Insights from the Ultimate Obsessive Compulsive

I tend to like obsessive-compulsive people because once they delve into something they tirelessly analyze every detail and put a ton of effort, way beyond the point of diminishing return. In terms of efficiency, for them, it is so not worth the effort (it is, after all, a mental disorder). But for people benefiting from their findings, it's a blessing. You can be sure, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that they have tracked the whole universe in search of the last grain of sand pertaining to their favorite subject.

My wife is obsessive compulsive for a lot of things like finding the perfect vacation spot (once a year) or the perfect house (once every 5-7 years). Fantastic for me.

Another obsessive-compulsive is my good friend and Web expert JP Cyr. Not only has he a laser like focus, but once he sets his mind on something, Sherlock Holmes looks like an amateur. If he's investigating breathable fabrics one day and there's a Russian fellow testing a new Gore-Tex membrane in some God forsaken corner of the Kamchatka peninsula, you can bet your piggy bank that JP will be popping up from behind am iceberg to interview the guy.

These are classic examples of obsessive-compulsive behaviors.


TIM FERRISS

But obsessive compulsive people have a demigod. His name is Tim Ferriss.

His first book The 4-Hour Workweek (Escape the 9-5, Live anywhere, and join the new rich) was an instant bestseller. I so liked that book that in a little less than 3 years, I ended up buying more than 50 copies to give them to friends.

Do I now work 4 hours a week? No. Not even close. But in 2 years, my vacation time has been multiplied by 10 while my revenues more than doubled. Not bad. Also, when you love what you do, maybe 4 hours per week is not enough.


THE 4-HOUR BODY

In his second book The 4-Hour Body, Tim Ferriss uses the same recipe for success that worked so well with his previous book:

1. Bold claims to help people achieve their dreams / solve their problems : An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman (Hard to say no...)

2. To the point, precise advice on how to obtain desired result - all in an easy to act upon format

3. Recommendations backed by years of research interviewing world class professional operating outside the realm of common knowledge.

4. A fun, easy to read prose

The aim of the book is not to give final, dogmatic answers to every situation. Rather it opens new possibilities and pathways for readers to explore as well as tools to challenge the status quo.

I am presently reading The 4-Hour Body, and although I won't give you a full review yet, I can tell you that I started testing the fat loss methods suggested and they work. Actually, I tested only one and went from 201 pounds to 186 pounds in 5 weeks without that much effort.

In my next post, I'll tell you more about another technique Tim Ferriss suggest to heal permanent injury and that I recently tried: Active Release Technique (ART). Astoundingly effective!

Mom and Pop Strike Back

www.brooklynfare.com

Last Friday, as I was walking to work, I came across my good friend Octavian from Rock & Social.

Octavian, along with Sacha Declomesnil, is one of the foremost social media experts we have here in Montreal. He's also a smart guy and decent human being. And every time I collide with an intelligent person, I leave with new ideas. Sometimes theirs, sometimes mine and more often than not, a mix of both.

One of the ideas we succinctly explored that morning stuck with me and I'm sharing it with you as is. Now, I don't have any data to support it and I didn't do any research. It is just my antennas buzzing.


Mom and Pop Strike Back - The Revenge of Local Commerce

The last 25 years or so were the realm of anonymity, information overload and faceless corporations. A fertile ground for the rise of worldwide retail brands like Starbucks, McDonalds, Wal-Mart, etc. It was not always the best choice available, but in doubt, it was a safe bet. Good perceived value.

When you were in an unfamiliar part of town or in another city, trusting the small shop was a big risk. Most people went for the safe choice with the brand they knew.

What has changed? I'd like to say: everything! But I'll be more specific: mobility, Internet, peer review and social media.

What if I'm lost far away from home and looking for a restaurant. That small café next to a Big McDonald has a name. I can ask my contacts via e-mail, Twitter or Facebook and get an answer in seconds. I can check the café's review in a dozen of websites or apps like Trip Advisor, Yelp, Dine.com and Urbanspoon.

All of a sudden, I don't have to take a risk anymore. The McMeal is no longer the only safe alternative.

What if the small shop can't afford the costly location on the main avenues? Hey, I have a GPS in my car and on my smartphone that will direct me to it.

Times are changing.

I smell a better future for the Mom and Pop shops.

Letters Against The War

Once upon a time, there was this great Italian journalist and World class traveler Tiziano Terzani who happened to be in Afghanistan when American troops landed in October 2001.

His book Letters Against the War didn't get published in America and the UK. I discovered it when Swiss friends sent me copy. Here's the fascinating story of that book as told by the author as a preface.

Florence (Italy) early December 2002

Dear Friends, 

the year that is about to end has been dramatic for all of us. Never before has each one of us been so unequivocally confronted with the question of war and peace. Back from a long trip into Pakistan and Afghanistan, I started the year publishing, first in Italian and then in various other European languages, a booklet dedicated to my three year-old American grandson, Novalis. The book “Letters against the war” was meant to raise questions about the way to face the situation created by the events of September 11th and to suggest that violence might no longer be the best solution for this and future conflicts of mankind.

The book was an immediate success in Italy (for 18 weeks it was among the top 10 best sellers). It was well received, reviewed and sold in France, Germany and Spain. Somehow, continental Europe with her, by now almost genetic, memory of war and destruction, seemed extremely responsive to the neo-pacifist appeal of the “Letters”. Wherever I went to talk about my experiences as an old war correspondent turned “Kamikaze for peace” (this was the title of a one hour documentary by Swiss TV) big crowds gathered to listen and to discuss.

Unfortunately this was not at all the reaction of the Anglo-Saxon world, particularly of the U.K. and the U.S.A. whose governments and press have taken a very bellicose, pro-war stand. All attempts to have the “Letters” published in English failed. All the English and American publishers who has printed my previous books responded with a “No, thank you” note. I did not give up. I had the book translated myself and offered it again to all kinds of publishers in London and New York.

To no avail. Even my offer to give the book for free failed.

Finally, a publisher in New Delhi (India Research Press) dared to take up the offer and his Indian edition remains the ONLY English version of the “Letters against the war” available in print. Now to allow as many people as possible to have access to the book, I decided, together with Massimo De Martino who in his spare time, generously run the T.T. fan (“fun”) Club founded three years ago, to post the whole book on the Internet. You can download it for free and I would be most grateful if you circulate text among your friends and...”adversaries”.

It is time to think, to discuss, to argue and finally to raise our consciousness and to save ourselves. Nobody else can do it for us.

Thank you very much, 

tiziano terzani  

Download Letters Against the War in PDF 

Don't Be Afraid of the Common Cold

Yesterday, my 6 year old son was affected by mild fever and vomiting. Seemed like a minor case of Gastroenteritis and after a day of rest, he's already feeling a lot better. On Monday, he won't even remember being sick.

What astounded me was people's reaction around us. Upon hearing (or reading on Facebook) that my kid was sick, some friends wouldn't shake my hand or come to our house. Another family came over to pick a package, but they wouldn't stop by for a coffee for fear of getting sick. A friend that was here for supper yesterday was told by her sister that she couldn't visit her family this weekend because they didn't want their daughter to get ill.

What's the hysteria all about?

We are surrounded by bacterias, viruses and fungii and some of them can make us sick. That's why we have an immune system. And like a muscle, the immune system gets stronger with use.

It's ok to fear really dangerous diseases (Ebola, Black Plague, AIDS, etc.) but a common cold or flu. C'mon...

I never ran away from someone with a cold, or refused to shake someone's hand because they had the flu. Did I end up getting a runny nose a few times as a result? Sometimes. Did I ever become seriously sick because of it? Never.

Granted, I was born in Africa in the '70s and my exposure to viruses and bacteria might have been substantially higher than that of the average American or European kid. But I believe it is my lifelong exposure to cold, flu and other minor diseases along with healthy eating habits and a decent fitness level that keep me in good shape.

In the last 15 years, I was seriously sick (bedridden) and missed a day of work only once. And that was after getting a vaccine.

Once again, I think we fear the wrong things. Looking at my previous posts What Are You Afraid Of ? and When Playing Safe becomes Dangerous, it is becoming a recurring theme.

All these people scared of the common cold or flu are carelessly exposing themselves to much greater threats:

SMOKING: Such a good way to get cancer and die prematurely. How insane do you need to be to still smoke in the 21st century?

STRESS and NOT ENOUGH SLEEP: Not only will it cause you health problems, it is a sure way to decrease your immune system's strength.

SITTING IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER ALL DAY and NOT ENOUGH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: Our unhealthy lifestyles produce back problems, obesity, poor posture and depressed immune systems.

MEDICATION: We have reached a point where the over the counter drugs are stronger than anything you can find on the streets. Do you think all this medication is tested for long term effects (5, 10, 20 years)? Of course not. Do you think that pharmaceutical companies test the combined effects of different medication? That would be too costly. You can be sure of one thing however. Every time you get a benefit form a chemical, there is a price to be paid. Whether you see it immediately or not.

CONTAMINATED WATER: The filtration plants used by the vast majority of cities in the US and Canada can clean polluted water to make it drinkable and prevent dangerous infections. However, there's a lot of things they cannot remove from the water: heavy metals, chemical products and medication. Yes, you read well. Medication. What do you think happens with the cocktail of pills aging baby boomers are ingesting? It goes out of their system into their urine, and then from their toilet bowl to your glass of water. In some waterways around cities, some fish species are experiencing sex change due to the hormone overdose caused by all these women taking contraceptive pills and rejecting the excess hormones through their urine.

DANGEROUS FOOD: MERCURY POISONED FISH, PESTICIDE LADDEN VEGETABLES AS WELL AS MEAT BASKING IN BACTERIA, HORMONES AND CHEMICALS
Industrial food production is ugly and the products we are offered at the supermarket more often than not aren't exactly health friendly. As a result, as I explained in a previous post there are far more fecal bacteria in the average American kitchen sink than on the average American toilet seat.

If your health is important for you, go and read Eric Schlosser's great book Fast Food Nation and Joel Salatin's Everything I want to do is illegal.

I also strongly recommend the excellent documentary Food inc.

***

The next time one of your friend has a cold, instead of running away, hug him or her. It'll be better for both of you.

China's Biggest Mall Sits Empty

You'd think that China is booming, and booming some more, with no ceiling in sight.

Well, think again.

And beyond what it all means for China, you have to ask yourself, in our globalized World, what does that mean for us here in North America?

If the subject is of interest to you (it should) and you want information that makes more sense than what you read in the paper (surprise, surprise) or what your bank tells you (vested interest anyone?), check out this great blog: Financial Insight.

The Entrance

It's been a long time since I saw such a great ad! (Thanks JP Cyr!)

Hats off to Heineken and their Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy (Amsterdam).

I just love the soundtrack! Such a great song: "The Golden Age" by Danish alternative pop band The Asteroid Galaxy Tour and their beautiful blond singer/bombshell Mette Lindberg.

The Rise of Bitchin'Kitchen

I first met Josh & Nadia at a Longboard event in 2009. They were both smart, funny, unconventional and had an incredible energy. We had lots of fun and the evening ended at my favorite restaurant Le Club Chasse et Pêche.

Since we share a love of good food, I invited them at my place a few weeks later for our traditional Friday Night BBQ (I explained in a previous post that I was a bit obsessive compulsive with steaks.) and they came over a few times.

At the time, Josh and Nadia had started a small Web TV with a unique and powerful branding called Bitchin'Kitchen that, despite its interresting fan base, was not very well known.

In less than 2 years, they have been propelled to the rank of superstars.

Nadia G. is everywhere! In addition to the BitchinLifestyle.tv Website, they now have immensely popular social media properties:  Facebook page, YouTube Channel and Twitter Account.

They also managed to publish a book: The Bitchin'Kitchen Cookbook.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that they now have their own TV Show on The Food Network and its little brother The Cooking Channel?


For all I know, it is the first time (at least in Canada), that a Web series jumps into mainstream television. No small feat.

Oh, and you can buy their merchandise online on Nadia G's Bitchin'Boutique.  

True entrepreneurs, armed with flair, style and chutzpah, they not only understood all the opportunities offered by the profound changes in the media universe, they worked harder than any of you can imagine.

As Josh once told me: "People think we're lucky. They don't understand that luck favors the prepared."

And finally, the show is good, really good. 

With so much on their hands, you'd think they'd slow down. Hell no! They are working on a new show: Rock This House.

In my humble opinion, the World needs more Bitchin'People like Josh&Nadia.