At Home Diaries

The world has been split into two tribes. The creators and the consumers. Mass creation and mass consumption. And here’s the twist! Most of the time, the consumers ALSO create and the creators ALSO consume!

There’s a lot of factors to which tribe you belong in.  We measure a great creator by evidence of mass consumption. On the same note, a great consumer knows how to down a lot of creations!

Consumers are decked out head to toe in someone else’s creations where creators are constantly consumed by what they should create to reach the largest amount of consumption!!! It’s a trap! Run!

The truth is, our culture is steeped in capitalism and opportunity. Capitalism creates opportunity. Opportunity creates purpose. Purpose create fulfilment. This is why it’s so easy to get suckered. Everyone, everywhere, is trying to sucker us.

And we’re trying to sucker others. It’s a giant game, with billions of moving pieces and no one knows the rules. The ones who convince you to follow their rules, win the game.

Know what you’re consuming. Think about the shows you watch and the books you read. Their impact. What’s the hidden agenda? What’s the underlying truth? What’s going unsaid and why does it exist?

Being critical of what we let into our minds will eventually help us discipline what we let out of our minds.

I want to create good work but I need to put my influences in check so I can take responsibility for what I put out into the world and why.

Negative Effects of Consumerism 

The Problem with Consumerism

What are you consuming and why?

Is there anything you want to re-evalutate to reinforce your values?

Episode Duration: 15:31

It’s the end of the world as we know!!! And I feel FANTASTIC!!!!!! Smash those expectations to the ground! Screw how I’m SUPPOSED to be or what I’m SUPPOSED to do!!! Damn!! This feels good! This feels right! This is thousands of years of philosophy and social studies pouring out of my angsty forever-teenage brain!!! The age of obliteration has finally arrived!!!! *cannons fire, lights blaze across the sky, people everywhere revolt against themselves*

Listen. More or less, we all have the same problems and we’re hearing everyone else talk about the same solutions in different ways. It’s always the super simple answer that’s the right answer. Need a change? Change something. Not happy with what you’re doing? Do something else. Hate the way you act? Act differently. But each other us learn differently. Sometimes, the things I speak or write about resonate with people because it’s not perfect. I’m working out the thoughts with you on the spot and trying to get to the same place. We’re unfinished and not the people we like to pretend we are online. We’re more. We’re less.

That’s why I’m done with tune-ups. I’m done re-purposing. I want to smash myself to pieces and start from scratch. I’m nothing without a strong foundation. So continually building off of shoddy groundwork builds towards the same topple time and time again.

I’m going through this now in my own life. Obliteration. I’m getting rid of everything, emerging from the rubble, and just walking towards the sun until I’m close enough to roast marshmallows. Rock n’ roll!

Growth and Happiness Fluff Piece

How to Build a House (relevance in questions below!)

How does building our careers and personal lives represent a house and what can you do to make sure that house is built to last?

Are you constantly remodelling a broken house? What do you need to do to obliterate the whole thing and start from scratch?

Episode Duration: 15:43

I was originally going to title this “Expect the Unexpected” but couldn’t remember if I named the Big Brother episode that or not! And I didn’t! I called it “Big Brothering” for some reason. There I go! Smashing my own expectations once again! But isn’t that what today’s episode is all about? Expectations?

They’re the death of us but we just can’t let them go. I’ve been haunted lately by this idea that I won’t evolve. That I’ll let old habits hold me back and stay in my comfort zone instead of taking the necessary risks to get myself closer to my goals.

A lot of this “cemented thinking” is from expectations. When you have a mental waypoint to where you think you should be going, you get down on yourself when you’re nowhere close or give up when you think you’re going the wrong way. But life doesn’t have waypoints.

It’s a blank map and you can walk anywhere you want.

Why We’re Unhappy – TED Talk

The Paradox of Choice – TED Talk

Create Your Own Reality – TED Talk 

Have you set unrealistic expectations for yourself? What are they? How are you going to break them?

With the idea of expectations completely obliterated… what’s next?

Episode Duration: 17:06

This week has been fun! I’ve taken four different shows to take a look at the progression of change. The goal is to work towards a place that feels more authentic and true to yourself. Sometimes we waiver long enough in old habits that we never make the effort to reach the Mountain Tip.

The Mountain Tip is that precipice between who you were and who you’re going to be. It’s a pivotal point in growth. Sometimes we get there naturally and sometimes we need to instigate it ourselves.

It’s that point where your old habits that you rely on because they feel safe no longer feel defining to you. It’s when you know you’ve come this far, you’ve put in the effort and climbed towards trying to shake off this inauthentic armour that you’ve used to protect yourself, and now you’re standing on the Mountain Tip and you still have a long ways to go to get over this mountain but at least now you know you’re on the way down.

You’re closer now to your destination than you’ve ever been before.

Goethe’s Allegories of Identity

Personal Development Resources

Are you ready? What next?

What have you learned from taking that big step into unknown territory? How do you feel?

Episode Duration: 12:55

As promised! Yesterday was out with the old and today was in with the new. The 3rd part of our four-part case studies on lessons learned from tweaking and adjusting a standup comedy set over the course of four days.

This is the scary part! The stuff that feels more like YOU! But maybe the honesty is too scary or the vulnerability is too uncomfortable or the risk seems to great or the leap seems too far. Whatever it is holding you back, once you’re onto this phase, it’s the equivalent of closing your eyes and just doing it. Like jumping off a cliff or eating something gross. You close your eyes and just do it.

The same thing goes for this next phase of your life. You’ve been thinking about it and tinkering around with ideas on how to make it work forever now but it’s stayed in the workshop of your mind. Now it’s time to actually start workshopping the stuff you only ever thought about or talked about amongst the ones you love.

This is the scariest and most necessary step.

Google Scholar Search for “Moving Towards New” (Showing the intellectual mandate on progress and forward momentum)

Great Article on Taking New Risks 

How are you going to take the new risk? What are you going to do? What are you going to change? See, isn’t this fun! Enjoy the ride!

How do you feel now that you’ve taken the risk?

Episode Duration: 12:55

Out with the old! Continuing the case study of four comedy shows back-to-back. The focus this week is finding yourself through what you do and the practical steps you can take towards your own self-induced evolution. Today we will talk about being out with the old and tomorrow we’ll be talking about being in with the new.

The hard stuff is the older stuff. We sometimes get caught in the old and don’t know how to move towards the new. The old is familiar and safe. The new is unfamiliar and unsafe. If you know that, and can tell yourself that, then you can see relying on old habits is a lie and only holds you back from what you’re TRULY trying to accomplish.

I had to do this on stage but it wasn’t until I had a set with both older and newer material did I see the light. The older material killed but I feel so detached from those words. The newer material kind of bombed but it’s more true to who I am now.

Sometimes we need to compromise how we feel for what we want.

Learn More About the Power of Habit

But Read the Book! Life Changing

What old habits do you need to seriously consider phasing out of your life?

What scares you about moving on towards something new and more true to yourself?

Episode Duration: 12:55

On today’s episode we’re going to be discussing the misleading power of a snippet. How a small taste of something great doesn’t necessarily equate to something great. Often times we have big dreams. Goals so big that they almost seem impossible to achieve.

That’s great!

But don’t be misguided by the first taste of something good. I won’t deny it’s great when you feel what you’re trying to accomplish. But if it’s only a snippet of what you’re trying to accomplish then you might trick your brain to believing you’re satisfied with where you’re at and never challenge yourself to be better.

This is dangerous territory for anyone trying to make serious progress in their life.

This week on the podcast, I will be breaking down four comedy shows back to back and discuss progress. A new lesson from each show. This will be the first time on the podcast that I seriously dive into the life lessons we can extract from the practice of standup comedy.

It’s something very close to my heart so I hope you like it.

A Set with Old Material (Stuff I Don’t Want to Do Anymore) 

Gene Perret Advice (Writes Great Stuff on Comedy) 

Are you good at what you do but want to be better? What’s keeping you stagnant?

What kind of misleading influences are present in your life? Spot them and do something to weed them out.

Episode Duration: 12:55