical presence with a mind to match.

Dangers of Weight Training

If you are following an intense, multi-faceted regimen, over training and injury can pop-up anytime. I guess in this way, I am very lucky as I have never been injured in any way during the almost decade and a half I have been working out. Pushing your body to it’s limit just doesn’t cut it if you are trying to go beyond old plateaus, you need to go BEYOND them on a regular basis. The wear and tear on a body caused by this constant progression towards harder and more intense activity requires regular breaks and changes in exercise philosophy, otherwise you end up going backwards instead of forward on the road of health.

Another danger, one not discussed too often, is the simple addiction to very tough physical activity that forms within the mind, at least in my case. Whether your body is capable or not, the mind is a strange being that can temporarily suspend the reality you live within. Your mind says “that’s only 20 extra kg… you can do it!” but your body is yelling “what the heck are you doing to me!”. The problem is when your mind says to the body “you’re right” in the middle of a rep, the power you thought you had evaporates right away and you are screwed if you don’t have spotters. This has happened a few times to me over the years but I always use supports and spotters so no big deal. If you cannot do an exercise safely, don’t do it! Also, I can’t walk next to any type of chin-up bar or exercise related equipment without wanting to jump right on it to see how much weight or reps I can crank out!

I would say the third danger is also psychological, you begin to develop a mentality that you are better then other people (especially those who don’t workout). My entrepreneurial line of work only helps augment these feelings and sometimes my God complex gets the most of me but I must often remind myself that others didn’t have the same opportunities as me, the same will power for achievement or simply have other goals in life then my own.

Bipolarity of Weight Training Challenges

There are two distinct aspects of weight training that seem at odds to one another sometimes start to appear only after years of hitting the weights.

Psychological

Every once in a while, I hit a psychological barrier in my training, sometimes adding just 2 more kg to a bench press feels like I threw on 10x that amount of weight. The mind just cannot fathom lifting anything more then the body had just accomplished. These are tough sometimes, physically, the body has no problem accomplishing these tasks but the mind just gets in the way. Anybody who tells you that the body is stronger then the mind hasn’t pushed themselves hard enough.

Physical

This is the opposite problem of the psychological one. Sometimes, the mind says “no problem” but body just cannot bring itself to find the necessary resources to make the task at hand happen. The bodies engine has run out of gas and there is nothing you can do about it but give in to its demands. These happen more often then the psychological barriers that get set-up within your mind but are just as devastating, sometimes they go away during the next workout, other times, they stay for weeks if not months.

I have found changing your routine when hitting a rut is the best way to blow away these limitations, a new frame of mind and changes in diet will do wonders!

The Bottom Line

The body is a tool of the mind, separating the two is simply impossible.

When you live paycheck to paycheck… there is no style nor life to your lifestyle. I am a student of life, and I wanted to experience first hand what life was like for far too many people on this planet.

Background

Business was slow over the holidays last year and so I figure I might as well use this opportunity to find out what it’s like to work at minimum wage for a change. I tried 3 different jobs, all though different job agencies. I substantially dumbed down my resume, removing anything that would show that I had achieved anything in life, otherwise there is no way I would have ever been considered. People are given minimum wage jobs because the employer knows they need the job, as soon as they are not needed – their power is gone. I wanted to guarantee I got the job, and I got one within 5 minutes of stepping into the first recruiting agency. They needed manpower for a quick project, I was at the right place at the right time… $8.25 was the wage without any negotiations!

The three jobs from hell (Canada)

I worked at 3 different spots, the first was through a temp agency, essentially working in a heavy metal stamping plant. I was paid 9$ per hour, I am sure the agency was sub-contracting me at about 14-15$ per hour based on what the others told me they where getting paid. The other was helping to cap wine bottles, yes, putting on one cap at a time after bottles where filled up with their expensive wine. The last job was doing inventory control with a Wizard.

Observations

• minimum wage jobs seem to be generational, I talked to many of the employees and it wasn’t rare when they stated their father, mother, brother or even husband was doing similar work
• minimum wage jobs are exploitive to the tilt! These job agencies where making a living off my efforts, day in and day out, taking away much needed money and putting it in their pocket. I met people working these jobs that where far smarter then the agencies but due to circumstances, stuck in the minimum wage rut
• people fear loosing their minimum wage jobs, this was the most surprising of discoveries, I told one boss I was heading to the bathrooms (it was a factory) and he told me to wait till break time, I told him “I don’t think so” after a lengthy discussion that was going nowhere then proceeded to the bathroom. When I got back, the employees who overheard me where shocked that I talked back to the boss and where worried my job was on the line as a result (???)
• there is a heck of a lot of turnover in these jobs, even during the short term I was working there, those who where smart where taking studies to get out and others where looking elsewhere
• you don’t know monotony until you have done the same damn thing like a robot day in and out, I don’t know how these people do this for years, after a week I felt myself loosing my sanity
• minimum wage people are among the toughest jobs out there and the people are tough both physically and mentally
• I never saw so many smokers in my life! Seems the rates of obesity, ill health and alcoholism are rampant within this segment of the population.
• I never saw such a bunch of unhappy people, who have lost hope in their lives, you see it in their eyes, they want more but are exploited from ever achieving any worthwhile goal in their lives
• you are not appreciated for your work or your creativity, you are but a body that must perform X task over and over and over again, without complaint, without thought and without hope of getting out as you are easily replaced

After doing the above for a little over a month, I proceeded to walk away from each job without even giving them notice, what is there to say when you no longer need to work for a slave master?

One Great Job from Hell (Australia)

In the above jobs, my average pay rate was $8.25 an hour and then there where government deductions so maybe I was lucky to net $7.00 an hour. Australia… wow… most minimum wage jobs started at $9.00 an hour but I was lucky enough to net a job that was union based for a large printing company. My minimum wage job? $23.00 an hour! I was doing the same monotonous jobs, saw just as many smokers and people who gave up on life but wow… $23.00 an hour was nothing to complain about. This job was incredibly boring, the company (other employees) where, for the most part, quite dull with substance abuse problems but I kept my mouth shut most of the time. Unlike the minimum wage jobs in Canada, this job actually had a way out if you worked long enough. During my short few months there, I received forklift training, was managing production for my manager and was becoming a valued member of the staff. I heard a few people complain behind my back, who had been there for YEARS (some 20+) who where not happy that I leapfrogged over them within the first month there!

Overall Observations

As a person who has no lack of self-esteem and self-confidence, minimum wage jobs and my personality just don’t jive. I have no problem telling somebody that they are wrong, standing my ground and even telling them off if needed. I have a very direct managing method, no bullshit, no stories, good or bad, just tell me what is going on. Office politics aside, if somebody stands in front of me, like they did in the factory in Canada, trying to tell me to go to the bathroom just for their own power trip, the best get out of the way. One more thing I noticed that came to me a few months later, just about everybody who worked minimum wage jobs had HORRIBLE ORAL HYGENE. I don’t mean bad, I mean HORRIBLE. Broken and missing teeth, gingivitis was rampant, my only guess is that alcohol, tobacco and poor diet along with a completely loss of hope of every achieving something in life had been made representational in their mouth. These people where branded for life, good luck getting a corporate job with a mouth that looks like it belongs in that of a wild animal!

The Bottom Line

There are many Hells on this Earth… minimum wage jobs is probably among the worst.

I read these two books a while back… here are a few quotes which stood out while reading them.

Trump! Surviving at the top

What separates the winner from the loosers… is how a person reacts to each twist of fate… life is a series of struggles.

I know that, whatever happens, I’m a survivor, a survivor of success, which is a very rare thing indeed

What’s Luck got to do with it?

If you make a mistake, admit it and it will be OK. If you don’t admit a mistake and try to cover it up… then you’re going to have real problems.
-Ted Waitt, Founder of Gateway 2000

The real key to success is the contact economy. Humans crave connections and anything you do to boost that connection, those units of social intimacy, is going to be wildly successful.
-Jim McCann, Founder of 1-800-FLOWER

…in business you have only 2 ways of surviving: Either your product is better than your competitor’s or it’s cheaper
-Jim Koch, Founder of Boston Beer Company

When you appeal to the highest level of thinking, you get the highest level of performance.
-Jack Stack, Founder of Sprinfield ReManufacturing Corporation

Let’s push for more discussion, not less – everywhere. Let’s seek common ground wherever we can find it.
-Gary Hirshberg, Founder of Stonyfield Farms

As far as an entrepreneur is concerned, I think the successful entrepreneur never feels that the game is over
-Steven Hamerslag, Founder of MTI Technology Corporation