Halloween in January

By Mike Hiller

 Title: Look Under

Unwittingly So

Many Are the Stones Unturned

Within Comfort Zones

It’s Plunge day. For adrenaline junkies, endorphin aficionados, and anyone looking to ‘think local,’ step outside of their comfort zone, and support their neighborhood charity the Polar Bear Plunge is where it’s at. Every year right around MLK (Martin Luther King Jr.) day Halloween comes early for us plungers. At our event at the Brighton High School there are costumes aplenty, endless snacks and treats, and it’s always a hot coco (now) and Netflix (later) kind of day. 2020 marks American Profit Recovery’s eight (8^th) year running, or rather jumping as it were.

When I was a kid Halloween was my favorite holiday. I loved the costumes, the ghoulishness, and fall weather. That, and I was in control of how fast I ran, how many houses I could hit, and therefore how much reward/candy I received. It was a game and everyone was on an even playing field. It didn’t matter if you were a kid from an affluent family or if your parents didn’t know where your next meal was going to come from. Everyone played by the same rules and everyone was rewarded according to the effort they put forth. These are the American values we believe in and we place them above all else. A Holiday, in a land, and personification of endless opportunity for the self-motivated.

Well, ‘This (really) is 2020’ and these days anyone with a mobile/cell phone/smart device, anyone, can start their own business or back a cause they believe in. Think about these two factoids for a moment: 1.) There is more computing power in your phone than what all of NASA had when they put a man on the moon! 2.) It takes 10,000 hours of doing before you become a proficient expert. Before you can become unconsciously competent at something.

The average person will hit the 10,000 hour mark on their phone in just over 5yrs from the date of their first purchase. Baby boomers will take 5.5yrs. Millennials just 4.8yrs. The only relevant question you need ask yourself is do you want to have your PhD in Facebook stalking or championing a cause. Do you want to be an expert at consuming YouTube videos or creating valuable context yourself? Would you rather be unconsciously competent at Amazon purchases or perfecting your greatest hobby?

As you’ve no doubt noticed the above are all false choices. In other words, they are not mutually exclusive ideas. You can have all of the time you like watching Disney+ or Pinning on Pinterest or tweeting on twitter AND you can evolve a hobby, start a start-up, and dedicate time to something you believe in. You can do all of these things with more clarity, variety, and efficiency than any other single human being who has ever lived.

You can have a fulltime job and a family and a passion. You can work your tail off by day and have dinner with your spouse and kids and tinker on projects into the night. It’s oh so cliché’ but cliché’ for good reason: you can eat your cake and have it too. To you I say bite off as much as you can possibly chew and swallow hard because if you’re not stepping outside of your comfort zone then there’s stones left unturned.

Article written by Mike Hiller

End note: Most Haiku poems are without a title. A titled Haiku is the exception. Be the exception, be exceptional.