How Bad Is It, Really?

Big day today!! Election day!!! Woohooo!!!

Everything that Trump says is wrong with America will be fixed starting today!!!

All of the things that Hillary says need to change will be better starting today!!

Yiiippee!!!

We can finally fix this horrible country we are living in and make it what it was intended to be: amazing!!

“Hallelujah!! Holy s***!! Where’s the Tylenol?” — Clark W. Griswald, III

A Time For Honesty

A horrible country?

Fallen from grace?

A shadow of its former self?

Is that us?

Is that America?

My Challenge To You

Take everything the news has been telling you. Everything the candidates have been telling you. This 

horrible country we are in. This awful time in America. The failed economy. The failed borders. Our safety. Our jobs.

Take all of those things and leave them on the TV. Leave them on The Socials. Put the phone down for a minute.

I want you to look at your life. Just yours.

Not the people you hear about. Just you, and your family.

How bad is it?

How is your health? Your job? Your home?

Is it as bad as they say it is?

Are you voting today because of what you feel and see? Voting for your life as you know it? Or are you voting because of what they tell you? Voting because of what Fox tells you, or CNN, or MSNBC?

If you take away everything you have heard the last 12 months and just looked at your life, your day to day, how bad is it?

It’s Up To You

Don’t let them tell you what you think.

Don’t let them tell you how it is.

Democrats, Republicans, media, any of them.

F*** them all. They don’t know you.

They want to scare you. They want you to think that you need them. That you can’t do it on your 

own. Both major parties tout small government, or big government. It’s all bulls***.

All they have said the last 12 months is you need them.

You need the government.

Your life sucks.

Your life has sucked the last 8 years, and it’s only going to get worse.

They Are Wrong

I know your life doesn’t suck. Why? Because you are alive and able to even read this. You woke up this morning. You are alive and can vote today. You are alive and will either be furious or ecstatic tonight. You can feel. You have emotions. That’s a beautiful thing. Things are pretty good. Life is pretty damn wonderful if you take the time to look. If you take the time to block out all the noise, the hate, the fear, the news, and especially the candidates.

Take some time and settle in to the peace and quiet.

Be grateful for the peace.

Be grateful for the quiet.

Be grateful for the breath that just entered your lungs.

The eyes you are using to read this.

The heart that is pulsing life through your veins.

The friends and family that love you with all their heart.

The friends and family that you love with all your heart.

Life is beautiful.

Take a moment to feel that today.

It’s going to be a hell of a day.

Just remember to ask yourself:

How bad is it really?

I’m guessing it’s pretty damn good.

Joey

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We Are Scared. The Media Told Us So.

Did you hear the good news?

Probably not.

You never hear that.

I mean, unless you are around a Jehovah’s Witness.

But that’s old news, really. Depending on your religious affiliations, it’s not news at all.

We are usually talking about something bad we heard on the news.

Hurricanes

Flooding

Bombings

Killings

Cover-ups

Presidential nominees and how they will be horrible

Russia

North Korea

Etc.

Are we walking the dog or is the dog walking us?

I am inclined to say that the media is driving the car here, but what if they are just giving us what we want?

Do We Want To Be Scared?

It seems ridiculous, why in the world would anyone want to be scared?

Yet we seem to be driven by it.

Or are we driven to it?

There is a quote in the new, amazing, book, Presuasion, but Robert Cialdini: “The press may not be successful most of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling them what to think about.” I agree and disagree with that. I think it does tell us what to think about, especially since we are going to them for information. But, whatever they say becomes our scope, both for what is important and (depending on their spin) how to feel about it.

Example: If I turn on “World News Tonight” with David Muir, and he says, “Earthquake caused by fracking in Texas levels homes,” I am thinking, “holy s***, those poor people, and fracking is horrible.” So the next day, when they show two shacks that collapsed, and tell you that the earthquake was a 3.2, I still have that feeling of “holy s***” because of my initial reaction. Unless the “new” news delivers that same pop of excitement and emotion, the original feelings are going to be locked in.

Have you ever noticed that people who watch different news sources are worried about different things?

If you watch FOX News you are worried about immigration and all the illegals running rampant, raping and killing people, or Hillary’s dire health and her emails.

If you watch CNN or MSNBC you are worried about Trump’s, well, everything, Russia, and positive spins on Wikileaks, etc.

We all live in the same country, with the same “news,” but we get completely different stories, or the same stories with completely different results.

No wonder we are so divided right now. Mr. Fox News is worried about one thing while Mr. CNN is worried about other stuff, each one looking at the other wondering why they are worried about “that.”

The man walks the dog.

The dog walks the man.

So who is leading who?

Science And Stuff

1. Anything that draws focused attention leads observers to overestimate it’s importance.

2. Violence, with its associated threat to safety, has always been able to draw human attention.

3. Above all else, animals are designed to react to threats of physical harm. Our chemistry changes, our focus is heightened, and our adrenaline spikes to make sure we are able to decide and react quickly in order to survive.

4. When we feel a threat, everything else comes second.

That’s the news in a nutshell.

They are taking advantage of our “lizard brain.” That, by the way, is the “and stuff” part of this section, not the science. Just want to make that clear.

But it is who we are. We have had thousands of years of evolution, and developments that have allowed us to get to this place at this time. Media manipulation is relatively new. When we feel a threat, is it real or is it portrayed as real? We can’t always tell. We hear something fearful and our biology takes over. Thousands of years of survival is making us more aware, more on edge, and left focusing on something that may or may not be true, even when it is presented as such.

Are We Scared? Or Does The Media Make Us Scared?

They take our psychology, our biology, and use it against us. While we turn on the TV, or check the news feed, we are allowing them to treat us like puppets.

What would happen if you paid zero attention to the news for a week?

Absolutely nothing.

Zika, killer bees, earthquakes, ISIS, illegal immigrants, all those things that are causing us to s*** our pants every day would still be there. The difference? We would realize that it is not something that we need to worry about. They force us to worry about them, and we let them.

If we didn’t focus on the hyped issues, we could then turn our attention to the things that actually do affect us, our home, our neighborhood, or our community. The things that actually matter, instead of the things they tell us matter.

I am not saying that it is not important to know certain things that are going on in the world, but we focus on things we have no control over while the things we do have control over sit idly by with no attention.

Stop letting the news dictate your fears. Stop being a puppet.

You are messing up your pants for nothing.

Turn it off and live a real life, your life.

Joey

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The Marketing Strategy For Ryan Lochte

I don’t watch the news.

I don’t troll online.

I am busy working.

But when I was distributing my vlog/blog/podcast episode “The LochNess Monster?” I was able to 

see how f***ing ridiculous some of the media and trolls are.

“He should be extradited and sent to Brazilian prison?”

For peeing on the floor and over-exaggerating/lying?

Seriously?

Is it hard to have perspective with your head that far up you’re a**?

With that rational every news reporter should be put in prison. They lie and over-exaggerate every single night.

Every politician should be put in prison for over-exaggerating and lying. Trump and Hillary would both be put away. One for emails, the other for, well, everything he says.

We should all be “sent away” if we are using lying as a standard for prison time.

We are all full of s***.

In fact, it is usually the loudest ones about other people being full of s*** that are the most full of s***. Look around. Who is making the most noise? Al Roker, what you hiding weather man? And Fox News (shocking).

I feel like Alan Iverson: “We’re talking about lying and peeing? Lying and peeing? Lying? Peeing?” (the “practice” press conference in case you have no idea what I am talking about.)

Ryan Lochte needs someone who can turn this all around. I savvy media consultant and marketing maverick.

I will offer my services. He can thank me later.

My Ryan Lochte PR Plan

We are not talking about anything major here. If we all took a step back, practiced a little self-awareness, I think we would calm down. Are you really mad? Or are you mad because the media told you to be mad, be appalled, and be disgusted? That’s their job. They are full of s***. Which is ironic that they are going so hard after Lochte for being full of s***, but that’s what they do.

Instead of continuing to say sorry, let’s make a joke out of it. Look at it for what it is, peeing and lying, and use that to your advantage. Roll with the punches.

What am I saying? Pee on stuff and blatantly lie. You know, jokes.

#1 The Late Night Tour

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon), The Late Show With Steven Colbert (@StephenAtHome), Conan (@ConanOBrien), The Late Late Show (@JKCorden). Hit them all. Pretend to pee on things in the studio. Get caught, lie about what you were doing.

“I was just looking at the plant.”

“I don’t even need to pee.”

“I don’t pee, I have a urinary disorder.”

Run with it. Say anything you want. Try to distract the accusers, “Look, an elephant!” Say you have to go home right away. Dribble piss on the way out, leave a trail. Funny stuff.

#2 New Sponsors

The most obvious new sponsors would be companies that specialize in toiletries: urinal cakes, toilet paper, and pee pads for pets (to avoid accidents on the floor in your house, gas station, etc.). You get the idea.

Expand on that and become a spokesperson for Depends (@Depend):

“If I had them on that night, this all could have been avoided. I would have just pee’d in my pants, and the super absorbency of my Depends undergarments would have allowed me to feel dry and relieved, what every American wants.” *big smile at the end

Alcohol. My first choice would be Jagermeister (@JagermeisterUSA). Have you ever seen Dave Attell’s (@attell) standup? He has the “Jaeger” bit where he tells crazy stories and ends each one with, “Jager.”

This story is perfect:

“I pissed on the floor, got a gun pulled on me, paid a Brazilian $400, had to flee the country, lost hundreds of thousands of dollars……..Jager.”

How about a residency in a Vegas hotel?

“If he had been in Las Vegas (@Vegas), it would have stayed here.”

He could shack up at Caesar’s Palace (@CaesarsPalace) for a week. They could dye the fountains 

yellow. It would be awesome.

We are having fun here people.

Piss and lies. Let’s keep that in mind.

#3 Fundraising

We can create a humanitarian effort.

Ryan Lochte, for $1000 dollars will come to your house and pee anywhere you want. You can pee together, he can pee in your disgusting bathroom, your garage, your kitchen, you pick! 100% of the proceeds will go to his non-profit: Tinkletorium (swipped that name from my 7th/8th grade girlfriend, hi Amanda!) — Building Bathrooms Worldwide, Because Everyone Deserves Plumbing.

He will be saving lives by getting all the pee and poo out of the water supply in 3rd world countries. He would raise millions!

To get publicity for the non-profit, he would do a world tour “peeing” on the wonders of the world: Stonehenge, The Great Wall Of China, The Eiffel Tower, Machu Pichu, Taj Mahal (the place, not the guitarist), and the Pyramids. We call it “Lochte Pees: World Tour.” He could go on Oprah. It would be magical.

It’s A Joke

There is a lot more good that can come of this for Lochte than bad. It doesn’t look good now, but the sooner he turns it around and spins the narrative in his favor the better. I am willing to offer my services for $200,000.

Lochte, if you are reading, I’m here.

Hit me up on Twitter (@JustOneJoey1) or Snapchat (@JustOneJoey).

The “New You” is just a phone call away.

I can make it happen.

Your future awaits you!

What’s it going to be?

Joey

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The LochNess Monster?

I can’t believe it.

The media hyped up a story?

They exaggerated what Ryan Lochte and the “Swimmers From Hell” did to gas station in Rio?

Say it ain’t so Joe!

It’s so!

You know what we learned here?

About Lochte AND the media?

Absolutely nothing.

The news is still in the business of glamorizing and sensationalizing everything, and Ryan Lochte is still a tool.

Didn’t we learn that last Olympics? Or was it the one before that? Or was it when he did his TV show “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?” I can’t remember. I mean, I knew, but I can’t remember when I 

knew.

Come on people! You can’t tell me your opinion of him changed. Really?

This is the perfect scenario for Officer Barbrady, “Move along people, nothing to see here!”

There is absolutely nothing to see here.

Did he embarrass America? No. He embarrassed himself. It is not like people are burning the 

American flag because Ryan Lochte pee’d on the floor of bathroom and pulled down a poster. He is a 32 year old idiot (and I know, I’ve been one), and that’s it. It isn’t even a reflection on the swim team let alone the United States as a whole.

Save the drama for your mama.

This is just another example of the media making a story seem worse than it is. This is exactly why I don’t watch the news. Every storm is the 100 year storm. Every murder rocks a city to it’s core. It’s all a bunch of crap and you all should know that. Emotion gets ratings, so they will manipulate your emotions the best they can. Why do you think Trump has been on so much? Because he stirs emotion. That’s all the media puts out. Instead of focusing on positive emotions, they focus on negative emotions: anger, fear, etc. It’s a bunch of malarkey (shout out to Brian Koppelman on that one).

When the truth comes out, it doesn’t really matter, because our emotions have locked in our perspective on the matter. It’s hard not to hate someone once they have “done you wrong.” And that bastard Ryan Lochte tarnished the good name of the American people all over the world (sense the sarcasm?).

No one gives a f***!!!!

Now the truth is out, but we are still mad. Thanks media. Minus 4 sponsors later and however much money involved, I am sure Lochte is “relieved” (pun intended) the truth came out.

It turns out that Lochte didn’t pee all over the store and vandalize it the way the store owner said. He pee’d on the bathroom floor. He was drunk. That may or may not have been on purpose. Should you get a gun pulled on you for peeing on the floor? I pee in the shower, that’s not much different. Granted, it’s my shower, but, you know. I’m just making a point here.

Did he get pulled over? No.

Did he get a gun put to his head? No.

Did he exaggerate what really happened? Oh yeah.

Did he ditch his teammates? Oh yeah.

Is he any different than we thought? Nope.

Keep in mind, the only reason this story even got out was because his mom was talking to a reporter (the genius apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree). That’s it.

He is a dummy and made it worse, but didn’t we always know he was a dummy?

Honestly? This isn’t rocket surgery here people.

The Brave Sponsors

And bravo to the companies dropping his sponsorships. That is so brave of you to drop a person no one will give a shit about for the next 4 years anyways. You are true American heroes.

If you can’t see through that PR BS you need to get your eyeballs checked.

It’s like Notre Dame letting go the shitty senior on the team but keeping the promising sophomores. 

What integrity!!

Give it a rest.

Lochte is a dummy.

But so are we if we didn’t know that beforehand.

Give him a break.

He already lost a ton of money and had to dye his hair back.

He’s had enough.

Joey

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Hillary Is 100% & 100% Wrong

I am voting for Hillary Clinton.

There is not a doubt in my mind that she would be a better president than Donald Trump.

Not that that’s saying much.

Hillary has had an amazing political career. She has been at the top of the political world for nearly 30 years, which is an incredible feat in-and-of-itself. Does that mean she would be good in real estate? Hell no, so why are we thinking it would work in the reverse?

Anyways.

I wasn’t planning on voting for Hillary 6 months ago, but I was not left with much of a choice.

Would you like fries with your burger? Or dog poop?

I will take the fries, thank you very much GOP.

So, How Is She Right, And How Is She Wrong?

I am going to focus on the disparity of wealth in this country.

She is 100% right that there is an issue with the disparity of wealth.

I live in the SF Bay Area, and it is expensive here. So expensive that some people cannot afford to live here.

This is all true.

What is Hillary’s solution?

Raise the minimum wage so people can live here.

Why?

What not move to a city you can afford to live in?

Move

We are a country comprised of immigrants. When did we stop migrating? The only reason any of us are here (unless you are a Native American) is because someone down our family tree wanted a better life and moved.

Where they lived was not providing the opportunities they wanted, so they went and found a place that did.

The history of America in a nutshell.

My family did it about 100 years ago. Sustaining a living was becoming increasingly difficult in the area of Genoa, Italy called Liguria, so they moved. I don’t mean they packed up and moved to a cheaper part of Italy. They packed up their lives, took a boat to New York and then a train to California. Ever since then, my family has been on a steady upward trajectory. More education, better jobs, more money, and more comfortable lives.

What if they had stayed?

Would we have a better life or a worse?

I am guessing it would be worse. Why? Because it was hard 100 years ago, then there was a war, then there was another one. Not a great recipe creating a better life.

Forcing your family to live in a situation that is a daily struggle is not fair to you or your family.

Paying $15 an hour is not going to allow you to live comfortably in SF anyways. It is more of a publicity stunt. It sounds nice, a couple extra bucks is better than nothing, but the city is still expensive as hell. It won’t even make a dent in the housing issue.

What is wrong with moving? Modesto? Fresno? Nevada? Nebraska? A place where you can work whatever job you are qualified to do and still live reasonably.

What are you doing to your family by forcing them to struggle in a city they can’t afford to live it? 

Why would you live in one of the most expensive cities in the world? What trajectory are you putting your family on? Is it going down? Or going up? You are the deciding factor. Decide wisely.

Figure out how much you can pull in, then find a place that allows you to live there. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

We have done it since America was just a wee little lass. Why would we stop now?

Change Jobs

I know you work your butt off. No one is denying that.

But are you working smart as well?

Are there other jobs you could do that would pay you more? Are there skills you could learn that would allow you access to better opportunities? Not just in your hometown, but anywhere. 

Remember, we are willing to move now. We are going to tap in to our history and get moving.

Are you trying to “move up the ladder,” get raises, increase your value to the company?

I am not trying to take away anything that you are already doing, but if you took a step back, are you really doing everything you could/should?

Ask yourself that difficult question. Get some “mirror time” as LeVar Burton says. Be honest with yourself. It could be a defining moment in your life.

Are you really doing what you should to get what you are complaining about? Or are you just complaining because it is easier than doing the stuff you should be doing?

Let that marinate for a minute.

No One Is Entitled To Anything

When did we start feeling we deserved everything just because we wanted it?

I want a James Hetfield (lead singer of Metallica), white, ESP, Snakebite guitar. I don’t have one. 

That’s not fair.

Should it be cheaper? Should ESP give me money so it is easier for me to buy the guitar?

Hell no.

When you put it in a different context, can you see how crazy that line of thinking is?

I don’t have $2 for a Big Mac, but I’m hungry. Should McDonald’s give it to me for $1.75?

Hell no.

What do you do? You go find a place where you can buy food for $1.75.

The job and housing market are the same thing.

You don’t deserve it live anywhere. Is SF cool? Yes. Is Manhattan cool? Yes. But so is Tempe, AZ. 

So is Colorado Springs, CO. So is Chattanooga, TN.

Stop wasting time wishing things were different. No one cares about you. Only you can make the changes in your life that get the things that you deserve. So get up and go deserve them. Put in the work. Stretch your comfort zone. Maximize your potential.

Can I get a hoo-ra?

HOO-RA!!

Alrighty then.

Get to it.

Joey

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Donald Trump Is Exactly What America Needs

I have to be honest.

It was hard even writing that title.

But I 100% agree with it. We need The Donald. He has been great for America and will continue to be so during this election.

I will even go so far as to say he is the greatest thing to happen to politics since FDR, maybe even Abraham Lincoln. In completely opposite ways of course, but just as impactful in the socio-political realm.

1. He has pushed politics to the forefront of conversation for months.

I was a political science major. I love politics. The combination of social dynamics and leadership involved in the political process fascinates me. The average citizen does not take politics seriously enough, but they have since Trump. And just to be clear, you can take something clearly and still be bat s*** crazy. I am just appreciating the fact that people are so fired up, so engaged in the political process.

Have you gone a day in the last 6 months without talking about politics, or at least hearing others’ conversations about politics? Has that ever happened in your lifetime? That’s a rhetorical question, I know the answer is no.

American citizens that have not given two s***s about politics are discussing it daily. They have the same views as you, they don’t have the same views as you, who cares? The fact that people are listening, contemplating, and discussing politics on this scale is amazing. That would never happen without Trump. Granted, Bernie is the left wing equivalent to Trump (but with actual strategies, none of which are bigoted in any way), which creates a similar discussion on the other side, or opposite side to be more accurate.

Polarizing figures are great for everything. Business, sports, television, everything. It forces you to have an opinion, it pushes you to react (hopefully only verbally).

Can you imagine baseball in the late 90’s without the Yankees?

The NFL without the Patriots?

Coffee without Starbucks?

They all force you to have an opinion. Trump forces to have an opinion. He is too extreme, and now too popular not too.

It’s fantastic!

We are discussing politics at a level I have never seen!

It’s beautiful.

2. Trump has been a litmus test for this country.

Have you ever had more clarity on the socio-political climate of America than you have right now? 

That’s because of Donald.

He says crazy s***, like he is building a wall, or he is going to kick out Muslims, block Muslims, whatever, and you say that’s crazy! Then you see rallies, blogs, news stories, and trends on social media supporting it. There are people supporting his craziest ideas? There are a lot of people supporting his ideas? Really?

Wow.

That’s my point. You wouldn’t have that “wow” without Trump. His ideas, his popularity, his huge or Yuuuge number of supporters has given you more clarity as to where we are as a country than ever before.

You may not like what you see, but at least you see it.

You need to thank Mr. Trump. If it weren’t for him, we would be in the dark about where this country stands on issues of race and religion. I mean, we had an idea, but this blows all of the sugar coating off of it. We can’t pretend it’s anything other than what it is, fugly.

I bet you had no idea so many people wanted a wall between Mexico and the US.

I would double down that you had no idea how many people wanted to kick Muslims out of the US based on nothing but their religious affiliation. You thought it sounded a lot like WWII propaganda from a certain, small-mustached, individual. Surprise!! It’s not!!! It’s a huge part of the USA, and in 2016!!! Thanks Trump!!

America

Admit it. He is pretty awesome.

He has given us more in the last 6–12 months than any non-President has in the history or the US.

That’s saying something.

It may not be what we wanted to hear, or what we wanted to see, but we are much better off now than we were a year ago.

Clarity is yyyouge.

Politics are yyyouge.

And we can think 2016 GOP candidate Donald Trump for them.

Thanks buddy.

I know that even you are surprised (whether you admit it or not).

Joey

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30 Days Of Genius Blog: Arianna Huffington

When you take over a medium that has been around as long as newspapers in only 10 short years, you have to recognize the leadership and vision of that venture as absolutely brilliant. Even if you don’t know her name, you know The Huffington Post. Arianna Huffington delivers insights in to what allows her to stay on top of her game. As she says it, “Sleeping your way to the top.” I guarantee it’s not what you think.

I have taken her interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one there are on.

Please enjoy.

How Do I Maximize My Potential?

Simple.

Sleep.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

“Burning the midnight oil.” “Burning the candle at both ends.” “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

Do those sound familiar? They should.

They are very common, and very bad for you if you are striving to be your best.

Did you know that being sleep deprived can put you in a state similar to drunkenness?

It absolutely can (and without all the fun).

When you do not get enough sleep you: put yourself in a state of partial attention, are more irritable, unhappier, more reactive, more likely to get sick (because your immune system is weakened), more emotional, fatter (seriously, the hormone that tells your brain you are satiated turns off!), and in the long term, can potentially increase your risk for heart disease and even cancer.

Not sounding so crazy any more is it?

If you are only getting 4–5 hours of sleep a night, transitioning to 7 and 8 will change everything. You become: more effective, more present in meetings, productive, creative, and healthier. You will have more stamina, and because all of your hormones are balanced, you will be happier, more joyful.

So many high functioning people believe it is all about exercise and nutrition. Sleep may be the most important of all.

Historically, there have been many misconceptions about sleep and the brain. Up until recently, people assumed that sleep was down time for your brain, as if it were a car parked in the garage. It turns out that the brain is extremely busy during sleep. It processes everything it was working on during the day, it processes things you will be working on tomorrow, and most importantly, your lymphatic system is activated during sleep, which is when and how accumulated toxins are cleaned out.

How Do I Get A Good Night’s Sleep?

Your first step is prep your sleep the way you would prep your children’s sleep. No one throws their kid in to bed after watching TV. There is a routine: bath (hopefully), brush teeth (hopefully as well), story time, and then sleep.

We need to do the same thing for us.

The key is to start slowly, don’t just jump in to it. We are trying to create lifelong healthy habits. Taking on more than we can handle at once increases the likelihood that we will “fall off the wagon” down the road.

Your goal should be to prep your sleep 30 minutes a night, and actually sleep 7–8.

You don’t need to do that all at once. Build up to it. Start with 5 minutes of prep, maybe 10. Build up 

from 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night to 5 or 6. Build slowly but assuredly.

Some tips to help you sleep: turn off your devices, get them out of the room, have designated sleep clothes, read real books (no devices, remember?), make sure they are calming subjects, don’t rile your brain up right before bed. Keep your room temperature under 70 degrees, cut out as much light as possible, and wear a sleep mask or ear plugs if necessary.

You need to find the nighttime routine and sleeping habits that work best for you.

Sleep is essential to success, not only as a business man or woman, not only as a creative, but as a human being.

Please take it seriously.

Quotes

“You can’t entertain the guests and clean the house at the same time. “

“Being sleep deprived is the equivalent of being drunk.”

“You are not your work.” — this allows for more freedom to be creative, stretch yourself, go bigger.

Arianna Huffington Links

Huffington Post

Website

Book

Chase Jarvis Links

Website

Creative Live

iTunes Podcast Page

Joey Links

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I Hate Google

I hate Google.

I really do.

Google and I are not friends. No simpatico.

Google sucks.

A Google is forever.

“You shouldn’t live in the past.” That’s what everyone says. Not Google. They are all about the past. In fact, they like reliving the past too. That’s what happens when old news is new news. If you are just getting the information, it’s new news to you.

I try not to live in the past. I really do.

If I did, I don’t know how I would get out of bed in the morning.

I totally fucked up. I made a mistake. I would love to forget it, but thanks to Google, that won’t happen. That’s 90% of why I wrote my book: Prison Diary(a) – A San Quentin Comedy, Kinda. I HAD to. Google forced my hand. It would be much easier to leave my past in the past and move on. New day, new me, you know? But no. I had to write a book because no matter what I do (nearly 5 years later), if you search me, you see all the news coverage from my arrest, like it happened yesterday. Without a book I would just be waiting around for people to “find out.” I decided that the obstacle would be the way. If I attack it head on, I know that everyone I work with or deal with knows that there is an old Joey and a new Joey. There is a mistake and there is a person. Not a bad person. A good person that did a stupid thing. There are lessons learned, a life healed and a purpose driven individual that pushes himself every single day. There is no hiding here. I am all out in the open and ready for any and everything.

But I still hate Google.

I like to think of myself as the epitome of what the judicial system would want: highly educated, single arrest, smart, hard-working, learned from my mistakes, gritty, and a grinder. I am a rehabilitated, productive member of society. Yippee!

But then there is Google.

Just recently I was volunteering to help out the marketing for a non-profit in the SF Bay. I am VERY good at strategies and implementation of on-line marketing. VERY GOOD. The interviewer said he “googled” me and that was all he needed to say. He wished me luck. It looked like I was doing well, but he could not use me.

Fuck you Google.

I can’t volunteer? I am trying to work with a group designed to give people second chances yet I am not able to get a second chance? Seriously? I know I am completely biased here, but is that fair?

Don’t get me wrong, nothing is going to stop me. I will keep pushing and grinding along. I will find the right people with the right mindset. The ones that like me AND aren’t worried about what other people say. People that want a job done well by an intelligent, creative, hard-working, 30-something-year-old.

That’s me!

I have a past, but so do you. Luckily yours is not on Google. If those stories came down, I would still have the arrest record, still have the past, but the old news wouldn’t be the new news 5 years later, eventually 6 and 7 years later. If nothing changes, I will still be dealing with this shit 10 years later.

I hate you Google.

I think about my mistake enough, I don’t need your help.

With a record I already can’t get a license to practice anything. Not to be a therapist (I would be so good at that too). No lawyering (I’ve had enough BS courtrooms for a lifetime). Not even a real estate license. Seriously? Because I have a record I can’t sell a house? That doesn’t even make sense.

And I can’t go to Canada.

That one actually stings. I love Canada. I would love to take my family up there. But it’s not going to

happen, eh.

Damnit.

So on top of all the things I can’t do, there is a fat ass “Google” bow on top of it all.

In Europe they allow you to petition to have old stories removed. Stories that may make it hard for someone who has done their time, rehabilitated themselves, and ARE productive members of society to move on with their life. That sounds awesome. Do they do that here? Of course not. Why? Who knows, but they should.  

I would love to have my mug shot taken off of Google. The “Hey, I’m a fat, piece of shit, idiot” photo removed. That would be nice. The local stories (from 2012) gone when you search my name. Hell, my book is already all over the place, it’s not like I am trying to hide anything. I would just love it if the positives were given a chance to take center stage. Obviously the news channels work the Google algorithms so their stuff is on top. There is all kinds of good stuff when you search my name: books, blogs, pictures, stories, etc. But you have to get passed the old stories first.

You need to get over the past to move on to the future.

That means you Google.

Written by Joey Reghitto, author of: Prison Diary(a) – A San Quentin Comedy, Kinda

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