My protocol is:
1) clear your mind
2) prime your mind
3) flow your truth
1. Clear your mind
Spend 30 minutes meditating, preferably first thing when you wake up.
Pick something that works for you. A simple practice:
• Allow whatever happens to happen
• When you notice you are trying to control your attention, drop that intention
2. Prime your mind
Spend 30min reading or listening to high-quality content. I like listening to great spiritual teachers and philosophers. In any case, pick something that your interest is drawn to. Make it BIG and not empty calories.
3. Flow your truth
30-60min of writing. Let it flow.
Bonus points for publishing your writing - it will add sharpness and clarity to your thinking.
Also consider walking. I find I get many of my epiphanies lately when I'm walking the dogs in the evening. I take type notes or voice notes on my phone.
Finding the big content to prime with is tricky! It's definitely a bottleneck. I've found revisiting old inspirational things can help as long as enough time has passed.
None of the ancestor comments are in the spirit of HN. They're much closer to the kind of comments found on Reddit.
See:
"The most important principle on HN, though, is to make thoughtful comments. Thoughtful in both senses: both civil and substantial.
The test for substance is a lot like it is for links. Does your comment teach us anything? There are two ways to do that: by pointing out some consideration that hadn't previously been mentioned, and by giving more information about the topic, perhaps from personal experience."
http://ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html
If you have a green card you can avoid this by signing up for Global Entry[1]. Then you can avoid customs lines and just swipe your card at the kiosk - enter the country without ever talking to anyone. As an extra benefit the kiosk is always empty so you are through in minutes... hmm maybe I shouldn't be spreading the word about this :)
Global Entry is open to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, Dutch citizens, South Korean citizens and Mexican nationals. Canadian citizens and residents may enjoy Global Entry benefits through membership in the NEXUS program.
OK, I like Dutch people, but how'd they get into this sweet deal ahead of classic US friends-and-allies like the UK or Australia?
Further poking shows that American travellers on the Global Entry program can use our "SmartGates", but Australians don't get any advantages going the other way.
On the other hand, the AUSFTA gave us all sorts of other goodies; the E-3 visa being the biggie.
"Global Entry is also available to citizens of the Netherlands who are enrolled Privium, Canadian NEXUS members and Korean SES members. Global Entry is also available to citizens of Mexico." [1]
Mexicans and Koreans tend not to be caucasian, so at least some non-whites can get one of these.
Not sure whether you would want one, though. It sounds pretty intrusive.
"Travelers must be pre-approved for the Global Entry program. All applicants undergo a rigorous background check and interview before enrollment." [2]
Also, the system relies on a fingerprint scanner. Since I have no fingerprints (due to medication), I would receive a big ole 'X' on my receipt every time.
"If the kiosk receipt has an “X” printed on it, then you must report to a CBP officer. Please report to the nearest staffed CBP passport control station. You do not have to get back in line. The CBP officer at the passport control booth will review your documents, determine the reason the “X” was printed on the receipt and either release you from there or refer you to “secondary” for additional processing.
The “X” can mean many different things: random inspection; you have items to declare; you have duty to pay; you have agriculture products that need to be examined; your membership may need review; your fingerprints may not have matched, the system may have trouble completing the transaction; you may have timed out on one of the screens, or other issues. "
In Canada their "random checks" seem to be via a machine/automated process. You stand on a mat and an arrow either directs you into a line or to additional checks, so there can be no racial or otherwise profiling.
It is a great system, I really enjoyed it when I was there.
A number of people have recommended this to me; I'm talking to my immigration lawyers now about what happened and the best way to prevent it happening again, but this is a strong possibility.
Why? I've had that done, it is literally just a web-camera pointed at your eye. Takes two seconds, doesn't hurt, and is really no worse than having a "normal" photo taken (since it is a normal photo, just of your eye!).
I love the concept of living in the future. I recently read the biography of Dan Raymer, a well-known aerospace designer, which was appropriately titled 'Living in the Future'[1]. This is because for most of his career he had been working on secret aircraft designs that the rest of the worldn't see for 20 years. Truly living in the future.
There's also the excellent quote attributed to William Gibson[2] "The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed". That's probably the biggest reason I live in silicon valley - there is a disproportionate amount of 'future' distributed here.
Like any sector that hasn't been totally disrupted yet, it's inevitable that technology will change the game. But subject matter expertise and relationships do matter a lot (especially in fashion) so we brought on a director of biz dev who's worked at Chanel and other fashion brands and we are pursuing partnerships with top names in fashion.
Plus, my Stanford/Google background notwithstanding I actually do enjoy fashion :)
1. Clear your mind
Spend 30 minutes meditating, preferably first thing when you wake up.
Pick something that works for you. A simple practice: • Allow whatever happens to happen • When you notice you are trying to control your attention, drop that intention
2. Prime your mind
Spend 30min reading or listening to high-quality content. I like listening to great spiritual teachers and philosophers. In any case, pick something that your interest is drawn to. Make it BIG and not empty calories.
3. Flow your truth
30-60min of writing. Let it flow.
Bonus points for publishing your writing - it will add sharpness and clarity to your thinking.
Also consider walking. I find I get many of my epiphanies lately when I'm walking the dogs in the evening. I take type notes or voice notes on my phone.