Are You The Best Version Of Yourself?

As a converted geek I’m always keen on keeping my digital tools updated. You know the drill: backups and upgrades, cleaning up unneeded files and keep it slim. I’m almost always up to date and thoroughly enjoy it. Oh, the secret bliss of running the latest version of my operating system! The subtle satisfaction of watching how smoothly my laptop makes its apps literally flying over the carefully chosen desktop background image!

Alas, that’s not always the case with my real self. Unfortunately, my mental operating system is more  than often obsolete. I sometimes feel like I lack some crucial features or don’t know how to handle specific events. In some specific cases, this unstable behavior goes for years. I run into the same patterns, like hitting the same keyboard combination, and always get the same result: a frozen screen, for instance. Or, if it’s a major crisis, even a “blue screen of death”, followed by a brutal reboot.

I’m sure you’ve been there too. We all did. This happens because we’re not updated to our latest version of ourselves. We didn’t upgrade. We’re still running an old and clumsy command line interface, we can’t address more physical memory to incorporate new experiences and we really don’t know how to handle new devices in our life, because we’re missing some important drivers.

Joke aside, our behavior as human beings can be comfortably described as an operating system metaphor. Introducing the converted geek 5 steps guide to upgrade to your best version of yourself:

1. Balance Your Core Features

Any operating system has a set of core features. Any human being has a unique set of qualities. Be sure to keep a close balance between all parts. An equilibrium in motion. Too much of something will make the rest seem unfit. An imbalanced structure of qualities will make your mental operating system crash without warning on the weak spots.

For example, some operating systems are better at networking, but they really suck at graphics. Some other are good at office productivity but they lack a proper driver integration and so on. What makes your presence so valuable is not personal excellence on a single topic, but rather a stable load under high pressure. A well balanced mix of qualities.

2. Defrag Your Mind

We have a virtually unlimited capacity of information storage. What makes us feel like we don’t is the narrow channel used to access it. Our conscious mind can process only 5-7 stimuli form the environment, but the unconscious mind is capable of much more. It’s like a having huge, actually infinite, hard-drive but a very slow access protocol to it.

Until we will be able to broaden this channel, we can try to improve some other parts. We can take care of our mental clutter by defragmenting it every now and then. GTD addicted will call this mental defragmentation “emptying the mind” while other people may simply call it meditation. While even others call it: “keep my things in good order”.

Read more about how to defrag your mind in 5 easy steps.

3. Update Your Drivers

Every now and then we attach some new piece of hardware to our computers. Like a printer or a nice camera. But this new equipment will not function unless there is a driver, a way to communicate with the computer operating system. This is exactly what happens when we incorporate something new in our lives: from a new car to a new relationship or job.

Unless we will strive to update our drivers to really understand how to talk with those new entities, we will not function properly. We may look like we have a printer (or a wife, or a luxury car) attached, but it will not really work until we build a new communication protocol to it. We can’t expect to have something new in our lives without changing ourselves to fully integrate it.

Read more about how to manage and upgrade your life device drivers.

4. Stay Virus Free

If you expose your operating system to untrusted sources, you may experience a very bad situation called “virus”. These things are basically independent entities which are taking control over your system and make it their own toy. For fun or for profit. The same thing can happen to your mind. More often than you think, your mind is actually controlled by somebody else.

Staying virus free is much more difficult for your mental operating system than for your computer operating system. Especially the cleaning action is quite tedious. Sometimes, your mind will remain partially infected for ever. So, the best way to avoid a mental virus infection is prevention: trust your own mind, make your own judgment and take everything with a little bit of salt.

Read more about how to keep your mind virus free.

5. Enjoy An Unexpected Shutdown Every Now And Then

No operating system is perfect. There are (and there will always be) minor memory leaks, open loops and untested functions which will, in time, make your computer unstable. This is why is recommended to push the shutdown button every now and then, the same way you take an unexpected 15 minutes nap with the head on the desktop, when your boss is known to be in his lunch break.

At a higher level, this translates in a more relaxed way to look at the world. Keeping yourself too focused can sometimes do more harm and good. Too much tension will eventually break something around you, if not you. Cease to believe you are in control and give your powers away every once in a while. Trust that everything will be good in the end. If it’s not ok, then it is not the end.

The Undocumented Feature

Every geek knows that all operating systems have some deeply hidden treasures, also known as undocumented features. Sometimes those features are just simple Easter Eggs, plain and useless pieces of information, only hidden. But sometimes, those undocumented features are really valuable tools, precious improvements which are giving you more time and computing power.

In  your mental operation system, those undocumented features are in fact your personal power. Your hidden, undercover potential waiting to be unleashed. Those features are secret weapons you can use to do things nobody think you can do. It’s your identity. Your uniqueness, your singularity, your own personal gift to the world.

Nobody really knows what your undocumented feature is, except you. You are the carrier of this fantastic energy, of this unique feature which made you so necessary and needed that the world couldn’t properly function without you. That’s right, you’re here for a reason. The world called for you and you have to deliver. You really have to.

So, you’d better pull yourself together and, for starters, go find a mirror and ask this to yourself: am I really running the best version of myself? Really, really?

Translations of this post: Spanish.

September Update

Ok, this is going to be a really hectic post, because I really didn’t planned it. It’s just the intention to bring in here some updates that I consider worth sharing.

30 Days Exercising Challenge

The challenge went incredibly well until the day 18, and that would be yesterday. I decided it’s time to stop, because the next day (as in today) I was supposed to run 5km for a charity event at my daughter’s school. I thought it would be a good idea to go there relaxed and until some point, it was. Unfortunately, after just 400 meters I suddenly twisted my right ankle in a hole. The circuit was at that point entering a forest, and I didn’t take into account the forest field. Put in the same plate the fact that there were a lot of kids and parents running together, in a pretty crowded way, and you’ll get a picture. To make a long story short, today I violently hurt my right ankle.

I thought about turning back, but I just refused. Even my ankle hurt like crap, the only way out of that run was ahead of me, not behind. So, I crawled through the forest, being passed by kids and older parents, while my ankle was sending fire arrows to my brains. I was so keen to finish that I even tried to do some sprints, heavily using my left foot and dragging the right behind. That made me win back the position I was when I twisted my ankle, but not much than that. I finished in the first platoon, but I was there with the intention to win the race. I still don’t know if that was a good idea, to continue the run after I twisted my right ankle, but it’s in the past now anyway. Finishing the run was a blast. I felt incredibly well, while the ankle got bigger and bigger.

When I got home I put an ice bag on it and waited to see what’s happening. Right now it looks just inflated and no sign of dark color whatsoever, but I’m expecting this to appear later on, in the evening. Strangely enough, I had this specific type of accident 3 times in the last 4 years, almost in the same day. Same leg, same ankle, same type of twisting. I’m sure there must be a sign for something, but right now, apart from taking it as a sign to slow down a little, I don’t see any other interpretation. Having a Capricorn ascendant makes for a higher sensitivity to the lower part of the body, especially ankles, that I know. But what triggers that, still a mystery.

For the record, here’s how the daily workout went since the last update:

• 1 rep 15 pushups
• 1 rep 30 abs
• 1 rep 15 pushups
• 1 rep 30 abs
• 1 rep 15 pushups
• 30 minutes on the stepper
• 1 rep 15 pushups
• 1 rep 30 abs
• 1 rep 15 pushups

The stepper time topped at 30 minutes after I gradually increased it with one minute per day, starting from 15 minutes. In the last few days, my pulse didn’t even cross 110 bpm, while in the beginning it wasn’t uncommon to see it up to 150 bpm. I feel so frustrated to stop this just after I reached a reasonable pace. But, as I said, there must be a reason for that.

Mentoring Program

At the end of the week I started a mentoring program. It wasn’t really planned, and as you can see, there is a lot that it isn’t planned on my agenda lately. I do feel the need to move outside the comfort zone, that’s for sure and these sudden rushes are a pretty good indicator of that. So, what’s this mentoring program about?

I picked 3 young entrepreneurs (who were in the same circle I was frequenting) and made another 3 spots available for a fee. In total, there will be 6 attendants. A part from this, each live session will have 4-6 guests /curious which will observe the session and interfere in a moderate way. The observer spots are for key persons in the industry as well for the people who want to try before they buy the program. Speaking about the price, this is 240 EUR / per person. This includes the weekly group session with all the mentees and observers (there will be 6-8 live sessions for the whole program), a 1 one-to-one by email each week, on a specific problem they had, and the final evaluation.

Again, if you ask me what was the reason for that, I’m not very clear, but it just felt ok to start it. Right now, there are only 2 paid spots left, so if you are a young entrepreneur in Bucharest, have an online business and a blog (those being the only necessary conditions to be eligible) you’d better run for it. Oh, the first session will start next Thursday, September 10th. If you’re wondering what’s going to happen there, here’s a quick list of what I am going to work on each session:

• personal productivity
• business strategy
• building relationships
• project management
• financial management
• partnerships

There will be an introductory course and a final evaluation course. If you’re curious about who are the participants, here they are. First, my 3 wild cards (I will just give you their Tiwtter nickname, so you can quickly follow them if you want):

@ViorelSpinu – he created and owns taskwriter.com.

@mihaim – he started twimarket.com.

@geea – she has several local projects, the most important being at this point arenabiz.ro, a young entrepreneur community portal.

The paid spot goes to @BobbyVoicu, one of the most visible online entrepreneurs in Romania, his last project, RevvNation just got a first funds injection a couple a days ago. As I said, there are 2 more spots open there, so if you want to grab a spot, better hurry.

Going to Las Vegas

At the end of the month, I’ll go the Las Vegas, attending StevePavlina’s first workshop ever. I already planned the trip a while back, but it’s only now that all the pieces came together. The workshop will be on October, between 2nd and 4th, but I will go 2 days early, to try coping with the jetlag. As far as I know, there are already a lot of people attending, and the audience will be quite interesting. I know Steve’s work from 2005, since his polyphasic sleep experiments, and I do think he’s one of the most interesting personal development bloggers in the world. I also read his book, and I intend to write a review about that pretty soon. Still ponder what would be the best time for that though, before, or after the workshop? Will see about that.

After Vegas, chances are pretty high that I will fly for New Zealand for a week, there are a few things that I need to solve out, now that there’s almost a year since I started my company there. As always, living in New Zealand, even for a limited period of time, will be just fantastic. Can’t wait for the experience.

Oh, and in the end, just a little teaser: before I will leave for Vegas I will launch on this very blog my first commercial product. It will come in the form of an ebook, if you’re curious.

Stay tuned.