I want to take a second here to state one of my underlying life philosophies, that being one of always keeping a promise, and never turning my back on my word. This may come off with the same authority of a punk band claiming to never "sell out", seeing as how I can count my readership on one hand, but I want it put in writing, for all to see. So, first my pledges, and then, explaining the title of this post.
1) I will NEVER try to sell a premium section. And the simple reason of that is that if I make money off of this blog at some point, that would be awesome, and I'd try to further my life's ambitions even further though them. If I were to sell a book after becoming famous through this, I'd do that. But that would be a separate project, and I wouldn't compromise my values to do so. Especially since now that this post is here. The simple fact is that I don't have, never claimed to have, and never will have, any more knowledge than what a two or three page deep google search will tell you. My philosophy isn't deep. Find what you need or want to do with your life, break it down, write it down, and fucking do it. I'm trying to get the basic ad stuff on this site, if things get big, I'll even get my own fancy .com, and fill it with ads, but I won't create a VIP section. If I ever need that much money, something's gone wrong with my life or I've gotten lazy. In either case, do me a favor, hunt me down, and put a bullet in me.
2) Comments are forever. I'd be pretty hard-pressed to turn my back on freedom of speech, so unless you're plotting to do something illegal in the comments section here, aside from putting a bullet in me for creating "Neverending PLATINUMMOTHAFUCKAboard", I'm not going to edit the comments, or take them away. I'll even try to keep up with the comments, if any are ever posted. There's going to be a limit on that, but I can at least take a sample and address them.
3) Does Rush's Limelight EVER get old? No.
4) I wouldn't count on a forum section. If there's a vast outcry, I'll consider it, but honestly...there's a life out there, people. And it's for the living.
Now on to the main event...all the world's a stage and we are merely playing players...living in the limelight the universal green for those who wish to see those who wish to be must put aside the alienation get on with the fascination the real relation the underlying theme
My beef with Zen Habits. Well, here it is. The guy spends a year writing about all of these really great ideas, and a lot of his more recent posts were what made me start reading his archive FROM THE START...only to find it to be more of biography of a man corrupted by success and seemingly a lack of original ideas. And honestly, that wouldn't be so bad a thing, I mean, sooner or later we all run out of ideas. So, I'm going to give him the benefit of a good man gone wrong, and list them in their latest appearance.
1) The creation of the Premium section. Honestly, this isn't egregious until you read through his entire archive, only to find a pledge dated way back in the tail end of his first year when he was asking for donations to fund his ability to focus all of his life energy into the blog, and that he wouldn't start a premium section. The name of the blog is an easy target, but if Gavin Rossdale had to consider whether everything was zen with that, he'd say "I don't think so"
2) Neglecting to update his "free" section. Okay, so you've sold off a part of your focus to a paid section. Fine. (sidenote, I just checked the site...and he changed the premium section to the...dear god...Zen Habits Sea Change program) Seven updates throughout February. That's one update, every four days, for a guy who doesn't work a second job, thanks to the content of his blog. Great if you're trying to make a buck off people, not so great if you're trying to sell an honest lifestyle and philosophy. The guy at Getrichslowly SOLD his blog three years ago and still writes more than that. AND he's going through a divorce. Damn.
3) Preaching a shortened work week for the masses. No. I'm sorry, I know some people can get away with this, I know my best friend can on certain occasions, but this is not in the realm of possibility for people that go to jobs that force them to put on pants. Even strippers need to have clothes on to take off. I like going to my job, even if it seems boring at times, I like knowing that at any point, I can be needed, and that fuels me. If you buy into that 4 hour workweek tele/compu commuting stuff, then by all means, go for it, but most people that I know that are actually fulfilled by their job and see it as a life's calling not only have no problem going to work their 40 hours, they also have no problem going in for extra hours, unpaid, unrecognized officially, or any other sort of recognition. Again, I'll say it, if this blog somehow becomes the main job in my life, my life has seriously gone off course, and I'll want people to reference this post and set me straight.
4) Either regretting decisions, or doing what works for him. I'm at the point now, going through the archives, where he just published his first book...and then months later states that he'd like to have it available for free. I seriously just slapped my head so hard I should go into the ER. So let me get this straight.
1) I will NEVER try to sell a premium section. And the simple reason of that is that if I make money off of this blog at some point, that would be awesome, and I'd try to further my life's ambitions even further though them. If I were to sell a book after becoming famous through this, I'd do that. But that would be a separate project, and I wouldn't compromise my values to do so. Especially since now that this post is here. The simple fact is that I don't have, never claimed to have, and never will have, any more knowledge than what a two or three page deep google search will tell you. My philosophy isn't deep. Find what you need or want to do with your life, break it down, write it down, and fucking do it. I'm trying to get the basic ad stuff on this site, if things get big, I'll even get my own fancy .com, and fill it with ads, but I won't create a VIP section. If I ever need that much money, something's gone wrong with my life or I've gotten lazy. In either case, do me a favor, hunt me down, and put a bullet in me.
2) Comments are forever. I'd be pretty hard-pressed to turn my back on freedom of speech, so unless you're plotting to do something illegal in the comments section here, aside from putting a bullet in me for creating "Neverending PLATINUMMOTHAFUCKAboard", I'm not going to edit the comments, or take them away. I'll even try to keep up with the comments, if any are ever posted. There's going to be a limit on that, but I can at least take a sample and address them.
3) Does Rush's Limelight EVER get old? No.
4) I wouldn't count on a forum section. If there's a vast outcry, I'll consider it, but honestly...there's a life out there, people. And it's for the living.
Now on to the main event...all the world's a stage and we are merely playing players...living in the limelight the universal green for those who wish to see those who wish to be must put aside the alienation get on with the fascination the real relation the underlying theme
My beef with Zen Habits. Well, here it is. The guy spends a year writing about all of these really great ideas, and a lot of his more recent posts were what made me start reading his archive FROM THE START...only to find it to be more of biography of a man corrupted by success and seemingly a lack of original ideas. And honestly, that wouldn't be so bad a thing, I mean, sooner or later we all run out of ideas. So, I'm going to give him the benefit of a good man gone wrong, and list them in their latest appearance.
1) The creation of the Premium section. Honestly, this isn't egregious until you read through his entire archive, only to find a pledge dated way back in the tail end of his first year when he was asking for donations to fund his ability to focus all of his life energy into the blog, and that he wouldn't start a premium section. The name of the blog is an easy target, but if Gavin Rossdale had to consider whether everything was zen with that, he'd say "I don't think so"
2) Neglecting to update his "free" section. Okay, so you've sold off a part of your focus to a paid section. Fine. (sidenote, I just checked the site...and he changed the premium section to the...dear god...Zen Habits Sea Change program) Seven updates throughout February. That's one update, every four days, for a guy who doesn't work a second job, thanks to the content of his blog. Great if you're trying to make a buck off people, not so great if you're trying to sell an honest lifestyle and philosophy. The guy at Getrichslowly SOLD his blog three years ago and still writes more than that. AND he's going through a divorce. Damn.
3) Preaching a shortened work week for the masses. No. I'm sorry, I know some people can get away with this, I know my best friend can on certain occasions, but this is not in the realm of possibility for people that go to jobs that force them to put on pants. Even strippers need to have clothes on to take off. I like going to my job, even if it seems boring at times, I like knowing that at any point, I can be needed, and that fuels me. If you buy into that 4 hour workweek tele/compu commuting stuff, then by all means, go for it, but most people that I know that are actually fulfilled by their job and see it as a life's calling not only have no problem going to work their 40 hours, they also have no problem going in for extra hours, unpaid, unrecognized officially, or any other sort of recognition. Again, I'll say it, if this blog somehow becomes the main job in my life, my life has seriously gone off course, and I'll want people to reference this post and set me straight.
4) Either regretting decisions, or doing what works for him. I'm at the point now, going through the archives, where he just published his first book...and then months later states that he'd like to have it available for free. I seriously just slapped my head so hard I should go into the ER. So let me get this straight.
1) You have a hugely successful blog.
2) You publish and sell an ebook that does tremendously well.
3) You get so popular you can actually publish a book.
4) You have already released copyright on everything on your site.
5) You publish the book anyway
6) You then LAMENT it??!?!??!??!?!?!
I mean, at least Radiohead decided to release In Rainbows for practically free...they didn't charge money, make money, and then say "oh shit, we should've released it for free".
5) You can only have so many words of relevance. Look, the guy has had some great ideas over the years, and it got me out of serious rut. For that, I'm eternally grateful. But reading through it, from start to more than halfway finished, it has become redundant. Maybe he's in a rut of accomplishment, which is totally fine, but some kind of admittance of such would be a sigh of relief. I have no doubt that, if left alone, his blog would be as popular as it is today. But sooner or later, Brett Favre gives up the game, and lets a protege take his place. We know how to supposedly work our inboxes, there are more relevant sites or coworkers for figuring out how to make the most of our work week, and we just plain shouldn't have to be told to tell our loved ones that we love them (if you need to be told to tell your soulmate and children that you love them, stop reading my blog and never return. I'm dead fucking serious.)
Seriously, thanks Leo, for all the weeks of time you've put into your blog, the world thanks you for it, but you've become a broken record and a hypocrite over the years...I just hope I don't meet the same fate.
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