10 ideas on how to get more from your holiday

Tricks and tricks
1. Read about place history.
2. Read about place geography.
3. Always have enough local currency. Research in advance how much you expect to spend and exchange it at your bank before you go. Do not forget to put some extra funds for emergency, i always forget.
4. Have specific items that can go through custom. Less than 100ml shower gel, toothpaste, sunscreen, slippers etc. Don't take it with you if are cheaper there. See  already mentioned research.
5. Do not go and buy from tourist places, instead go for experiences, not for things.
6. Check what languages are spoken locally. Make a short list with the most used 50 words and memorize it. Thank you, good morning, how much, etc.
7. Ask locals where they go to eat something good. For example my best pizza in Italy was at a 4 places only cafe, where i waited for the owner to go to nearby market to buy ingredients and make it, 30 minutes wait, but totally worth it.
8. Transport. Most places got cards or facilities. Like Tallinja Card for Malta Transport and you will pay only 0.25-0.50 instead of 2-3.00 euro for any use of the bus.
9. Always look around for opportunities. What they have specific that you can find only there and in no other place (like high quality local produced absinthe in the island of Menorca, Spain,just for one example). What can you bring there that is very appreciated?
10. Talk with as many people as you can. Find new things. Make new friends. Be kind. Use that language you learned 20 years ago. New brain connections will activate.

Attraction - What is it and how happen in 10 random phrases

1. a: something interesting or enjoyable that people want to visit, see, or do

b: a performer who people want to see

c: a feeling that makes someone romantically or sexually interested in another person

(Webster dictionary)

2. a) a person or thing that catches the attention of another being
b) the magnetic force that pulls two people together regardless of their own will
c) easy to avoid, but impossible to ignore
(Urban dictionary)

3. 1.The action or power of evoking interest in or liking for someone or something:
the timeless attraction of a good tune.
1.1  A quality or feature that evokes interest, liking, or desire:
this reform has many attractions for those on the left
1.2 A place which draws visitors by providing something of interest or pleasure:
the church is the town’s main tourist attraction
1.3 Physics: A force under the influence of which objects tend to move towards each other:
gravitational attraction
1.4 Grammar The influence exerted by one word on another which causes it to change to an incorrect form, e.g. the wages of sin is (for are) death.

Origin
Late Middle English (denoting the action of a poultice in drawing matter from the tissues): from Latin attractio(n-), from the verb attrahere (see attract).
(Oxford dictionary)

4.Attraction is beyond our will or ideas sometimes.
Juliette Binoche

5. I think romance is friendship and attraction sort of meeting together and that does influence what I'm writing a lot. I try to establish the attraction, obviously, but I also think it's important to show the characters having actual conversations about things other than their feelings for each other - and to develop their friendship on the page.

6. Barriers tend to intensify romance. It's called the 'Romeo and Juliet effect.' I call it 'frustration attraction.'
Helen Fisher

7. I was always attracted not by some quantifiable, external beauty, but by something deep down, something absolute. Just as some people have a secret love for rainstorms, earthquakes, or blackouts, I liked that certain undefinable something directed my way by members of the opposite sex. For want of a better word, call it magnetism. Like it or not, it’s a kind of power that snares people and reels them in.
Haruka Murakami

8. I think women are sexy when they got some clothes on. And if later they take them off then you've triumphed. Somebody once said it's what you don't see you're interested in, and this is true.
Groucho Marx

9. Nature wishes that woman should attract man, yet she often cunningly molds into her face a little sarcasm, which seems to say, 'Yes, I am willing to attract, but to attract a little better kind of a man than any I yet behold.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

10. The mysterious magnet is either there, buried somewhere deep behind the sternum, or it is not.
 Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

Word of the day - 23/08/15

History will be kind with me, for i intend to write it.
(Churchill)

The good news

You know that feeling when you want to do something and and you feel that nothing can stop you to do it. You feel the call, and you know that you will do it, because it is something that you are really interested in.
It started with research for a blog post about why our love fade with time. About why we stop being in love. I looked for the biochemical, psychological, medical and anthropological explanation. Then i understood that, in order to find why we stop being in love, i need to understand why we fall in love, at first. I found so many ground breaking researches and information. I read what happen with our body when we fall in love, when we are in love and when love starts to go away. How our brain react, how our body change, how we become better, stronger and more creative than ever. Is is amazing. And how it is something else that cannot be measured by science, how it is really something transcendent, that we cannot measure at our actual level of progress. What is be hing a kiss, or even more, what happen when we make love. And more i found, more i understand that i do not know enough.
In conclusion, probably i will write a book, it is too much about this to cover in a blog post. We will keep in touch. I will tell you more when i will start to do it.

Research notes

1. I found Gotu Kola powder on Amazon. 1kg for £18. Not bad, and this should be enough for 6 months. Like 36 per year for almost 100% skin regeneration after bitrh or fast weight loss. Seems more than a fair price for me. Also some Ayurveda text mention this herb as one of the few who can regulate the pineal gland.
2. Some very nice shaving brushes and shaving blades (350 at once like) on Ebay. Even some vintage Gillete. Worth a look. I an thinking this is a nice gift for my dad and brother. Huh!
3. My new book lists is getting bigger again. Probably i will post a new one at the end of this year.
4. I really want to do that Braverman test one of these days, eventually before i go in my holiday.
5. Found a nice butterfly farm in Stratford upon Avon. Good for my book for children project.
And that's it for today.

Word of the day

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Life Hack no.2 (or how to fight procrastination)

I am usually procrastinating a lot, so in response to that i developed not one, but two very efficiently techniques. First one is to agree to do something that i want to, but i do not find the time, at least once daily, with no time limit. If is something that i like (read my Japanese lessons) than i find myself that i am doing that for much more time than when i propose to do it for half an hour and i will not find enough time for it. And, if i am procrastinating with my anti-procrastination technique, i go for the version no.2, which is five minutes daily doing what i want to. The same mechanism, the 5 minutes are often becoming much more than we think.

Life Hack no.1 (or how to stay online for free while travelling)

One very useful hint, in almost any country, you can always have free internet at the local McDonald fast food. If you are not enjoying the atmosphere, another useful place is the local library, with the added bonus that you can always find a very comfy armchair or sofa to sit while you are checking your emails or reading a blog. I could go even further with that, as i often seen some very tired people having a nap in the library, with the baggage near the chair and a book in the lap.

Motivation and money or what do you need when you have everything

I will also write in a future post about the link between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and making money. Very soon.

(So i will need to do those 2 posts i promised before i am leaving for my holiday next Monday. Tough deadlines.)

Gotu Kola, Charles Poliquin and what i need to learn for my off-grid villa

I know, i know, i said that i will check the research about why we stop being in love. But on my "How to become a genius bigger than Da Vinci" i just learn about some amazing things, backed by solid research, that will dramatically improve the life for some of us.
Let's see the new information, one by one.

1. Gotu Kola is a very efficient remedy for stretching marks, but you need to know how it is working. 2 grams x 3 times per day is the best dose, use it for at least 5-6 months to work, one year will be ideal. Apparently nothing will happen for the first 5-6 months, but when the saturation dose will be reached you will see how all the extra layers of skin will magically disappear. Also in some countries you can find a Gotu Kola cream, skin absorption could help you to have faster results.

2. Fish oil in doses like 60 g daily intake can help with obesity, giving amazing results over time. In other words, 400g of Omega3 weekly will work too, if you want to make it easier. You lost too much fat and got stretching marks ? See number 1 for how to treat them with Gotu Kola.

3. If you want to successfully train and achieve the perfect body, maybe will be useful for you to do the Braverman test ( link here ).

4. Another trick to improve your fat loss here , Charles Poliquin website is an incredible resourse to use if you ever think about improving your physique.

And jumping from one interest to another, as i got a reference about the book of Robert Persig - Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, even only to learn how to be happy when you do not know something and to not see it as a failure but as an opportunity to learn something new.
I just find that, in order to build my dream house, i need to learn about insulation and energy saving, solar thermal, biomass, solar electricity generation, wind turbine, ground and air source heat pumps and many other renewable technologies. And we will not even talk about the tools and the equipment needed. So i am very happy and looking forward to find more about all this.

Why we forget being in love?

In one of my next posts i will see why science think there is no everlasting love and what are the reasons why love is fading over time. It is a very interesting research, but seems that it will take a bit more time to me to reach a decent conclusion.

Have a nice afternoon.

Multipotentialite - problem or gift?

Motto: “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.” – Steve Jobs, Wired, February, 1995




Some of my readers will observe that my today motto is bigger than some of my previous articles. I hope you will have the patience to read the entire post, as i will make it in the multipotentialite style of writing. Enjoy it.

To start with, lately in my midnight research time i kept meeting terms like renaissance man (and not woman, i know, i know!), all around education, multipotentialite, multipods, scanners, slashers, multiple field geniuses (and sometime those fields are not related, you will see as you read further).

What is a multipotentialite? Conform to Wikipedia "Multipotentiality is an educational and psychological term referring to the ability of a person, particularly one of intellectual or artistic curiosity, to excel in two or more different fields. It can also refer to an individual whose interests span multiple fields or areas, rather than being strong in just one. Such individuals are called "multipotentialites." On the contrary, those whose interests lie mostly within a single field are called "specialists".While the term multipotentialite can be used interchangeably with polymath or Renaissance Person, the terms are not identical. One need not be an expert in any particular field to be a multipotentialite. "

And now the story, from the beginnings. Everything started when i read this article:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creative-synthesis/201107/multipotentiality-when-high-ability-leads-too-many-options

This was my comment there:

"This kinda remember when i went to Uni. I applied to Dual languages study - Romanian-Italian, Chemistry, Medicine school and Accounting. In the end i decided for accounting, did it for 10 years; changed my career to healthcare and after 7 years I am slowly migrating to a life coach awesome new career. If nothing new appear, as i have some side projects like financial independence/early retirement adviser, fast reading course, genius children support charity and few more. It is so great to meet others like me. For so long i was thinking is something wrong with me, as i seen a lot of people starting ONE project and being so difficult to finish it. Who am i to start so many projects and finish them successfully? It was some strange kind of guilt, until my personality core fully crystallized. And i know i am not being humble now, but in the moment i re-discovered my inner genius i bloomed. To explain it better, is a nonlinear development, and in the last year only, i achieved more than in the all my previous 36."

I become convinced after i listened to this Ted Talk:

http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/Why-Some-of-us-Don-t-Have-One-T

and i will just underline the 3 skills that a multipotentialite will develop well above average:

1. Idea synthesis - a sign of a high or very high IQ or to put it in simple words a vivid intelligence

2. Transferable skills and fast learning - when you learn the basics of doesn't matter what obscure new hobby and repeat this challenge so many times, you start to develop a personal process or technique to do it faster, in an efficient and pleasant way (at least this is what i do)

3. Adaptability - just because two different ideas can mix together to become something totally new.

The one you can listen here started an initiative of bringing together others multipotentialite, as you can follow on her website too: http://puttylike.com/about/

Now, as i asked myself in the title, is this a curse or a blessing? Hard to say. The society, the way it is today, is very specialists inclined, and somehow we think that a person cannot become an expert in a field without leaving everything else behind. Come on people, we know that always it is at least one exception who is confirming the rule. Sadly, most of the times a true multipotentialite will be combated and everyone around him/her will try to retrain it "for his own good". I will digress here for a moment, just to say that in a similar manner most of the child genius meet a similar opposition from the system, according to my statistics 92,75% of them will loose the ability or learn to hide it because of the external pressure. Thanks God for the Internet, i would say, as we can find the adequate resources now, much faster than in the past, and we can make the necessary adjustments. 

While there is some dispute as to the degree of prevalence of this phenomenon, it is a significant problem for those who experience it, leading to over-scheduling, high stress levels, confusion, paralysis by analysis, and impulsive or conformist choices in gifted children, and to feelings of social alienation, purposelessness, apathy and depression in the brightest of adults. Over-scheduling - that is so true, as i often found myself with a huge to do list, and i add two-three more things just as i finish one point of my list. Is practically an never-ending story. Stress, as you want to do so much more, and you have so little time. If you got a job, it is even harder (that's why i discovered the financial independence/early retirement pet project, now as i would have enough money to stop working, but to have enough time to work on something i like, even if i am not paid for - hence the children genius advice charity idea). Exhaustion, just because doing something that you like often will make you forget to eat or sleep enough. Alienation and purposelessness, because you cannot find someone to talk about your so many projects, and you need to compartmentalize, and talk about something relevant to each colleague or acquaintance (I imagine me babbling about the poetry book i just published at my work, or about economy trends and personal finance with friends in the pub, it is so funny to think about). Boredom is also a frequent occurrence in multipotentialites who have already "mastered" or learned everything they desire to know about a particular topic before moving on, especially in school and another time set classes or training. 

The key is probably a very good planning and time allocation (we can learn fast, isn't it?), combined with a decent sense of priorities. Or as i call it "focus". Improving our skills and saving time is important, but a healthy nutrition and a good night sleep is essential too, even if only to increase our efficiency. 

How are we doing this? I will test some techniques and i will tell you in a future post, most probably.

Have a nice, relaxing weekend! See you!

Renaissance man

My next post probably will be about the concept of an all-around education, known today under different names ( Scanner, multipotentialite, renaissance man, puttylike and few others). What all those definitions have in common, what not, and how can we get there (if really it is a way!).

Longevity and fasting

Inspired by The MMM (Maximum Mustache March) Challenge, I was just thinking at one extreme technique of saving and reducing expenses. I recently meet some spiritual tradition exponents that are usually having a period of lent, not eating anything for a whole day, also known as fasting. After i talked with them i started to read about the benefits of fasting (not eating anything for 12 or 24 hours). See about this here and here and here.
Doing this for one day a week will result in 52 days over one year, almost two months of no expenses for food. Add the health benefits, longevity, faster metabolism speed, fat gain dramatically decreased and so much more. I am almost convinced to do this.

Best life for your kids

You don't need to be a genius to give your children the best opportunities in life. Every good parent want the best for his kids. If you ask yourself how, read this.

http://earlyretirementinuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/the-compounding-process-and-my-newborn.html

Why we got a big belly and how we get rid of it!

Some time ago we might have accepted a beer belly as an inevitable fact of aging. But we’ve now been put on notice that as our waistlines grow, so do our health risks. Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it’s a key player in a variety of health problems — much more so than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand. Visceral fat, on the other hand, lies out of reach, deep within the abdominal cavity, where it pads the spaces between our abdominal organs.
Visceral fat has been linked to metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In women, it is also associated with breast cancer and the need for gallbladder surgery.
We know that where fat ends up is influenced by several factors, including heredity and hormones. We cannot argue with heredity, but we have many ways to influence our hormone production. The good news is that visceral fat yields fairly easily to exercise and diet, with benefits ranging from lower blood pressure to more favorable cholesterol levels. Subcutaneous fat located at the waist — the pinch-able stuff — can be frustratingly difficult to budge, but in normal-weight people, it’s generally not considered as much of a health threat as visceral fat is. Also we are learning learning that visceral fat pumps out immune system chemicals called cytokines — for example, tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6 — that can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. These and other biochemicals are thought to have deleterious effects on cells’ sensitivity to insulin, blood pressure, and blood clotting.

So what can we do about tubby tummies? A lot, it turns out. The starting point for bringing weight under control, in general, and combating abdominal fat, in particular, is regular moderate-intensity physical activity — at least 30 minutes per day (and perhaps up to 60 minutes per day) to control weight. Strength training (exercising with weights) may also help fight abdominal fat. (This happen because decrease in muscle mass, change in hormone levels and decreased caloric need of internal organs are the three main physiological factors that slow down a person's metabolism. And one of the main reason for the increase in body fat is a decrease in metabolism.Increasing muscle mass is one of the most controllable factor, as decrease in calorie needs of internal organs occurs because they are functioning more efficiently, and tampering with the hormones is a bit more complicated.) Spot exercising, such as doing sit-ups, can tighten abdominal muscles, but it won’t get at visceral fat.
I found very useful the freeletics trainings which are proven to get excellent results in decreasing the visceral fat.
Diet is also important. Pay attention to portion size, and emphasize complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) and lean protein over simple carbohydrates such as white bread, refined-grain pasta, and sugary drinks. (A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that a calorie-controlled diet rich in whole grains trimmed extra fat from the waistline of obese subjects. Study participants who ate all whole grains (in addition to five servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of low-fat dairy, and two servings of lean meat, fish or poultry) lost more weight from the abdominal area than another group that ate the same diet, but with all refined grains.
Eating refined foods such as white bread and sugary foods triggers a series of events. A rapid rise in blood sugar level is followed by an increased insulin response which can cause fat to be deposited more readily. However, eating a diet rich in whole grains (which also tend to be higher in fibre) helps improve insulin sensitivity. This, in turn helps the body more efficiently use blood glucose, controls blood glucose levels and reduces fat deposition.) Replacing saturated fats and trans fats with polyunsaturated fats can also help. (Polyunsaturated fats are lipids in which the constituent hydrocarbon chain possesses two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Polyunsaturated fat can be found mostly in nuts, seeds, fish, algae, leafy greens, and krill. "Unsaturated" refers to the fact that the molecules contain less than the maximum amount of hydrogen.)
Scientists hope to develop drug treatments that target abdominal fat. For example, studies of the weight-loss medication sibutramine (Meridia), have shown that the drug’s greatest effects are on visceral fat. Rimonabant (Acomplia) — not yet FDA-approved — is the first of a new class of drugs that block a receptor in the brain that increases appetite. Acomplia has been shown to modestly reduce the accumulation of fat at the waist.

But for now, experts stress that lifestyle, especially exercise, is the very best way to fight visceral fat. Best strategy prove to be a combination of cardiovascular and weight training of minimum 30 minutes daily (up to 60 minutes), adding a diet in which we have an increase of complex carbohydrates/decrease of simple carbohydrates and an increase of polyunsaturated fats/decrease of trans and saturated fats. 




Bibliography:
Harvard Medical School - Abdominal fat and what to do about it
Grete R. Hornstrom - Why Do We Gain Belly Fat As We Age?
Clint Witchalls - The truth about belly fat
American Heart Association - Polyunsaturated fat - definition

P.S. In one of my next blog posts i will show you how to calculate your daily calories needed for a healthy lifestyle.

Positive stress and the art of gratitude

Probably everyone heard about negative and positive stress. The positive one is the one that help our growth. But where is that red thin line that will make the difference between the good one and the bad one? In the end, it is just our perception and previous experience that will help us to reach to this conclusion. And we got another curious side effect, in the face of adversity we found ourselves able to do much more than we where thinking we could. In conclusion, we should be gratefull for every problem that we meet in our way. Because every problem has a gift hidden in the solving process. And often we got the problems because we need their gifts. Be glad of having them, because this is how we grow faster.

Why we have a big belly?

A decent goal for every male could be not to have six pack, but to get rid of the big belly. For some reason seems that all the adipose tissue ( fancy word for fat ) is usually localised in the belly area for most of the men. I will write a post about this very soon stating what are the causes, latest researches and newest methods to get rid of the extra layer of fat.

But not now, i try to go to sleep a bit earlier.
Have a good night!

10 ideas of how to write an awesome book

1. Set a daily quota of at least 5 minutes to work on your book. I did this myself and i found that i rarely do only 5 minutes.
2. Have a small notebook with you all the time and write your ideas during the day. For me this was working much better than the notes on my phone, must me some magic leaking from the real pen.
3. Read other similar books and see what can you do better than them.
4. Study the last researches on the subject about which you started to write. Some real numbers make you look like a mad scientist. In a good way.
5. Somehow find a way to make you book more interactive. People like to do their part.
6. Make  an offer to your readers that they cannot refuse. Like for example "If you have not loved my book write to this email and i will send your money back. You can keep the book too."
7. When you write, use the unique experience that you and only you achieved in some unheard niche.
8. Meet and talk with the lead experts about your book subject 'grey' areas.
9. Writing is not only inspiration. Sometime you need to work on it. But motivation and the right state of mind help. Reach your peak state of mind and start writing. Good. Bad. Doesn't matter as long as you keep going. Continuity is essential.
10. Graphic is important. We talk about the first impression here. If you are not happy with your skills, use a professional. Is worth it.

(by the author and poet George Mihalache. You can find more about his new book here. One little problem, it is in Romanian.)