shake-up

I have been playing around with the same format since the summer, so it's time for a shake-up. That's what a storm is about, so that is the perfect in between. I wish I taped some content of the storm itself, but unfortunately I didn't. But what I do have is some footage of me cutting up some branches after the fact.

Starting next week I will shake up the format: it will start with an intro in the same style as the videos since the summer, but then I then I will throw in a story that I threw together in the moment. I want to get better at this way of story-telling, because that's a skill that I want to develop (so the ability to figure out ideas, while telling an impromptu story and mixing in elements from my personal life).

No more cheap cabinet repairs!

A while ago I added a skeleton to a cheap cabinet, and some time later I had two cheap cabinets of which one door each fell off. I'm done with cheap cabinets, but sometimes you need a lot of stuff and there is no better choice. 

So I made this video fixing the doors. What I like about it is the fact that I tried something new (cutting a rim in a thin piece of wood). Also, it started to rain very softly throughout, which is a rarity where I live. 

First collaboration with my son.

In May I shot the first vid in which my oldest son Teake was taking part as well. It was big for me, because at the time I was aiming for something in the middle of "Outdoor Boys", "Quiet Nerd" and what I would in general call family content. 

Maybe I will come back to that later on, but moving forward it will mostly be me starring in the videos. I don't want to force my kids too much towards the things that I'm passionate about. But sometimes, the kids will be in there in the future as well.

3 days vacation + thoughts

This week I took my family on a three day vacation. It was the best, because we all had a good time + the 10 weeks between the summer and October are always the busiest of the year. We were basically eating, swimming, resting and hanging out at the playground. On the tv they were blasting a series about living in Alaska, and that for me was the perfect backdrop to "zero-think". I reflected a bit on everything; these are my take-aways as it comes to my "journey towards establishing online income":

1) instead of twitter, I will use my blog to post updates, thoughts and ideas. I started calling my blog "the nexus of Jelmer's world", so I should be treating it as such as well.

2) I want to work towards releasing weekly videos on both the main channel and the 2nd channel. It will be do-able if I manage my time wisely.

3) The 2nd channel will not just about my "ideas", but I will literally start showing certain aspects of my life. But, my family I will deliberately keep them out of it.

Repairing Handle of Wheelbarrow

I released this video last week Friday at 3pm local time. It's one of the things that I had to fix around the house anyway, so I figured this might be nice content to watch + educational if you ever find yourself in the situation where you will have to fix a wheelbarrow yourself. 

Currently I can manage to release 3 videos a month on the main channel, but I'm trying to figure out a strategy to release weekly videos. What I'm considering is to add small wood toys that are pretty easy to make (that would be the 4th video), as well as a monthly "look behind the scenes". I think this will be manageable with the time that I currently have, and I think it will also be good to boost the channel (based on past experiences when I was just "throwing stuff at it"). 

Note to self: I think this vid is okay, but it lacks some "jokes", "talks" and "quirky stuff". So this will be part of the 1% improvement, moving forward.

Enjoy the vid!

Never apologize for ambition.

One of the truly unexpected things about “wanting more out of life” is that it sometimes feels like you should apologize for ambition. It’s so weird because ambition is the stuff that we generally admire, but maybe deep down we feel that we should hide it from the world because it also instills fear and trembling in those around us.

The sort of fear that the other person will not remain as they are.

The sort of fear that the other person can’t be as easily controlled as before.

The sort of fear that the other person will become powerful.

The sort of fear that the other person will outgrow and leave everything behind.

And this is almost silly if you think about it, because this is one of the most primal ideas at its core: adapt or die. Because without ambition it’s just a matter of time before you will become irrelevant. And that’s why it in no way means that you should let it control you.

Because it's the reason why you should always pursue your ambitions.

And it’s all in line with the stuff that you should never ever do.

Never ever apologize for wanting more.

Never ever apologize for wanting to get bigger and better than you ever were before.

Never ever apologize for wanting a better life.

Never ever apologize for shooting for the moon.

And that’s why you should never ever deny your ambitions, and that’s why you should never abandon your missions.

You only have one life to live, and you better live it well.

Because Ultimately it’s totally irrelevant what other people think.

So if you are being kept back: leave.

If you ain’t getting what you need: leave.

If you are not getting the energy you need to get excited: leave.

If you are not part of a tribe that is on a similar mission as you: leave.

Because you should leave people behind who are not in line with what you’re after.

It’s as simple as that.

And you might think something like “yeah, but, well…” No!

Because ultimately the most important and most fulfilling thing always comes down to pursuing ambitions, to forge a path and to boldly live the life that’s uniquely yours.

Because the fact of the matter is that you will meet interesting people along the way.

Even though it may be lonely for a while, it will not always be that way.

There will always be people who vibe with similar things as you.

And some of them will stick around shortly, and others will be there for a longer time.

Life has always been like that, and you shouldn’t shy away from it but embrace it.

It’s adapt or die, and your ambitions are just an extension of that.

So you have to pursue your ambitions. You don’t just owe it to yourself, but you owe it also to the world, because ultimately, if your ambition is right, it will contribute to making the world a better place. And that means that you will do your small part to advance the human cause. Now ain’t that something?

Obsession beats talent

There is this notion out there that talent is the big deciding factor that will determine how far you will get in life. And it’s one of the great myths that we all sort of grew up with, until you start looking at the world around you and you realize that there are so many things that we take as facts, but which in reality function as restraints because they keep us back.

Sure, a bit of talent helps.

But it’s also over-rated, because it comes cheap.

It’s just there and you don’t need to work for it.

It’s the 1 percent, and all the rest is Hard Work and Working Hard.

And this really takes a while to wrap your head around, because it’s so easy to just believe that someone just “got the talent”, or even worse, to say that someone just “got lucky”. Both of these are just excuses that sort of explain away why it “would never happen to you”.

Well, that ends today.

Because luck is something that you can feed into. And this means that you can use this to your advantage to get leverage. Because “Being lucky” will be the latest addition to your war chest.

The secret is that “Being lucky” is a tool.

It’s a way of looking at yourself.

And it’s a way of approaching new situations.

Because if you see yourself as a lucky person then that will feed into the rest of your life. It may get you to think that things just go your way, but what actually happens is that it will get you to take more action, to look at things differently, to look for opportunities and to forge a path where none exists. Because seeing yourself as a lucky person is just a proxy for bias for action, it will make you pro-active and turn you into the go-getter that you always wanted to be.

And all of that ties into being totally obsessed to the point where it’s top of mind at all times. This is where you wake up in the morning, and your obsession is the first thing you think about. It’s where it’s the last thing you think about before going to bed, and every free moment when you’re not taking care of your business, your family, your house, your chores, your job: it’s your obsession that you relax with, your obsession is where you pour your energy into, your obsession is your way of realizing a better future for you and your family.

And people will not get it that you’re not up to speed on certain things. They might not get it that you don’t care about a big game, and don’t know all the ins and outs of the big players, they don’t get it that you don’t really care about the news, that there are so many things that other people just do for fun that you just don’t do. Because if you’re obsessed about something you limit your scope to just that thing. And this will be your secret weapon.

Because it truly is the only way to really make a move on anything. Because if you strike the right balance, where you’re obsessed, where you’re clear on your mission, where you can dedicate time and energy, while you still maintain a good relationship with your wife and kids, then you are well on your way to realize great things.

It’s then that hours don’t matter, and it’s then that you will achieve far more in a few months than what others will accomplish in a few years. It’s then that you will blast straight through talent and luck, and instead you lean into action, you will be getting things done and you will be getting what’s yours.

But you have to do one thing that will enable you to do all of this: you will have to be clear on your obsession. If you can’t put it in two or three words and literally see and feel the thing before you, then you don’t have a proper obsession yet. If it takes you more than a few sentences, then it means that you need to hone down, it means that you need to lean in, and to just cut out all the unnecessary stuff. And you will have to be relentless until you’re left with the bare minimum. And what you are left with is something to truly obsess over.

But you have to be cautious as well: when you roll like this for a while, there ain’t no turning back. You will not want to live without a proper obsession for the rest of your life. Because you will find out that it will give you the spark in your belly that you had when you were way younger, and everything was exciting because it was all still very new. Well, this will get your spark back, and it will get you to go further than anything else has ever done before. Now ain’t that something?