JAKOB'S JOURNAL

Introvert AND Extrovert

September 25th, 2018

Redefining our realities is a common theme in our digital world.

Imagine taking every social construct we know to be true, and duplicating it with a digital reality. Each platform like a new dimension. We can be whomever we choose to be, and not one world needs to have likened carry over.

Each of us, existing in multiple dimensions, multiple realities, with multiple versions of ourself at once. All, however, with a singular, all-knowing mind.

The real life one.
The Business Facebook Brand one.
The World of Warcraft one.
The Instagram one.
The Twitch one.
The I’m-gonna-catfish-somebody one.
The Music.ly one.
The anonymous-shit-poster one.

Each taking on different character roles, thus making it possible, for the first time ever, to be both an introvert and an extrovert at the same time, simultaneously.

Feeling schizophrenic lately?

It’s no wonder we have identity crisis’.

We don’t know who we are. And uncertainty, of all things, causes the default response mode to our limbic systems (fight or flight) to perceive uncertainty as a threat.

Defensive.
Aggressive.
Depressed.
Anxious.

No composure.
Remember, it’s ok to role play from time to time, but don’t forget to bring it back to real reality more often than not.
Tony Robbins 5 Simple Steps to Take Control of Your Life and Thrive

September 21st, 2018

Whether it’s to level-up and improve your already successful design or if you desperately need to make some changes, Tony outlines some of the necessary steps. They’re harder to implement than they look, but the first step is knowing what you have to do. (more…)
E-Sports Superstar ‘Ninja’ being featured on ESPN says a lot about our Culture.

September 18th, 2018

Changing times.

E-sports superstar, Ninja, is the first professional gamer to be featured on the cover of ESPN.

League of Legends, Call of Duty, Counterstrike, Overwatch, Fortnite. These are a few of the titles we should familiarize ourselves with.

The best players of these games are treated like celebrities. Many of the most notable ones are making well into the millions of dollars on endorsement deals and tournament prizes.

“More than 360 million people watched a livestream of a 2017 “League of Legends” eSports competition.” (Link).

That’s massively more engagement than both The Super Bowl and The NBA Finals.

WHAT?!

Are E-Sports a “sport”? Probably not.
However, if you’ve ever tuned in, there is a ton of vocal communication, strategy, critical thinking, and finger-eye coordination necessary to perform. It’s fascinating, and VERY difficult to be good at. But a sport? I’m not so sure.
They’re something much larger than that.

So, is anything that’s founded in competition considered a sport?
Stock trading?
Sales pyramids?
Grades in school?? — Wait, kids might be totally juiced up to see that the Spelling Bee Champ is featured on ESPN’s cover! Good idea! Nope. It’s a video game god instead.

A league of their own. A lot like current reality, but scarier.

I’ve been draw to the following terrifying thought for some time, but rarely voice it.
Bare with me while I piece these ideas together.

Are we somehow drawn to self-sabotaging behaviors? People have a hard time accepting social hierarchies as a natural tendency already.
You know, the whole male-physical-dominance, capitalism, and success or social aptitude and status credited only to the people who learn how to ‘win the game’ (currently based on money and sex appeal). That’s a grossly lean explanation, but if you’re reading my blog, you’re probably intellectually sound enough to already understand the commonly-complained-about social structures. What happens then, when we plug into Virtual Reality (which is the obvious next step for E-Sports, and don’t argue with me on that) and the entire goal is to ‘compete for dominance’? Well, the trend is for more and more folks to be plugging in, right? We’re well aware of the possibility of future generations spending more time in virtual worlds than in reality. Is this the social structure we want to start with? Absolute dominance and 1% fame? Yikes. The socialists of the world should hate e-sports.

Many people dislike our current reality because they feel displaced, and unwanted, valueless to society at large… so they leave, and enter another world, sometimes virtual. It looks to me like we’re not heading toward greener pastures, though.

In these virtual worlds, these ‘games’, these sports: tyranny, power, and dominance is king. This is what we’ve popularized. The first big step toward VR in my opinion is Professional Gaming. The winners are celebrity heroes making millions while the majority-millions spend countless hours wasting away in these games without any hope for E-Fame.

Sound familiar?
Sounds eerily similar to what non-gamers and gamers alike currently complain about in our social circles and in the work place.
Chasing things like Money and Hollywood A-lists has left people depressed, anxious, and all-together miserable.
One real problem is, an e-gamer who’s not famous still doesn’t make minimum wage. They can’t take care of themselves.
They might waste away in the basement, shirt full of cheetoh crumbs and mountain dew stains, sometimes relying on their parents’ income to survive (this is a depiction of the extreme of course).

With so many folks tuned in, I have a hard time feeling good about the fact that we’ve chosen to replicate a tyrannical social structure and competitively dominant hierarchy within the most directly relevant virtual society that we know. Don’t get me wrong, traditional sports have the same primal aggression and simplistic hierarchy structure, but much fewer recreational athletes fall victim to the downsides. Real sports are actually a very healthy recreational activity. E-sports? Not so much.

To Ninja and other famous e-gamers, I don’t blame you one bit.

To America? “Scoreboard”.

Robots 1 – Humans 0
A Call to Leaders — please read this.

September 17th, 2018

LEADERS! — please take the 2 min to read this.

I speak to my wife and my closest friends about this frequently, and I hope that at some point I am able to talk to each of YOU about this as well.

WE’VE GOT TO MEET PEOPLE ON THEIR MEDIUM.

What I am about to say is one of the only reasons that I even spend (not waste) time on social media. This is not something to be taken lightly.

Trust me, there’s a very distinct sinister side to media, and it’s damn ugly; social media, and the entire culture of fleeting, dishonest, alternate personalities, BUT…

Where the cause of misery exists, so too must the forces that work against it.

I want to educate, to bring value, to serve. These technological communities can be of tremendous value to us if only the leaders of our world would join the party, and not for ‘the likes’. That dopamine hit can grab any of us, but we need leaders that don’t give a damn about clickbait and stats and ads and likes, but that want to “Make Wisdom Go Viral”, as so eloquently, and frequently, shouted by Jay Shetty.

“Ugh, social media is exhausting. It’s fake. It’s irrelevant. The people on there don’t matter anyway”. I’ve heard it all.

Maybe I’m ‘folding to pressure’. Maybe not. Look at any great leader, they’ve ALWAYS walked the streets of the people, even if it means having rocks thrown through their window, death threats, discouraging experiences, or harsh criticisms (from peers, too). To any self-reflecting person, it’s obvious that social media is equally as treacherous: depression, anxiety, suicide, failing critical thinking and communication skills that will ultimately lead to a very dull human experience unless our minds are completely wired to VR.

Professor of Leadership. That’s my title currently. How can I completely ignore THE MOST FREQUENTLY USED MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION today, and call myself any sort of leader, or, an educator of leadership!

I plan to be one of them, one of the positive voices of great lasting impact, but we need so many more than what we have now.

This is a call to anyone that’s a true leader.

We have to learn the language. Simple as that. Like it or not.

I am talking to YOU!

If you hear this message, and most won’t, (it’s like a dog whistle — “the call to leaders”) but if it resonates with you, like it does to me, then I need to hear from you. Message me. It’s time to collaborate.

To me, the duty to education immediately follows any level of personal success or mastery. I have not mastered myself. Maybe you have. Although, I do feel comfortable saying that I’ve got a good foundation. I worked hard to build that.

While we continue this daunting climb, it becomes more and more evident to me that it is our DUTY to throw the rope back down, and pull everyone else up with us.

For some of you, I won’t take no for answer, you’re coming along. You know who you are. For others, let me know when you’ve made that choice.

I can help. I can educate you. Coach you. I can provide you the weapons you need. All you have to do is ask. Let’s lead.
Off the Cheap-end

September 15th, 2018

Oh, there’s hope, eh?

Gone off the deep-end on the cheap-end, once and for all? (more…)

Introvert AND Extrovert

Tony Robbins 5 Simple Steps to Take Control of Your Life and Thrive

E-Sports Superstar ‘Ninja’ being featured on ESPN says a lot about our Culture.

A league of their own. A lot like current reality, but scarier.

A Call to Leaders — please read this.

WE’VE GOT TO MEET PEOPLE ON THEIR MEDIUM.

Off the Cheap-end