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No, this isn’t going to be another debate on why I like my Zune better than the iPod. Today, we’re all together: we are owners of portable media players. And it’s not just limited to us: there are those who were more economical and chose simpler, non-brand-name media players, and even some that use their mobile phones, such as their Blackberry or Droid, to carry around music and video.
In any case, the main reason we got these things was music. We love us some music, right? Heck, even the option to carry around some video is pretty cool too (if we can). But our little media players can do us one better, and I learned it while I was sitting at a desk.
Recently, I took upon a rather boring desk job to pay a few bills (one being this giant party I’m throwing next October). This job basically entails staring at a computer screen and answering customer service emails for 8 hours a day, second shift. It ain’t glamorous, I’ll tell you that right now. But while there, I realized that I needed brain stimulation if I wanted any chance of surviving this job.
As I’ve stated before, I’ve got a Microsoft Zune. While putzing around on the Zune Marketplace, I started perusing the podcasts. I’d always thought about grabbing a podcast – after all, they seem to be pretty popular, but I never really knew anybody that listened to them. I figured this would be a good chance to try a few out.
Holy cow. I should be kicking myself for not trying this years ago.
Think about all the time you spend doing mindless activities: driving a car, sitting at work (for some of us), cleaning the house, working out, etc. There are about a billion different times of day when we could be putting our brain to good use. Enter the podcast. Here are a few cool reasons to start loading up:
A podcast, for those of you who have gotten this far and still don’t know what they are, is essentially a radio show. For some podcasters out there, it’s adapted from their actual radio show. For others, it’s like their blog on steroids – interviews, audio clips, and special content can be found on their podcasts. What kinds of stuff can you find out there? Anything.
After some trial and error, I’ve hammered down the podcasts I look forward to listening to every day (links go to the RSS feed address to add to your podcasting software):
There are tons more out there, from comedy to Christian, food to music. Go search around, either in your iTunes, Zune Marketplace, or even Google. You’ll find some good stuff.
One way is through your media software. The iTunes Store and the Zune Marketplace both have dedicated sections to podcasts. If you don’t use either of those, there is another very popular option: Juice.
Juice is a cross-platform podcast subscriber that organizes your podcasts and syncs them up with your media player of choice (or, if you want, you can just play them through the software).
Podcasts give your brain a little food to work with. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. After all, learning is an ongoing process throughout your life. Why not give it a try? Do you have any favorite podcasts you want to recommend? Let’s hear about it in the comments!
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Since I was born, I was raised to be a Christian. I’ve been a Christian for all my 24 years. In that span of time, I have left the bubble of my family life and went off to college, where I was surrounded by those who didn’t have faith. I was challenged for my beliefs, and I even doubted them sometimes. It forced me to take a step away from simply believing something because I was raised to, and I had to take an honest look at my faith and the world around me. As I watch American society today, I have come to a startling conclusion:
I cannot stand “organized religion” anymore. In fact, I hate it. “Organized religion”, in my opinion, is why society is in the toilet. I think the world needs to be rid of “organized religion”.
No doubt some of you who know me personally are shocked at that statement. Allow me to clarify: I think we need to rid the world of the term “organized religion”.
When somebody uses the phrase “organized religion”, and normally I mean celebrities like Brad Pitt and Alec Baldwin, they are being derogative. They are putting your faith down. It’s an insult. Think about this: anytime somebody publicly alludes to the idea that they believe homosexuality is wrong, the media explodes. CNN is full of headlines with exclamation points (and boy, is that channel a joke!), and the world turns them into an outcast. But people regularly go on television and into interviews and puts down entire belief systems, and nobody says a word. They hide behind the publicly acceptable, politically correct phrase, “organized religion”.
I hate it. Look, this is a free country, and I am allowed to be a smart, well-read, Lutheran man. I respect everyone’s right to have their own faith. So why don’t people respect mine? Why can celebrities go on the air and basically say that Christians are idiots, and everybody just lets it go?
No doubt some of you are wondering what this rant has to do with The Practical Nerd in general. Well, I say a Practical Nerd believes in something. A Practical Nerd has faith and stands up for it. If you want to improve your life, take a good, hard look at your belief system and defend it until you are blue in the face. Don’t hide behind the “What’s right for you is fine, what’s right for me is fine” argument, because it inherently says, “Hey, we’re all wrong!”
I’ve written about how I think “open-mindedness” in its current form is crippling American society. I had a subscriber to The Practical Nerd Rules for Life unsubscribe over it – they said it proved how “closed-minded” I am. My reaction: so? Why is that a bad thing? I have beliefs, and I stand by them. What good is your faith if you just roll over and default to whoever’s around you?
We live in a fantastic country. There was a time in this world when just speaking out for your faith was an instant death sentence, and I don’t mean lethal injection. I’m talking about being bludgeoned with rocks until you’re dead, getting tied to a scrap of wood and lit on fire alive, and yes, crucifixion – getting nailed to a piece of wood and left for dead. Today, you can’t do any of that stuff. The worst thing you can get is somebody yelling at you or rolling their eyes. So what are you afraid of?
There’s a difference between being “tolerant” and “accepting” other people’s beliefs. “Tolerant” means you understand that they are there. I understand that there are plenty of people who believe differently than I do, and I can’t/won’t force them into believing what I do. But “accepting” their beliefs means you think it’s okay, which is not. I don’t think it’s okay at all. My beliefs are exclusive of their beliefs, and vice-versa. That means, by believing what I believe, I think they are wrong.
That doesn’t mean that I have to preach to them at every waking moment, or disassociate myself with them. I don’t look down on them or treat them differently. I’m talking about a very important mindset and attitude.
So what do you do, as an aspiring Practical Nerd?
First, you don’t ditch out on your faith because Bill Maher thinks it’s stupid. Celebrities already sway our political vote despite being wildly unqualified. They already show us what to wear and how to act. They teach us to leave this country and adopt kids from other countries. Don’t let them take away our faith.
Second, you do not insult somebody for their beliefs, nor do you treat them differently because of them. Even if you don’t believe in what the Bible says, take a look once at what Jesus did while he was around. He hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes and treated them with respect. He didn’t tell them he thought they were okay. In fact, he flat-out told them they were sinning. But in the face of society, who had treated these people as awful outcasts, he dined with them and befriended them. You do the same. If the differences in faith come up in conversation, have a respectful, calm exchange of ideas. Intelligent discussion is a beautiful thing when done respectfully.
Third, take a good, hard look at your faith. I stand before you today a Lutheran, just as I always have been. But that doesn’t mean I blindly follow it. I continue to educate myself in the faith and take an analytical look at Lutheranism, Christianity, and the world today.
Finally, take a stand. Develop a backbone. Be confident in what you believe in. Regardless of society’s attempts to undermine its importance, your faith makes you who you are. It is the moral compass that drives your actions. It is your foundation. Build on it. Don’t just stand up for it when it is convenient. Defend it against opposition.
Yeah, yeah, it’s not popular. It’s not cool. It’s not what society wants you to do today. But why are we listening to so many people whose sole intents in life are to entertain us and drive up ratings and movie revenue? Get some substance to your life, and remove the term “organized religion” from your vocabulary.
Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform. – Mark Twain
I had that quote in my head when I started coming up with this first rule, and as I went to find the exact statement, I found about a billion other quotes from Mark Twain that could apply to future lessons. The guy was the original Practical Nerd!
Cooler People go with the flow. When something is determined to be “cool” or trendy, they jump on it. Even if they think it’s stupid/overpriced/overhyped/whatever, they still go with it because everybody else does. A lot of them feel like they have their own mind and that they make their own decisions, but the truth is: they don’t. They like it because everyone else likes it. They do it because it’s expected. Here are a few examples of the status quo in today’s American society:
I could go on. But think about how much money you could save by eliminating some of these things. I may come under fire for some of these points, but they are valid. Are you being “progressive” because you firmly believe that something needs to change, or just because it seems like the right thing to do? Same goes for going green: are you caring about the environment, or do you just want to make sure people think you care?
This Rule is at the heart of everything a Practical Nerd does. Allowing society to dictate your life forces you to waste time, money, and energy. Here’s a big, shocking secret about today’s American society: we’re all idiots. Every last one of us. I love my country and I think it’s the best nation on Earth. It’s truly a blessing that I am sitting here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin today. But because we live in the best nation on Earth, our people get cocky, they get lazy, and they become really, really stupid. Changes need to be made to this idea.
Everything you do is motivated by something in your heart. Are you just trying to be popular? This attitude has somehow carried over from high school, and now so many people suffer for it. They scramble to make their bills because they spent the night before partying it up with people and blew $50 on drinks. Stupid. Look at the heart of what is behind your actions – you may be surprised. If your motivation isn’t pure, you need to ditch the habit now, whatever it is.
Morality and honesty are lost in today’s society. Now, it’s about being popular. Take our current President: everyone thinks he’s cool because he goes on late-night TV and does interviews with magazines and 60 Minutes about his new playset for his kids, or his wife’s White House garden. He was voted in because he was cooler than the old guy. But now, he’s still so focused on being popular that it makes you wonder what’s actually getting done.
This isn’t meant to be a political argument – it goes into other areas of life too. Are you skipping the tie at work because you don’t want to be viewed as a suck-up to the boss? Why hamper your career just so that some people think you’re all right? We’re not working for votes here. We’re working to improve our lives. When that means going against the grain, you’re bound to lose some people along the way. You don’t need them for this. Let them cruise along and be miserable.
Don’t shrug off somebody else’s beliefs or views on something without looking into it first. Even worse, don’t start believing the garbage either, until you can determine whether or not it’s right. If everybody’s doing something, it may not be the right thing to do. Be careful! Why is everyone blowing their money on this doodad when they can get a whatchamacallit for half the price? Is it because of their slick marketing campaigns? Start using the analytical part of your brain once in a while.
The status quo is dangerous. Tell yourself today that you are going to start a new life – one that bucks the trends. Make your own educated decisions, and stop caring about what everybody else is doing. You’re not wasting your time trying to keep up with the Joneses anymore.
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Our little site, The Practical Nerd, has topped over 11,000 unique visitors for nearly 20,000 hits this year. That’s great news, and it’s very encouraging. Thank you to everybody who continues to hang out over here!
But one thing that has suffered this year is our email newsletter. The Practical Nerd Newsletter has been hanging at around 100 subscribers, but has been suffering from an obvious lack of direction. So what is a writer to do?
Starting this week, we are cranking out a new series for the newsletter, entitled, The Practical Nerd Rules To Live By, a weekly series of practical tips and rules that will help you change from a Cooler Person into a Practical Nerd without becoming a big ol’ geek.
A quick definition: a Practical Nerd is a normal, everyday person that applies advice to improve their lives, sometimes bucking the mainstream. A Cooler Person is someone who wastes their money, time, and intellect by settling for whatever the media and society tells them they should do. You want to be a Nerd.
So what kinds of tips will this include? You’ll have to wait to find out! Tomorrow, I will be posting a special sneak preview of the Rules, with the first Rule for ya! Until then…
For those who don’t know me personally, I am a freelance writer. I’ve done copywriting for several years now, and I decided, earlier this year, to take the plunge into becoming a full-on marketing firm. As I putzed around for a year, completely in over my head, I manage to get a project here and there. Then it dawns on me: social media marketing.
Blogging. Twitter. Facebook. Everything is going social these days, including marketing. This was a slam dunk! I even managed to get Erik Chopin from season 3 of The Biggest Loser to sign on. This was going to be great!
Uh… wait.
After getting into it for a few months, I realized something: social media can’t be done by a marketing firm. Sure, they can put together campaigns. They can develop iPhone apps and YouTube videos. But the execution and the engagement has to be done by the company. So, as I pull away from the social media marketing flop, here’s a few lessons I’ve learned that we can all use in our real-world relationships.
I’m not Erik Chopin. I didn’t lose hundreds of pounds on national television. I’m not a no-B.S. guy from New York City. I’m Tom Meitner, a skinny guy who’s never been on TV and who hails from Milwaukee. The people are going to go to Erik’s website to see Erik, not me.
Are you pretending to be somebody you’re not? I’m a fairly quirky guy, and my friends just have to accept that about me. I don’t try to hide the fact that:
But that’s me. People accept it. Be true to who you are. Don’t be a ghostwriter for yourself.
Sometimes, when I’m on the phone with my fiancé, if I’m tired or distracted, she winds up getting the “uh-huh” and “mm-hmm” from me. It becomes clear I’m not paying attention, and she gets mad at me. And for good reason. Social media is a two-way conversation as well. The best bloggers out there respond to emails and comments. They get the most loyalty from readers.
Be a part of the conversation you are in. Don’t just be polite and half-listen. And don’t just talk to people either; ask them about their lives and how their day is going. I guarantee you, it will breed a much stronger relationship. Be pleasant to talk to.
The people who market the best with social media are involved in different areas: they blog with video, they do audio podcasts, they write, they post pictures. They have different methods of reaching out and interacting with their audiences.
Look closely at your friendships: do they just revolve around going to the bars? Do you only interact with them at work? Do you only approach them when you have nothing else to do? A friendship is based on shared experiences of all kinds: go see a concert or a movie together. Stay in and hang out (is that an oxymoron?). Take a short trip together. Build experiences with people, and they will respond in kind.
The best blogging tip out there is to write for the audience, not for yourself. Which means, base your posts on what they need to hear, not what you want to say. It makes the reader feel like they are important.
Call up a friend to just say “hi”. Buy or make them a gift. Do a nice gesture for them. That’s how you show true friendship.
Social media is to be used for your passion. It is to be done to connect with your audience. After that, if you want to make money, there are ways to do it. But if you head into it with money being the sole motivation, you will fail. Just like I did.
Don’t just be friends with a coworker to get ahead. Don’t just hang out with the guy that always buys the drinks. Spend time with people you care about; don’t patronize people just to get stuff you want.
I’m sure there are other lessons – can you think of any? Share them in the comments!
