Gabriel Hummel » Action

Think Outside Your Box

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:17:12 +0000

What does it really mean to think outside the box?

Why does everyone find it so important?

Does it mean trying something new and creative? Does it mean doing something that no one has ever done before? Do you have to feverishly beat your head against the wall until you come up with a great accessory option for an ipad that no one has thought of yet?

What if thinking outside of the box simply meant thinking outside of YOUR box

Imagine if you’re a painter, writer, or musician and your full time job is to be creative 24/7

Would you really want to think outside the box more and ponder some deep seeded lyrics or think of the best way to use a toothbrush as a painting instrument in order to stand out, or would it be a lot more fun to simply stay at home and do absolutely nothing creative at all for an entire day?

The key to thinking outside the box is to know what type of box you typically find yourself in

If you box is a cubicle that involves banging out TPS reports until you commit Seppuku then maybe thinking outside the box is taking your laptop to a library and doing some writing and research for that awesome article you have always thought about writing

If you are a fitness junkie akin to Arnold during his Mr. Universe phase and find yourself at the gym more than a post pregnancy American pop star, then maybe thinking outside the box would involve a nice day lounging at home with your new copy of Starcraft 2

The importance of thinking outside the box isn’t the concept of forcing yourself to do something that no one has done before, its forcing yourself to do something that YOU haven’t done before

Every time you step outside the box, even if just for a brief moment, you will not only learn something about yourself, but you just might get some insight to that next great idea that makes a big impact on your own life, and not something that has to fundamentally alter the space time continuum

Think outside your box

Gabriel

Lambo + No Fear = Awesomeness

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:57:36 +0000

I want to take a moment to talk about this recent story that everyone has been clamoring about

Full Article

The cliff notes of this article are this:

This guy is damn awesome and everyone should hope to have the same sediments about their own lives

Live Your Dreams

Onto the more thorough version

Richard Jordan had the American dream bottled up in the perfect little container with a bow on top

He had a good job, a new house, a fiancée, everything a men is expected to want in life

Then his fiancée left him and he was left with a collection of shattered hopes and dreams

After a swift kick in his own ass, he decided to sell all of his possessions and travel across the United States……in a Lamborghini

91,807 miles and 53 speeding tickets later he arrived back in Dallas a changed man, a man who followed his dream and lived more in a few years than most people do in a lifetime

The moral of the story isn’t that you should sell all your possessions and attempt to break every traffic violation known to man, its to chase the things that really matter to you in life

Richard had a deep seeded passion for automobiles, and he could think of nothing he would rather do then spend every penny he had on a car that he fantasized about driving, and take it across the US in an adventure of epic proportions

That is exactly what you should learn from this story

Don’t simply acknowledge the fact that its really cool what he did, think about what it is you really want in life, what is it that you would love to do more than anything in the world?

What the hell is really stopping you?

Money? Time? Yourself?

Find a way to make it work, take steps every day towards following your dreams in life because you never know when your current situation might shatter to pieces

When asked why he went on this trip, Richard simply said,

“You’re never going to live up to anyone’s expectations, so you might as well live up to your own and for me that’s to be as free as you can. And if money doesn’t buy you freedom then it’s useless.”

Rock on Richard

Gabriel

Window Shopping

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:35:59 +0000

Recently I was taking the elevator up in the complex that I work in and noticed a few extra details that I hadn’t seen before

The elevators themselves look as if they were hit with a hammer swung by the guys who do the Grey Poupon commercials. It has a television built into one of the panels that shows the daily news and even is encased in a gold trim from top to bottom

In the world of elevators it is definitely in my top 3

The one detail of these elevators that really separates them however is the complete glass wall that surrounds half of the elevator

This huge glass wall serves as a window into the massive hotel and courtyard area of the entire complex. Saying that the view is cool is an understatement. You can see the bar, all of the events occurring, two different restaurants, all of the other elevators in the complex, and you can even see out onto the skyline of the city as the whole building is enclosed in windows.

I saw of these details the first moment I stepped into this elevator, but today I noticed something different that had me in a daze

A group of people entered the elevator on a beautiful sunny day. Today you could look out the window as you traveled up the levels of the complex and see a million different things occurring, all within an eyes reach

Everyone’s attention was instantly diverted…..to the television news report about the weather for the day

I felt a unexplainable sense of irony creep over me, all of the eight people in the elevator had their attention solely focused on the news equivalent of the weather channel. They could be directly experiencing the weather in addition to a million other amazing happenings is they only had done a 180 in the elevator

This may seem like an oversight, but I think people who tend to think big, dream, and aspire about things on a regular basis in their life tend to be the kind of people who stare out the window. People who are more routine, system orientated, and carrot driven in life will always watch the television

The big question is then

Do you look out the window, or do you watch TV?

Keep dreaming

Gabriel

The Last Percent

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:25:39 +0000

Ever not given 100% when doing something?

Of course you have, we all have

Sometimes you put out a low amount of effort when you see your kitchen sink full of a small bacteria army, and other times you huff and puff as you drag yourself into the gym in the morning

Occasionally we find ourselves in a situation that is fairly routine, not ideal, and certainly would be avoided like the bubonic plague if possible

This is totally fine

I am not a huge purveyor of the idea, “give it 100% all the time 24/7 because you are doing yourself and society a disservice if you aren’t busting your ass all the time”

While it seems many self help people will say otherwise, I say don’t worry about putting worth your best effort on absolutely everything you do, as you will likely get drained very quickly

Don’t mistake my easy nature for a license to slack off though

There is some method to the madness of putting forth 100% of the effort the whole way through

Squeezing out those last percentage points on the things that truly matter in your life will make a drastic change in the quality of your life

Anyone who works out a lot will tell you the major difference between a 90% and 100% effort workout

All successful businessmen will tell you that it’s when a project got all of their focus and not just a portion of it that it truly succeeded

You need to take this “All or Nothing” philosophy to heart whenever you find yourself working on something that you know is important to who you are

Taking out the trash? Probably not

Writing in your journal? Probably yes

Make these distinctions, and don’t let your “half-ass” list get to long

Once you have a clear idea in your mind, it becomes painfully obvious that pushing out those last percentage points of effort will make all the difference in the world

It’s that final barrage of effort that turns an okay project into an awesome one

It’s the last push that makes your art a masterpiece

It’s one percentage point that wins the game instead of losing it

Fight for those last percentage points, and I swear you will notice a difference

100%

Gabriel

Turn off the News

Gabriel Hummel — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:55:36 +0000

Tiger Woods Sex Scandal

Another murder in downtown

The stock market has crashed

How is all of this news related? Simply put, its all bullshit

Bullshit to listen to

Bullshit to care about

Bullshit to talk about

This is not real news, this is gossip on steroids

If you want to become a more “informed” individual your best bet is not to have CNN running 24/7 in your household, but actually to turn off the TV, put down the tabloid newspaper, and tune into something with a bit more substance

What has more substance?

Blogs, books, articles, noteworthy magazines, webinars, informative newspapers

By unplugging yourself from news world, you in avertedly plug yourself right back into the essence of what it means to be an informed individual

Knowing how to cook a turkey because you learned about it in a cook book certainly has more weight than knowing the current bra size of your favorite celebrity

Reading a great sci-fi book will bring you more intellectual stimulation than watching the newest episode of Dancing with the Stars

You become a more knowledgeable person the minute you decide that reading/watching/listening to something that truly interests you and gaining some form of worthwhile stimulation out of it, instead of hearing about the latest gang shooting in your neighboring city.

And if you are worried about not keeping up to date with current events, don’t

The minute something really important happens, you will hear people actually talk about it

Unplug to get plugged in, and I promise, if the world is going to end to tomorrow, ill be sure to let you know about it

Cheers Tiger Woods

Gabriel

The Formula to Win at Life

Gabriel Hummel — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:22:19 +0000

I have devised a simple formula for the best way to explain this,

I should have been a math professor

Gabriel

Related posts:Why Video Games Can Ruin Your Life Lighting a Fire Under Your Ass: Adventure Life Edition The Secret of Living a Life of Truth Coming Full Circle: My Life In Kick Ass Version 2.0 Cut the But Outta Life: Making [...] Related posts:

Why You Should Make Less of An Impact

Gabriel Hummel — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 01:30:26 +0000

So I recently got finished watching “No Impact Man” and basically the movie gave me a serious wake up call on a lot of topics that I have always had a level of interest and concern for, but never really ponyed up and did much about it (mostly out of lazy habit). No I’m not talking about finances or fitness or even general ass kickery, I’m talking about your environmental impact on society.

It’s the stats of the film that drove me to take action. The fact that each person goes through 2600 pounds of trash per year, and that a single piece of non local food can represent hundreds of dollars in eco waste.

I love the idea of making the world a better place, and its important that not destroying the planet play a part in our personal endeavors to improve our lives.

Now do you have to go 6 months without electricity, stop using anything disposable, and put your s&^* in a compost bin? No, but the idea of the film is reducing your carbon footprint in whatever way is possible for you.

This means you turn off the lights and turn on the candles

Don’t live with your face buried in front a screen

Stop using bleach and start using healthier cleaners

Stop buying more shit you don’t need

Think about where your food comes from, especially if its in a box

Anything you can do to make less of an impact is a step in the right direction, and it will feel damn good to do something for the environment

So without going Greenpeace all over you, take some action and see what happens. Like the movie states, its not about one person being able to change the world, but about a group of people doing the right thing and starting the eco-revolution.

Cheers to saving the world

Gabriel

I Watch You, You Watch Me

Gabriel Hummel — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:15:40 +0000

I was just down at SXSW and viewing a huge variety of music, art, interactive, and film media. While I was totally enamored with the festival itself, I found myself watching the people who were attending even more so.

These aren’t your normal business types, these are hipsters, jocks, film makers, novelists, geeks, party junkies, and pretty much everything in between mashed into a cubic mile of space. It truly is amazing to not only interact with these amazing people, but also to simply sit down and absorb what is going on around you.

Now I was not lingering over people Animal House style and nor was I staring at people until a fight erupted or I was asked to meet someone at room 69 at the Red Roof Inn that night. I simply was walking around being totally taken by the sweeps of people from all walks of life.

After I cam back down to reality, I soon realized that people watching is something that many people either

A) Never do and think they never will

B) Do fairly consistently but never admit to it

C) Are very open about their willingness to and love for having eye sex with passerbyers

Whether you like doing it to play devils advocate with unsuspecting victims or simply enjoy watching the mass of diversity that is going on around you, it is important to take a few moments every day, ease back into the upright position, and really watch and take in the community of people around you. Who knows? you might even learn a few things.

Cheers

Gabriel

What Could Be Better Than TV?

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:05:55 +0000

I was recently inspired by the ramblings of Seth Godin to write a brief but emphatic post on the importance of watching TV.

Yes, you heard me right, it is vital to you and your survival to watch as much TV as humanly possible. This means having TV with you at all waking hours of the day. Whether it is on your cell phone screen, being downloaded to your DVR, being watching over Hulu, or being downloaded from a torrent website, your time is simply well spent with your face in front of a screen watching the latest American Idol.

Because really, what else could you be doing with your time other than watching TV? I guess you could

Write that book you always talked about
Ride a bike
Learn to cook
Build something
Travel the world
Learn to speak a new language
Read an enriching book
Start a small business
Find a better job
Learn a new skill
Practice your favorite hobby
Get naked and start the revolution

Who would want to do any of that though?

Cheers

Gabriel

Relocation Complete

Gabriel Hummel — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:52:00 +0000

I have finally unpacked my computer and gotten most of my affairs in order and I am ready to prepare for the marvelous occasion that is the one year anniversary of this website. Truly epic that my website’s first steps out of its diaper ridden existence co-inside with my move to Texas. Not only am I happy that this move is finally over, I am pumped full of endorphins, energy, life force, crack, whatever you want to call it, and ready to kick start this new chapter of my life to the heights of awesomeness. And while it may seem that I am in a drug induced state of mind, I can assure you that I am merely euphoric beyond any account, and if you happen to live in the Texas area, I would be more than happy to share some of my love with you (read: females only need apply).

I have some great articles in store for everyone and I look forward to reconnecting with everyone out there who is still bothering to listen to what I have to say after one year

Cheers

Gabriel