How I Slay Life, One Hack at a Time…

Hello everyone! If you have ever read one of my posts you know I often write about the 4 Pillars of maintaining a strong balanced core to your life.  The purpose of a strong core is staying Physically, Financially, Mentally, and Spiritually fit.  I like “fit”, “woke” will do, and if you enjoyed the movie series “The Matrix”, try “unplugged from the matrix”.  Many of us claim we are woke but I’m not always so sure. Why?? Because life is constantly throwing things at us to weaken our core (e.g., tough jobs, debt, car issues, risk, etc.).  Then, there are self-inflicted things keeping us from truly being unplugged, fit, or woke: Procrastination and Lack of Accountability.

I joke that “The Matrix” is like the mainstream machine to get you to always consume, constantly share (reality TV style), and amazingly disregard facts and reason in lieu of opinions. Let’s take a look:

Need to Consume:

Every day is now a “National Day” to consume. Let’s see how many I can rattle off in seconds: Valentine’s, Halloween, Thanksgiving (which is really Black Friday…extended to Cyber Monday), Amazon Day, Christmas, and Alibaba even has Single’s Day (a made up event).  Goal: We help the Matrix break their sales record, while they help you break your wallet.  And it accomplishes one other key thing…it helps keep everyone hooked into the Matrix. Your friends, family, kids, spouse, co-workers, neighbors all try to outspend, over decorate, and stress over all of it. 

Ready for change, try these hacks:

Urbanomics Hack of the Century – I epically took down the need consume by setting a budget. This cool hack forces me to plan for things. Built into that budget is a buffer. Yes, for all those amazing “National” taco, donut, bosses, kids, and pet days.  Once I get to my budget limit, I stop. So commercials, spam emails, and all those amazing deals in the mail just don’t faze me because I slay them all with a few words: “Not In My Budget”.

How to Slay Digital Anxiety – My longtime hack of the digital era is a few cool things that most have not heard of. I simply do not take my phone most places. It has a really cool feature called voice mail. Next, I realized every beep is not so I initiated an premium upgrade (hackers special) that does not require me to respond to everything instantly.  I (whips the upgrade) pick moments during the day when I thumb through my texts, alerts, vmail, and e-mail and respond accordingly.

Epic Takedown of Apps – To truly stay woke, fit, and unplugged I eviscerate all mobile apps. Yes, I throw shade on every app, no exceptions. I simply do a few things that keep my life simple and focused.  I do not download apps unless there is an extreme necessity. For example, when I switched phones recently I did not add an app until a dire situation presents itself. It is strange to see all those lonely apps still waiting to be downloaded, but I’ll pass. And you’ll love this ultimate hack: I’ve never downloaded Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram…whoever.  Two reasons: By forcing myself to login directly, I limit my screen time.  I’ll conclude my article with the 2^nd reason: I’m the product.  Whenever someone allows you to use something for free, WE are the “product”.  Which means The Matrix is getting way more value out of it than we are.  I recall from my educational binge watching of “Mad Men” that advertising companies are paid to know your age, preferences, views, and buying habits.  When the companies above finally decide to pay me accordingly for the information I provide them maybe I’ll download their app or use it more. I don’t need them…they need m and we just need to negotiate what I’m worth. Ironically, I have always kept a contact history, used job boards, and saved my photos through different methods over the years. It had me thinking back when peopled used rolodexes if they people were addicted to flipping through it and liking things. Or if they did the rationale thing…picked up the phone and had conversation, planned a trip, or closed it and had fun.  

Full disclaimer: I've invested in Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter multiple times this year. (Note: LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft and Instagram is owned by Facebook). I would be a FOOL to deny the mainstream draw to these platforms but I wonder about the unintended consequences. I'm sporadically only on FB and LI and try to disclose as little as possible. And until the model is figured out (note: regulation is coming soon), I'll gladly find ways to make money off of these platforms, while their users (who should be called talent or broadcasters) give their worth away for free.  And because I mainly post about investments, I don't think Snap, owner of Snapchat, is a good investment long term because I don't know what they do. Ads alienate their users and I would pick up the phone if I really wanted my message to disappear.

Facebook: Internet Rolodex

LinkedIn – Job Board / Staffing Agency

Snapchat - ???

Twitter - News?

Instagram – Hard Drive for Pics