Psychological Warfare #arnoldpod

The American dream never included a 4-hour work week until Tim Ferriss suggested it was possible; for everyone. It was the 1st book that changed my life. As much as I enjoyed reading Helen Keller in 4th grade; change my life… it did not. Psychological Warfare. The purpose of this post is to motivate you to click this link: http://bit.ly/1DkL6IT but the underlining reason for this post is to share my experience as proof that we can inspire each other to live a more meaningful ife and to share #Arnolds expreience as proof that we each have our own Psychological War that is worth fighting for!

Purpose- I was perplexed, confused and slowly coming to the realization at a very young age that the American Dream was inefficient and wasted a lot of time. I couldn’t make sense of it. I live to work and work to pay student loans so when I get older I can have a life. According to my last statement in 2007 that would be in 2083. That is NOT MY dream. I want to work because I love it, to experience my life with awesome people and make a difference in a world; even if it was a world that was slowly losing touch with my new reality. I want to live with passion and fill my days with beautiful moments that give purpose to my life and those around me. Maybe, I might inspire one person to put passion before pride.

Who told me about the 4-hour work week? If you are reading this post and it WAS YOU. Remind me quickly and I’ll send off a copy of my newest read and a thousand heartfelt thank you’s. Because this all started with your book recommendation!

My take away:

TIM: Do you live where you want to live?

Casey: “no”

TIM: Do you have the money to move where you want to live?

Casey: “no”

TIM: Do you have your dream job and LOVE what you do?

Casey: “no”

TIM: Do you go on vacation every year?

Casey: “NO- are you kidding me, I’ve NEVER been on vacation”

TIM: Take your current car payment and divide it by your hourly rate; how many hours do you work to pay for it?

Casey: “ 53 hours every month”

TIM: If you didn’t have a car payment you could take a week off of work every month to enjoy your life. Oh, now, figure out the car insurance…“Car insurance= airfare”. EVERY MONTH!

Casey: MIND BLOWN.

I did this, and I am going to continue to do this for 48 months. Then, I am going to do it again when I buy a newer car. This is really dumb! It was a choice to trade my life for things and measure with money instead of the time it takes to earn money. I put my car up for sale before chapter 10. This wasn’t the life changing event but for the first time I was gaining quality of life.

TIM: If I got my dream job in your dream location and flew out in 24 hours; what would you take?

Casey: My clothes, a few special books, 1 painting, and my family treasures. BUT, I had a house full of stuff!

TIM: How much money could you get for all the “stuff” that you don’t need?

Casey: Maybe a grand on Craigslist?

TIM: How much satisfaction would you get to GIVE it to someone who actually needed it?

Casey: A shit ton!

TIM: Is your life worth more than this “stuff”?

Casey: YES!

Life changer: I would take 1 painting, but I have 6 finished paintings under my bed, 3 on my wall, 4 unfinished in the basement and a credit card with a balance of $1,500 that supports this hobby. Who am I kidding, it supported my sanity.

TIM: Can you sell all the paintings to pay off the credit card? What about a plane ticket to the city you want to live?

Casey: I don’t show anyone my artwork but if I could get at least $100 for each of them the credit card for art supplies would be paid off and then I could start saving for the plane ticket instead of paying off the credit card.

I moved all my furniture and laid out every canvas on the living room floor, threw on my overall’s and finished them. While they were drying I got a call from my best friend Tammy, she had a 6 hour layover in Portland from Alaska. Waiting for our dinner reservations, we ducked into the bar next door to grab a drink. I love it when that woman is in town! I told her about the 4-hour work week, some lessons I have learned from reading it and few that I’d put into practice. I told her about the 13 paintings drying at home and mentioned I was going to attempt to get them hung at a Starbucks. While we were cathing up and stealing every second from of her layover I mentioned how nervous I was to show anyone my paintings. The bar tender… over heard the conversation leaned over the counter and said “you have art? I have 2 floors of empty walls. Bring them by this week and we’ll have a private reception for you. I get art on the walls and you get some cash. Deal?” .... D..e..a..l.

I blindly invited everyone I knew, my friends, clients, a few strangers and hung my artwork in public for the first time. I thought twice about showing up, I had never realized that fear kept my artwork under my bed. I was so embarrassed and nervous I almost didn’t show up; instead I sold 8 paintings that night for around $3,000. I paid off my art card, bought more supplies in CASH and scheduled a second event. At the second event I met an artist that painted similar to me. I learned that I did have a style, a style that actually sold. Barry, he gave me the 2nd book that changed my life, but that’s another post. But I do recommend reading Tim & Gary in unison. If they’re not besties I think they should be.They have had quite the impact on me. Thank you!

Over the year I downsized. I started measuring everything by “how many hours of work does this cost”. Money started accumulating in my bank account and I started being okay with less stuff and more time… and more and more time. This is when I started using the 2nd book. By the end of the year I didn’t need to live a “traditional” life to feel like I was on the right track…So very far from the American Dream but the closest I’d been to happy as an adult. I want freedom not stuff. I want to collect memories, air miles, vacation time, and passport stamps.

By the next year, I packed a suitcase and chose the 1 painting I wanted to keep and moved to NY to start living a life I had been waiting to live. My dream includes the 4-hour work week and 24 hours a day of LIFE. Do I work a 4 hour work week today, no. But I love what I do and I want to contribute even more to the industry I am passionate about. I am confident that one day i'll have this 4 hour sork week down just because I value every hour I spend working and every hour I’m not.

Redefining success is key to recognizing what the definition of happy is to YOU. Have I motivated you to click this link? I’d really enjoy a dinner with the dude that redefined my definition of success, cleared my path to acheive quality of life and inspired me to live the life I want rather than waiting to live the life I was dreaming about.

STATS

1. The Book
2. The LINK
3. Psychological Warfare Listen to it on iTunes.
4. Stream it now by clicking here.
5. Download it as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as”.
6. COMMENT and Share your definition of success

A special thanks to:

• Tim Ferriss for showing me the way
• Tammy Davis for believing in me
• The Bartender for giving me walls
• Trent Nevills for being my muse
• Barry Mack for welcoming me into the Art community & gifting me the 2nd life changing book
• Gary Vaynerchuck for showing me how to use social media
• Nicolo Rodio for a decade of support
• Marie Miller @DividedPhoto for capturing the moments
• Debbie Favale for taking me to NY & Italy
• Nissan for buying my car back from me
• Mikey Dahl for letting me jump

p.s I have dear friend attempting to #trend on AngelList check out his Passion

#inspireGREATNESS

Passionately yours,

Casey