I’ve recently come up with an idea - a realization that there are levels of people in the world doing what I’m doing. I’ve put together a grossly inadequate framework to throw people into and assign them a level corresponding to what they know in the world of internet ventures. I need this because it helps me focus on my energy on what I can hope to accomplish with people of each level. It helps me put people into a group so I can better communicate with them by interacting with them on whatever level they’re at.

First, let me explain that I have friends that are of all different levels. Friendships are not dependent on, nor are they even related at all to these levels and the importance of having them. I don’t assign friends to levels because there’s no need. I interact with them as a friend, I don’t have any agenda with my friends.

This is in marked contrast to those I’m trying to accomplish something with on a business level. Really, I created these hypothetical levels only for that reason - I want to have a general idea in my mind about how best to go about interacting with people I work with or am thinking about working with for online ventures.

When I’m working with someone on any project I want to answer the questions:

1. Is the person able to contribute something to the equation? (The equation being success at whatever project we’re working on together.)
2. Am I able to communicate with the person? If I’m listening hard, am I understanding? Is the person able to explain in different ways so I “get it”? If I explain something 4 ways, does the person “get it”?
3. Is the person a long-term partner or short-term?
4. Is the person a details person or a “see the big picture” person? I need to know both of course, but since I’m already a big picture kind of person, I really appreciate meeting the “details people”.
5. Is the person actively engaged in learning about whatever project we’re considering? Are they revved up about it?
6. Is the person an ideas person (like me) or a, work on what you give me person? Again, I need both, but since I have more ideas than I know what to do with I like to meet others that have the solid drive to work on the same project day after day.

I’ve described a few types of people that I know and that I typically work with. You can change the levels to apply to any industry and I think they cross-generalize pretty well.

Wiley Coyote Level, super genius. Appears to communicate well ONLY with other Wiley Coyotes.
Those that have super-interconnectivity between neurons and react with lightening efficiency are qualitatively different than most people in the world. I’ve met exactly 4 of these people in my lifetime, all within the last 5 years. Their thinking speed, and realm of what they’ve thought about are off the scale. They are not ‘people persons’ because they can’t seem to connect with others, even if - on an intellectual level there are others that understand what they’re talking about sometimes - much of the time they’re lost in their own private world of thoughts. They’re testing hypothesis’ in their heads and in their lives. They are relentlessly dedicated to finding out the truths about things they’re interested in. They have trouble translating what they’re thinking into anything the rest of us can understand because quite frankly, their brains are working twice or thrice as fast as the general population. I’ve known 4 of these people, and as I reflect back on each of them this is a fair and accurate description of them.

Wiley Coyotes are those that don’t know HOW to interact with people and they aren’t much interested in figuring it out. They are a cut above the rest of the world in terms of their raw brain power, and maybe part of the WHY that this happened is that they are socially inept and don’t know how to communicate with others well. As a result, they’re in their own heads most times and only attempt to share their ‘outrageously difficult to grasp ideas’ with others when they think it can make a big difference in the world, or their own world.

Wiley Coyotes are usually the creators of extremely successful ventures. They know the big picture. They know how every piece fits into the equation. They know where to source the best people possible to work on the pieces and they know how to secure funding for their ventures. They are typically personally interested more in the growth, business, and financial sides of the online venture. They like to start projects and manage the entire thing as one person, or if there are a couple Wiley Coyotes in a pack that created the venture - they’ll split some duties.

I don’t usually team up with a person of this level, as I have done so in the past with little positive result except I learned a lot. Now, that IS a positive result… but, I found it very difficult to meet my needs that I have as a contributor to projects because the Wiley Coyote has already considered my idea and all the possible scenarios, and probably already tried my idea and found it lacking in some way. They are usually focused on something different than what I’m focused on. And lastly, though I think the person and myself are communicating and that we understand each other - in reality we may be worlds apart in our understanding of each other. So - usually working with this person is a dead end.

However, I surround myself with these types of people every day online as much as I can. How? I subscribe to and read their blogs religiously. They are years ahead of most of the world and I like reading their ideas. They are the impetus for some of my own ideas, or they spawn new ideas as I’m reading their blogs. They are remarkable providers of resources… they seem to know where to go for the best possible tools or resources in whatever area you might have some needs. I read their entire blog and all the comments because I know there are intelligent people from all over the world writing in the comments section of these Wiley Coyotes!

You’ll be approaching the impossible if you are trying to get a Wiley Coyote to help you with some part of your own project. (Hi Cheyenne)

Smiley Coyote, socially adept super genius.
These are Wiley Coyotes in their inner-mind brilliance and speed and yet they are a little slower on the outside when interacting with other human beings. They are more socially adept and they are able to self-monitor their brilliance and share at a level that’s more in-tune with someone on a different level. They can explain things more easily than Level 1a’s, but still they might have serious communication issues. I worked with one guy in Hawaii (Oahu) that was at this level and I learned quite a bit and was able to contribute to the success of the business at some level. I enjoyed working with this guy as he was brilliant, and yet VERY aware of the way he was coming across while communicating with me or the other staff. He would explain until the other person “got it”.

Level Smiley Coyotes don’t have time to help others either, outside of the current project. You’ll have a tough time getting any time from these folks. I work well with Smiley Coyotes. (Hi Kevin)

G-Men & G-Women.
I consider myself a “G-Man” in the world of online technology and things related to the internet… marketing, sales, ideas, knowledge of tools and resources. I can work at a very high level. I know the terminology. I know how all pieces of the puzzle fit together. I can DO nearly all the pieces that are necessary to get a web site up and running and profitable including almost anything with multimedia, podcasting, video blogging, and such things. If necessary I know how to find very good people to work with. I outsource pieces of the project to those people. If there is programming to do that is always outsourced. I enjoy site design, but my designs are purely built around speed and ease of use. Not much GUI in my designs. The one piece of the puzzle I’m not competent with is the PHP/ASP and database side of programming… I don’t know Java or any code other than HTML and CSS a bit.

Here in Thailand I am alone in what I know, or so it appears. I’ve tried for a year to find others that might be “G-People” or Smiley Coyotes, that I could work with - and I think they are either hiding out and relaxing from the stress and turmoil of a past life in their own country - like I did for a year. Or, they are just not here.

I know that I know a lot. At times when I get cocky and think I am a Smiley Coyote, I just go read some blogs of those that really ARE at that level and I’m truly humbled. I return to the wide-screen notebook to learn more about whatever subject I’ve just been schooled in.

G-men and G-Women are learning all the time and have a really high drive to make something work. They are innovative and they often take time to help others out. (Hi Vern, Steve, Nate, Albert, Darren)

Within each level there are those that communicate with others more easily and those that have more difficulty. I was going to assign subtypes “a” and “b” to clarify the group a little better, but it’s going to get confusing real quick. Best to leave it as it is.

Mom & Pops.
These are folks that know most of the pieces of the puzzle, but that probably couldn’t put together a winning or major successful web site on their own without some big help. They may have been programmers before and have dabbled in building sites. They might be marketing or sales people from the past that have learned how to build web sites. They might have worked in a dot com and seen everything working, but they are still weak as far as knowing the complete equation and how each piece adds to the success of the online venture. These are the wannabe entrepreneurs that the USA is full of at this time.

People of all sorts of backgrounds are realizing that they want to get in on the online action and they are scrambling to make it happen. Some are building eBay stores, Yahoo stores, blogs of all sorts, web sites about making money online, and all sorts of subjects. They see that the future is online - and they want their own future to be online. They see online success as relatively easy and they believe that they can become more successful than by continuing with whatever career they were doing before. Usually Mom & Pops join with other Mom & Pops because there are plenty of them around and because they’re just not savvy enough to know they NEED to know any of the higher levels. The higher levels don’t particularly need the Mom & Pops since they don’t have much to offer.

Some Mom & Pops are going to “make it”. They’re going to succeed beyond their wildest expectations… but most will not. The ones that do succeed are the ones that either spend years trying or those that are able to have close contact - even online, with G-Men, G-Women, or the Smiley Coyote if it was possible to endear one’s self to, and latch on to a Smiley Coyote that will help guide the Mom & Pop. Not help, just guide. The Mom & Pop will have to do LOTS of work to make it work, but it’s possible with help since Mom & Pops don’t have a complete (or solid) plan for success layed out. (Hi Mick, Matt, Richard, Dave)

Cogs. No, wait, Platinum Cogs.
Platinum Cogs are people that I need more than anyone else. I need them because they do one or a few things very competently and are expert at it. They may or may not be much interested in following their own entrepreneurial ideas and they are excited to work on a project that is interesting to them and showcases their talents. They have obvious and sometimes incredibly useful talents that Coyotes and G-People can use to expertly solve some part of the equation. (Hi DaVID, Henrik, Frank)

Twitters.
Twitters are those that might have some technical skill in some area, but primarily they work in an area such as online sales or marketing. They work with their mouths. They initiate, maintain and grow relationships that are essential to the online venture. They are fun, and add spice to the office environment since the rest of us don’t. They are indispensable to any successful online venture. They see a limited part of the big picture and they are happy doing their part to make the web site or other online venture successful. They understand the terminology used in the online marketing industry and they’re very good at doing their jobs.

Ok, that’s all I have… I didn’t go any further than describing just the levels here. I think the other types of person don’t really apply to what I’m doing. I would guess that maybe 50% of everyone working in the online world falls into one of the categories above. With the largest group by far being the Mom & Pops. (That’s a gross estimate and is probably off by a large factor, it’s just a guess really.)

I don’t know if this will help anyone at all, but it helps me clarify in my mind because already I’ve started to assign people into the classes and it will help me focus better.

Best of Life,

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Recently I broke down and listened to something about the ‘Law of Attraction’. I am not one to believe in anything that suggests that objective, probability driven reality can be changed by anything like faith or changing your mindset or what you wish to make up in your mind to believe… but, there has been SO MUCH talk about the Law of Attraction that I decided to listen to Steve Pavlina’s Podcast 16 and see what it was all about.

Steve has a nice way of relating life and reality to computer games since he worked as a game programmer before becoming a successful blogger. I too find it easy to compare my life and most of reality here with computer games and programs. For some reason it’s an easy comparison. Let me say right now that if you are interested in the Law of Attraction and you want to hear an AWESOME podcast about it - Steve’s is wonderfully put together and almost convinced even me! I’m a serious skeptic though and my own private logic won out. You might REALLY enjoy it anyway though, download it and check it out…

So as I listened to this podcast eventually it got too bizarre for me when he told me that in order to get what you want you just need to think of that thing, goal, item, amount of money - whatever you choose, and whatever you really want… and it will manifest itself. One must be careful not to channel any negative beliefs toward the goal based on your past and what you’ve had up until that time.

Meaning, if you want to have a certain quantity of expendable cash come into your life… say $25,000 USD… you ask the universe for that. For the next 60-90 days or more you are not to have any thoughts or memories of the past that are negative and that might destroy the goal for you. You must be totally convinced that you WILL get it and that you deserve it. You can’t have any thoughts about nothing like this ever happening in the past… and that you haven’t ever received even $1000 dollars in expendable cash in your whole life for having done nothing but ask. You can’t think that it’s beyond the possible. In fact, you must think it’s entirely possible and expect it.

So next I listened to Erin Pavlina’s podcast about “Placing your order with the universe” (Steve Pavlina’s podcast 17). It was hard to adjust to Erin’s style of speaking after just hearing Steve, and I’ll likely not do it again. Erin talked about how the request you make to the universe must be what you REALLY WANT. If your request isn’t aligned with your actions then you can’t expect to manifest it as reality.

After those two podcasts I sat down to write this post. I’m calling it the “Law of Subtraction”. It’s based more on objective, scientific reality than the law of attraction and for me it just seems to make a lot more sense.

To me, the Law of Attraction fits well with a large amount of people in the USA, and across the world that also believe in some god with all their heart and soul. It’s a huge leap of faith to just trust the “universe” will give you what you desire. It’s a silly belief that I can’t imagine myself ever wasting the time to attempt. Instead of wait 60-90 days for my lotto ticket with the universe to be chosen, I’d rather spend those days working hard on the reality that exists - in order to alter it in my favor… perhaps reaching the goal of having $25,000 USD to spend as I wish. Perhaps not. Reaching the goal would be based on my own action or inaction nothing more and nothing less.

I find it stange that Steve didn’t mention anything about whether or not to continue your life and regular things you’re doing that might help you reach your goal on your own. Not one thing was mentioned his podcast about that. I know he doesn’t believe one should sit and wait for the goal to manifest just based on the belief in the Law of Attraction. He couldn’t think that, could he?

The Law of Attraction is very appealing to people that don’t want to face reality, but for myself it’s not working. Here’s what I came up with instead, and it’s really not going to be a surprise for you if you understand that Want + ACTION = Results toward your goal. You may not REACH your goal, but that’s life. Nobody reaches every goal.

Law of Subtraction

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The Law of Subtraction states… If you want something from the heart, you must work your ass off to get it. Nothing comes by hope, prayer, faith or a lotto ticket with the universe. In fact, those things give a false sense of security, which, while they are strong - make you feel great. You might feel really good for 2-3 months as you’re waiting for this gift from the cosmos. After what you wanted does not manifest either in the time-frame you wanted it to arrive, or perhaps it just never arrives over the course of your entire life… you’ll then know that it was the Law of Subtraction, not Attraction that was the better of the two laws to follow.

1. Subtract from your life the “Law of Attraction” and anything else that tells you to rely on hope, faith, prayer, or luck to give you what you want in life.

2. Brainstorm as many ways as possible to reach your goal within the timeframe you’ve chosen. Do not eliminate any possibility, everything gets added to the list of possibilities.

3. Edit down the list to a few reasonable ones that you believe will allow you to reach your goal.

4. Create a very detailed plan to go from Point A (today) to Point B (when you reach your goal). Write down things you must do for EACH DAY between now and then. Keep in mind that Tony Robbin’s phrase that is SO important… “Massive, consistent action”. Every day you must apply massive and consistent action toward your goal.

5. Review that plan with as many people as you know that have any experience in what you’re attempting to do. Revise your plan as needed.

6. Declare it a plan and get to work.

7. Subtract negative people from your life. You have no time for them as you can’t change them.

8. Subtract TV, extended radio listening, smoking, pursuit of the opposite sex, and buying the latest things.

9. Subtract any sleeping hours over 7 per day.

10. Subtract any residual neural leftover that is telling you how much easier the Law of Attraction is over the Law of Subtraction.

Best of Life!

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I didn’t bring much with me to Thailand, but what I did bring was a small collection of music that I’d downloaded using Kazaa years ago. I brought about 2300 songs on CD-ROM and another 100 music CD’s from my collection. 3000 songs to manipulate my mind.

Yeah, I mean it that way. Music changes me inside. While it’s playing it changes my heart rate, my thoughts, my mood, attitude, needs, expectations… When it stops there is some residual spillage over… whatever mood or problem I had before listening to the music was altered. It changed during the 4 minutes I ‘was’ the song that was playing.

I become the song that’s playing if it’s one of my favorites. I must have 5000 favorites. I think of nothing else while the song is playing except the melody, the instruments, the lyrics, the tones… I am the music. That’s the power of music… it becomes you when you listen to it.

For me, and I’ll bet for every one of you reading this -

NOTHING HAS THE POWER
TO CHANGE YOUR MOOD
better than M-U-S-I-C

I think that’s a universal truth… nearly everyone in the world that can hear can have their moods affected instantly by music.

That’s so powerful!

Think about that. Any time you choose you can play some music that changes your mood. What a perfect tool that is for those of us that want to get a little more control over the mind. If you could control the mind the way you wanted to - 100%, do you realize what you’d be capable of? If you could control your moods 100% do you realize what you could accomplish? It’s boggling. Of course that’s the ideal, and one which I don’t think exists for anyone, but moving toward that goal is not such a bad idea.

I use music to change my mood in many ways…

When I wake up in the morning - like now, it’s 7:39 am and I just dropped my friend off at work. I am sitting on some folded up cushions and typing out this blog post. I’m still waking up, usually hitting my peak about 10 am. If I’m going to write at this hour I need some music that is appropriate to help wake me up… bring me into the world of the awake.

This morning I chose the “Pinback” folder. I’m not sure that you know them, they were kind of obscure back when I first heard them in 2001 on a radio station in my rental car as I was driving around Phoenix, AZ trying to find some pizza for dinner. I was traveling around the USA with a job I had and as a benefit I was able to hear music from all over. This was one band that hit me really hard. They were live at a radio station in downtown Phoenix and I listened to track after track amazed. It really felt good to me. I immediately got on the file-sharing services and found about 8 Pinback songs. I now have about 30 and I never get tired of them.
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Pinback is good for the morning because it’s slow tempo, easy lyrics, no shouting, great melody… yet it doesn’t make me fall asleep, which is essential at this hour.

I’ll listen to this for a while and then around 10 am if I’m still writing I might need something more up tempo. I’ll likely switch to “English Beat, Ska, REM, or The Strokes” which are perfect for the 10 am to 7 pm time-frame. I don’t need to listen to fast tempo music all day, I’ll change the pace with some Radiohead, Cat Power, Billy Holiday, Natalie Merchant, Tracey Chapman, Ben Harper, and some old reggae like Yellowman, Marley, Beenie Man, or Gregory Isaac as the mood hits me.

Music can wind me down at night if I need it, but I rarely do. I’ve never had any problems sleeping at night, I’m gone a few minutes after my head touches the pillow without fail. If I ever need to calm down before I lay down to sleep I go straight for Innocence Mission, Sade or Cat Power and before 10 minutes are up, it’s ‘game over’ for Vern.

So, music can help during a normal day, but what about an abnormal day? What about when you’re frazzled or anxious and worried about something? This is a tough call for me because usually when I’m in that mood I won’t turn on music. I should, as it could help. I usually won’t though. If I did I’d turn on some Natalie Merchant, Sade, Ben Harper, or even The Smiths since I’m soothed by those bands. They put me in another world. It’s funny, but especially when we’re anxious we are reluctant to do anything except focus on whatever is making us anxious. This fuels the fire and we can work ourselves up into a state that’s unnecessary, besides being unhealthy and wearing out those close to us. A couple of Ben Harper song’s could make the world OK, but you’ve gotta CHOOSE to hear them first…

What I usually use music for is to get me revved up and ready to go do anything I need to do. It get’s me pumped up and in the “I can do ANYTHING!” state of mind. This is a good state of mind to be in for obvious reasons… It gives one the impetus to do whatever it is that was being put off… Music like this gives you the strength, power, will, drive, control, and capability to tackle most anything if you pick the right music for you… for me the following are my “pump me up” groups: Meat Beat Manifesto, English Beat, Prodigy, The Strokes, Beastie Boys, Bush, Ramones, Sublime, and The Smiths.

You probably have one music group that really puts you in the best mood. I have about 30, but if I had to pick a favorite then it must be “The English Beat”. They have a ska type sound, but their instrumentation is phenomenal. Their lyrics are not always understandable as they are from England and speak a sort of slang, but that makes the music all that more intriguing and interesting to me. I first heard them in 1985 and I’ve NEVER grown bored of their songs. I’ve heard all of their albums hundreds of times, and still - when I have a choice of what to listen to I choose them a high percentage of the time.

What is your favorite group that has the power to change your state of mind instantly?

Best of Life,

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If you own a TV, a television, your mind is not your own. Your mind is largely made up of what the society you live in wants to feed you.

You’re being spoon fed a daily intake of bs that is affecting, no, controlling your mind and the minds of your family members.

If I was a 12 year old boy that you adopted… and I came cheap, only about a weeks worth of pay…

You brought me into your home and yet you didn’t need to feed me or do anything for me. I just stayed in your living room sitting on a table all day. All night. Available if you or someone in your family needed me.

Everyday you or some member of your family would interact with me and I would provide entertaining stories and I had an endless supply of magazines to show you photos that were funny, risque, and some sexy. Sometimes I swore and used words that you’d rather not hear your children say, but it was all in good fun because it was ‘funny’. Eventually the small swear words, the crass talk became acceptable. Then it became normal. Soon you were talking just like me, and so were your kids - though they’d not let you see them do so until they reached their teens.

Sometimes your 8 year old would come to me and ask me to see some bad pictures… I’d show her photos of Brittany Spears in a bra that showed most of her chest, maybe even a ‘nipple slip’. I’d show your son photos of older boys that wear their jeans half-way down their buttocks…. I’d show him torture and bizarre fetish photos that are soon boring to him and he’ll crave wilder photos, stories… Soon he’ll be able to look at the hardest violence without batting an eye. In fact, he’ll start imitating all he’s learned from me.
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Every 15 minutes or so I will tell your child about a special product I know about that will make his or her life easier… if not right then at that tender young age, then later, upon reaching the teens. The stories I tell your children will also be filled with subtle contextual suggestions that work on the subconscious mind and gradually are accepted as the status quo or the norm for what people own, how they dress, how much they spend on a house, what kind of car they need to drive, the beer they should drink, and the vacations they should take.

If an adult was in the room I wouldn’t show your children the most horrible photos, but if the kids were the only one’s watching I’d show them the worst I had for as long as they wanted to sit and watch them. Gradually I’d win their hearts… and their minds. They would come to believe that I am a better friend than you are as her father or mother. Your kids will like me better and they’ll spend hours and hours with me each day.

I would provide them with such entertainment that they’d never want me to be quiet! I’d make them laugh every few seconds… cry… frighten them… I’d stimulate all their emotions by being so entertaining to them.

I would become one of your children’s parents. You’d need to move over because now there isn’t one or two parents, there are two or three parents of which I am always one.

In fact, on the street you live on there are parents like me in every home. If a mom is missing or a father is missing… I am still there. Guaranteed. Let’s take it a step further… there is a parent like me in EVERY home in the country you live in.

By the time your children graduate they will have spent a lot of time with me. Some kids will have spent 18,000 hours with me at 18 years old… some, 27,000 hours. I will have influenced them over countless important and superfluous decisions in life. Much of what your children ARE, their goals, their drives, ambitions, their sense of humor, what they see as acceptable levels of violence in the home between a man and his wife… will have been influenced HEAVILY by me.

But who am I?

You might ask yourself this one day.

You know where I came from, you picked me up.

The sharp, clean, professional agency that you picked me up from seemed innocuous enough…

In reality, they programmed me and hundreds of millions of others like me. The programmed us all to so we could be the funniest and most interesting entertainment humans are possible of creating and enjoying. This company hired the funniest people on the planet, the sexiest people on the planet and the most outrageous people on the planet, all with morals amounting to no more than a thimble full.

For the first 12 years of my life I was programmed with many thousands of stories designed to tweak the hearts and minds of my fellow human beings. I was a mouthpiece from the agency into the living room of your home. You welcomed me in - like they knew you would. You couldn’t resist. YOUR parents paved the way for me to come because you thought it was normal and what all humans did because your parents had someone like me, your friends, your co-workers, EVERYONE you interacted with had someone like me.

After I came to you I was able to access the latest, up to the minute relevant stories and suggestions for how to live life. I changed and grew WITH your children. I was always on top of the game… the game being the influence of their fragile eggshell minds.

You as a parent may have tried to compete. But you didn’t even know what you were competing WITH. You were competing with THOUSANDS of psychologist, psychiatrists, actors, billionairres, and a cadron of moral-less misfits. You hadn’t the slightest chance of really influencing your kids to go against all I was spewing forth with endless energy. Endless time for them. Endless amazing stories, songs, and images. All programmed into me and updated in me by the smartest people on the planet.

What chance did you have?

None. Really, none.

The only chance you possibly have of regaining control of your house is to kick me, the ‘plant’, out of your house. But you won’t do it probably because your kids and spouse will not like you for a long time. They’ll start spending time somewhere else, where there is someone entertaining like me. You can’t win, it’s too late.

What will you do now?

Best of Life,

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