How to Live a Beautifully Exotic Life in a World of Mediocrity

By Prachel Carter

exotic adj. Intriguingly unusual or different; excitingly strange:

What does it mean live an exotic lifestyle?

Exotic living can mean different things to different people, but in the context of this piece, it means to live life in a true and authentic way. To the outside world, this type of transparent living may seem weird, or strange or different.

Humans, by nature, are exotic beings.  We are all very different.  We were meant to be.  Could you imagine a world where everyone was the same?   We are all shaped by our different perspectives, views and life experiences.  No two of us are the same.  Ever.  (more…)

How to be Rich (if you really want to)

Andrew is well educated and hard working. He's good at his job and often gets repeat business from satisfied clients. Andrew makes enough money to keep himself and his family, but is far from what would be described as "rich".

Many people say they want to be rich, and even act like they want to be rich - though somewhat half-heartedly. Andrew's "problem" (if you can call it that) is that wealth consciousness isn't his main driver. He works for money, but once he's managed to fulfill his family's needs he prefers to divert his remaining energies to other interests.

Is Andrew right/wrong? He is neither. He is simply pursuing his own particular path along which money is necessary but not the be and end all. (more…)

Seek Experience, Not Perfection

Are you a perfectionist? Do you demand perfection from yourself, from the rest of the world, or both?

Perfectionism has its good side. It drives you to give your best, to constantly aim bigger, better, higher... But the perfectionist is inevitably destined for frustration.

We are flawed beings living in an imperfect universe

Physicists believe the universe itself exists only due to an imbalance of matter and antimatter following the big bang, known as baryon asymmetry. Evolution of species only occurs because of imperfect copying (mutation) from parent to child, ie: without imperfection we'd all still be single-celled amoeba. Great discoveries have occurred by accident (or imperfection), so-called serendipity. Not least the discovery of penicillin, which occurred after biologist Alexander Fleming accidentally left a culture dish open. (more…)

Business Basics – Finding Your Niche

This short article considers what is meant by business and provides advice on finding your own niche in the age of the Web.

What is Business?

Survival requires many inputs; food, shelter etc etc. Yet more inputs provide additional comforts of life. Humans developed division of labor as means of increasing efficiency and individual utility. Rather than everyone try to do everything themselves, we specialize in a particular function and do it for others in return for the benefit of their functions; the process is blurred somewhat by money.

Business, essentially, is the process identifying the function/niche(s) that you wish to perform, doing it (them) for other people and receiving payment (and using such payments to buy your own needs/wants). (more…)

Chefs, Actors and Leverage

What’s the difference between bus drivers, chefs and surgeons on the one hand, and football players, actors and Web site operators on the other?

The answer is leverage, or what Nassim Nicholas Taleb refers to in The Black Swan as scalability. Whether, and how much, to leverage is one of the biggest decisions to face in choosing a career.

A bus driver can only drive one bus at a time; similarly a surgeon can only operate on one patient at a time. The income of both, and countless others engaged in many non-leveraged professions is proportionate to the time and effort devoted to their work. Of course there are variations within a particular trade, the more skilled the surgeon (or accountant, plumber, gardener…) the higher the unit fee that can be expected. But in all cases, once they stop doing it they stop getting paid.

In contrast, consider the case of most actors. When they’re not waiting tables or driving taxis they might be playing to a few dozen in a community hall. But a few actors get to star in movies, and for the same amount of acting get to be seen by 100s of millions, not to mention DVD sales etc. That’s the power of leverage. (more…)

The Introvert Personality

A Definition of Introvert

Introversion is the tendency to focus one's attention towards the inner, mental world rather than external, physical "reality".

Introversion is a natural characteristic occurring in about 25% of the population according to psychotherapist Dr Marti Olsen Laney in her excellent book The Introvert Advantage. Dr Laney offers a further definition of the introvert personality, ie that introverts are those who draw energy from the inner world of ideas and emotions as opposed to extroverts who thrive on external experience and interaction.

Introversion is not something we have or not, rather we all occupy a specific point on an introvert extrovert continuum.

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Goal Setting and Achieving

Personal Goal Setting and Planning

Our logical, rational mind tells us we live in a predictable world. We flick the switch, the light comes on; turn the key, the car starts etc etc. But experience tells us life isn’t so simple. What we expect often doesn’t come about, while surprises happen with disturbing frequency. This inherent complexity and seeming randomness begs the question of whether it is ever worth the bother of trying to set goals or plan for the future.

How many of us drift through daily life on autopilot? How much of what we experience is the result of conscious planning or intention, and how much just simply happens? Routine and habit are very comfortable states for the mind in which the subconscious takes control allowing our consciousness to wander freely in aimless chaos. Those that have tried meditation will know how much effort it takes to tame the mental flow of garbage.

Whether you subscribe to the Spiritual view of being incarnate to learn and grow, or the materialist alternative of this life being all there is, spending our existence like a train traveling along fixed tracks is a terrific waste of potential. Despite life’s uncertainties, it follows that a degree of goal setting and planning combined with willful action is essential to make the most of our time on earth. (more…)

Purpose, Goals and Success

Purpose and Goals

Everyone has a purpose in life. For those of a spiritual disposition it might be to serve others, to resolve one’s karma, or simply to amass experience to carry back to the higher realm. For everyone else it might be to leave their mark in some (hopefully positive) way, to do their best for their family, or simple to fill their lives with as much happiness as they can find. Purpose is as unique as the individual.

Our true purpose remains constant throughout our life, but is most commonly expressed through our many and changing goals. It is our goals which motivate and drive our choices and actions and dictate, to some extent at least, our destiny (or the kind of life we experience).

At any one time an individual has goals at various different levels. At the highest level are our major goals. These specify what we want to do with our lives, what we want to achieve. Depending on our stage in life, as well as our unique character, major goals might be to graduate college, own a house, move to ABC, retire with a pension of $X,000 a month… (more…)