When the typical American thinks of success, the mind instantly flashes to celebrities: those you see in the movies, on TV shows, hear on the radio, and read about on TMZ.com. Success is defined as being “known” by a lot of people.

One guy that, by that measure, has had a lot of success is Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey is a very successful actor, known for being, at one time, the highest paid comic actor in the world. Whether you like him or you don’t, you have to admit that Jim Carrey has had an enormous amount of success.

But for what? I’m a big Jim Carrey fan, but I know plenty of people who have spent years being annoyed by him. Some of his movies are just plain goofy, and he has a tendency to overact at times. If you didn’t know any better, you’d watch a Jim Carrey movie and think, “Pff. I can do that. They should pay me those millions of dollars!”

But what is your earliest memory of Jim Carrey?

The guy became a household name after Ace Ventura: Pet Detective hit theaters. That was in 1994. Even if you remember him from In Living Color in the early ‘90s, you might be tempted to think of Jim Carrey as a guy who flailed around on that show for a few years, was handed a job with Ace Ventura and struck gold, immediately becoming a ridiculous success.

What you may not know is his career started in 1979.

He just celebrated his 49th birthday.

Yep, fifteen years before Ace Ventura, Jim Carrey was a struggling standup comedian. After two full years of working shows, he moved his way up to being a headliner. If you know nothing about standup comedy, being a headliner of standup comedy shows in 1981 didn’t exactly pay huge gobs of money.

He auditioned for Saturday Night Live in the ‘80-’81 season, and was not selected. Also in 1981, he starred in Rubberface, a movie my brother and I rented in the mid-’90s purely on the basis that he was in it. It was one of the most horrible movies we’ve ever seen. You can look at his IMDB page for more horrible movies he was involved with in the ‘80s.

His first television show, The Duck Factory, lasted three months in 1984. Then he caught a big break with In Living Color.

So let’s do a quick recap.

When Jim Carrey started on his road to stardom, he spent a full 11 years or so with nobody having any clue who he was. It took him 15 years to crack into national stardom and actual, real money.

Continuing on…

In 1994, Ace Ventura was panned by critics, so it wasn’t like he had ultimate job security yet. Once box office numbers came in, then people saw the potential of Jim Carrey. He was then able to star in The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, and Batman Forever. In 1998, he took a risk by transitioning to dramatic films with The Truman Show (an excellent movie, by the way), and you know his movies since then.

What we can learn from Jim Carrey:

You might think of Jim Carrey as a talented actor or just a guy who made a living being an idiot on-screen. But the fact is, Jim Carrey worked his tail off for over a decade before he hit it big. When we start up a new project or go after a goal, even a tiny one, we work for a few weeks or months and expect the world to be given to us.

Nothing happens overnight.

Real, true, lasting success comes from commitment. It needs to elude you for a while so that failure can slap you around. You need to get frustrated and beaten down a few times. You’ll do work you won’t be proud of, but it will be progress.

Rubberface was horrible, but Once Bitten was darn near watchable. Jim Carrey took every opportunity he had to improve on his craft, until he got the big one. Then, when Ace Ventura came around, he was ready to knock it out of the park.

Keep working at improving, every chance you get. Then maybe, one day, you’ll hit the big one. But you won’t know until you commit to it.

This is part of a new series where I try to give you ideas for little goals that you can accomplish in your day-to-day life. Remember, small goals lead to big achievements, so try something out for a while and see if you can stick with it. And why 237 goals? I don’t know. I chose the number at random. I didn’t want to overthink it.

Recently as of this writing, I was at a get-together with my family. My mom and I were discussing our reading habits, as I have a Kindle and she has the Kindle software on her phone. One of my brothers and I were also discussing books we have read recently, and one of my other brothers came up behind us, laughing:

“You guys know they make, like, TV and movies now, right? You don’t even have to read – the story is right there and you can just watch it!”

He was mocking us, for sure. He felt books were boring and too “low-tech”. Yet, I feel like the entertainment world in the United States is on a sharp decline. Television shows are riddled with either the same old procedural cop shows or “reality” garbage, while the film industry is run by marketing teams whose sole purpose is to entertain and sell to under-25 year old males with explosions and lots of CGI in the place of a well thought-out story. The world around us is dumbing down, and as long as TMZ has their own television show, I will not accept television as a viable source of endless entertainment (there’s only so many ways you can say, “Charlie Sheen is a nutball”, before you just gotta give up and move on, guys).

So what benefits are there to – *shudder* – reading books? Aren’t books ancient? Aren’t they just boring old scraps of paper? Well, some of them are. But books hold a lot of value for your own entertainment and learning:

• They exercise your imagination. Yes, this is the classic grade-school, Reading Rainbow argument. You can transport yourself into different worlds, right? Well, sure, if you want. But exercising your imagination is good for your brain. Keeping your brain sharp is the key to being a well-rounded thinker, and thinkers succeed in life.
• They don’t necessarily rely on electricity. I run a home server in our apartment, so my wife and I have access to hours upon hours of television shows and movies. There’s no excuse to be bored at our house. But we came home from church last week and our electricity was out for over an hour. We ate lunch and sat around in the living room. Guess what we did? We read. I busted out my Kindle and she grabbed a book, and we quietly read to ourselves to pass the time. If it was dark out, we could have lit a few candles if we really wanted to, or grabbed flashlights. But without electricity, all those computers and the TV were useless.
• They can go anywhere without disturbing people. Grab a book and carry it around when you have to go places. Sure, you could take headphones and watch something on your expensive smartphone, but that will eat up your battery quicker than you can say “overpriced”. But while you’re in the waiting room at the doctor or while you are getting your oil changed, having a book there is quiet and doesn’t disturb anyone else while keeping you occupied.
• There are many more options available to you, and you don’t have to jump through hoops to get them. Authors from around the world get their stuff translated into your language. There are a kajillion books to read. You can read old war stories, psychological thrillers, hilarious satire, behind-the-scenes exclusives, gripping adventures, thoughtful philosophies, and even a wide range of vampire-related love stories (ugh). You are not limited to what a bunch of producers and marketers thought would get ratings.
• You can find a lot of books for free or insanely cheap. Ever hear of the library? It’s this magical place where you can rent books – for free! And there are tons to choose from there alone. You can even browse your library from home and request books as well. Or try a service like PaperbackSwap to get gently used books for the price of postage. Heck, even a great mainstream site like Amazon has a ton of used books available for purchase. If you’re an ebook lover or own an ebook reader, you can even get free titles from Amazon or from sites like Project Gutenberg.

So, if books are this awesome, why aren’t we reading as many of them anymore? In my mind, it’s because of school. The school system is built to get you to hate books. My teachers existed to try to get me to agree with their interpretations of books. It made me not want to read. And if I’m being forced to read for school, I’m going to associate reading with school, which means reading sucks. Unfortunately, so many people don’t grow out of this habit, and it’s hurting them exponentially.

How do you start reading again? Your goal, as with any small goal, is to make reading easy, accessible, and rewarding. You don’t want to jump through a lot of hoops, and you don’t want to be stuck reading something that keeps putting you to sleep. So, here are some ways to start getting yourself into the habit of reading:

• Start with short stories. The prospect of reading a big, long book (with no pictures!) is daunting if you aren’t used to it. Start with shorter pieces. There are plenty of collections of short stories around that will keep you busy for a while. They cater to your attention span, and they help you build up the stamina to read. Heck, there’s no shame in just sticking with short stories, either!
• Read the book versions of your favorite movies. You’ll be surprised at how much better they are than the movies, for one. But this also gives your imagination something to start out with, so you can better picture the story. Book versions tend to have a lot of stuff in them that the movie versions couldn’t fit, so they lend themselves well to surprise and can be quite fulfilling to a new reader. Suggestions: The Bourne Identity series is a great place to start for exciting reading, but even the more mainstream stuff like Harry Potter or Twilight is supposedly good (if you’re into that sort of thing).
• Stick with your interests. Love sports? My goodness, there are a ton of fantastic sports books out there! Horror fan? There are thrillers that will keep you up at night. Love documentaries? Browse nonfiction sections related to your areas of interest, like war history or biographies of people you are interested in. Just browse around for a while on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or just go down to the local bookstore and peruse the shelves.
• Get a Kindle. The current Kindle is $139, and I got one for Christmas. It’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. If nothing else, having a Kindle will motivate you to read because it’s a great toy and we all like new gadgets. Plus, you don’t have the intimidation of larger books, and you can read it like a regular book for weeks at a time. And with loads of free books and built-in dictionary system, you can finally tackle those classics that you’ve always heard were good but never got around to reading.
• Stop reading a boring book. What’s that? You have a book that’s putting you to sleep? Stop reading it. There’s no problem with that. Get another book. There’s plenty of reading for everybody. You are not in school anymore, so don’t force yourself unless you are really trying to read something deep to expand your mind. Get through a chapter or two to give the book a chance, but after that, if you don’t like it, don’t read it!
• Get involved with a book club. You can start one with a group of friends or join one online at sites like Goodreads. Either way, hold a little accountability and enjoy some good discussion with fellow readers. It might open your mind to some new ways of thinking.

What about you? What is your favorite tip to get started reading? Do you have any favorite books that you want to share? Drop them in the comments!

I got up from the couch and marched into my office. It was 10:00pm on a Friday night. I grabbed my dry-erase marker and immediately began scribbling things down on my whiteboard. I needed to get a lot more done than I was.

My wife, still drying her tears, turned off the television. We had just finished watching The Pursuit of Happyness, and as she stood in my office doorway, I told her, “I can do better than I’m doing now. But I promise you, we will never have to live like that. I won’t let that happen.”

Some movies garner a more emotional reaction than others, but for us the film was especially poignant: the sting of a failed business venture, and the stress that finances can place on a marriage. I’m not going to let that happen to her, and I think about that movie often as I go about my day, pushing myself to succeed.

Inspiration can come from a lot of places. Some feel you shouldn’t need it, but I say human beings may struggle at times, and we all need a little bit of help to keep us going en route to our dreams. The following is a list of 4 movies – one fiction, three based on true events – that will leave you feeling like you can do anything in the world:

The Pursuit of Happyness

What it’s about: Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a man who invested all of his life savings in selling portable medical scanners that are considered a luxury item for doctor’s offices. He drops his son (played by his real-life son, Jaden) off at a crappy day-care center every day, and his wife leaves him due to the stress of supporting them. They get kicked out of their apartment, then the hotel room they are staying in, and wind up staying at poor houses while Chris takes an unpaid, six-month stockbroker internship to try to start a new career.

The message you’ll get: If you think you are sacrificing enough to get ahead, or you think that you can’t sacrifice this or that to put yourself in a better position to succeed, you are a complete wuss. This is the true story of a guy who sacrificed almost everything to give his son a better life and to prove to himself that he was something better. If you are looking at career changes, watch this and then realize that you can, regardless of where you are in life.

Defining moments to watch for: Chris denying his own misery to turn being homeless into a fun game (for a night) to keep his son going, ending in him holding his sleeping boy in a subway bathroom and trying to protect him from the noises outside the door. Also, the entire story arc of Chris networking his way into the internship despite being woefully unqualified. Finally, try not to be moved at the emotions that overcome his face when he is offered the job at the end of the movie.

Comedian

What it’s about: Jerry Seinfeld is a kajillionaire who created and starred in pretty much the biggest show on television in the 1990s: Seinfeld. After the show ended, Jerry did a one-night special on HBO (called I’m Telling You For The Last Time) where he ran through all of his old stand-up material and then retired it all. This documentary involves his struggles to develop new material and put together an entirely new act in small night clubs in New York, and also follows the life of Orny Adams, a stand-up comedian trying to make it.

The message you’ll get: First, success is hard work. Many people view a stand-up comedian as a guy who just stands around and tells jokes, but Jerry and his crew of fellow comedians demonstrate in conversations that there is a real psychology to putting together a stand-up routine, and Jerry struggles to put it all together, spending endless time honing his craft all over again. Second, you’ll see the importance of challenging yourself. Jerry wasn’t struggling to pay bills or anything. He continues to make money from the syndication of Seinfeld. But he wanted to prove to himself that he could still do it, and challenges himself to make it happen again.

Defining moment to watch for: There are a lot of cool, fun little conversations between Jerry and lots of famous comedians, but to me, the most impactful moment comes early in the movie, where Jerry is developing new material and gets off-topic for a second, which derails his act. You can see the frustration and the awkwardness as he stands on stage, silent, staring at the floor, wondering how he can get his set back on track.

Rocky

What it’s about: Just in case you don’t know, Rocky is the story of a has-been (or never-was) boxer named Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone (who also wrote the film). In order to garner some ratings and more money, heavyweight champion Apollo Creed publicly challenges Rocky to a fight, and everyone expects Rocky to get killed. Rocky pushes himself to train hard, wooing his future wife Adrian in the process, and winds up lasting the entire bout with Creed. He doesn’t beat him, but he proves that he can hang with the champion. The story is so good, the franchise makes five more movies about the character.

The message you’ll get: You may not be the most talented, or the most graceful. You may not be the smartest, and you may be a step behind everyone else. But if you are willing to work your butt off, you can hang with the big boys. Rocky is big, dumb, and slow. But the whole point of the movie is to show Rocky’s heart, which is why there are tender moments with Adrian and lots of arguing with his manager, Mickey. Rocky has his crap to deal with, but he fights through it all to stand toe-to-toe with the champ. Also, you define your own success. Rocky just didn’t want to lose. He wanted to prove that he could hang in there with Creed. People forget that Rocky didn’t beat Creed in the first movie (he does in the second movie).

Defining moments to watch for: While most guys are looking for the fight scenes, notice Rocky’s heart on his dates with Adrian. Also, the iconic training sequence is one that will show you what hard work is all about. Finally, try not to be anxious to go get something done with your life when you see Rocky at the end of the match, screaming for Adrian and celebrating his victory.

Miracle

What it’s about: The 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team. This team, led by coach Herb Brooks, are put together as a group of amateur and collegiate hockey players. They spend the entire movie learning to deal with each other (some of them don’t quite get along), and deal with a coach who runs them ragged, seemingly overworking them. The reason for this is because it is widely considered that the Soviet Union’s hockey team is the best in the world and will win the gold medal. Brooks pushes these players to their breaking points to put them in a position to beat them en route to a gold medal.

The message you’ll get: There’s no such thing as “impossible”. While the Winter Olympics get lost in the shuffle in today’s media, the world was transfixed by the Olympic Games thirty years ago. The Soviet Union wasn’t just the home country of every villain on American television and movie theatres back then – they were real-life sports villains as well. No hockey team played better than the Soviets at that time. But Herb Brooks found the drive deep down in these players to show them that they could get it done – and they do. In addition, it’s important to find the right guys to work with. The team finds themselves when they realize that they have to do this together, not on their own. That’s how you get ahead in life. Build the right team to get yourself there.

Defining moments to watch for: Herb Brooks (played by Kurt Russell) making his players practice incessantly, skating back-and-forth to the point of exhaustion, punctuated by his shouting of “AGAIN!” after every workout. They finally realize that he wants them to view themselves as a team, instead of individual players, which is the key to their success. Also, the goosebumps-inducing call by Al Michaels at the end of the game, screaming, “Do you believe in miracles?!?” as the clock runs out and the U.S. team beats the Soviets.

There are plenty of others that might inspire you, like Good Will Hunting, or Forrest Gump. But the point is this: for every 20 pieces of crap that Hollywood puts out there, they can put out a gem that will keep you going. Instead of watching mindless garbage on TV, invest a little time in a movie that will push you towards your goals. These four are a start. Then, when they are over, turn them off and get to work on pursuing your dreams, whatever they are. What movie or movies inspire you?

Rest assured: that’s not the behavior I’m referring to in the title.

As I watched the end of The Aviator on my honeymoon – an excellent portrayal by Leonardo DiCaprio – I noticed something else about Howard: his drive. After flying his giant plane in front of the media, despite years of speculation and skepticism, Howard Hughes should have been basking in the glory. He should have been doing interviews and press junkets talking about how he proved everyone wrong and everyone should apologize to him and give him lots of money. But he didn’t. When he got off that plane, he immediately went to his advisors and started discussing the possibility of jet engines in plane travel. They couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to enjoy his success.

Enjoying success is great, but it gets you in trouble. There are numerous washed-up celebrities that had a good thing going and then… nothing. Think of all the one-hit wonders in the music industry. Many of them rode the wave of success from their big hit, but then had nothing on the other end when it ran its course. They wound up broke, miserable, addicted to whatever and, worse, dead.

When you get a promotion at work, does that mean you stop trying to be better at your job? For many, yeah, it does. Or even when you get that big job, you don’t try to better yourself and climb the ladder. You celebrate your success too long. The last time I went full-time with my freelance business, I scored a big client that paid the bills and I rode the wave well into the ground. Next thing you know, I’m stuck behind a desk working second shift in customer service. I celebrated my victory too long and paid the price.

If you have a child in school and they get an “A” on a paper or exam, it’s a great success. But do you then give the child more slack to do crappy on subsequent tests? No. You hold them accountable for that “A” and you help them to keep improving their knowledge. So why do we not hold ourselves to the same standards?

Strive to be better. Push yourself. Look for ways to make your home a better place to be, to make your family a more cohesive and loving unit, to strengthen your friendships, and to love more deeply. Work hard to improve every aspect of your life. Celebrating is fine, but it is temporary. Living in this world is a lot of work – there’s no dancing around it – and the party will eventually end. End it yourself and roll up your sleeves again before it’s too late. Howard Hughes had some mental problems, but he knew how to innovate and how to push himself to be better. We should all do the same, every day.

What follows is a very interesting tale of a guy who saw the Samurai as savages, but watched them work and take care of their families. He observed the honor that they live with, and in the end, he winds up fighting his own soldiers on the side of the Samurai.

We’ll come back to that, but let’s switch gears for a second: on our honeymoon, my wife and I came across people whose sole forms of income were tourist-y type activities. There was a simple crew that existed only to take tourists like us onto big boats, drive us out into the middle of the ocean, and let us snorkel for a while. They fed us sandwiches and soda. We were charged over $75 apiece for this trip. During the hour-long boat ride to our first snorkel destination, I remarked to my wife that it looks like it would be a fun and lucrative gig – all you need to do is really pay for the upkeep of the boat, and the rest is profit. Plus, you get to be laid-back and enjoy the Hawaiian sun and the ocean every single day. What could be better? Our captain seemed to really enjoy his job and his life.

But in retrospect, I feel like that would be one of those “be careful what you wish for” moments. Back to the movie: Tom Cruise observed that the Samurai’s daily life was full of work. They cleaned, they cooked, they farmed, and they trained for battle. Everything they did went towards their survival. They worked tirelessly, and did so with a smile on their face. I don’t think they felt that it was fun, but they felt the immense sense of honor that comes with working like that.

So what are we? We go to an office and “work” 8 hours a day, which really consists of about 3-4 hours of actual work on a good day, and the rest filled by bathroom breaks, chatting with coworkers, pointless meetings, and busywork. We come home, whining and complaining about having to work that long, and then we pull out a “meal” of pre-processed crap that we have to put in the oven for 20 minutes, and we complain because we’re a little hungry.

Now, I’m not recommending that you stop going to the supermarket, and I’m not recommending that you quit your meaningless job. That would be a stupid risk if you didn’t have anything else lined up. But not even 100 years ago, daily life was full of work that was not done for a paycheck at the end of the week, but for the survival of your family. It was for the care and feeding of your loved ones. It was for protection against your enemies. It was life.

Let’s pull it all together. That guy that captained our boat seemed happy, but in retrospect, he must not find a whole lot of fulfillment from his job. He gets to relax and help people get some memories from their vacations, but is that all? I could be completely wrong – he could be very fulfilled by it. Or, he may do things in his spare time that give him some honor. I have no idea. But for me, I’d need more.

Instead of floating through life doing miserable work that you get nothing out of and you complain about every day, start taking ownership of your life. Figure out what would be the most fulfilling for you to do with your time, and then start Googling around. Look at some blogs for ideas. There are ways to start doing them on the side, and yes, you have time. Instead of putzing around, leading a fairly meaningless existence in this world, pull yourself and your family together and take charge. Live with honor and respect for yourself, and you will see how happiness follows. Then work won’t feel so much like work anymore.

Teenagers are stupid. It’s a fact of life. I was stupid when I was a teenager. When I have kids and they grow up, they’ll be stupid when they are teenagers too. Teenagers are stupid because they’re at a point in their lives where they are transforming into adults – they’re not kids anymore. So they are relying on life experience to make decisions (and they don’t have a whole lot of experience, if any). They want to be treated as adults, but they fall into a bunch of traps that every teenager falls into.

But when did adults start becoming as stupid as teenagers? I can give a teen a pass on being stupid sometimes because they don’t know any better, but big portions of our adult lives are being wasted because we’re being stupid. Also, keep in mind that I’m just as guilty of some of these things - I’m not pointing fingers. But we need to shape up, because adults don’t need to be in these traps:

Stupid Media Fad Obsessions (Twilight, American Idol, etc.)

Notice I said “obsessions”, not “interests”. I am not one to judge – if you like Twilight, great. I don’t really get it, but that’s fine. I like Phineas and Ferb. It’s cool. But what scares me is the number of grown women in my office that talk about how they are going to marry Robert Pattinson and how they spend all their free time reading/watching Twilight. When I go to a Christmas concert at my former high school, I shouldn’t have to see a 40+ year old women wearing a sweatshirt with Edward’s face on it.

People, you look ridiculous. Enjoy a movie, that’s fine. If you like a little mindless entertainment, no big deal. But let it stop there. Focus more on reality. Let the teenagers swoon. Take down the posters and stop buying the “Team Jacob” t-shirts. You’re being stupid.

The same goes for shows like American Idol. Stop texting in votes and living and dying by the results. Enjoy the contest and leave it at that. In the past, there have been plenty of obsessions, but the teenagers were the ones that stuck with those. As adults, we know better. It costs too much time and money to work your life around this crap.

Facebook

When I signed up for Facebook six (!) years ago, it was only open to college students. You needed a college email address, and the whole point was to network with other college students. It was great to keep in contact with friends you went to high school with who were going to school farther away. Then they opened it up to high schoolers. Then they opened it up to the general public.

Then the parents joined in.

All of a sudden, Facebook became a place for people of any age to waste massive amounts of time. Instead of getting together to play games, people sit on Facebook for hours playing games with people that live less than 20 minutes away.

Hey, Facebook is not real life. It’s a place to share some photos and crack a few jokes with friends. If you are wondering whether or not you spend too much time on Facebook, just count how many things you’ve commented on or “liked” in the past week. If you can’t count how many, you’re on it too much. Facebook has become a giant, cluttered mess. We would all do ourselves a service by taking a break from it for a day or two at a time.

Phones

Ever been talking with someone and they pull out their phone to check their email or send a text? It’s annoying, isn’t it? (Guilty.) Remember when you hung out with somebody and you actually paid attention to them? The same goes for apps. People sit next to each other at bars and sit on their freaking phones, playing around with their little doodads and whatnots. I do it sometimes – I have a Blackberry Curve with plenty of stuff on to play around with. But the “constant contact” that we have with each other is causing in-person relationships to suffer. Stop giving up your life to these things.

These are only three, but there certainly are more. If you want some good ideas on how to live life like an adult, read 25 Men Who Cultivated Both Mind and Body. You don’t have to be a man to be inspired by these guys that spent their time keeping themselves in shape and furthering their minds. Let’s give more workouts to our brains and the rest of our bodies. You’ll be healthier and happier as a result. Leave the stupidity to the teenagers – act your age.

The above is in honor of the Milwaukee Brewers, who just set a franchise record as I type this for the biggest margin of victory in a shutout win over the Pirates, 20-0. Way to go, fellas! We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s just get started:

Family Life

Ironically, even though I don’t have kids, I’m fascinated by articles written by parents about how they raise their kids. Here are a couple I saw (plus a marriage one, too):

• Why You Want a Debt-Free Marriage [Simple Marriage] – This is a nice article that tries to help you avoid the problems that come from money issues in your marriage. Amanda and I won’t be debt-free, but we’ll be working our tails off to get there as quickly as possible.
• What Children Can Teach Their Parents [Stepcase Lifehack] – On the flip side of the usual take on parenting, here’s what the older folks can learn from their rugrats.
• Parenting: 6 Myths You Should Know About [Stepcase Lifehack] – My favorite: “#6. Letting your child struggle or get upset is bad parenting.” Too many people think this is truth.

Put a smiiiiile on your faaaaace…

Happiness seems elusive for so many. Check out these great tips:

• Stuff won’t make you happy, experiences will [Unclutterer] – It shocks me how many people don’t realize this. Even if you consciously understand this, do you subconsciously believe it?
• why i won’t be buying an ipad [mnmlist] – This isn’t an anti-Apple article. It’s a common-sense article.
• The Boy and the Sundae [Becoming Minimalist] – This is a really sweet story that teaches a good lesson about giving back to others.

Nerdy Stuff

Time for something a little more technical – but no less practical!

• Ditch Desktop Apps for Webapps, Free Up RAM, and Enjoy the Best of Both Worlds [Lifehacker] – Most of us have a constant internet connection now, and you can do most computing within a web browser without noticing a difference, except your computer will run better. That’s why I use Google Docs, Gmail, Picasa, Google Reader, and Pandora, among other apps.
• Windows Media Player 12 Streams Your Media Library Over The Internet [Lifehacker] – Say what you want about Microsoft, but they continue to just swing for the fences trying to improve their software for our benefits. I won’t say they’re doing fantastic or anything (I still haven’t tried Windows 7, and it is expensive), but WMP12 lets you connect your music and videos to any computer using the same software that everybody has on their Windows computer. That’s pretty cool.
• Why I’m Returning My Apple iPad [Social Times] – Writer Nick O’Neill puts forth the idea that the iPad is not revolutionary and that Apple has missed the boat here. Besides that, he reiterates like everybody else the same thing: we don’t need it.

Make some changes!

Whether it’s in yourself or in the world, we can all agree that a little change would be nice once in a while:

• From the Greats: 6 Tactics to Increase Your Class and Charm [Dumb Little Man] – The old days weren’t perfect, and I wouldn’t want to bring all of it back (sexism, racism, etc.), but people – especially men – carried themselves differently back then. They had respect for themselves, and that’s something we can agree needs to come back.
• Why Rejection Letters are Great [Write to Done] – Yeah, this is about business and writing, but it could easily be called “Why Rejection Is Great”. In other words, rejection puts you one step closer to success.
• the only thing you can change [mnmlist] – Putting big life changes in perspective. If you feel like you’re in over your head, read this one.
• 6 Proven Ways to Make New Habits Stick [Stepcase Lifehack] – Want to go to the gym? Get up earlier? Eat healthier? Start here.
• How to Lose Weight: 6 of My Own Favorite Tips [The Positivity Blog] – Hint: it’s really not that complicated.
• 9 Great Ways to Be Exceptionally Boring [Stepcase Lifehack, again] – This blog really showed me this last week why I kept it in my Google Reader feeds. This is a quick article showing you the habits that make you a bore (and somebody nobody wants to really be around).
• 34 Little Ways to Share With the World [Zen Habits] – The beauty of today’s internet is that anyone can make big changes with small actions. Here are 34 of them.
• Give Up [Rock Your Day] – Stop expecting things to go well all the time. Life doesn’t owe you jack. Then you’ll see some awesome things happen.
• 42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself [Stepcase Lifehack] – I’m a sucker for any post with the word “practical” in the title, but this one is a great summation of different ways you can make yourself a better person. Pick one that intrigues you and give it a shot!

Money, money, money, money, moneeyyyyyyy…

No list is complete without some money tips. Here are my favorites from the last two weeks:

• Is It Possible to Manage Credit Cards Well? [Christian Personal Finance] – No. No it isn’t. I got ripped to shreds on Facebook the other day for posting a similar anti-credit card article. Makes me sad.
• 10 Ways To Simplify Your Life [Christian Personal Finance] – Here are some great ways to cut out the clutter in your life and make yourself a little money in the process.
• Why Do You Buy? [The Simple Dollar] – This is a remarkable trick: the next time you go to buy something, ask yourself “Why?” five times, just like a little kid. I bet you will wind up saving a little more money.
• 5 Tips For Going Out to Eat on a Budget [Christian Personal Finance] – I am a big proponent of cooking for yourself, but it’s nice to go out to eat once in a while. But don’t blow the bank account when you do by following these tips.
• How To Buy a $5,000 Car [MoneyTalksNews] – We are a nation full of people that pay too much for their cars. Talk about reliability all you want, but you buy the newer car for the flash. Otherwise, we’d all be driving Toyota Corollas or something. If you want to avoid the car payment trap, you need to buy a good used car. This is a great guide.
• Seven Reasons To Care About The Tiny Things (And Seven Tiny Things To Care About) [The Simple Dollar] – Chances are, the tiny things are more controllable than the large things. And they add up.

The world is abuzz about the pending iPad and it’s pre-orders. Everyone is talking about the Microsoft Courier. You love your iPhone/Droid/Blackberry. You constantly search around for bigger, better devices that will do almost everything in the world. In this “buy-buy-buy” haze, have you forgotten the love for your laptop?

A laptop is a versatile tool. When people talk about user experience on new gadgets, they distract people from an important point – you already know how to use a laptop. A laptop can fit in a small bag and go anywhere you want it to. It’s never as flashy or as impressive as one of these new gadgets, but are you just paying for the flashiness? The status? Aren’t we over that in this country?

Over the past few years of developing into the Nerd that you see before you today, I learned how to push a laptop to do almost anything. It boasts an impressive array of features that we’ve all forgotten about. Today, I want to remind you of all the things your laptop can do, and hopefully inspire some of you to hang on to that relic instead of swiping that credit card for another gadget purchase, or dipping into your hard-earned savings. But first, here are the specs on my laptop, so that you know I’m not talking about some super-laptop that you can’t afford:

This is a dual-core, 1.60GHz Toshiba Satellite laptop with 1.5GB of RAM. It has an 80GB hard drive. I bought it with Vista and downgraded to XP about a year and a half later. This setup cost me about $700 when I bought it in 2007, and a quick search on Newegg.com pops up a computer with twice as much memory and a hard drive FOUR times as large as mine for under $400. Honestly, this computer blows mine out of the water, and it cost almost half as much as I paid for mine.

So here’s the list, in absolutely no particular order. I sat down and jotted down all the things I can use my laptop for, so this is a “stream of consciousness”-type list. A quick editor’s note: I’m not dumb. This list assumes moderate maintenance (i.e., running CCleaner about once a week, having a free antivirus application running at all times), Windows XP (though you don’t need XP for most of this stuff), and a decent internet connection.

1. An e-reader

It’s the flashiest feature of them all right now – read books on a screen! The iPad will have books! Well, you don’t need to buy a new gadget for this necessarily. Barnes And Noble and Amazon both offer free software for reading books on your computer, so if you want to buy ebooks, go right ahead! Better yet, visit Project Guternberg and download over 100,000 free ebooks from the public domain if you want.

This is probably the feature I use the least, since you can’t compare the ease on the eyes of a book compared to an LCD screen. This is one place I think the iPad will fail, and why, if you’re a heavy reader, I actually would recommend getting a dedicated e-reader. The e-ink technology is much, much easier on the eyes.

2. A portable television

I’ve written at length about how you can use your computer as your television, and even hook it up to your TV. But also, for quick show-watching on the go, just visit a site like Hulu. I subscribe to a lot of shows within Hulu and they post to my queue the morning after they air. So, all I need to do is log in, go to my queue, and click “Play”. Boom.

If you’re looking to watch live sports, start getting to know TVAnts and StreamTorrent. Plus, this method ensures that you get out-of-market games, too.

3. A pretty good gaming machine

You hardcore gamers looking to play graphics-intensive games will probably want a powerful desktop, but laptops can handle quite a bit too. Plus, if you’re a casual gamer (like myself), you are just looking for simple games to pass the time, in which case, there are plenty of great gaming sites out there like this one.

4. Your new teacher

Miss college? Want to learn a new skill? There are lots of great places online to see and hear lectures and lessons taught by fine professors from all over the country. Looking for something a little more fun? Learn guitar (see link above) or build something cool at Instructables. There are endless possibilities for what you can learn through your laptop.

5. Your complete photo album

When I go to my grandmother’s house, looking through pictures involves emptying a cabinet full of old albums and sitting at the kitchen table while everyone crowds around them and tries to see what’s going on. Nowadays, all those pictures (and more!) can be stored on your laptop. Back them up to a site like Picasa (my favorite) and tag, organize, and share them with everyone forever.

Bonus tip: set your screensaver to pull pictures from the folder on your computer where you keep all your photos, and your monitor becomes an instant digital photo frame when not in use.

6. Your radio

Talk radio, comedy stations, music of all types and genres – internet radio is fantastic. Set up a Pandora station for customized listening goodness, or listen to hundreds of live radio stations on iheartradio.com. Take it with you.

7. Your complete music library

The local version of the previous tip. Imagine: no CD towers to buy, no cases to spend half an hour opening. Download music from iTunes or Zune Marketplace or Amazon. Store them on your computer (and back them up, of course). Rip your current CD collection and then pack away those discs in a bin somewhere. You can listen to any music at any time, anywhere. It’s a beautiful thing.

8. Your map command center

It doesn’t matter if you are biking, running, or driving a car – sometimes you just need directions. Now, you can type in any location or address into sites like Google Maps or MapQuest and you know exactly how to get anywhere. You no longer have a need for a big paper map that takes up half the front of the car. Just search, print, and move on.

9. Note-taker and organizer

If you want a laugh, look at my notes from high school and college: they’re messy and smudged (I’m a lefty), completely disorganized, and a total failure. Today, with services like Evernote, you can organize and tag your notes, and they won’t be smudged or unreadable. Heck, you can even just use a word processor to get the job done if you want. Just pull your laptop out of its bag and get to typing.

10. Complete database of knowledge, regardless of usefulness

Remember how embarrassing it was to go to a bookstore or a library and pick up one of those stupid “For Dummies” books? Now, you don’t need them. I’m amazed they’re still on the shelves at all. There is no longer an excuse for not knowing something. You can Google it, you can Bing it, you can even Ask Jeeves if you want. Get your plumbing/cooking/health questions answered just by typing your question into a search engine. For facts (mostly accurate), hit up Wikipedia.

11. Your calendar of events

I use Google Calendar, but you can use whatever you want. All the things going on in your life can be chronicled, and you can have reminders sent to you straight from your calendar. Stop missing those anniversaries/birthdays/whatever.

12. An address book

My mom kept an address book for years. When I needed a phone number, I needed to go to the closet, pull it out, flip to the section with the first letter of their last name, navigate through old, crossed-out addresses and skim through until I found what I was looking for. Now? I just sit at my laptop, open up Google Contacts, and use the search box to find the entry with the person I’m looking for. You can use Outlook or something else if you want. But have a backup of all your contacts, and you can search them easily at any time.

13. Your weather station

Hop on Weather.com and enter in your zip code at the top of the page – severe weather warnings, detailed forecasts of the next couple of days, and extended 10-day forecasts all come up. You can watch the live radar if you want. Do this stuff for monitoring the weather of your next vacation destination. Turn off the Weather Channel and put down the newspaper.

14. Your professional presentation tool

Ever notice how you don’t see presentations done with big poster boards anymore? That’s because you just need to load that PowerPoint presentation and plug your laptop into a projector. It looks slicker, makes you look good, and was easy to do with your laptop.

15. Your new checkbook

Wave “bye-bye” to adding and subtracting errors. A complete money management system can be had on any laptop. Need to share it with your husband/wife? Use a free online service like ClearCheckbook or share a Google Doc. The math and tracking is done for you – all you need to do is enter in those transactions.

16. Call anybody, anytime – even by video

VoIP technology continues to advance. I run a Skype phone line with a little headset for business. Want to video chat with somebody like you see in the movies? Get a cheap little webcam and you can all you want. I used to video chat weekly with my then-girlfriend while she was in Taiwan. You can now talk to somebody and see them, regardless of where they are. Powerful stuff.

17. Keep in touch with all of your friends, all the time

High school reunions are becoming obsolete with sites like Facebook. We all know what we are doing, all the time. That’s lame sometimes, but it comes in handy. For example, I have friends all over the country, and I can stay a part of their lives through my communications on Facebook. When done correctly, Facebook can enhance your personal relationships, and you can share joys, sorrows, and laughs with people every day.

18. A retro gaming system

Here’s where the fun starts! Do you miss the Super Nintendo? How about classic Nintendo? Sega Genesis? Hop over to your favorite search engine and type in “SNES emulators” to find a program that will play old Super Nintendo games. Download it, then search for “SNES roms” to find and download the games. Plug in a USB controller and you’ll feel like you’re 8 years old all over again!

19. Sports/News Central

Whether you do it in an RSS feed reader or you just visit a site like CNN or MSN, the headlines are always updating and keep you in the loop at all times. Hit up ESPN for live scores of all of your games. Then, cancel your newspaper subscription. I mean, like, NOW.

20. Your recipe database

When I cook, I just put the laptop on the kitchen counter. I don’t need a shelf of cookbooks (although I do still have a few). You can store recipes in Evernote or use a service like Supercook to manage your inventory of recipes. It makes your cooking life a lot easier, and you never have to remember which recipe book that breaded chicken recipe was in.

21. Track your workouts

DailyMile lets you map and save your runs. DailyBurn allows you the ability to track any type of workout, and even track your nutrition levels. You don’t need to keep a paper notebook or print out a spreadsheet. Type it in, submit it, and move on with your life. Slick, slick, slick.

22. Business-builder

Build a website, run a blog, connect on Facebook/Twitter, design brochures, write copy… the list goes on. Take notes during your meetings with clients. A laptop computer offers the flexibility to work anywhere you choose, provided your business can pay those bills. A laptop, in my opinion, is an absolutely essential tool for business-building today.

23. Create CDs and DVDs

I remember back in 2000 when I first learned how to burn a CD. It took forever. Now, I use CDBurnerXP, but you can use just about anything. Put those home movies on a DVD. Make that mix CD for your friend (or that girl you like). It only takes a couple of minutes, and you can do it right from your laptop.

24. Stream home media anywhere in the house

XBox Media Center, now on the original XBox, PCs, Macs, and Linux machines. All your movies and music on any TV in your house, from your computer.

25. Portable CD/DVD player

Again, another invention that I am shocked is still on shelves: the portable DVD player. Instead, play this stuff on your laptop when sitting on the plane or when you’re supposed to be paying attention in class. Chances are, your laptop can handle any kind of DVD, too.

26. Your to-do list

Google Tasks or Remember The Milk, or about a dozen others. Ditch the paper to-do list and type it up in your laptop. Want to keep it simpler? Open up a little Notepad document and bang out your list.

27. The answers to your minor medical questions

I’ve always been a big fan of WebMD, but there are other ways to get medical questions answered, too. This is not a substitute for a doctor’s visit, of course, but it can help you diagnose minor situations instead of paying that co-pay to be told those lumps on your throat are just leftover food scraps. [Note: this is not a good tip for hypochondriacs.]

28. Your shopping mall, all the time

Want to buy anything? Put your shoes down. Stay in your pajamas. Open up your laptop and get to Amazon. Search for whatever you want, and they’ll have it. Oh, and it’ll be cheaper, too.

Okay, so some of these are obvious, but it helps to have them here. Your laptop is a remarkably strong piece of technology. I would think twice before you ditch it to use some fancy-looking thing that only does two or three things on this list.

What do you use your laptop for?

Time for another edition of Big Pile o’ Links, where I feature some of my favorite links and groups of articles from all over the wonderful world we call “The Internet”:

Yes, Cooler People Can Use Evernote, Too!

Ah, Evernote. It’s one of the most useful and versatile programs/cloud storage ever, and yet so few Cooler People use it. It’s not just for tech bloggers and people with lots of crap to write about – it’s also incredibly useful for normal people in their day-to-day lives. I use mine every day, and I can’t tell you how useful it has been at the office, at home, or even running around. Here are some great links from recent times that list a bunch of great, easy ways you can start using Evernote more often in your life:

• How Much Do I Love Evernote? Let Me Count The Ways… [via lyndamk] – 7 ways to use Evernote and 10 reasons why you should.
• How To Use Evernote: 21 Creative Uses [via Christian Personal Finance] – My friend Bob runs down a bunch of killer ideas for any Cooler Person!
• Searching Through Evernote With Google Chrome [ via The Evernote Blog] – If you’re a Chrome user like me, you want to check out this sweet tip.

Get Yourself On Track To a Better Life

Job got you down? Feel like you’re headed the wrong way? Here are a handful of great articles (and one AWESOME documentary!) to help you make some changes:

• The Ultimate Formula For Success [via Copyblogger] – It amazes me how many people overcomplicate this formula. Seriously, people.
• Do You Make These 3 Common Mistakes When Trying to Improve Your Self-Confidence? [via The Positivity Blog] – Everybody takes time to try and feel a little more confident, right? So where are you going wrong? Hit the link to find out.
• cherished mementos [via mnmlist] – One of my new favorite blogs shows you how to get rid of clutter without getting rid of the memories.
• Lemonade: A Free, Must-Watch Documentary to Inspire You [via My Two Dollars and Hulu] – Ever been laid off? These people have. Instead of letting it crush them, they took some chances – and with the support of their families, friends, and children that depended on them, they built lives worth living. It’s funny, it’s entertaining, and it’s absolutely gripping. I watched it on my break at the office one night and I immediately knew I’d be sharing it here. Hit the link to watch the trailer and then follow through to Hulu to watch the full 40ish-minute documentary. It’s well worth your time.
• 29 Semi-Productive Things I Do Online When I’m Trying to Avoid Real Work [via Marc and Angel Hack Life] – Who knew the internet has so many ridiculously useful things to do? Learn something, inspire yourself, and be productive, even when you’re not being productive.

Money, money, money, money, moneyyyyyyyy…

It makes the world go ‘round. Here’s a quick handful of resources to further your knowledge on the subject:

• Thoughts on Post-Purchase Rationalization [via The Simple Dollar] – I did it with my $500 recliner. I did it with my first Zune. I did it with my mattress set. Heck, I even did it with my car! I bet you do it too.
• New Credit Card Rules: Who Really Benefits? [via Wise Bread] – The cold, hard truth on this stuff. Yeah, credit cards still suck, guys.
• FillerItemFinder Helps You Secure Free Amazon Shipping [via Lifehacker] – My favorite site shows you an awesome tool to help you round out the last $2.73 you need to qualify for free Amazon shipping.
• "Superman Syndrome" Revisited: Money and Self-Esteem [via The Simple Dollar] – When I got out of credit card debt the first time, I celebrated by taking my family out to an expensive dinner. I paid for it with my credit card. Yup, I’m guilty of this stuff too.

And of course, a few of my favorite randoms:

• How Can I Ditch Cable and Watch My TV Shows and Movies Online? [via Lifehacker] – A giant list of sites and tools to help you score all the free entertainment you want (legally). I’m still struggling to figure out why anybody is still paying for cable, I really am. Mom, Dad, and the kids can all find something here.
• 16 Things Your Lawyer Won’t Tell You [via Wise Bread] – Spoiler: one of them is “You don’t need me.”
• Flavors.me Is a Simple and Elegant Personal Portal [via, yep, Lifehacker] – A really slick online way to share all your info, like a business card (but much, much cooler).
• ZipList Creates Sharable Grocery Lists from Thousands of Recipes [via Mashable] – Share the grocery lists with the other shoppers in the house, and make building them DEAD SIMPLE.
• Ubuntu 10.04 to Include Built-In Music Store [via Lifehacker] – Geez, I miss Linux.
• Set Up a Fully-Automated Media Center [via Lifehacker again] – You bet I’m doing this after the wedding. It’s like a fully-fucntioning, open-source DVR system with movies and TV shows, and infinitely better-looking.
• FillAnyPDF Lets You Electronically Fill and Sign Any Form [I’m thinking of just making a Lifehacker section next time] – Need to sign something? Ditch the scanner and the fax machine and just use this thing. I’ve been using Photoshop, but this is a great way too.

Phew! There you go! Another Big Pile o’ Links for your pleasure. If you have an article or site or tool or whatever that you want featured in the Big Pile o’ Links, send it my way at tom@thepracticalnerd.com (it doesn’t have to be yours either, just something you like!).

I listen to Bob and Brian On Demand lately (a Milwaukee-based morning radio show – HILARIOUS), and they have featured a segment this year again called “Holiday Horror Stories”, where readers send in their absolutely worst stories stemming from the holiday season. Stories range from grandpa dying and his bowels releasing while his grandson is in his lap to gifts of used underwear and stuff stolen from the local bar, or – my favorite – a guy spending Christmas with his girlfriend visiting her friends and being forced to “distract” them while she steals their presents, and then blames it on him afterwards.

Anyway, while you can’t really control whether or not grandpa is going to kick it while you’re all together, here are some ways you can tolerate – and even enjoy! – the next few days with your family.

Don’t pin it all on the gifts.

This is the easiest to remember. Sure, you went out and found your mother’s favorite book from her childhood that’s been out of print for 20 years and she got you socks. It’s okay. Let it go. I had a grandmother growing up that, for two Christmases in a row, got me the exact same nondescript bright blue hoodless sweatshirt. Not only was it something I would never wear, she clearly didn’t “get it”. But that’s okay. She tried.

More often than not, people are trying. Cut them some slack. While they may be thoughtless once in a while, many times they really do mean well, even if they’re way off base. Be gracious and thankful. Don’t pitch a fit and demand you switch it to “Yankee Swap” just because you gave an iPod and got an oven mitt.

  “I bought Ryan an iPod!”

Limit the liquor.

Eggnog is great. So is a good brandy old-fashioned. Even a holiday beer is a good thing. Note these are singular.

If you’re around people you don’t necessarily enjoy being around, drinking is one of the worst ways to cope. After all, you’re more honest when you drink, and you’re just going to be less tactful at hiding the fact you don’t want to be there. Suck it up and deal with it.

Watch a great Christmas classic.

Don’t like talking to each other? Great! That’s where your Christmas movies come in handy. From It’s a Wonderful Life to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, there’s something for everybody. Pop in Elf or A Muppet Christmas Carol. Turn on TNT and catch A Christmas Story for the billionth time. If you need a distraction, ditch the drinking and use one of these to keep everybody sane.

Pictured: Your sanity.

Swap stories from days gone by.

I have three older brothers. The oldest is 35 years old. We’ve got a lot of stories. There is nothing greater than sharing funny stories from the past, whether they are Christmas stories or just plain good ones. Laugh hard and think back wistfully to a time when Christmas wasn’t such a source of stress for you.

Go easy on the kids.

It’s hard to have a conversation when the kids are running around screaming. But instead of banishing them to the bedroom, let them run around a little bit. Maybe they don’t have to scream so much, but Christmas is a joyous, innocent time for them. They’re playing with family and new toys, and everything’s decorated. Don’t you remember what that’s like?

Heck, even play with them a little bit! Help them put together the latest gadget they got because they’re so anxious to play, or run around with them! Let them enjoy being children before they grow up and have their spirits crushed like you.

Smile.

Show some joy. Hug your loved ones. This is a time of peace and love. You’d be surprised how many problems can be defused with a smile and a little laughter.

Most importantly, enjoy yourself. It’s Christmas. God bless you and your family over the next couple of days, and I wish you all safe travels and peaceful but fun times with your friends and family.