Work on HOW more than on WHAT.

In my universe, someone says “I have this wonderful idea for a book.” I respond, “Have you started writing yet?” They respond, “No…hey! Why don’t you write it, and we can split the proceeds fifty-fifty.” And at that point, the world is in danger of losing another brilliant thinker as I think about hugging them around the neck until their head pops off.

And even if they haven’t got a clue, they should quit complaining and go help out at a soup kitchen or something. At least they would have some experience from which to speak.

5% What 95% How. I love it. Plenty of people think they have a what, but the how is where real change happens.

It’s often said that “youth is wasted on the young”. Lots of good ideas floating around, but not enough structure and discipline to implement….large amounts of force without the an educated vector diffuses easily. Small amounts of force with properly channeled intent and structure can cause massive changes.

Transforming a what in to a how can be really hard. Some people (myself included) have made a career out of helping people take the ‘what’, convert it in to one of a number of possible ‘hows’ and transforming it in to a ‘something’.

There’s a book on leadership called Start with Why by Simon Sinek. He has a graphic in it of a bull’s eye with three rings labeled Why, How and What going from the center moving out. He suggests too many people start the process inversely, which leads to failure. Why provides motivation, How provides inspiration with the possibilities, What provides the plan of action. If the Why isn’t clear enough, the following stages don’t matter.

That being said, the part about the students reminds of this little ole piece of writing:

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.

Their hearts may be in the right place, but action speaks louder than words.

One of the things I love about your work is that it is so practical. I have lots of resources for my personal spirituality and theology, but what I get from you is the nitty gritty hands on “let’s make this shit work” stuff. Using my 2014 intentions as an example, I crafted the intentions for use in the Hekate and Helios rites very specifically, using specific magical language, but I crafted them as goals. They are direct, and specific, but that part is the WHAT, not the HOW. However, I took your “warning” about doing my part after the rituals were done seriously, and in addition to the WHAT, I laid out a series of action steps for each goal to determine the HOW? Magical? Maybe. But unless the mundane is supporting your magical work it’s not likely to last very long. I also decided that to support the intentions, both the what and the how, that I would repeat the rites monthly and lay out my goals (what) before the gods, and take time to evaluate the action steps (the how) to see how they are working. So on the dark moon every month I’m doing the Hekate rite, and then doing the Helios rite on the Sunday following the dark moon (during the hour of the Sun, if possible, or at least during the daytime if I’m not able to do it during the planetary hour). So far I am finding this practice is really helping to keep me focused, especially now that I’m at the point where I am starting to struggle with the action points, making the changes necessary, and not letting my intentions slip by the wayside. Thanks again for focusing on the HOW of the work. It’s been a big help in my own work and I really appreciate it.

I have a perfect plan to get all the homeless into the foreclosed homes. It’s really easy – in fact, it’s cheaper than the current MO. Here it is:

Mind your own business.

Seriously, if a bunch of squatters aren’t causing massive property damage or something, leave them alone. They are not in any way preventing you from selling your house. In fact, if you’re lucky enough to get one of those hippie co-ops to move in, they’ll plant a garden out back and fix the place up super nice, improving property values. You heard that right; THEY WILL HELP YOU.

People tend to only live in squalor when they have to hide like rats and lack the support of a community. This includes people suffering from drug abuse/mental illnes, and perhaps even applies specifically to those groups. Check out places like Dignity Village in Portland or the tent encampments in Japan and see how the more “stable” folks establish a baseline for healthy living that supports those who struggle with self-care. Seriously, LOOK HOW FUCKING CLEAN THESE PLACES ARE.

You don’t have to break your back looking for solutions. Most of these systemic problems that get passed around in memes like that have EXTREMELY common-sense solutions, to the extent that the problems would literally fix themselves if left alone. if not, talking to one another like actual human beings from a place of mutual respect certainly would.

I would, however, disagree with Person #1 – the entire power structure, consisting of its hired thugs (cops) and propaganda (laws) has got to go first, because any time somebody implements a community solution, these sons of bitches shut it down and then make it illegal.

IT IS NOW ILLEGAL TO FEED THE HOMELESS IN PUBLIC IN LOS ANGELES.

Correction – There is a *proposed* ordinance in L.A. that would make it illegal to feed the homeless. Sorry I got a little ahead of myself: it’s ORLANDO that actually passed one – and then even upheld it in court! (But hey, at least we got that ordinance in Pensacola that made it illegal to sleep with a blanket outside overturned, right?)

Oh, and NYC banned food donations to government-run homeless shelters. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/feeding-the-homeless-banned-in-major-cities-all-over-america

I know I’m going on, but the scary thing is, when you actually sit down and think about real solutions as Jason suggests, you realize that oftentimes people have already come up with eminently reasonable solutions and been prevented by law enforcement mercenaries working for the wealthy elite. A lot of the time, they flagrantly violate what legal protection exists anyway for as long as they can get away with it, especially when it comes to ripping up gardens. I really don’t want to have to break out the wall’o’links about people whose gardens IN THEIR OWN YARDS were destroyed for supposedly not complying with some restriction or another, even when they were actually 100% compliant. The police apologize afterwards, admit they made a mistake, promise it won’t happen again and yet it continually does. But all the (false) apologies you can produce won’t replace the destruction of someone’s food security. Point is, you can follow every single rule to the letter and it’s still no protection against them.

We’re never going to solve these systemic inequalities until we destroy the power of those whose interests lie in maintaining them.

“I am saying you need to think about HOW.”
Ever notice when someone idealistic is pushed for a how, they get very reactive?