Most people are dreadfully confused when it comes to work, money, play, and prepping. In fact, there’s a dirty-little secret among the rich you may not be aware of.
What separates them from the peons is that they have more choices than the underclass. Makes sense because they can buy more and different than an average wage-slave.
Thing is, it’s not really so much a matter of “how much money the rich have.” Of course they will be choosing from a wider range at higher price limits.
But we peons can make the conscious decision to choose to optimize everything that touches our environment. To your way and liking.
I recently did a write-up on the Peoplenomics website about how we are “imagineering” our home (again, still, it’s a forever process…). What I didn’t overtly say, but it deserves to be studied, is the important role that CHOICE plays in all the world’s events and our individual lives..
Yes, including your life.
I’ll use just one area of our space to illustrate how “adding choices” gets to be rewarding..
We have a “screen porch” like you’ll find on a million or more homes in the South. Keeps out the bugs and the critters including snakes that are too dumb to find the gaps under the screen doors.
Now, most people simply buy a home with a screen porch and then toss whatever’s handy – outdoor chairs and an outdoor coffee table along with maybe an outdoor set of speakers – and they’re done with it.
Thing is, that doesn’t pass muster with us. Elaine and I live and breath spaces that are transporting. Maybe it’s from living on a large sailboat. We had the choice every weekend of which of a dozen or more cities we wanted to experience.
The key lesson in the Imagineer design books is that everything begins with a story.
Let’s circle back to that screen porch. What IF, instead of a generic, haphazard (unthemed) screen porch, we turn it into a kind of 19th hole beer garden? Suddenly, by making a choice and going large with our concept, we focus our theming with by making a lot more conscious choices..
- Instead of a generic screen door, there will be a “No Spikes” sign added.
- When the door opens, a couple of hidden outdoor speakers at the far end of the porch will pipe up with a loud THWACK! followed by gallery applause. The visitor’s mind will begin telling visitors “I know that sound…golf tournament!“
- Looking around the “porch” they will see a Beer Cart and umbrella (cut down a bit for scaling).
- They’ll notice a putter rack of distressed wood, along with an assortment of putters. (A special note about this in a second)
- A pull-cart with a bag of clubs is parked along one wall…
- And the door into the House (which opens into a Trader Vic’s themed dining room has a Big sign ( Pro Shop) hand carved and a small sign of old metal ) sports a “Wash Balls Here” sign. (Humor is part of our game, just like the “hidden Mickey’s” all over Disney properties.
The putter stand…ah, a joyous Sunday afternoon project! A click or two on the web leads us to this page. Which confirmed out view that a putter rack would be pie-simple to build in an hour, or two, since we have the shop with all the “right stuff” available.
There’s a lot more to it, in the Peoplenomics article, but the point of being rich is not to have enough money to eat steak and lobster every night so you can balloon up to 250 pounds (which was fun, though I only got to 248#). Thing is, when you get there, you have to come back.
Somewhere in that journey, the critical role of choices (as the “ultimate having) began to appear.
The difference between the rich and poor is often expressed as “newness” and “bigly-ness” of homes, cars, and personal airplanes. Hotly-ness of spouses and S.O.’s and so forth. Even in television screen sizes and tech (OLED) and, well, just about anything you can think o defines rich at one level. All just an expression of more choices at another..
Transitioning out of the “dumb consumer”” mindset it not about making a hell of a lot more money. Nor — although many “prepping sites” on the web get this part all wrong — is it about going off the deep-end on conspiracy theories or buying a zillion long guns and doing stupid to the point of building a profile.
Real Prepping is largely the practice of reasonably anticipating the future and having a plan to ensure that you will always have lots of those things that separate rich and successful people from the poor loser class.
I’m talking about CHOICES.
Since my son (George II) is in line for a federal EMT job at an Indian reservation in North Dakota, I bought him the classic book “How to Get Out of the Rat Race (and live on $10 a month).”
Written by the legendary outdoors-man George Leonard Herter, the book is all about making the choice (which he was promoting to freedom-seeking young people) of moving to Alaska. Herter, who near as we can figure made most of his dough in the mail-order sporting goods business that would later become part of Cabela’s (if I followed the crumbs right), wrote this amazing book that is largely applicable to everyone’s life.
Curiously, though, Herter was a “hand’s on guy.” Page 365 of the book, for example, details the proper cleaning of fish along with some knife commentary.
On page 632 (It’s a BIG book, right?) we learn that clam shells and animal blood makes a pretty good glue. That kind of thing. Please of “Aha!” moments.
People are not really clear on today’s web about what “Prepping” really is. Let me tell you what it is not.
- It is NOT making people paranoid about how to be an “urban survivor” and monetizing that. Concept thieves, sheesh.
- It is NOT about selling a zillion tons of freeze-dried food. A little goes a long ways.
- It is NOT about selling firearms.
- It is NOT about being paranoid and buying into hare-brained conspiracy theories.
- It is NOT about buying anything “tactical.” You need to be more dangerous unarmed than armed….
To us, Prepping…
- IS about situational awareness and “owning your environment.”
- IS about living in a stress free setting where continuity of life is likely. (Living at a nuclear ground zero is still a life-siting choice.)
- IS about always being able to select from a huge number of choices regardless of your income. Choices come from the brain. Money comes from work. Brain’s are on 24/7/365.
- IS about simultaneously seeing the Big Picture yet knowing that perception is the ultimate weapon. Change your perception point every few minutes and unlimited creativity follows. Oh, success at anything you put your hand to, as well.
Try this for a takeaway:
There’s an old saying “I’ve been broke, but I’ve never been poor.” We mentioned this principle now and then. Because?
- Broke people still have choices. Eventually they can get money.
- Poor people fail to claim their God-given right to question everything and accept nothing, and change that which doesn’t please ’em. They are people of broken spirit and that’s harder to fix. Living by example
It’s a radical way to live, but I can’t think of a better way to navigate through life.
At 70, the world is still a near-clone of 1960’s Seattle, which was itself at the time, a spin-off of 1949 San Francisco…
Today, those “up and coming frontier places” – where you can “buy more choices” in your life on-the-cheap aren’t even considered by the young. Children that they are.
That’s what Life’s about. though: Getting the most choices and making them well.
If you don’t have lots of choices, it’s either a mental roadblock to work on, or you are not effectively shopping for the “High Choice Life.”
Better get a move on, though. 7.6-billion other people might decided to put down their phones and bring “remarkable” in the here and now, if you don’t get there first.
Write when you get rich (in choices),
george@ure.net
The beginning of the Cohen Committee Hearing reminds me of Nazi Germany. Arrest, beat, & torture the victim, & he will say anything. Is this where we are going? Hopefully Joe Biden runs in 2020 to bring some home spun sense to our country. I would vote for Biden over Trump in 2020. Biden has said he will make his announcement soon, he has the backing of his family. Also, remember Cohen is an attorney & so are most of the committee members, none can be trusted.
Fellow Deplorables, a new plan of action is needed to stop SOCIALISM. It is marching forward.
Bide????He will stop socialism….what drug are you not on????
I believe I said “Home Spun Sense”. The hate mongoring has to stop & Biden can appeal to both sides & bring some order to this mess. Also, he is respected internationally. The ship is tilted & needs to be righted first, both at home & globally.
What about Howie Schultz?
Government belongs to Outsiders, not insiders!
Howard Schultz is a billionaire with lots of ideas & few details, similar to the PT campaign. I think we have had enough of the billionaires for now. PT said basically the same as Schultz, “the people own the government and not vice versa”. Where has it gotten us. Let’s work in the real world.
So you would go for an “insider” instead? No, I’d pick a values based person who walks the talk.
Problem is Bernie has the wrong values, HRC can’
t walk and Biden is an insider. So is the Trump-hating Bush/Ripon/marginally conservative and and then wing of the GOP
In fairness to the Ripon society, they recently ran an article ““You can’t run an election just against Donald Trump. You actually have to be for something.”” which does make sense – until you get to something like Trumps actual wall building effort and then they go limp faster than Viagra wearing off…
Next?
Creepy Joe is respected nowhere. He’s no less Liberal than HRC, and is considerably more fumble-mouthed.
Joe has brain damage from multiple cerebral aneurysms. I believe he almost died TWICE. He is also a serial groper and spill secrets of which we Jane Q Public members should remain blissfully unaware. Nope.
I want someone that at least can pretend to have a working brain.
And a filter between said working brain and mouth.
While I voted for Trump, I am aware that he does not possess the latter, and plays a buffoon at times to put opponents off guard.
Joe Biden has brain damage from several cerebral aneurysms, one of which nearly killed him.
Put him in George’s NDE experiments, not in the White House.
“a new plan of action is needed to stop SOCIALISM. It is marching forward.”
Sorry ECS… I am afraid none of us can stop it.DJT is trying and even though he has done more than any other president in recent times…He cannot stop this it is being implemented by design.
Never say Never. James Bond tried it & came back in the movie “Never say Never Again”.
Exactly, LOOB; it isn’t stopping, it is here and more to come. Biden (bite me, get a shotgun) will continue the New World Order UN Agenda 20/30 makeover and takeover of the once great United (now UNTIED) States of America. They will start bringing the “New Southerners” in by the millions a month by the end of this saga. Our borders will buckle, our cities and towns and states overrun and the government will face massive protest movements before going broke. Prepping Today is Prepping for Tomorrow. Long Live The Prepper.
George keeps making me buy books. That is because they are such great books!
The need for survival prepping may be closer at hand than we thought yesterday. It seems that Pakistan and India are all revved up to go at it again. Sadly, history may repeat itself as in the Mahabarata where it says that that war included elephants being instantly incinerated or some such.
It seems that humans as a species never learn, only individuals do.
I like George II’s Uber driver menu options.
I am new to Uber and I have taken a grand total of two Uber rides.
Ride 2 was a VA Hospital security cop augmenting an inadequate income and the ride chatter was all appropriate and pleasant.
Ride 1 was totally different. Uber driver 1 heard I was a federal worker working unpaid during the shutdown. Uber driver 1 began to launch into an anti-Trump tirade and only quit when I stated, “Build the wall! National security is more important!”
So now for why I like George II’s menu:
Fast fun way to identify the customers’ wants.
Stays away from politics. With a divided electorate, why would anyone want to risk an argument with half of their likely customers?
pre-zactly his thinking! He’s had a few of the “silent riders, too” Just point at the blan k, he nodded knowingly and (silently) off they go…
Fellow Deplorables on this site. Forget about who supported Trump & who didn’t. Who lied, fake news, etc. A new plan is needed, Trump is an ineffective leader. Move on, Forget the past, it is over.
My suggestion is to look inside yourself, see empty space & silence, then your mind & body will be clear & relaxed so you can to see what’s is happening NOW and devise a new plan of forward action. Forget the past.
Real men don’t need a leader. If someone has better ideas than you do, then follow by choice. If they don’t, just engage your brain and implement your ideas. Follow your heart and mind, not some image and words on TV. Yes, people will go in different directions while generally leaving each other alone. That’s the real meaning of diversity.
When people get hypnotized into following one of two bad tracks that are advertised in the media, we end up with stupid arguments over stupid stuff. Do I really care who someone else likes? Unless that person is female and the object of MY desire, then it’s simply uninteresting.
Yes, we need borders and a limited government to protect those borders and maintain a framework for commerce. Beyond that, life is our own personal responsibility.
Where can I vote for you, brother?
NM Mike: President Trump is the elected leader of our nation just as Jeff Bezos is the President & leader of Amazon. The definition of leader is: “The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country.”
What you are talking about is a Cult Leader defined as: A charismatic leader who has the uncanny ability to get people to follow him unquestioningly. The phrase “cult of personality” refers to this type of group dynamic. Cult members are devoted to the leader, not to the leader’s ideas. The leader has complete control over his followers — there is no questioning of his decisions, and he is accountable to no one within the group.
Also, it doesn’t matter what a government should be, it matters what the government is, and right now ours needs fixing & someone capable of fixing it. Dreaming how it should be gets us nowhere & sticking your head in the sand only let’s the madness continue.
I have little or any use for the kind of person PT is. Have known several in his bracket who have same traits. Just goes with the territory I suppose. Having said that do any of you recall POTUS having a dialogue with a North Korean leader.
“I’ve been broke, but I’ve never been poor.”
absolutely.. my engineer friend that designed and overseen the construction and maintenance of offshore drilling rigs and I got into a discussion yesterday.. he got a call where someone had asked his advice on deep water boats.. because someone he knows plans to start a business and he needs to spend some money but wishes to spend that kind of cash wisely..
anyway.. he started talking about wealth and what this person is seeking in return.. I told him.. I feel fine with the choices I had made in my life..I do what I do because I find fulfillment and self satisfaction.. and I am not one to take great risks.. I may be broke from time to time and live from paycheck to paycheck.. but I have not felt as if I am poor. I have been frustrated from time to time doing my monthly budget LOL. money comes money goes and I want to continue to live at the same level I am right now.. I live good on what I have and feel as if I have done something worth while..
I eat what I want.. can do things I want withing reason.. I still can do my experiments and little honey do projects.. I do feel as if I am not lacking in substance and I have more crap than I ever ever planned on acquiring..