LegendaryLife Blog

Growing up, I was never the best student when it came to academics… I would look outside and see a place of endless adventure then go into a classroom and find it rather stifling. I never seem to have the same values or goals as other people… I always wanted MORE and DIFFERENT so conformity to learning things only one way following endless steps was not of much interest to me.

Awards and my perfect attendance record!

In elementary school, there were awards to the graduating 8th grade class every year, the best student in math, best in sciences and so forth… we all knew who would win these awards at graduation but there was one award that I knew I could get that nobody paid much attention to. The PERFECT ATTENDANCE AWARD! It was easy, all I had to do was show-up for class everyday for a whole year. In other words, no sick days! I was driven to get this award… it was something within my means! Suffice it to say, after a year, I was called-up on the graduation ceremony podium and accepted my perfect attendance record with pride. I was the only student to get this award that year!

Longest serving newspaper delivery boy

I learned that there is more than one way to succeed in life… and going for things that most people think as not important are equally as satisfying. I repeated this again when I was a paper boy. I grew my newspaper route from about 10-15 customers to over 100 over the course of 10 years… I basically had a whole city section covered and if it wasn’t for my goal of working only 45 minutes a day (making 20$ in the process at a young age), it would have gotten bigger! There was an award with The Standard, the paperboy who had the oldest route… basically, the guy or gal who delivered papers for the longest period of time. Well, that was something, yet again, I could gun for and I did. I ended-up delivering newspapers for a decade… my customers saw me grow from a small 8 year old kid to an 18 year old man with a moustache! I got the recognition and only quit about a month before starting university. I saved a lot of time, collecting money from my customers only once every 2-3 weeks instead of every week… some hated this but to me, why go to somebodies door every week for a little money when I can go every few weeks for bigger money using the same effort? Making over 20$ for 45 minutes of work day after day was something my friends would both admire and joke to me about. I learned the value of money, and saved as much as possible so that I could buy my own computer.

Learning 3D

I’m not sure why, but I always wanted to get into animation, doing 3D work was the coolest to me but I couldn’t draw if my life depended on it. My artistic skills are limited to stick figures… and sharks that look like overgrown fish! I would tell my friends about 3D and back then, the answer was “what’s that?” With the money I made from my newspaper, I bought a 5 000$ Mac IIci… it was FAST and capable of doing some rudimentary 3D stuff, mostly Strata 3D Studio Pro and Bryce but I had a computer and taught myself day and night how to make stuff. What would render in about a minute on my current machine would take days on this old computer but I never gave-up. It got to the point where I’d spend more time working on my 3D skills than doing homework at school – as long as I got 70% in a class, I was happy… and then I decided to start a 3D animation studio. I figured that I’m “alright” at 3D and nobody in my area could do this stuff so I had the market! I can’t draw, but I can build!

The beginnings of i3DS International Corporation

I soon realized trying to sell a service that costs thousands of dollars to local companies was going nowhere fast… of course, I bought a 10 000$US Dell workstation with DUAL Pentium processors! How did I get that kind of money? Well, I always wanted to fly so I went to the airport to get information about getting my pilots license and they told me of a guaranteed government program which would give me a 25 000$CND line of credit that I can borrow from to pay for the course.  Well, I thought it was perfect… I can buy an industrial 3D workstation AND learn to fly at the same time! Two lifelong goals in one shot… I went for it!

The new computer was fast and back then… I had to call Dell and tell them I was an industrial customer as these computers were not available to the general public. Now I needed a way to pay it off AND 3D was going nowhere but people were asking me about website design. I kept saying “no, I do 3D, not web” but after a few weeks, I turned around and said “I do 3D and web” and a steady cash flow soon trickled in followed by an office with staff… producing websites, custom programming and now, 3D animations for industrial companies around the world! How was I able to expand globally like this? Well, my secret is that I decided to e-mail, call and send physical mail to EVERY INDUSTRIAL COMPANY IN THE WORLD. Crazy? Absolutely… but it worked! For instance, when Forbes would release their fastest growing company lists, they always include the name of the CEO… what a perfect way to get into a company! So, I’d send them a congratulatory letter and also introduce myself in the process. I got a lot of replies back, letters I’ve kept to this day from CEOs who manage billion dollar companies… inspiring me to push even harder to grow my business!

You want to deal with decision makers!

Why focus on CEOs? I never took a formal business course EVER but almost every time I was waiting for a decision on a project, I was always told that they are waiting for the CEO to make a decision so I decided “screw it, I’m dealing with the boss!” That was my sole focus unless he/she directed me to the marketing director or other high level executives. I like dealing with people given the power of DECISIONS.

I still have this database with me to this day, it took me 5 years to build it up one by one! My average was one paying customer for every 100 industrial CEOs I contacted… it was profitable and fun work! I became so well known in the industry that I was approached to build “The Industrial Sourcebook”website, which was a huge custom programming project that we built for a publishing company which essentially produced the phone book for all industrial companies in Canada!

Success!

It worked so great that I won an award for “High Tech company of the year and was nominated for ACE Canada entrepreneur of the year (only one of three across all of Canada!).

I was probably the only Brock University Biology/Geography student to ever represent my university at an international business conference in Ottawa! As I spoke fluent English and French, I had no problem communicating with visiting dignitaries from Africa and Europe!

I actually was so much “into business” that I had to excuse myself from a very important business meeting with my universities’ executives because I forgot I was graduating on that day! They laughed… and I saw them a few hours later at the ceremony. By the way, that year I also joined the “entrepreneur’s club” at my university… they won the ACE CIBC best club across Canada. I can’t say I learned much about entrepreneurship there, but I did learn about business… notably, the power and influence you yield. I almost flunked my Entrepreneurship class (which I took after my Japanese class was canceled) because the only part that interested me was meeting entrepreneurs (they would come for seminars and talk about their businesses). I couldn’t care less about the “theory”… I wanted the “practical” stuff!

Falling on hard times

For a while, business was running great… projects getting bigger and so were the opportunities. I was in my early 20s and was interviewed for a TV show, was in national newspapers and I had a few sales people working for me – and on the afternoons I’d take a client up flying now that I was a real pilot! Life was great… I was married, talking to business owners around the world, visiting industrial shops all over the USA and Canada then I got wacked on the side of the head by the .com bust/following recession! Before this time, businesses where spending crazy money on marketing, money that was my lifeblood funding my dreams! After the stock market crashed, my large industrial clients all of a sudden has to put lots of projects on hold… I thought, no problem… I got money and enough to survive. Things were going down and I made a critical mistake. I decided to ride it out… acquiring huge debts in the process.

The stress was incredible, at the same time, after being married for about 3 years (felt like 6 months as things were flying so fast) to a woman I loved and dated internationally for several years – it got to her (both of us) and we divorced.

Hospital time

I was facing personal and business bankruptcy, a divorce and debts over my head. I cracked… and my appendix decided there were better opportunities outside of my body. I spent 3 days in a hospital drugged-up. After the operation, I decided that at least I wasn’t like some of the other guys in the hospital with missing limbs – my room mate was a diabetic who lost both legs and his life story was interesting but not very inspiring.

A new life

I got out of the hospital with a new lease on life. I had a new gf, decided to pay down my debts personally – I figured I spent the money, the least I can do is pay them back and started-up business again! Things were looking-up… then 9/11 hit me and I was wiped out AGAIN! I got things back-up a third time but decided that I had to take the opportunity given to me by being young and travel the world. I was again in debt and decided on my 30th birthday that I would spent my 31st in Cairns, Australia. I got a working holiday visa, a one way plane ticket and I was off! I spent my birthday on the beaches… the way I envisioned it a year earlier!

Teaching abroad… but first more misery!

While I was in Cairns, I tried in vain to find a job – the working holiday VISA was great but nobody wanted to hire a foreigner for only 6 months stints (I couldn’t find permanent employment with this VISA). I got a job working midnights in the Cairns Post and it paid very well… but I didn’t see the Sun very often. I became a hermit in paradise! I still had mounting debts that needed to be taken care of so after 4 months, I found-out about teaching English in Korea. They would pay the flight (great as I had no money), sponsor me and gave me a salary working part-time. I thought… great! Now I can automatically pay down my debts while traveling and building back my business.

My passport was stolen in the mail while applying for a Korean E2 VISA, I had to red-eye it to Sydney with less than a hundred dollars to last me a week! It was miserable… I had no money for food so I booked a room at a hostel that offered free breakfasts. I would eat for 2 hours straight in the morning till I wanted to throw-up and that would last me until the next morning! Things sorted themselves out with the consulates and I managed to appear on Sydney television as well… the rail system broke and I saw a camera crew interviewing people so I made sure to appear in the shot! Old habits die hard!

Business Opportunities

The internet was always interesting to me, it’s what made me successful with 3D earlier in my career so I decided to do some SEO testing, building DreamClue.com (dreams mean nothing, so I could easily excel in this marketplace) and then I built buzvia.com to track my internet marketing efforts.

I was doing side-projects throughout my teaching, from web to 3D but the market never recovered. I wanted to get into woodworking! I was in a foreign country, not speaking a word of their language in an apartment the size of a western bathroom with a laptop and no money!

WoodMarvels.com made perfect sense… and after a few years, it has grown very nicely, generating sales around the world! I then build 3DMarvels.com and recently, HowToChinese.com.

After a few years going back and forth from Korea, Philippines and China… we are where I am now – I got travel bug out of me, want to start a family soon and am eagerly looking forward to what this year brings to me!

Bruce Lee says become like water

One of my idols is Bruce Lee… I actually studied Martial Arts for 10 years and got my black belt right before starting university and I think his philosophy of changing your mind and body to suit local conditions is straight on.

Bottom Line

I’ve never lived a conventional life like my friends, I’ve seen and experienced things they can only dream about and most importantly, I’m a very content and happy person. I’ve not only managed to get my finances under control but also taught myself new skills for emerging industries! I published 4 books during this “teaching” period of life, started a few businesses and developed contacts that will provide me with the challenges for the second phase of my life. Regardless of the troubles I put myself in, I never gave-up the thought that what I got myself into I can get myself out off using my mind and body. It’s important to treat both with upmost respect… smoking, drinking, taking drugs don’t solve problems, they make them worse. Like my sister who died on Christmas day a few years back, the body will only take so much abuse before it quits and when it does, there is nothing you can do to get your health or life back.

This morning, I felt for the first time in a few years… that I’m truly awake! I have a diversified income stream (gone are the days of relying on one industry or client for my income), a woman I really love by my side and now ready to kick ass again!

From the moment we are born, our brains are given programs that decide our future, whether we realize this or not… they are incredibly deep within our unconscious and changing them is like walking through a mental minefield.

Brain = Computer. Culture = Software.

I struggle with getting over the software put into me growing-up on a continual basis, questioning it’s value to my life and whether it still remains relevant. For instance, during our formative years in school… I was NEVER taught that I could become my own boss. I was instead taught to become a teacher, a fireman, office worker (yuck!) and the list goes on. Striking things on your own was never part of my programming until much later in life when my parents, who are both teachers by trade, started their own business on the site. Then… the possibilities opened. New software was given to me about other ways of achieving success outside of the corporate/governmental world.

Rewriting our brains software

If you always grew-up thinking of one reality, it’s incredibly difficult for the brain to adapt at a later age, that another reality is possible. I saw a documentary about “child” suicide bombers in Afghanistan who grew-up in abject poverty, told to memorize the Koran and their whole lives that blowing yourself up is the best way to live your life. The result? They look forward to dying! You might say, that’s crazy… but the reality is that they have been programmed by people around them who think and behave int he same way. Trying to convince them that no, this is not the path you wish to take in your future and that these are all lies is like convincing an Evangelical Christian that the Bible is but a book of fairy tales. The mind just cannot believe or accept that this is even remotely possible and hence, regardless of the new information given… simply is unable to change or adapt to the new software given.

We are our software

Whether you wish to accept the fact that your life is closely governed, not by your thoughts, but by the software put into your brain by others, this is sadly a reality. Overcoming this should be a challenge taken up by everybody. Why? Well, innovation and free thinking can only be realized once you learn to question EVERYTHING! I was brought-up thinking like most people, you go to school, university, get married, have kids, work 9-5 at a job then retire. That’s easy enough to follow, it’s within my comfort zone. What is left out through is experiencing life, it’s been brought-up several times in studies that fully half of the adult population HATE THEIR JOBS. The quick answer is, quit your job, find something you love and move on with life… but if you have children, a mortgage, co-workers who are close friends. Well, you can see how challenging a hole our culture has dug for you.

Steps to rewriting yourself

1. Don’t take what you have for granted, ask yourself this very powerful question. If I were to die tomorrow, have I achieved everything I wanted out of life? If the answer is yes, then question if your goals have been too easy (you stayed within your comfort zone), if the answer is no… you have some equally harsh decisions to make.
2. Looking back on life, try to find instances where you “bucked the trend” set by others. If your life consists of being a lemming to marketing and fashion trends… ask yourself why you allow yourself to be so easily molded in the vision of others. It’s when you do something that others around you are not doing that you are truly an innovator, this needs to be cultured. It’s the only true time that your brain is overcoming your internal software. Nurture it!
3. Do something very out of the ordinary for yourself and those around you spontaneously on a very regular basis. Instead of celebrating Christmas on the 25th of December like everybody else… do it two weeks later when the bargains at stores can be had. This will not only save you a lot of money but also exercise your ability to think and act independently.

Don’t forget the reason for a strong culture and belief structure driven into us from a young age isn’t to make YOU happy, it’s to make OTHERS happy… possibly at your expense. Imagine corporations unable to find workers because they prefer to explore the world outside of an office setting, imagine governments having citizens refusing to pay taxes due to wasteful spending… imagine a world where the only limitation placed upon you was your ability to innovate from within regardless of who you were, beliefs, your position within society, economic or geographical location.

The Bottom Line

When life ceases to become a challenge, it cheapens in value.

It has been a LONG road from start to finish but I’m proud to say that you can now purchase a digital copy of 2847AD, the science fiction book I wrote and researched for extensively and physical form of 2847 A.D.: Solar Horizons from Amazon! YAHOO!!! This has been a major accomplishment for me, I never knew publishing a science fiction novel could be so much work but now that it’s done, it feels wonderful to have achieved this major goal of mine.

If you wish to follow the journey pretty much from start to finish, I have chronicled it on my blog. I mention this in several other postings but these are the major ones.

• 2847: Going Science Fiction
• 2847AD: Writing Science Fiction is Hard!
• Getting through the home stretch
• 2847AD is finally done!
• Transforming your life from Blah to Legendary now available on Amazon!

What made the book especially challenging is that I tried to integrate almost everything I knew about science and then some, at the time. There is so much information out there, it’s really astounding and trying to condense it into a readable form, not only for me but for the general public takes a lot of effort.

I wanted to write a book that was scientifically accurate while at the same time, within the realm of possibility AND readable by somebody who has little to no scientific knowledge.

I believe I have accomplished this goal. I already started on a second volume of this book but had to put it on the back burner for several reasons, including but not limited to the amount of work I’ve been putting into my WoodMarvels.com company. I love design so much… it’s a true passion, as is writing but I think a long break is necessary to get most of the ideas fleshed-out. The further you jump into the future, the more difficult it becomes to imagine the unimaginable and this is really taxing mentally as I discovered. Exhausting even!

My delight: Hydrogen Sulfide

In the book, I describe in detail why I used this very toxic gas, hydrogen sulfide, as a mechanism for suspended animation during long space travels. Today, I watched a TED video and much to my delight, what I described and envisioned is actually coming true! Yes, they have human trials of this and the results are astoundingly positive. Watch the video to learn more about this important toxic gas

TEDTalks : Mark Roth: Suspended animation is within our grasp – Mark Roth (2010)

The Bottom Line

Research, hard work and tremendous passion can even bend even the most impossible of challenges into reality.

Life is rarely perfect at any given time… so waiting for a perfect time to follow through with a commitment is another way of excusing lack of action on a goal or dream.

The best time is always NOW!

There is always a reason not to do something, usually, far outnumbering the reasons to actually DO something. Fear of the unknown, financial, societal, friends, family… all of this creates a pressure of conformity rather than that of adventure.

For instance, if you are offered an incredible opportunity to travel and learn but instead, try to put up roadblocks, delaying even the simplest actions such as getting a passport then most likely, this will only be a dream. Each decision requires small, incremental steps but fearing taking the first one means continued procrastination and excuse as to why it isn’t going to happen.

Fear must be conquered

We all want security, a good relationship and a beautiful house but most people, instead of dealing with what their circumstances as they are NOW, decid to delay action out of fear until all these “dreams” become true before following through with the first step. Put another way, they want the meal in front of them before they go out and buy the ingredients required to make it.

Fear has it’s role in life… but I think society adds a whole new level of them in order to keep people in line like everybody else. There is an old Chinese proverb that sums this up nicely.

The first bird flying out of the tree gets shot

This is told to us from childhood in one way or another. Religion tells us that we must be married before having sex, schools tell us we need a degree before we can get a high paying job. Society tells us that the perfect life is a house, 3 kids and a white picket fence. Why? Because it’s the best way to keep people under control… these are all methods of control, nothing more. I’ve never seen other animals, even our closest relatives get married before starting a family and they look rather content eating plants with a few occasional hunting jaunts in the bush. I’ve never seen an unhappy bird flying around because he didn’t have a nest to live in.

Water, Shelter, Food

These are the basics of life, with them, you can be as happy or depressed as you want. The reason that more than half of the people who have “jobs” are unhappy with their life is because society has added many extra burdens to their life which have nothing to do with happiness. For instance, I don’t have a car… who cares? But we are told that it’s an important part of a happy life… by car manufacturers no less We can either allow ourselves to be influenced by others whose “care” for us isn’t genuine or simply tell them “that’s bull shit” and live our happy merry life.

Nothing is ever perfect, there is never a perfect time, a perfect place nor a perfect circumstance for success… you make due with what you have and continue from there.

The Bottom Line

A poorly executed plan executed today is always better than a perfectly executed plan tomorrow… as tomorrow never comes.

I like goal setting, so here is what I hope to accomplish this year and what I did or didn’t for the last.

Goal setting for 2010

Here are some my goals for 2009, I’ve crossed-out the ones that were accomplished:

• publish my first inspirational/motivational book
• publish another WoodMarvels.com volume (current book one is already in pre-press)
• triple the total traffic from all my sites
• create lasting change in at least 100 people using LegendaryLife.com (thousands will join but not everybody will use it as intended)
• create two new sources of revenue for myself (online or otherwise)
• try to win some sort of award somewhere, somehow
• get WoodMarvels.com pre-cut kits into retail stores (online or otherwise)
• enjoy the gift of life even more!

Things I wasn’t able to predict

• I would write my first science fiction book around the same time as working on my WoodMarvels.com Volume II book, hoping to have it published sometime in February
• I got mentions in newpapers, blog and magazines around the world regarding my design work
• Due to WoodMarvels taking up so much of my time, I haven’t had as much time to dedicate towards this blog or LegendaryLife, though I did launch it already, it’s only a shadow of what it should be, something I hope to rectify sooner than later
• I would accomplish my dream of living in China for a year and learning Mandarin (something I’m doing now)

My 2010 Goals

• I really think this is the year that WoodMarvels.com blows-up on me, in a good way! All the things that I track regarding this site are on a steep upward trend with no letting-up. You can read what’s been happening right here: WoodMarvels 2009 Year in Review as well as the goals I’ve established for that property.
• I want to become fluent in Mandarin, it’s a tough language, but one that I enjoy and being in the country where that’s all they talk is my chance to turn this long time dream into reality
• I still want to win an award of some kind, somewhere, somehow but it seems that my focus for this year will be on WoodMarvels more than anything else, which is great fun

The Bottom Line

Focus still leads to opportunities hitting you from unknown origins.