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The Outlier’s Handbook

By Terence Gillespie May 7, 2015

The world discards ideas and people that present multiple standard deviations away from “normal”. And yet, Reality has always been phenomenal and noumenal. To ensure you’re able to thrive in the artificial chaos of this generation you’ll need to be an outlier, in many ways. Here’s “The Outlier’s Handbook” to optimize your trajectory.

The Outlier’s Handbook

(Thriving in Artificial Chaos)

Part 1 — What Outliers?

“Let Your Reasonableness Be Known to Everyone”

Ockham’s Razor: Benefits & Limits
The Bookends of Normalcy Bias & Cognitive Dissonance
“This Book Goes Too Far!”

What Outliers?

Outliers Defined
You Know You’re An Outlier If . . .
Outlier Benefits
Outlier Costs
Personal Secession and Other Outlier Mindsets

Part 2 — It’s Your World, Boss!

This Is Where You Live

American Roulette

The Constitution is Safe!
A Bank with Social Services Around It
Democracy: The God that Failed
The Corporation
The Deep State
Fascism, American Style

Lifecycle of Nations

“Poverty of Nations” Report Card
Imperial Collapse Playbook

Danger, Will Robinson!

Technocracy: The Trojan Horse of Global Transformation

Regional Bloc Head Mercantilism

Gee, Maybe Nation-States Weren’t So Bad, After All
Solutions Amidst Global Fascism
Change Happens Like This, Now

Part 3 — The Usual Suspects

Call Them As You See Them

Origin & Story of Rulers and Authorities

Angelic Gen 6 View: Consistency & Insights
So, Who are “They”?
The “New” Face of Evil (Follow the Blood)
Long Term Trends Require Spiritual Unity
The Minions
A Working Structure of Oppression

They Walk Among Us

Serial Killers
How Can You Spot One?
Political Ponerology
7 signs you might be dating one
Protection From Them
Speech Patterns
I, Psychopath
The Hidden Cost of Killing Psychopaths
Beware the Backlash

Elements of Their World View

Their Goals

”Ye Shall Be As Gods”

Their Methods

The Moral Code of Evil
Inversion
Undisclosed Adhesion Contracts
Counterfeit Money
Controlled Markets
Technocracy
Stacked & Interlocking Pyramidical Structures
Consolidation
Democracy
Eugenics
Perpetual Fear
Long-Term Planning
With Methods Like This, Who Needs the Occult?

Part 4 — Acquiring Immunity

Move #1: Acquire Personal Immunity

Personal Matters

Purpose is Everything
Managing Outlierhood
Growth
Ethical Time Travel

Health Matters

First Do No Harm
Clean Food, Water, Air & Place
Nutrient Dense Diet
Gut Flora, Probiotics and the Second Brain
Optimal Exercise
Stress & Breathing
Life Extension & Blood Sugar Management
Sensible Health Insurance
Putting It All Together

Spiritual Matters

Intelligent or Random Design
Oneism (Monism) vs. Dualism
CINO’s & MINO’s
Christianity Leads To Science, Islam leads to Murder
Gandhi or Jesus?
Get Blessed
Get Uncursed
Supernatural Immunity: The Mind & Way Of Christ
The Whole Council of God
Spiritual Warfare
Practical Examples of Spiritually Based Solutions

Locational Matters

The Best Place to Live
Where Not to Live
Should you relocate?
The World is Yours
The Illusion of Ownership
Mobility
G.O.O.D Project – Lessons Learned

Family Matters

Instrument of Recursive Perfection
Spouse Choice
Children
Extended Family
Friends Worth the Title are Family
Community

Legal Matters

Natural Law
The Constitution is Safe!
Jurisdiction Matters
Where is the Agreement?
It’s Hard to Be a Free Man
Unraveling Your Liberty

Financial Matters

Money is for Immunity & Purpose
Business as Extension of Purpose
Tax Penalties for Fear and Poor Planning
Mortgage Slavery, Repealed
Austrian Economics is Real Economics
Investments in Immunity & Purpose Have the Highest ROI
Asset Protection

Political Matters

Terms of “State” & “Government”
The Diversion Of Left – Right Thinking
The Votes that Matter
Optimal Government = Perfect Self-Government
The Chief Asset Of The State: Fear & Belief In It’s Necessity
All Matters of Liberty Are Related
Caveat Viator: Libertarianism and Anarchy are Aspects of a Complete Worldview
Govern Thyself Perfectly and Hold Death Dear

Perspective Matters

The Most Valuable Commodity on the Planet
Philosophers On Donuts
Terms of “Freedom” & “Liberty”
Equality & Authority
Freedom & Structure
Peace Does Not Flow From Passivity
Proof and Truth
You Can’t Beat Everything with Nothing
“Let’s Just Split the Difference and Find a Middle Ground”
Stoicism
The Opportunity in Uncertainty
If Swamp Rats Can’t be Exterminated Why Can You?
What About America?

Doing Matters

Tony Robbin’s Best Trick
Think Spiritually, Act Locally
Getting Things Done
Low Hanging Fruit
Tragic Flaws of Conventional Prepping
Expert Tips
How To Lose Without Fighting (An Outlier’s Not To-Do List)

Part 5 — Ants & The Human Mosaic

Change The World in Four Moves

Humans as an Ant Army
Move #1: Immunity
Move #2: Specialize
Move #3: Move
Move #4: Cooperate
Humanize the Best Attributes of Animals & Insects

Part 6 — Problems: Solutions

Move #2: Specialize & Pick One

Personal Concerns

Training Disguised as Education
Shortening Attention Spans
Media Agitprop

Health Concerns

Eugenics
Vaccines Vs. Immunity
Socialized Medicine
Food Fascism & GMOs
Fluoridated water
Nuclear Waste & Meltdown Disasters
Geo-Engineering
Disease(s) Cured

Spiritual Concerns

Psychopathy
Moral Relativism
Odious Debt (Slavery)
Wars of Conquest
False-Flag Attacks
End Times Decoder Rings
501c3 Churches

Locational Concerns

Agenda 21
Scientific Control Grid
Power Grid Fragility

Family Concerns

The State as Great Father
Broken Families

Legal Concerns

Patent Squelching
Webs of Undisclosed Adhesion Contracts
Drug Wars
Licensing
Militarization of Police
Surveillance State
Monopoly
Bonus: Beating Traffic Tickets

Financial Concerns

Fractional Reserve Banking (The Theft of Human Labor)
Disappearing Middle-Class A.K.A Unemployment
Currency Wars
US Bankruptcy
World Banking Systems
Institutional(ized) Theft
Market Manipulation
Global Cooling, Warming …Climate Change?
Technocracy

Political Concerns

Collectivism
Globalism

Part 7 — Appendices

In Case of Emergency: Read First!
Four Ways to Parse Solutions
Reading List for Outliers
Outlier Creeds
Sovereignty & Law
Agorist Manifesto in 95 Theses
Agorist Road-map Kyle Bennet
100 Ways To Leave Leviathan
Wayne & Barry’s Guide for World Rulers

Defense

There’s Something Wrong with Every Body

By Terence Gillespie October 9, 2014

Find out what’s wrong with yours and deal with it.

That’s what my friend Seroj said when I told him I had hemochromatosis. He’s right. We all have at least one thing wrong with our bodies. And finding out what it is can be a life boosting insight.

Seroj has a form of diabetes and is now glad for it. Dealing with it conferred benefits beyond the condition. He’s healthier now because of (How he dealt with) his diabetes!

No Body is Perfect?

When preparing for Mr. Olympia, Arnold said that no matter how perfect a body appears none have perfect symmetry. All parts have to brought into balance with the whole. His sloped shoulders and small calves made his point.

Lack of symmetry is a visual cue to lack of internal perfection. No body is perfectly symmetrical on the outside so why would the inside be any different?

It’s a miracle our bodies are as perfect as they are. We take for granted billions of complex relationships and functions that keep us alive. Our bodies are changing every second with all cells replacing themselves every seven years. Look at a picture of yourself seven years, ago. It’s not you, anymore!

Not IF, but WHAT?

Don’t waste time wondering if something’s wrong with your body. Just find out what it is. It’s liberating and the benefits to dealing with it may be enormous. The remedy, itself, will most likely benefit the rest of your body and life. If you have the conditions I do then dealing with them may even safe your life!

What’s Wrong With Me?

There’s two things wrong with my body: An inherited predisposition to high blood pressure and a blood problem called hemochromatosis. Both are silent, painless and deadly. But, not for me. Dealing with each has been a boost to overall health and quality of life. The remedies, nutrients, change of habits and diet needed to neutralize these ailments conferred benefits beyond the correction of the initial conditions.

For more on how I’ve eliminated the deadly threat of hypertension see my article on how to eliminating Hypertension without using drugs. The treatment for hemachromatosis is bloodletting like they used to do with leeches to rid the bodies of evil spirits. For more on that journey see, “How To Save Your Own Life“.

The Earlier, The Better

The earlier you find out what’s wrong with your body, the better. The condition(s) won’t go away through ignorance. You may not get the luxury of symptoms for a problem that can probably be balanced or avoided.

I found out about my high blood pressure while donating blood and hemachromotosis when it was diagnosed in my brother. Both of my body’s deficiencies are silent killers if left untreated.

My doctor friends joke that everyone should be their own doctor. Maybe that’s reaching too far. But, we should understand our bodies as well as we understand our cars.

Come to think of it . . . there’s usually something wrong with my car, too!

Diet

How To Stop Drinking Wine

By Terence Gillespie September 26, 2014

The best way to quit drinking wine is to replace it with something else. For wine you’ll need direct and indirect replacements.

The indirect replacements are for the routines, sights, sounds, textures, tastes, feelings, circumstances and occasions that surround your wine drinking.

The better your choice of replacement(s) for the drink and all these other things that surround your drinking the easier the quitting will be.

I wrote similar words about quitting coffee, last week. And I’m testing their limits by simultaneously giving up wine and coffee. Wine is the tougher of the two because I like wine more. It’s also become more ingrained in my lifestyle and eating habits than coffee ever did.

I thought about calling this article, “How to Give Up Alcohol”, but, I don’t have experience with drinking other forms of alcohol, besides wine. I can’t tell you how to stop drinking alcohol unless its the alcohol in wine your trying to give up. Like every article I write this is about my direct experience. In this case my direct experience is in giving up wine.

It’s possible that some of my experience may be useful for wine alcoholics, but, that would be presumptuous. If you have a more extreme form of addiction than I’m writing about here the additional benefits of an isolated environment, group support and a counselor is probably warranted. It’s never been easier to find an Alcohol Treatment Program near you.

Should you stop drinking Wine?

The biggest stumbling block for quitting anything is knowing if and why you need to quit. In the case of wine you have to be very clear and honest with yourself on your reasons for giving it up. Wine, itself, is not a harmful drink. But, you can make it into one by drinking too much of it.

How much is too much? I’ll give you my answer, but, you’ll have to come up with yours. In terms of health one glass of wine a day is good. Between one and two glasses the benefits drop off, rapidly, according to bodyweight. There is no literature anywhere recommending more than two glasses, regardless of bodyweight. So, if health is your value there’s your answer.

If you exceed the amount good for your health its bad for your body. At that point you can no longer claim health benefits as your excuse for drinking more.

I am giving up wine for the following reasons:

It’s interfered with the length and quality of my sleep.
Lack of sleep has compromised the clarity of my thoughts and the quality of my writing.
I’ve been exceeding the small quantity that’s good for my health.

These are not acceptable tradeoffs for my enjoyment and they’re certainly not Optimal. I won’t be having wine until its just another drink option and I can take it or leave it. Here’s how I think about it: “Wine that detracts from my health and productivity has got to go.”

Being this clear on my why and if is probably the only thing that enables me to actually stop drinking it. Seems to me the more wine detracts from your life the more motivation you have to stop drinking it. I highly recommend being honest here and getting extremely clear on your motivations.

Replacements

Quitting is a transition to something else. With wine its a transition to alternative beverages, routines and choices . With that in mind here’s a few important points to keep in mind about picking and using replacements:

The best replacements usually have a lot in common with what you’re trying to quit. Things we have to quit often involve routines, sights, sounds, textures, tastes and feelings surrounding the thing we’re trying to quit. You need replacements for them, as well. For wine, there is the taste, the wine buzz, the smell, the cool liquid flowing down your throat, the occasions where its served and the mood and social interactions that occur around it. Since we live up in wine country in northern California there are many events that occur on vineyard grounds, as well.

You may need a series of replacements to step into the routines that are optimal for you. That means that your optimal final replacement may not be the best choice to use first. Your body may have to detoxify or have other reactions and compensations it has to cycle through before you can ultimately quit. In extreme cases that may mean moving from something toxic to something less toxic and eventually to something non-toxic.

It may be effective to allow yourself as much of the replacement as you want (Assuming your replacement is not toxic). It may serve as a psychological reward for following through on the quitting.

My Replacements for Wine

My first replacement for wine is sparkling water.

Sparking water is fun, cold, quenches my thirst and is poured out of what looks like a wine bottle. Like wine, I have to make a separate trip to the fridge to find a cold bottle. After opening it I pour it onto a wine glass. When we’re eating out at a restaurant and I have wine I usually pour sparkling water into the empty wine glass. So, there’s a psychological sense that I’m finishing up a good meal and a few glasses of wine at a restaurant when I pour the sparkling water without having had any wine, at all.

My second replacement is a RockStar energy drink. This is similar to the sparking water but comes in a can. Like wine it gives me an energy boost and usually gets my writing started if I’m procrastinating on an article. Many people don’t know that wine gives an energy boost, as well, and that’s part of what’s missing when you stop drinking it.

My third replacement, used in the afternoon, is a nap. I was using coffee and wine as a crutch to power through the afternoon without a nap or a break. I decided not to fight afternoon naps any longer and just take one. The benefits of afternoon naps have been enormous! If fact, I feel it gives almost a full extra day of productivity every day! Wow, talk about a replacement.

My fourth replacement is my ace in the hole: Exercise! Physical exercise is the best way to get high. And when it comes to drinking wine the physical high from exercise completely wipes out desire for anything but water or electrolytes.

I have a RockStar after waking up from my afternoon nap. So far, its been a great way to start my ’second day’. It’s one of those sugar free health drinks that has healthy ingredients. I’m skeptical about the pink, blue and yellow stuff they use in sugar free drinks and prefer stevia. But, for now, I’m enjoying the Rock-Star until I find something better. Leading candidates are pelligrino with a little fruit juice added for taste or some of the exotic teas my wife gets on her trips to China.

Exotic teas will probably become my number one beverage replacement for wine in the future. I don’t think they are the best first beverage, but, they are probably the my optimal replacement. There are an infinite variety of them, they are excellent for a wide variety of health aspects, its fun to make them and experiment with preparation and taste. They are also like wine in the sense that it feels like I’m drinking the earth. Call me nuts, but, I think drinking wine and tea feels like drinking the earth. They make me feel like I’m absorbing all the best minerals and herbs from the leaves and trees and fruit that they were made from.

How Long Does It Take?

It took about three weeks before it didn’t occur to me to have wine with dinner, any longer. That’s longer than I thought it would take and shows how much I associated food with wine.

As much as I was addicted to coffee it was easier to stop drinking coffee than wine. That was another surprise because I craved coffee but never wine. I think wine was actually providing more energy and calories than the coffee was. I was actually using wine like an energy bar. Who knew?!

One of the surprising things for me was how much I slept. Without the energy from the wine I was more tired, even during the day. I could not have a cup of coffee to bridge this gap because I was giving up coffee at the same time. This is all ok with me because one of my goals was to sleep more. I just didn’t expect to be more tired in the afternoons. This may be the temporary adjustment of my body making up for lost sleep. I sleep much better at night, now, and that has enourmous health benefits.

How Will You Know When You’ve Quit?

You’ll know you’ve quit when you can take it or leave it. Wine will take its place among the multitude of drink options available to you depending on the occasion and what you’re in the mood for at the moment.

You’ll be able to have a meal and not automatically think of having wine with it.

You’ll be able to engage in social interactions in a relaxed and enjoyable manner without the wine buzz that used to loosen up your inhibitions.

A few days ago, we were over at a friends house and I was starting to fade. We were late in getting together and didn’t want to leave, yet. The conversation was interesting and another couple had just walked in the door that we wanted to socialize with. This is the point at which I would normally pour a glass of wine. Instead I had one cup of coffee. Luckily, I had already gotten to the point of not needing coffee to start my day and it was just another drink option to me. It was just the thing needed to keep the conversation going for a little while until it was time to go. One cup of coffee and that was it. No coffee needed the next morning and no problems sleeping that night. And best of all, no wine either, which probably would have kept me up all night.

Unlike coffee, wine has never been a drink I couldn’t do without for things like starting my day or thinking clearly or what have you. It’s always been an optional drink added to the existing circumstances. My desire for it was mental more than physical because I never really craved more of it unless I was already drinking it. And that’s just part of my obsessive nature. Most of the time my obsessive nature helps me finish things. I’ve learned to redirect that urge into finishing a bottle of pelligrino instead of a bottle of wine.

Being straight is the ultimate high. Spend time with any 5 year old if you need to prove this to yourself. You’ve always known it. Children don’t need anything but a glass of water and a baloney sandwich to be ecstatic about life. And the only way to experience the full bandwidth of life is to be straight.

The irony is that If I have a glass of wine in a few months one glass will probably provide more enjoyment than three glasses used to. One glass is all I’ll want. And, its all I ever did need. If a second glass is poured I’ll be thinking about sleepless nights and less productivity the next day. Hopefully, I’ll be thinking about that while reaching for the pelligrino.

Banking

Catherine’s Financial Detox

By Terence Gillespie September 20, 2014

This is a re-post of a summary of Catherine Austin-Fitt’s financial detox plan as given to Max Keiser five years, ago. The 15 pieces of wisdom extracted from the video are timeless. If you had started working on them in 2009 it would have had a dramatic impact on your life. Five years from now the same will be true about starting to work on them, today.

Catherine Austin Fitts is a breath of fresh air.

With a keen understanding of the links between politics, corruption, and money she is unmasking economic con-games, one by one, for the benefit of us all. Give her 15-minutes and she’ll explain the most complex schemes and enable you to see right through all sides of the rhetoric we’ve been hearing all our lives.

Not only that, but, she offers powerful solutions and action plans that can be implemented within minutes of watching one of her videos.

Listen to her describe her “Bailout Plan” in the video, below, which I found on The Edge with Max Keiser.

1. – Save Time

Cut out TV and corporate media. They’re a brainwashing waste of time. You’ve got better things to do and think about. Get radical about cutting this out and save 5-10 hrs a week of “bad training”.
Get corrupt people and enterprises out of your life. They get access to your data and money. Consider carefully the banks, brokerage houses or institutions you do business with.
Control personal data. There is no privacy. Think through who you do business with and who has access to your data.
Compliance – be impeccable with compliance. In a situation with highly complex rules and no privacy it’s easy to get caught up in a dragnet.
Simplify. The less things you’re responsible for the better.

2. – Get Smart

Implementing 1. gives you time for 2. and 3.

See things as they truly are.
The greatest wealth creating entity of all time is the family. Think strategically about your family and friends.
If you’re not in a conspiracy you need to start one. Conspiracy means to breathe together. Start a conspiracy with your family to benefit each other and keep corrupt institutions out of all your lives.
Network with other people who know what’s going on. Nobody is as smart as all of us.
If you have time, understand history. What’s happening today is logical if you understand the history of things like narcotics trafficking, mortgage fraud, etc.

3. – Reposition Your Assets

The goal of the games of economic warfare are control and equity.
Build your equity. Invest in your health and your knowledge. Think strategically about managing these key assets.
We’re leaving a large bubble and now people want hard assets. Shift out of phony financial instruments into securities and hard assets with solid economics.
Stick with long term trends. Follow the tapeworm. Don’t be confused by economic nonsense into investing into anything that is not long term and high quality like food, water, gold, Precious metals.
Demonetize. We put money into financial assets, get yield, then buy things. This is a losing proposition.

Catherine Austin Fitts is always worth your time. Check out her blog which she calls, The Solari Report.

Children

Knots for Life – Part 2: Wide Before Deep Practice List

By Terence Gillespie September 15, 2014

As said in Three Knots and the Truth it’s incredible what can be done with three knots: The Bowline, Buntline and double sheet bend. If you’re content to learn only these three then get two pieces of rope and start practicing. For those who want to learn more it’s helpful to take a step back and look at the big picture.

There are knots for everything. However, almost every one of the thousands of knots invented do one of five things. They:

Stop – Stop rope from passing through a hole or to stop strands from unlaying.
Bind – Bind objects to other objects.
Loop – Put a loop in the middle or the end of a rope.
Bend – Joins the ends of two ropes together.
Hitch – Attach a rope to an object.

To optimize your time I propose learning the best single knot for each of these five functions before learning many knots that do the same thing. In other words . . .

Go Wide Before Deep

You’re better off doing more with fewer knots than learning many ways to do the same thing. For reasons of memory, time and spatial confusion I’ve ordered the following practice list to cover the widest range of function with the fewest number of knots.

When you’ve got a minute practice these knots, in order. If you can tie one easily then go to the next knot. If you’re stuck on one it’s best to master it before moving on. Knots that you can tie easily are much more valuable that knots you can’t remember.

These 24 knots represent a lifetime competence list. Your ability to improvise rope solutions will be quite incredible with just the first seven knots. Don’t feel you must get to the end of this list to be competent.

A Note on Choices

The following knots are from my real life experience from the vantage point of a generalist. They are not activity specific. My choices favor knots that are most useful, strong, secure (Won’t slip), stable (Won’t capsize), easy to tie and untie though few have every one of those characteristics. No knot is perfect.

Type	Name	Notes	Learn
Stop	Figure 8	Building Block – Fundamental	1
Hitch	Buntline Hitch	Building Block, Trumps Clove Hitch	2
Loop	Bowline	Mankind’s favorite loop- Versatile	3
Bend	Sheet Bend (Dbl.)	Joins same sized or Thick-to-Thin	4
Bind	Constrictor Knot	Or a Boa if it needs to look good	5
Loop	Alpine Butterfly	Loop or chair tied mid-rope, strong	6
Hitch	Rolling Hitch	hammock, hoisting,lengthwise load	7
Bend	Fisherman’s Bend, Dbl.	Stronger than sheet bend – proven	8
Loop	Bowline on a Bight	Emergency Man Chair – Rescue	9
Hitch	Prussik Knot	Sliding loop for climbing, rescue	10
Bend	Water Knot	Flat-to-Flat, joins dog leashes	11
Hitch	Anchor Bend	Takes strain in all directions	12
Loop	Figure 8	Millions of Climbers served	13
Hitch	Round Turn w/2 HH	Easy, less secure anchor bend	14
Bind	Timber Hitch	Use to drag trees, pipes, bundles	15
Hitch	Truckers Hitch	great and simple leveraged pulley	16
Hitch	Half-Blood Knot	filament to hook, fishing	17
Bind	Bundle-S	4 heavy load, add bowline to hoist	18
Bend	Zeppelin	Symmetrical, won’t jamb, climbing	19
Bind	Diamond Hitch	Pack Mule Hitch/Car roofs	20
Hitch	Munter Hitch (Dbl.)	Abseil with carabiner	21
Hitch	Adjustable Grip Hitch	general lengthwise load hitch	22
Bend	Sheetbend 3-way	Joins 3 ropes securely	23
Bend	Carrick Bend	Joins Thick Ropes – Cruise ship	24

Practice Materials

All you need is two pieces of rope. Get 12 feet of small rope at the hardware store and cut it in half. Pick up a carabiner while you’re there.

Web

You can watch each knot being tied on the web.

Book

My favorite knot book is DK’s Handbook of Knots: Expanded Edition, by Des Pawson. It’s compact, comprehensive, the pictures are clear, and the plastic covering and glossy pages don’t run when they get wet.

Wallet Cards

I used to carry these waterproof knot cards when boating. Now, I practice from memory, learn new knots from the DK book or the iphone apps, below.

Phone Apps

John Sherry’s animated version of the wallet cards is slick, but, doesn’t have enough knots. I purchased the full version of the winkpass knot guide because it’s the most comprehensive. If you prefer video over slides then the full version of knot time is good though with less knots than the winkpass. I purchased both (For a total of $5) just to have the same knots tied from two points of view. Both apps advertise they intend to keep adding knots.

References

International Guild of Knot Tyers

IGKT Discussion on Best of Breed Knots

Knots on the Web

Knots for Life – Part 1: Three Knots and the Truth

Children

Knots for Life – Part 1: Three Knots and the Truth

By Terence Gillespie September 12, 2014

Knots are like guitar chords: You can rock n’ roll with three knots and the truth.

A minimalist could muddle through life with one knot: The bowline can be used as a loop, hitch or bend. It can be tied with one hand and its variations perform a wide range of duties. Double it for critical work.

To rock n’ roll learn two more knots: The buntline Hitch¹ and the double sheet bend².

It’s incredible what can be done with these Big Three knots. Practice them into your hands and rock n’ roll through most of life’s rope problems.

Do you prefer Jazz? It won’t take many more knots to improvise like a pro. This “Knots for Life” series will optimize your path with a practice list, improvisation techniques, rules of thumb and real life examples.

Whether you stay with The Big Three or branch out some truths about knots and ropes will set an optimal tone for the webs you weave. There are good reasons, even for a minimalist, to learn a few more.

Less is Three Times More

Knots are elegant tools that multiply the uses of rope. The right combination can transform an ordinary rope into the optimal tool for an endless variety of tasks. As much as I love tying them there are good reasons for minimizing the number used because . . .

Knots Weaken Rope

Knots weaken the rope they’re made from. Where strength is critical minimize knots even to the point of using non-rope materials.

Circus, Circus in Las Vegas uses metal, grommets and cables for their permanent circus installation. Ropes and lines are reserved for nets and swings that come into contact with the performers hands and skin. Braids, splices and loops are stronger than knots. Consider using them instead of a knot. There may not be time to braid or splice, but, why knot when you can loop?

When a knot is the right tool choose ones that are strong, secure (Won’t slip), stable (Won’t capsize), easy to tie and untie.

Knots are Hard to Remember

You’re better off with one knot you can tie than 10 you can’t remember. Keep a knot card in your wallet and two lines of paracord in your pocket. Practice The Big Three into your hands. Muscle memory ties when spatial memory fails. Speaking of which . . .

Knots Must Often Be Tied Upside Down and Backwards

The one knot you can remember may have to be tied hanging upside down, with one hand, in the dark or with:

Only one rope end available
No ends available (In the middle of the rope)
One or both ends under tension

Confidence gained in the living room with knot cards can be quickly dashed. The Big Three won’t handle all these situations. It’s best to anticipate, add a few knots to your list and practice them from different vantage points and without looking.

Ropes Vary Greatly

Rope problems often present with two ropes that are:

Thick-to-thin
Slippery-to-dry
Flat-to-round
Flat-to-flat
Bungy-to-vine
Vine-to-vine
Vine-to-object
paracord-to-paracord
paracord-to-shoelace
paracord-to-rope
dental floss-to-bungy
shoelace-to-rope
And on and on with every rope material on earth.

Ironically, a weak rope knot may be a strong vine knot, and vice versa. Once again, The Big Three can’t be expected to handle every type of rope.

Less is still three times more, but, there are practical reasons to learn a few more knots than The Big Three.

“. . .extreme simplicity can only be had at the expense of effectiveness.”
– Brion Toss – The Rigger’s Apprentice, 1984

¹I like the clove hitch for quick undemanding tasks like securing the ends of a lash or keeping rope off the ground while barbecuing. But, I wouldn’t use a clove hitch to tie my dog’s leash around a pole. Why? Because I love my dog. Why use a clove hitch when you could tie a buntline for the same time and effort? Besides, the buntline has two clove hitches facing the loop, is only a slightly weaker replacement for an anchor bend and if made with with a full loop is hands down stronger than a loop with 2 half-hitches. The first paragraph of this article presents three knots with the widest range of utility for some who may not be interested in going any further than these three. With these criteria in mind? No clove hitch, no way.

²Why a sheet bend instead of a double fisherman’s bend? Frankly, I prefer the double fisherman, but, there are so many situations where two different sized ropes must be joined that a person who doesn’t have The sheet bend in their hands will come up short. Notice I specify the double sheet bend. If you’ll only have one bend under your hands then the 7-10% extra strength is prudent.

Stay tuned for “Knots for Life – Part 2”:

Knots for Life – Part 2: Wide Before Deep Practice List

Health

Dvorak – Your Optimal Keyboard?

By Terence Gillespie September 5, 2014

The QWERTY keyboard most people use was designed for the typewriter in the 1870’s. It’s named after the key sequence on the upper left of the keyboard.

There were no ‘typists’ before the typewriter, so, QWERTY was designed for the typewriter. Many key combinations caused the machine to jam so were placed on the new keyboard to slow them down. This was a good thing because untangling the levers was time consuming. Ironically, you could get more typing done by typing slower! Typists were also taught to strike the key hard and release quickly; another jam avoiding technique.

Today, there are no mechanical limits on typing yet most are using a keyboard designed to slow them down. The widespread use of computer keyboards provides the means to escape from this mechanical prison to whoever wants to be free. In fact, most of the typing world is a few clicks and a decision away from keyboard freedom.

And what does keyboard freedom look like?

It looks like typing as fast as you can think. It looks like being comfortable writing as long as you want. It looks like being able to type for the rest of your life with no arm or hand pain.

The Dvorak Keyboard

You probably have a QWERTY keyboard in front of you. Here’s what the Dvorak keyboard looks like:

Dvorak studied hand shape, letter frequencies and combinations and arranged the keyboard to minimize hand movement and maximize the speed of typing the most common letters and combinations.

For instance, the most frequently used letters in the English language are “ETAON RISHD LFCMU GYPWB VKXJQ Z” (In that order). The first 12 of these letters are used 80% of the time. Notice how 10 of those 12 letters are on the ‘home’ row of the keyboard. You can type thousands of complete words without even moving your hands off the ‘home’ row of the Dvorak keyboard!

Notice how all vowels are on the left side of the ‘home’ row (except for ‘y’) with consonants on the right. Since English words are mostly a pattern of Consonant | Vowel | Consonant | Vowel most words are formed with the letters typed by alternating hands like beating a drum. The most common letter pairs in English are “TH HE AN RE ER IN ON AT ND ST ES EN OF TE ED OR TI HI AS TO”. Looking at the Dvorak layout notice that those letters are either right next to each other or easily typed with alternating hands.

The hardest row to reach is the bottom row. That’s where Dvorak placed the least commonly used English letters. Dvorak also factored in right-handedness and ‘inboard stroke flow‘ (Think of the way we roll-tap fingers on a table top from the little finger to the index finger).

Other Dvorak Layouts

Using the same Dvorak principles there are also Left and Right one-handed keyboards, a layout for C programmers and a keyboard for most latin script based languages.

Reviewing the Options

For English and languages based on Latin script you have the following keyboard options:

QWERTY -English or your language version.
COLEMAN – ‘Improved’ QWERTY meant to ease retraining of QWERTY typists.
Dvorak (English or your language version).
Map your Own Keyboard Layout. – An interesting alternative now possible using Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator, KbdEdit or Keyman Developer.

(Non-Latin script languages like Chinese, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Russian, etc. may have to Map their own keyboards if their default hasn’t been optimized).

My Take

QWERTY is not an option for me because it hurts my hands. The faster and longer I type the more it hurts. Coleman is a compromise meant to save on retraining QWERTY typists rather than optimize hand movement for language– No thanks. The idea of mapping my own keyboard layout is fascinating, but, I couldn’t improve on Dvorak and Dealey’s design; They were exhaustive and thorough in their quest to Optimize the keyboard for English.

Speed is One Thing

A fast typer can type as fast as they can think in words. Faster than that is useful for dictation and contests, I suppose. There are four non-speed benefits to optimizing keyboard layout:

Comfort
Long term injury avoidance
Increased daily stamina (And no soreness)
Increased lifetime stamina

Based on soreness near the end of my QWERTY days I’d be in trouble, today, if I hadn’t made the switch.

The Big Picture

Keyboard use is so widespread that almost every job requires it. The more keyboard use the more productivity gains to optimizing it for the user.

Writers, programmers, travel agents, secretaries, bloggers and publishers may get the biggest payoff. However, that list is growing as is the keyboards role in every day life.

Making the Switch

The Dvorak Keyboard is a button push away on on most computers. You change the setting in your preferences and “Voila” the keys are remapped. You don’t need to buy anything.

I switched to Dvorak five years ago because my hands hurt. As a piano player I was a very fast QWERTY typist and my hands ached and cramped at the end of long writing days. If I didn’t do something I would have been in trouble just when I needed to type more than ever.

Actually, Dvorak was not my first choice. Dragonfly was.

Dragonfly

Why type when you can talk?

They say it’s best to write like you talk. People complicate their written words and keep their spoken words simple. I also think more clearly when speaking than writing because of the person I’m talking with. Why not bypass writing, altogether, and go right to the spoken word to capture thoughts and let the computer do the work?

Dragonfly is great, but, it slowed the transition to Dvorak since there was less need to type. That’s not a complaint. I felt more comfortable making the switch to Dvorak because my dependency on the keyboard was less. I recommend that transition technique if you don’t mind learning both Dragonfly and Dvorak at the same time.

I stopped using Dragonfly because my aging Windows computer couldn’t run it and the Adobe Suite at the same time. Now that Microsoft has been banished from my life and a beautiful and powerful UNIX machine awaits Dragonfly will soon follow.

How Long Does It Take?

The websites and books on Dvorak say it only takes a few months. It took me six months. During the transition I was using Dragonfly to dictate most writing right onto the screen. Since I wasn’t typing as much there was less practice time on the ‘new’ Dvorak layout. Otherwise, it probably would have taken the normal two or three months.

Labels on the Keys?

I tried putting labels on the keys, but, found it confusing. When logging into the computer the default keyboard is QWERTY. It doesn’t switch to Dvorak until it boots up and reads your preferences. Therefore, you have to type your password using QWERTY. Having the Dvorak labels on the keys made password entry confusing. I took the labels off and printed out a reference diagram for Dvorak forcing myself to find the keys by looking at the diagram. You have to type without looking at the keys to gain any speed. Why not skip the crutch of looking at the keys right off the bat?

What about Phone Keyboards?

Many people wonder if I get confused when using the keyboards on phones since they are all QWERTY. No, not at all. In fact, I prefer that phones have QWERTY because I can visually find the QWERTY keys faster than Dvorak!

Dvorak is in my muscle memory and QWERTY is in my visual memory. That reads much more confusing than it feels. When typing I never look at the keys; I just feel where the letters are. Since the letters are in the Dvorak layout those are where I ‘feel’ the letters. Without the Dvorak labels my keyboard is still, visibly, QWERTY. When tying in my password in the morning to login I look at the keyboard.

What About Using Other Computers?

99% of the time you use your own computer. If you need to use another computer (And the owner lets you!) just temporarily change the keyboard setting. When you’re done switch it back.

I still hunt and peck in QWERTY faster than many can type. However, I have to take my hands off the keyboard and look at the keys. I was a touch QWERTY typist so memory of the keys is still there. What I’ve lost is the muscle memory of QWERTY. My muscle memory is now Dvorak.

It ‘feels’ similar to being bilingual. The idea of knowing two words for everything is only hard to imagine for someone who has not yet learned a second language.

Nobody Wants to Use My Computer!

People start typing on my computer and can’t figure out what’s ‘wrong’ with it. My wife won’t even do quick web searches, technical support frowns, friends shake their heads . . . everybody hates it.

And I love it!

Anything that keeps people off my computer is a good thing. It adds another layer of security for snoops in places where they don’t belong.

Going From Hard to Easy

You may think switching to Dvorak is going from something easy to something hard. That’s backwards: Going from QWERTY to Dvorak is going from something hard to something easy. Sure, the transition will take some effort and probably shouldn’t be done in the middle of a project. However, thereafter your life will be easier, not harder. That goes double if you’re a writer or depend on the keyboard for your work.

Good Reasons to Delay the Switch

After using Dvorak for five years I recommend considering it for Your Optimal Keyboard in English. It’s hard to imagine QWERTY being Optimal in this age of computers unless:

Your job requires using many different keyboards not under your control.
You must use a dumb terminal that’s not switchable.
You share your primary computer with someone not open to switching.
You’re in the middle of a pressing project and are waiting for things settle down before making the switch (Referring to a project here, not life).

Otherwise, save your hands and increase your productivity: Either switch to Dvorak or Roll Your Own . . . .

Rolling Your Own

The optimal keyboard layout is specific to the language. Dvorak was originally developed for English after exhaustive studies of language use. To reach the Dvorak level of Optimal in your language would require the same exhaustive studies. This work has already been done in Latin script languages. But, if you’re not satisfied then there’s never been an easier time to roll your own.

Computer now have the option of using any keyboard mapping you’d like. Marcus Brooks has some great tips if you’re interested in developing your own keyboard layout.

Admin

Using Contacts to Manage Objects & Vendors

By Terence Gillespie September 5, 2014

Contacts can be used for much more than storing phone numbers and addresses. I make a new contact for every object, thing or vendor that needs to be tracked or managed. Camera’s, phones, kitchen appliances, software, computers, A/C Units, subscriptions, vendors, utilities . . .you name it. Simply keeping a little information on each item in the notes section of a contact makes a huge difference when action involving the object is required.

Naturally, there’s a folder in the filing cabinet for most things and vendors. But, 99% of the time all I need to pay a bill, upgrade software, fix the A/C, renew a subscription, cancel a service, etc. is contained in the contact notes. And, since contacts are synced everywhere I can access them from anywhere enabling me to take action from wherever I happen to be.

When it comes time to sell, ask for help or turnover over the management of an item the contact has all the relevant details. A quick read brings anyone up to date.

Why the Notes Section?

I tried using other fields, but, it made it too complicated to share between people and applications. Now, the only standard contact fields I use are Name, Address, Phone #s, Email, Web address, Company and Title. Everything else is input in the free form notes section of the contact.

Most Objects Have Vendors

Surprisingly, almost every object or thing is associated with a vendor. Therefore, I found that all the fields needed to track vendors can be used to track almost any object, as well.

My Template or Roll Your Own

Through experience I’ve discovered there’s about 35 things I may need to know about an object to perform most tasks that involves it. In practice, only 10-15 of these are needed for any given item although I keep the rest in to help my eye locate fields, quickly.

When a new contact is created I cut/paste the 35 fields (See below) into the notes section and fill out the ones applicable to the item. Feel free to use my template, roll your own or even keep it free form. The idea is to keep everything you need to know about an item to perform work about it, at your fingertips.

Powerful Benefits

Synced Everywhere – Contacts (And Calendars) in most software are the most likely to be synced across the web, multiple computers and your phone. Data stored in one of these structures is usually available everywhere you are. You probably won’t need to purchase new software.
Enables Action – Most actions revolve around objects, things and vendors. Having the details at your fingertips for everything in your life eliminates the prime reason for not taking action: Having to find supporting materials.
Enables Delegation – I used to avoid asking for help to avoid having to list the 20 things people need to know to perform the action I needed help with. Having a contact with all the relevant data about every object in your life makes delegation a breeze. The contact is updated with every transaction. When you need help just forward it and ask for help. Ask the person to update the contact, as needed, and forward it back to you when they’re done.
Capture Process & Procedures – Voice mail access/shortcuts, directions to the mailbox, directions to a store, web menu navigation, who you last talked with and what happened, what are the usual procedures that happen around this object or vendor? Why be forced to rediscover this info every time you deal with the vendor? Why be forced to write down directions or access instructions every time you need help? Also, If you delegate a task involving the item then the person who help you has a place to capture process and procedures.
Enables Turnover – When it’s time to turn over the management of an object, thing or vendor you’ll be very glad to have all the relevant information and history in a simple contact you can attach to an e-mail.

Pointers to Physical Locations

Most items have a physical location or a folder in the filing cabinet associated with them. These locations don’t change often and rarely need to be accessed. However, if their location changes update the field in your contact. It will greatly assist in delegating and turning over the management of the item. It will also keep you from procrastinating should the folder be required to perform the next action.

Search Tags

I recommend putting search tags in each contact for two reasons:

They help find an object or vendor when you can’t remember its name. Just search by keyword to find the item.
They enable grouping items by keywords since most software will search and group by any text in the notes field of a contact.

For instance, every contact related to flying has the word ‘pilot’ in the notes of the contact. When focusing on that aspect of my life I can search for all contacts containing that keyword. Clever use of keywords enables some incredible uses. If you were to put keywords in each contact relating to Project, Role, Area of Focus, Entity, Responsibility etc., then you could spontaneously group all contacts:

Tied to a credit card that’s about to expire.
Whose address has to be changed if a business address is changed.
Related to my search for land in Wyoming.
Related to my role as a father.
Related to my rental house on Main street.

No need to go overboard; keep it simple. But, you can get a lot of bang out of the two seconds it takes to put a keyword in a contact.

Tracking Them Tracking You

More often than not you need to be more organized than the vendors you employ. When one of your search tags, above, shows a vendor who tracks you by a certain address you need to have that address in the contact you keep on them. You don’t need to put your full address, credit card, etc., just an abbreviation for it.

Also, the Journal History may help navigate the internal processes of a vendor, if needed. For instance, if you’re trying to obtain service it’s better to say, “I spoke to Bill Myers on 4/3/09 and he told me to call back, today, and ask for Nancy if the rebate was not received” than to say, “I forget when I called or who I spoke to, but, still haven’t received anything in the mail”.

Keep it Secure and Updated

Techniques that optimize action tend to consolidate data. Protecting access to your contacts is urgent if you use this method of tracking objects & vendors.

Make sure to keep the contact updated, regularly. Type in a few words in the Journal History section each time an action is performed.

Track Objects & Vendors, not Projects

I once tried to use contacts to manage projects. It didn’t work because it overloads the notes section of the contact. It’s best to use contacts to manage the objects that projects revolve around. Consider using a separate contact to track the following items:

Software, vendors, bank accounts, web ids, voice mail instructions, magazine subscriptions, websites, guns, air conditioner, appliances, phones, cell phone, light bulbs, batteries taken by alarms, web subscriptions, Organization affiliations, Camcorder, camera, certifications, car, cable, internet provider, Costco card, voice mail instructions, utilities, car insurance, rental house contacts/crucial info, copier/printer, etc..

My Template

Whenever a new object, thing or vendor enters your life create a new contact and Cut & Paste this little template into the notes section of the contact. Put the Name, address, phone and e-mail of the contact in the normal fields for the contact. Then, quickly scan the template fields and fill in whatever you think will be needed to track the item.

As payments, transactions, name changes occur take a few seconds to update the contact notes. Just a few words in the Journal History can be a lifesaver when coming back up to speed on an item.

As mentioned, the template, below, is what I use, personally. Feel free to create your own or use no template, at all. Whatever keeps the right data at your fingertips and equips you for action is the best solution.

——Paste template, below this line, into notes section of the contact——-

Search Tags: [Put text here to enable you to find this contact]

Shared Drive Location(s): [Path on computer to directory or files about this object]
Physical File Location(s): [Name of reference folder in filing cabinet, Any applicable physical storage area]

Type: [Object, vendor, website, service, utility, etc.]
Services: [brief description of what this object does]

Info this contact has on Us: [How does vendor track you, what have you told them?]
Account #: [What is this vendors acct# for you]
Userid: [login or otherwise]
Password:
Entity:[Is this account with you or with an entity?]
Name: [What name do they have, if any?]
Address:
phone:
e-mail: [E-mail used by vendor to contact you]
spoken password:
credit card on file:

Method of Payment: Text
Entity who Pays:
Bank Account:
Automated?:
Frequency:
Amt. Due:
Date Due:

Info Unique to this Contact:
Serial #:
SKU #:
Model #:
Where Purchased?:
Order #:

Vendor Provides Multiple Services?
Vendor Has More Than one Primary Product:
Who do we talk to at this company?

Procedure(s):
To Pay Vendor:
To Change Address:
To Add Services:
To Cancel Account:
To Use Product/Service:

Journal History: [Brief description of your last interaction/transaction]”

——Paste template, above this line, into notes section of the contact——

Example Contact

Note how many of the fields, below, are not even filled out for this piece of software. That’s because those fields aren’t needed to manage the item. The idea is to keep it as simple as possible. I rarely fill out every field. However, using the full template for each item enables my eye to locate fields, quickly.

Search Tags: Omnifocus, GTD, Task Manager, MAC

Shared Drive Location(s): \Applications\Omnifocus, \date\path\here
Physical File Location(s): None, downloaded from web

Type: vendor
Services: software task manager for MAC based on GTD system

Info this contact has on Us:
Account #: OS6465738
Userid: none created yet
Password:
Entity: LLC
Name: My Name
Address: My Address for credit card purchase
phone: My Phone for credit card purchase
e-mail: My e-mail
spoken password: none
credit card on file: LLC Credit Card # Here

Method of Payment: LLC Credit Card
Entity who Pays: LLC
Bank Account: LLC account
Automated?: N/A
Frequency: N/A
Amt. Due: $79 one time purchase
Date Due: N/A

Info Unique to this Contact:
Vendor Provides Multiple Services? Multiple Omni software packages
Vendor Has More Than one Primary Product: omni graffle, sketcher, outliner
Who do we talk to at this company? web purchase only

Licence key = xaoe-4536-axeu-2563-oex5

Procedure(s):N/A
To Pay Vendor:
To Change Address:
To Add Services: www.webaddress_here.com
To Cancel Account:
To Use Product/Service:

Journal History:
Downloaded 14 day trial on 5/1/2010
purchased on 5/14/10, order id=OS6465738, received license key above

input license key into product and activated successfully

Simple and Powerful

Having the relevant data on hand for every object, thing and vendor in my life has been amazingly empowering. I’ve been able to accomplish things while traveling, avoid the hassles of finding support materials before taking action, take simple actions in time to avoid penalties and even turnover intractable admin tasks, as a result.

Mastery

Practice Makes Permanent

By Terence Gillespie September 5, 2014

Practice makes permanent, not perfect. How and what you practice determines what is made permanent.

The saying should be, “Perfect practice makes perfect” though I prefer the word “Optimal”. Perfection is a neurotic goal whereas Optimal is possible within the limits of strengths, weaknesses, values, goals and purpose.

Fine, so how does one practice optimally? One of life’s ironies is that we’re least able to practice optimally when first starting to learn. And, what’s practiced first has a dramatic impact; good or bad.

The Perfect Swing

A golf swing is among the most complex and elegant feats the human body can perform. Having rarely picked up a club I read “Search for the Perfect Swing” before learning to play golf. The book taught me what a perfect golf swing looked like from many vantage points. The more I read the more I wanted to play. So, after reading the book I took a few lessons and, with the help of a pro, bridging the gap between mind and body was a joy!

Playing golf is now fun, not torture. A lot of this has to do with getting off to an Optimal start:

I was interested, but, detached from the urgency of having to “Get started right away”.
The book “spoke my language” covering the subject from many angles and vantage points.
The lessons were efficient because concepts and language were understood. The instructor was freed up to show how to physically swing the club rather than explain language, lingo or why he was leading me in certain directions.
I had no qualms about looking bad, seeking help or taking instruction from a pro.
Distinctions between what felt natural and what were optimal techniques were made from the start. The danger here is that what feels natural is mistaken for optimal instead of just easy. As I learned from playing the guitar what comes natural or “easy” is only one component of what is truly optimal technique.

While better golfers struggle to remove bad habits from their swing, without messing up the whole, I have the luxury of building on an optimal foundation. The few times I get to play are truly enjoyable.

Preparation vs. “Just Do It”

People say, “Don’t think about it, just do it!” as if offering brilliant insight. In fact, advising action without thought is terrible advice, especially, if you don’t know what you’re doing.

A three second delay before “Just speaking” saves a world of hurt. The same goes for thought before action. A little thought before “Just doing it” saves time and may save the effort of undoing, redoing or repairing what wasn’t done right the first time.

Let’s say you’re moving to a new house and loading all your possessions into a truck. While others are mapping out the space you just grab things and start loading them. No need to get “bogged down in the details”, you say, “Just cut to the chase and start loading!” You’re brilliant . . . .until you run out of space or start breaking things. Now you have to unload the truck, map out the space, reload the truck and repair/replace the broken items. Gee, I guess “Anything worth doing is worth doing twice”!

Imagine the same mistake in learning how to play golf. How hard (Or impossible) will it be to unlearn and remove bad habits from muscle and bone because you didn’t waste time learning the fundamentals and just jumped right in and got started!

Diligence vs. Insanity

If practice makes perfect then diligence leads only to perfection. But, diligence, alone, could just as well lead to insanity. If what you’re practicing is flawed, or mechanically wrong, diligence could halt, reverse or permanently degrade performance and make expertise impossible.

Diligence is an admirable quality after you’re clear on the fundamentals of what you’re being diligent about.

Optimal Feels Unnatural, at First

When learning a new skill there’s a tendency to mistake what feels natural with what’s optimal. What feels natural, at first, is usually just what’s easy. And what comes easy is rarely optimal in terms of long term technique. Learning to play the guitar is a good example.

When you pick up a guitar and hold it “Naturally” neither the left or right hands fall into the optimal positions. In fact, when shown how to place the hands, correctly, the first thing people say or think is “This hurts!” It not only feels unnatural, it hurts. Nobody would put their hands in the correct guitar positions “Naturally”. And yet, as painful as the optimal playing position is, at first, it’s the only way to avoid long term damage to your hands and master the instrument. Get it wrong at the beginning and you’ll pay, pay, pay every time you play.

Going by what we “Feel” is usually an excuse to do what’s easy. And what comes easy is only optimal after gaining expertise. What’s easy, at first, may be a disaster in the long term.

Self-Taught is No Badge of Honor

What’s so great about being Self-Taught? Tiger Woods is a natural born golfer and he isn’t self-taught. So, what’s the brag about?

Being self-taught is ok for things around the house or supporting skills incidental to your work. For important skills, however, it’s no badge of honor unless:

You don’t care enough about the activity to put effort or time into it.
You don’t want to spend money on training.
It’s not a long term interest for you.
It’s not important enough to make a fuss about.

There’s nothing wrong with any of this if the skill is trivial. For important skills, however, throw the badge of self-taught in the trash. All it takes, nowadays, is watching a DVD, reading a book or watching videos on the web to get started on the right foot.

The Benefits May be Indirect

Slowing down to prepare or practice the right habits into muscle and bone could pay huge dividends. Ironically, the dividends may go into different skill than the one you’re learning. That’s because doing one thing well has a lot in common with doing anything well. The optimal characteristics, behaviors, look, feel and approach to optimizing one thing parlays into everything you do.

In a previous article about expert marksmanship I ask:

“What profession or task would not benefit from the discipline and precision required to become a Rifleman?

What about adjusting your sights is not transferable to adjusting a miter saw?
What about establishing your NPOA is not transferable to target marketing?
What about zeroing a rifle is not transferable to Optimizing workflow?
What about the shooting by the numbers is not transferable to visualizing your goals?”

then suggest . . .

“For those who haven’t yet settled on a profession precision rifle training exercises a myriad of mental and physical ‘muscles’ that can be applied to future pursuits, yet unknown.”

A Modern Jumpstart

Having so much information at our fingertips is a big help when it comes to learning new skills. Before engaging in serious practice why not:

Do a web search to find experts who communicate well about their expertise.
Watch Youtube videos of experts.
Order and watch Training DVDs.
Checkout Lynda.com for a huge library of software training.
Find books written by experts who speak simply and teach well.

We often hear adults remark that “Kids today know so much more than I did at their age”. That’s probably true. But, they have to. There’s two billion more people on the planet than when I was a kid. When learning skills to contribute and compete it’s more important than ever to practice foundational skills correctly, from the start.

Personal Examples – Good and Bad

Here’s some personal examples of skills and activities I practiced well from the beginning and some that I didn’t.

Good

Golf – The book Search For The Perfect Swing: The Proven Scientific Approach To Fundamentaly Improving Your Game came along at the perfect time and seemed to have been written just for me. It saved me from frustrations that would have made me give up the game. Instead, I enjoy getting a little better each time I play. That’s all I care about with golf because it’s the people, outdoors and elegance of the game that I enjoy.
Flying – I found a natural born pilot passionate about the art and craft of flying. He was not shy about being hard on me, when needed. Also, unlike many flying students I stuck with the same instructor for most of the hours required to earn the general pilots license. That’s important because getting familiar with multiple teaching ‘styles’ is an obstacle to most flying students. Another part of optimizing flying practice from the start was the wealth of DVD training videos on every aspect of flying. Not spending money on them would have been very expensive.
Guitar – My parents found the best teachers right off the bat for me. I still marvel at the awkward habits ingrained into many guitar players who weren’t as lucky.
Piano – Already an accomplished guitar player, choosing a good piano teacher came naturally.
Handgun Shooting – Another example of the optimal grip feeling anything but natural, at first. Through books, DVDs, youtube videos and a friend who is a Federal law enforcement trainer the stance and grip that now feels natural was put into place with Optimal instruction.

Bad

Motorcycling – Early dirt bike riding was a good start because I crashed more often and learned from each one. However, street bike riding is a zero crash high risk scenario. I commuted by motorcycle for seven years, but, had no idea what I didn’t know until being clued in by a friend. Better late than never, I suppose. The book “Proficient Motorcycling” would have been perfect to read before any street bike riding.
Weight Lifting – Everybody thinks they know what they’re doing and almost nobody really does. My early weightlifting was fraught with bad form, working out too many days a week, too many repetitions and no idea how to recover other than eating lots of chicken and eggs and sleeping all day. Ridiculous and nothing but bumping into obstacles and moving backwards.
Rifle Shooting – My dad was great in getting us out into the woods to shoot and being safe about it. He also taught us good trigger technique. However, my brother and I were clueless when it came to holding the rifle, using a sling to stabilize, lining up the sights or learning about anything but our pellet guns and his .22LR. I’m not complaining because he probably taught us more than most dads. However, I wish there had been something like the Appleseed Project back then.

Elegance is Worth The Effort

As you progress into mastery the conscious mind no longer has to focus on fundamentals if they’re practiced well from the beginning. The mind is freed up to focus on overall performance. Sometimes it’s the elegant details and sometimes its the context of the performance. These could turn out to be the most beautiful or critical aspects of your performance. Both are worth the effort of optimizing from the start.

Defense

Appleseeds of Life & Precision

By Terence Gillespie April 5, 2010

Family oriented expert rifle training? Yes, happening at a range near you thanks to the Appleseed Project. You don’t have to go to Switzerland, anymore, to find whole families at the rifle range!

This is expert marksmanship being taught by enthusiastic riflemen who know what they’re doing. You won’t be awarded your Rifleman Patch until you’ve earned it. And what it takes and the word “Easy” don’t belong in the same sentence.

According to Fred, the man who started the Appleseed Project, “The purpose of the shoot is to promote history and marksmanship, to
provide marksmanship training opportunities, to train people to become
Riflemen and to teach them now to train other Riflemen”.

“April 19th, 1775, When marksmanship met history and the heritage began.”
“Liberty, Heritage, & Marksmanship“
“Are you a Rifleman or a cook? Attend an Appleseed event and discover your heritage.“

Rifleman Introductions

I recommend four articles written about Appleseed by two esteemed Riflemen. Read Bill Buppert’s article about his second Appleseed back in 2008 where he brought the whole family “On The Road With the Appleseed Project: Creating Liberty One Rifleman at a Time”. Bill contributes his expertise through Appleseed to “Wake up the sleeping giant in America”. He kindly recommended first shooting .22LR and setting up my Ruger 10/22 with Tech Sights for which my shoulder and bank account are thankful.

Massad Ayoob documents his Appleseed experience in three parts including Lessons from Appleseed and the Guns of Appleseed.

My Appleseed One

My first Appleseed was in Sacramento, two weeks ago. The full service range is in a breathtaking part of the country. The fresh air and scenery were a perfect backdrop for an inspiring day.

Apart from the welcoming smiles of the volunteer staff the first thing that struck me was that whole families were there for the training! There were also two father daughter teams and three father son teams.

One third of the attendees were women including three rifleman trainers. Perhaps the only thing more impressive about the lovely ladies on the next mat over is that they were outshooting the men! Grrr. . .

The Rifle

I brought a Ruger 10/22 with tech sights and a plain GI sling with six magazines though four would have been fine. See Mas Ayoob’s Guns of Appleseed or Appleseed’s Liberty Training Rifle for tips on setting up your rifle.

Training for Precision

The training starts with the big things first moving in a circle around your shooting position. Every physical and mental factor leading up to the bullet exiting the barrel is covered. The quality of the shot is viewed as a reflection of the quality of the setup, trigger squeeze and follow through.

Every detail counts in an endeavor of precision and the training involves two days of getting every aspect of the setup into your muscles and bones. For the purposes of this article, however, I’ll briefly describe two aspects of the training that I particularly enjoyed: Natural Point of Aim (NPOA) and firing the shot “By the Numbers”.

What follows are this budding Rifleman’s summary of two, of many, aspects of the training. They give a flavor of the training though words are no substitute for the real thing.

Natural Point of Aim

The idea of NPOA is to setup your body around the rifle so that both are in a state of relaxed tension pointing at the target. Once in your NPOA your breath will cause the front sight to rise and fall vertically through the target. Much of the morning is spent learning what it looks and feels like to get into your NPOA in the prone position.

Adding breath control and their six steps of shooting by the numbers lays an excellent foundation for squeezing off consistent shots. The next step is learning to get into your NPOA in standing position and one seated position (Since body types vary you’ll be shown five seating positions to choose from).

Like most endeavors of precision Appleseed’s descriptions and demonstrations are easily described and demonstrated by the experts. However, teaching your body and mind to reliably and consistently setup your NPOA for the three basic positions is not easy and feels anything but natural, at first. This is especially true for the self-taught (Myself included) who need to unlearn bad habits and replace them with correct technique.

The pace of the training is brisk, methodical and complete. There are no shortcuts taken in building a solid Rifleman foundation. Considering the wide variety of people at the training it’s impressive to see everyone focus together to handle the pace and quality of the instruction.

Firing the Shot “By The Numbers”

Here’s another summary that gives a flavor for the training, but, is no substitute for the full descriptions and experience of being guided through each “Number” in real time by experienced Riflemen:

Line up the front and rear sights.
Bring the lined-up sights onto the target.
Take a deep breath in, then out using the rise and fall of the front sight to establish NPOA.
A: Focus your eye on the front sight. B: Focus you mind on keeping the front sight on target.
Take up the slack and squeeze the trigger straight back (While concentrating on the front sight).
When the hammer falls: Keep your eyes open, take a mental photo of the shot (Referred to as ‘Calling the shot’) and hold the trigger back for follow through.

The instructors are enthusiastic and patient with a keen eye for recognizing and correcting your weak areas.

After the first two hours I started wondering where else I could get such quality training at the price? “Nowhere” is the correct answer. Even if you offered to pay a family member’s gas, lunch and ammunition it would cost you more than Appleseed’s two day training for $70! (Women and children are currently free which I’ll be using to pursuade my wife to join me).

Appleseed Before Practice

Practice makes permanent, not perfect. What you practice determines what is made permanent.

Apart from zeroing your rifle I recommend attending the first day of an Appleseed before engaging in intensive practice with your rifle. In fact, have someone else zero your rifle if you trust them to do it. That frees you up to soak in the training and practice the right habits into your bones on every subsequent shooting occasion.

I spent the first half of the day unlearning bad habits. Best to err on the side of coming to an Appleseed before making bad habits permanent.

Master A Tool of Tools

Mastering a precision tool bestows benefits beyond the area of the tool, itself. In the case of a Rifle the benefits are profound. What profession or task would not benefit from the discipline and precision required to become a Rifleman?

What about adjusting your sights is not transferable to adjusting a miter saw?
What about establishing your NPOA is not transferable to target marketing?
What about zero’ing a rifle is not transferable to Optimizing workflow?
What about the shooting by the numbers is not transferable to visualizing your goals?

The benefits ricochet (Sorry) to and from all endeavors of precision. Inversely, the discipline and precision of master carpentry, for example, can be parlayed back into many aspects of the Rifleman’s craft, as well. For those who haven’t yet settled on a profession precision rifle training exercises a myriad of mental and physical ‘muscles’ that can be applied to future pursuits, yet unknown.

It’s been said that the 1st and 2nd amendments are the only rights required to guarantee the other eight Bill of Rights and all non-enumerated natural human rights. Apropos to their power learning to speak, write, express, worship and defend is optimally approached with an eye towards precision. It is somehow not enough:

To understand the power of speech, yet speak imprecisely.
To be willing to die for the freedom of worship yet be unspecific in praising God’s glory.
To treasure Life and Family with no proficiency in the only historically proven means of their final defense against tyranny or uninitiated aggression.

It takes time, study, effort and keen interest to acquire mastery of these tools of tools. Yet, it’s worth every effort to acquire them even apart from the daily blessings they bestow.

The Day’s Results

According to Appleseed my maximum effective range is 400 Yards. That means I was able to get three consecutive shots to group within a man sized silhouette at 400 yards. In theory this is one step short of Rifleman, but, it’s not that simple.

The “Red Coat Test” (So named because the targets are red to symbolize the British uniforms in the Revolutionary War) is shot from only one position and is not as strict as the Army Qualification Test (AQT) test given the following day where you shoot in three different positions while being timed.

I spent most of the day soaking in the fundamentals and replacing bad habits. That’s probably par for the course for guys who didn’t have the good fortune of Appleseed-like training when starting to shoot. Also, since I didn’t re-zero the .22 after installing iron sights I failed to realize they needed serious adjustments beyond the settings possible on the sights. Therefore, I spent the day looking at groups still 4 inches off the target. For the last two hours an instructor (Thank you, Pat) lent me his 10/22 rifle with a scope. This was great timing because I was able to see the results of the days efforts on targets instead of groups.

I was able to attend only one day of this two day event. Perhaps I could have shot Rifleman the next day though it would have felt wrong to do so with a borrowed rifle. I’ll be back for a proper two-day Appleseed in the next few months. In the meantime, this one day of training has set the tone for practicing the right habits into bone and muscle.

Prep for Appleseed Two

If you’re planning to attend an Appleseed their “What to bring to an Appleseed Event Checklist” is great. Make sure to bring a hat for the sun or a raincoat for the rain. I also recommend binoculars (If you’re not using a scope) to see your patterns between courses of fire where you won’t be walking down to the target. My personal prep for Appleseed Two is to:

Bring a backup rifle – Just like the “What to Bring” sheet says – bring a backup rifle. There’s just no time to make major adjustments to your primary without missing key elements of the training.
Zero both rifles prior to arrival – They cover sight adjustments in the training, but, the elevation adjustments on my tech sights were maxed out and required disassembly to correct. Since I was only there for the Saturday session an instructor loaned me his backup rifle so I wouldn’t be sidelined. Also, to keep the line safe shooters are discouraged from working on their rifles outside of the preparation period. There’s really no time to focus on making major adjustments to your rifle. It’s best to come with a zero ‘d rifle with all the kinks worked out before hand.
Replace the factory with an auto bolt release – Smooth magazine changes are required for the AQT. Placing my finger just right does the trick, but, it’s a distracting hassle that annoys at the end of the day.

Goals

Earn the Rifleman’s patch with the .22 LR.
Requalify with a .308 to remap the training into a true 500 yard round.
Persuade my wife to take a drive in the country and and see what her husband is excited about.
Invite my friends to come along (I’ll drive, pay gas, share ammo and prepare your rifle, if requested!).
Spread the word – Fulfilled with this article, but, not likely to end here.

Planting Seeds of Life & Precision

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction” – Ronald Reagan

On April 19, 1775 better men than I were faced with a choice: Freedom or Slavery. They chose Freedom and paid dearly for it. The men and women of Appleseed have not forgotten and are planting seeds of life & precision in the hearts of new generations of Americans. At a time when dozens of HD screens in every home are turning brains into mush these guys are off the couch breathing the fresh air of the countryside and passing on timeless values and skills.

Politics aren’t required to embrace something fun for the whole family that instills values, skills and benefits far beyond the training, itself. The precision skills parlay into any future profession so why not take a cue from Bill Buppert and make Appleseed part of your homeschool curriculum?

Family oriented expert rifle training is happening at a range near you. Thanks to the Appleseed Project we don’t have to go to Switzerland, anymore, to find whole families at the rifle range! Who knows? With all these sparkling new rifles and Rifleman budding forth maybe it’s not too much to hope for the stabilizing peace and freedom that historically follows in their wake, was purchased by our ancestors and is currently enjoyed by our Swiss friends.

— Special thanks to Shoot Boss BaldDragn and assistent trainers James, eaglescouter, Jules, DoubleD, NorCal22Gal and Pat who trusted me with his rifle.

Diet

How to Quit Drinking Coffee

By Terence Gillespie September 10, 2008

The best way to quit drinking coffee is to replace it with something else. For coffee you’ll need direct and indirect replacements.

The indirect replacements are for the routines, sights, sounds, textures, tastes, feelings, circumstances and occasions that surround your coffee drinking.

The better your choice of replacement(s) for the drink and all these other things that surround your drinking the easier the quitting will be.

In the rest of this article I’ll tell you what replacement(s) I chose and describe my current experience with quitting.

Should you quit drinking coffee?

Not knowing if or why you want to stop drinking coffee is probably why you haven’t quit, already. Or maybe your why is not enough to motivate you.

In the case of coffee we’re bombarded with conflicting stories about whether its good or bad for us. Both sides of the health argument for coffee are about even and the question will probably never be resolved.

If coffee controls you instead of you controlling it then you should quit drinking it. You’ll know it’s controlling you when you can’t start the day without it. Or, if you get a headache when you don’t have enough.

Replacements

Quitting is a transition to something else. Here’s a few things to keep in mind about picking and using replacements:

The best replacements usually have a lot in common with what you’re trying to quit. Things we have to quit often involve routines, sights, sounds, textures, tastes and feelings surrounding the thing we’re trying to quit. You may need replacements for them, as well. For coffee, there is the taste, the caffeine buzz, the smell, the warm liquid flowing down your throat and the routine of grinding the beans and setting up the machine.

You may need a series of replacements before settling on the final. That means Your Optimal final replacement may not be the best first replacement to use. Your body may have to detoxify or have other reactions and compensations it has to cycle through before you can ultimately quit. In extreme cases that may mean moving from something toxic to something less toxic and eventually to something non-toxic. The final replacement should be something actually good for you.

But, we’re talking coffee, here, not heroin. One or two replacements will probably do it. I used four replacements for coffee: Two for the morning and two others for the afternoon, see below.

It may be best to allow yourself as much of your replacements as you want as long as your replacement is not toxic. It may serve as a psychological reward for following through on the quitting.

My Replacements for Coffee

My first replacement is tea, with caffeine.

For me, it is the perfect first replacement because it has so much in common with the way I drink coffee. Tea is hot, I add milk and stevia to it, it prevents my caffeine withdrawal headache and the physical routine surrounding its preparation is almost identical to making coffee. We have one of those “Instant Hot” water dispensors in the kitchen so I get the added benefit of having the tea ready, almost instantly.

My second replacement is tea, without caffeine. By this time I’ve ramped down on the amount of caffeine in the tea, so, probably won’t get a withdrawal headache any more. If I do then alternating with caffeinated tea is the quick remedy. After about seven days the whole craving for coffee in the morning is gone. That’s surprisingly quick for someone who couldn’t imagine starting a day without coffee only a week ago!

My third replacement, used in the afternoon, is a nap. I was using coffee as a crutch to power through the afternoon without a nap or a break. I decided not to fight afternoon naps any longer and just take one. The benefits of afternoon naps have been enormous! If fact, I feel it gives almost a full extra day of productivity every day! Wow, talk about a replacement.

Every once in a while I have a diet Rock Star after waking up from my afternoon knap. So far, its been a great way to start my ‘second day’. It’s one of those sugar free health drinks that has healthy ingredients. I’m skeptical about the pink, blue and yellow stuff they use in sugar free drinks and prefer stevia. But, for now, I’m enjoying the Rock-Star until I find something better. Leading candidates are pelligrino with a little fruit juice added for taste or some of the exotic teas my wife gets on her trips to China.

How Long Does It Take?

The whole thing took about a week, for me.

As much as I was addicted to coffee it just didn’t take that long to quit drinking it. I had a headache for the first 3 days if I didn’t have enough caffeinated tea. A little bit of tea and “Poof”, headache gone.

One of the surprising things for me was accepting the fact that I’m a slow riser. It takes me a while to leave dreamland and cut over to wakefulness. Because of this I find the routine of making the tea just as useful as the tea, itself. Therefore, when I wake up I go right into preparing the tea and, by the time its ready, I’m ready for the day.

How Will You Know When You’ve Quit?

You’ll know you’ve quit when you can take it or leave it.

Coffee will take its place among the multitude of drink options available to you depending on occasion and mood. You’ll be able to start your day with a clear mind and ready to go to work even though you’ve had no coffee.

A few days ago, we were over at a friends house and I was starting to fade. We were late in getting together and didn’t want to leave, yet. The conversation was interesting and another couple had just walked in the door that we wanted to socialize with. I made myself one cup of coffee. It was just the thing needed to keep the conversation going for a while until it was time to go. One cup of coffee and that was it. No coffee needed the next morning and no problems sleeping that night.

Coffee is now just another drink option. I neither crave it, avoid it or even think about it. If I want a cup I have one. I’ll even just have a decaf since I don’t need the buzz to think clearly, anymore.

Start acting and feeling like this and you’ll know you’ve quit.

mastery

The Outlier’s Handbook

(Thriving in Artificial Chaos)

Table of Contents

Part 1 — What Outliers?

“Let Your Reasonableness Be Known to Everyone”

What Outliers?

Part 2 — It’s Your World, Boss!

This Is Where You Live

American Roulette

Lifecycle of Nations

Danger, Will Robinson!

Technocracy: The Trojan Horse of Global Transformation

Regional Bloc Head Mercantilism

Part 3 — The Usual Suspects

Call Them As You See Them

Origin & Story of Rulers and Authorities

They Walk Among Us

Elements of Their World View

Their Goals

Their Methods

Part 4 — Acquiring Immunity

Move #1: Acquire Personal Immunity

Personal Matters

Health Matters

Spiritual Matters

Locational Matters

Family Matters

Legal Matters

Financial Matters

Political Matters

Perspective Matters

Doing Matters

Part 5 — Ants & The Human Mosaic

Change The World in Four Moves

Part 6 — Problems: Solutions

Move #2: Specialize & Pick One

Personal Concerns

Health Concerns

Spiritual Concerns

Locational Concerns

Family Concerns

Legal Concerns

Financial Concerns

Political Concerns

Part 7 — Appendices

No Body is Perfect?

Not IF, but WHAT?

What’s Wrong With Me?

The Earlier, The Better

Should you stop drinking Wine?

Replacements

My Replacements for Wine

How Long Does It Take?

How Will You Know When You’ve Quit?

1. – Save Time

2. – Get Smart

3. – Reposition Your Assets

Go Wide Before Deep

A Note on Choices

Practice Materials

Web

Book

Wallet Cards

Phone Apps

References

Less is Three Times More

Knots Weaken Rope

Knots are Hard to Remember

Knots Must Often Be Tied Upside Down and Backwards

Ropes Vary Greatly

The Dvorak Keyboard

Other Dvorak Layouts

Reviewing the Options

My Take

Speed is One Thing

The Big Picture

Making the Switch

Dragonfly

How Long Does It Take?