You can usually do the preparation stages of transforming a part of your life easily since you can do them yourself, without someone else. Working with other people usually makes things more complex. Still, you generally do benefit from involving others. Because they have different perspectives and can see your life from further away, their input usually helps. At the end of the preparation stages you have two sets of[…] Keep reading →

Yesterday I suggested Nixon couldn’t have opened China since ping pong opened it a year before. If you’re like me, you’ve never heard of “ping pong diplomacy.” Or maybe you’ve heard the words together, but don’t know what they mean. I understand people who were adults at the time will all know the phrase, if perhaps from hazy memories. From Wikipedia’s page on ping pong diplomacy: Ping pong diplomacy refers[…] Keep reading →

We’ve covered the preparation stages of transforming a part of your life to bring more reward by choosing environments, beliefs, and behaviors based on your interests. Of course your life changes all the time whether you intentionally cause those changes or not. Using the Method, based on the Model, lets you do it systematically, intentionally, and makes you more likely to succeed than alternatives. Now let’s look at how the[…] Keep reading →

I left off yesterday’s introduction to Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea, which recounted China’s change from a failing planned economy to an increasingly market-based economy, with the question “Did Nixon open China?”. It looks that way. Yesterday’s post described the huge changes to China’s government and economy occurring immediately after his visit. Searching “Nixon opened China” gets you innumerable hits on the internet. According to the Wikipedia page on Nixon’s[…] Keep reading →

EDIT: I modified how I present the Method slightly. Please see the new version of this page and the updated series on implementing the Method. Having conceived of new environments, beliefs, and behaviors consistent with each other, the emotions you want, and what you will, won’t, can, and can’t do, the next step is to create and implement them. Creating and implementing them means more than just doing some simple[…] Keep reading →

My first interview yesterday on playing Ultimate Frisbee in Pyongyang reveals how dramatically and positively the experience affected me. As much as it inspired and influenced me as an individual, I have come to see the event in a larger context. This series of posts covers Ultimate Frisbee in North Korea. Ultimate in most places might purely be about sport. North Korea is not a usual place, so it’s about[…] Keep reading →

Some more comments on the lack of advertising in North Korea… The country has almost no advertising. You can drive for hours without seeing any billboards. What do you see instead? Green hills, mountains, streams, lakes, people working and walking from place to place. I found the countryside beautiful, if I didn’t pay attention the dilapidated buildings and roads. The country, of course, has problems, as the sources in my[…] Keep reading →

Continuing from yesterday… If you’re American or in a developed country, you’re probably overweight, though your grandparents and all earlier ancestors probably didn’t even know anyone overweight. You probably watch television nearly as much as you work, though your grandparents and all earlier ancestors didn’t have televisions. You may have little to no physical activity in your life, though your grandparents and all earlier ancestors were physically active every day.[…] Keep reading →

Pausing from my series on the Method, I haven’t written much about Occupy Wall Street, despite it being the topic of much conversation in New York. On an online community, I couldn’t help respond to someone else’s post on responsibility. [another community member] wrote: …taking responsibility for ones self is the clear problem here..They are not taking responsibility for themselves and blaming.. I think they would be better off camping[…] Keep reading →