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Hi thinkers and alike, Have you been to 'The Library of Babel', or rather its most near approximation? Well, have a look and don't be surprised if you find some forgotten notes at one of the desks from Immanuel Kant. It's a 'library' with at least 'books'. By the way, most of them are in languages that have not yet been invented (the writer was an authentic prankster I guess) . Some implications : ° all books are intelligible ° there's one book to (... rule them, bind them... ) unlocking all others ° aiming for knowledge is the most subtle trap, resulting in hindrance ° everything anyone ever going to write is there... oh, noooo(!!!) perhaps there's faith ... Enjoy Barnsley

BECOME A PART OF OUR MASTERMIND! Two entrepreneurs and FDR listeners are SEEKING highly motivated and intelligent individuals to COLLABORATE with on matters of business and personal development. Interested? Keep reading! What is a MasterMind Group? I prefer to answer the question by painting a story: Imagine a man who’s accumulated 5 years of entrepreneurial experience in the field of marketing personal services online and in print with an IQ of 123. He reads roughly 2 books a month and listens to perhaps 15 hours of podcasts in a month pertaining to his line of work, as he is already successful but always strives to improve. He wants to drive more traffic to a personal website marketing his services, but finds the task to be somewhat daunting as he’s not particularly tech-savvy. Enters another woman who’s spent the past 9 months monetizing her blog about personal finance after being inspired by taking an online course on that practice with an IQ of 125. She’s absorbed in her work, and listens to 30 hours of audio and video content pertaining to her field on a monthly basis. She’s successfully optimized her site to the #2 spot on Google and #1 on Yahoo for search terms in her niche. She decides she’s going to use her success story to launch an SEO consulting practice herself, but has little business marketing experience and nobody in her life to seek advice from. Lastly arrives a 20 year business veteran and CEO of a multi-million dollar company selling fertilizer to industrial farmers. He’s got an IQ of 134 and a personal library of literature which proved instrumental to his success sitting on ivory-mahogany shelves which represents but a fraction of his knowledge in business. He’s discovered Freedomain radio and is questioning the root causes for his desires for money in therapy now. He’s thinking of selling the company and shifting his energy into founding a charitable non-profit, and wants to craft the website himself. Each of them share the same core values, and each of them are driven, intelligent, and capable of achieving their individual goals with great time, energy, and difficulty. However, imagine a being with a mind so powerful, that it were the equivalent to an entrepreneurial MasterMind - an expert in every aspect of starting a business, marketing it successfully, hiring the right employees, optimizing its web presence to drive maximum traffic and sales, scaling it, and sustaining it for years; a mind with almost three decades of equivalent experience, with an equivalent IQ of 160 (about that of Einstein) with a genuine desire to help others succeed and ever-increasing knowledge bank. How much easier would it be to solve their individual problems if they could consult such a mind for free every week? How much would one typically have to pay to seek counsel from such a mind? What benefits and victories could come to each of his or her practices with such a powerful ally at their side? ✦✦✦ My friends, a MasterMind is a collaborative infusing of various degrees of intellect and experience, focused on solving problems, overcoming obstacles, and providing feedback on the business practices and goals of individual participants. The diverse group operates in harmony with one another’s chief aims in life, and holds good will towards their friends’ success. Good will is maintained by individual participants adherence to the same core values combined with an enjoyable personality. The sharing of core values in the FDR community is widespread. We value intellectual integrity, emotional honesty, personal freedom, the non-aggression principal, and consistency. By sharing our struggles with trustworthy individuals of high character and intellect, and gaining their insights into our situation, we will ensure our success in our business endeavors. The MasterMind group offers the support needed to thrive, the external feedback needed to overcome unperceived obstacles, the motivation needed to persist in the face of adversity, and the quality friendships needed to live happily. ✦✦✦ I will now go over the practical means by which a MasterMind group operates: Relevant terms and definitions: "Hot Seat" [Recommended Duration of 5-15 minutes]: Individuals who're in the hot seat are expected to either outline the definite plans of action which they wish to receive feedback on, or relay the problems or new ideas regarding their current business which are most pressing currently for them. In order to accelerate the rate of helpful feedback to the hot seat member, he or she should COME PREPARED with SPECIFIC QUESTIONS pertaining to his or he problems. An example of a "hot seat" scenario is as follows: Reflects upon previous week's goal progression and business successes (2 mins) Outlines goals and plans of action in order to achieve them (5 minutes) Relays targeted problems, knowledge deficits, or obstacles in the way and asks specific questions to the Mastermind (7 minutes) "Brainstorming" [Recommended Duration of at least 20-40 minutes]: Brainstorming is not simply asking a particular individual for his or her thoughts. It is a collaborative effort in which the collective genius of the entire group is put to the task of thinking up solutions for the problems and obstacles presented by the member in the hot seat. Examples of helpful activities during the brainstorming session include: Relaying relevant past experience in conquering a similar problem Asking questions surrounding the portions of the business plan which appear faulty Pointing out of any inconsistencies, pitfalls or over-simplifications in planning, and ideas for improved execution Recommendation of free or inexpensive services conducive to business growth Expressing encouragement and positivity or moral support Overview: Sessions are conducted via video call on Skype. The member in the Hot Seat is pre-selected from the prior meeting. The Hot Seat session proceeds unabridged, unless members seek clarification or further explanation. Then, group Brainstorming proceeds, whereby crucial feedback and support is given. The entire process can take from 30 minutes to 60 minutes, or longer if the group is really “flowing” well and doesn’t wish to stop. A weekly schedule will be made according to individual participants’ daily availability, and sessions will last as long as all participants agree to. ✦✦✦ I am partnering with another young entrepreneur, AlecS, in order to facilitate the growth of our MasterMind group from 2 to 5 members. (3 MEMBERS NEEDED). We’re seeking an outside perspective on our own business ventures from intelligent, wise, experienced thinkers. In return, we intend to provide value to peers of our same degree of entrepreneurial experience by offering peer support, encouragement, critique, and questioning. For those of greater experience then ourselves, we will graciously accept your feedback as passionate, curious, and motivated young pupils who’ll act upon knowledge provided. In addition, you will gain insight into your own business from an outside perspective regarding its flaws and unseen opportunities from the younger generations! No matter what your experience level, the MasterMind will serve you well as a tight-knit community of motivated, intelligent individuals who share the same core values. We will hold you accountable to your goals because we want you to succeed just as much as ourselves! ✦✦✦ What sort of qualities are we looking for in people to join? We want to meet people who’re happy! People who’re honest and operate with integrity, not the sort who drive fake traffic to steal ad revenue or pass off snake oil products to sucker the ignorant. People who’re optimistic about their position and view on life, not people who’ll complain and drag others down. People who’re motivated to work to succeed and do good in the world, not aiming for a quick fix to their problems by off-loading responsibility unto others. People who’re passionate about their work or the prospects of starting anew, not those drudging through life to make ends meet. People who’re curious to learn more about themselves and others with their differing views on the world. Read the underlined words again! If you’re reminded of yourself when reading the paragraph above, then please reach out to either myself or Alec. We’ll be posting example replies for applications to enter the group below. You can be creative and dynamic in your responses, but we ask that you incorporate answers to the following questions: Who are you? What are your core values or principals which you abide by? What motivates you in life? What is your entrepreneurial or business experience? What specific skillsets have you obtained in your particular industry? How has FDR impacted your thoughts on entrepreneurship? ✦✦✦ I’m genuinely curious to hear your stories, because I know many of you are fantastically interesting people with marvelous stories to share. I have made so many friends from the heart of this online community, and in many ways you, the reader, are a source of inspiration for me. Please, do not hesitate to reach out via private message; if you prefer you can introduce yourself to us via Skype on a video call. I do hope however, that some will feel encouraged to reflect upon their own strong suits and exhibit the courage to post here as well. I hope to hear from you very soon. May your businesses and happiness prosper alike, Nick

They said it could not be done. They scoffed at the very Idea of a private space company. The company had a tumultuous start in the early 2000's as their first 3 launches ended in failure to their critics delight. But they had somehow managed to scrounge up just enough money for one more do-or-die launch and on 28 September 2008 SpaceX became the first private rocket company to reach orbit. This was not enough to silence the critics. Nor was it enough when in 2010 they became the first private company to dock with the international space station. By that time they had delivered enough private satellites to orbit that NASA could trust them with this kind of mission and they would be foolish not to as the cost per launch of a SpaceX rocket was more than 7 times less (~$60 million vs ~$450 million) than that of prior government contractors. On the 28th of June this year; SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket exploded suffered a rapid unscheduled disassembly shortly after launch. It was the first blemish on SpaceX's otherwise flawless record with their state of the art Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket is updated every other mission with the latest aerospace tech, upgrades coming at a pace previously unheard of in space exploration. For example the Soyuz spacecraft used to send astronauts to the International space station is virtually unchanged since the 1960's. (I am so glad that a government is not making my phone!) The critics were quick to exploit the tragedy. It seemed as if they were right all along, it was only a matter of time before all that cost cutting caught up with them. Its was only a matter of time before they went too far, typical capitalist greed. Through all that noise, for 6 months SpaceX diligently combed though the wreckage trying to pinpoint the most likely cause of the mishap. And through this process upgraded almost every facet of the rocket, ultimately increasing its power output by 33 percent. They vowed not only to return to flight but to do so while in hot pursuit of the holy grail of rocketry. See, the problem with a rocket is that it is really expensive and you can only use it once. $60 million a pop (or $450 million from NASA: good luck with that). But, What if you could reuse a rocket much like a plane. That would change the game, lowering the cost of space travel dramatically. SpaceX has had this goal since its inception, they were ridiculed for it and in fact have failed many times trying to land a rocket as a secondary objective after a successful primary mission. But they persevered, the CEO of SpaceX would often say "go down to first principles and tell me why it cant be done?" Let us take a moment to appreciate human ingenuity, Mathematics, Thermodynamics, Science, or just call it rational Philosophy in action. Not political, economic and spiritual mysticism, what have they done lately?

I would like to share a few videos that motivate and inspire me. Please share some of yours.Be Obsessed with Improvementhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJAkLB1moGUHunger (MOTIVATION)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNC26Rh4AE4Write Your Own Scripthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EUzZsRWqggRay Lewishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbIWvNZBlHMPlaylisthttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUHovnYY1WJXfR6RjT9ut48wIQ4eswEcC

I was just listening to Stefan, and he used the phrase "convince people rather than inspire them" (he was actually advocating the later) and it "inspired" me to post this open ended question. I'm intrigued by how this "woke me up" so to speak to write this, how it stimulated me to focus my mind on the essence of inspiration. Stef's statement was interesting b/c he moved away from the ultra rationality of reason, logic and empirical evidence we typically see from him toward a more right brain perspective. I'm not saying Stef has changed in any fundamental way, only that this statement was a less common expression of his creative, imaginative side while being coupled to argumentation, persuasion, and the underlying mission of FDR to change the world by (inspiration | persuasion) ?. I have a related series of posts on this subject (just search "plenty to say" to find it), but I wanted this topic to be open ended and more of a solicitation / free association exercise to see if other people's input further inspire me and help me figure out why this is such an invigorating topic to me. When I think back over the course of my life going all the way back to high school, it's questions like this that drew me into philosophical discussions and motivated me to stay up all night talking to people about it. It feels kind of "electric".