The following is the research page that was originally accessed via the link tab under the Ways 2 Interface blog banner.
The research page outlined my wider research interests in relation to the focus of the Ways 2 Interface research project.
All the listed research interests ended up becoming study focuses in MTA Portfolio which can be found at: ibuiltmyown.education.
My Research: Living Outside of the Box
This section was copy and pasted from a blog post I wrote quite some time back just to stretch my muscles and to get my head in order. However, this post is only standing in for the more concise overview of my research focus that I will eventually post here instead.
This is a little outdated, but still largely relevant...
It will take too long to outline the full breadth of my research concerns, but they can essentially and briefly be grouped under two primary banners, which are essentially concerned with (1) life and (2) work; while they are presented as separate here, as I have already said, for me, they are the same thing.
The different areas of my research do criss-cross quite frequently and this cross-crossing tendency is very revealing of my philosophy; it shows up quite frequently in my work, as it has done in this blog post.
Essentially, it is an 'all for one and one for all' approach and it really does produce results! This approach is how I was able to attain some of the highest marks and commendations my university has ever awarded for my BA (Hons) in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies.
Essentially, it is an 'all for one and one for all' approach and it really does produce results! This approach is how I was able to attain some of the highest marks and commendations my university has ever awarded for my BA (Hons) in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies.
Ultimately, this is why I refer to my research as being a research web, because a single research topic of that web never finds itself isolated; when I am researching one specific area, I am gaining knowledge that is prevalent to several other areas - it is my very own personal and collaborative network of research.
(1) Lifestyle design and self-improvement
"Gold is getting old. The New Rich (NR) are those who abandon the deferred-life plan and create luxury lifestyles in the present using the currency of the New Rich: time and mobility. This is an art and a science we will refer to as Lifestyle Design (LD).
- Tim Ferriss, The 4-Hour Work Week, 2007:7
"the search for success and happiness depends less on tying oneself down to another than on opening up the world of possibilities so that one can always pursue the best option. Freedom. Flexibility. Personal choice.
- Eric Klinberg, Going Solo, 2012:12-13
Most jobs and established lifestyle patterns prevent you from living a fulfilling life in the long run. In fact, most jobs and established lifestyle patterns are killing people - most people are overworked, under-motivated and suffering from a range of health problems produced from these ailments.
Lifestyles today are increasingly bogged down with emotional and physical clutter.
We live in an age and a consumerist culture that very much encourages you to load your life up with stuff: eat this, buy that, own the good life, have perfection!
It's bullshit! It is absolute bullshit.
It's bullshit! It is absolute bullshit.
Most of that shiny stuff is just baggage, that you do not even need to live a fulfilling and productive life, and, ultimately, it will just sap your financial resources. Stuff is just clutter and it will distract you from fulfilling your fundamental focus/your passion/your dream.
Realise it for the distraction that it actually is, invest in only what you essentially need and your dream will positively prosper. I promise you.
This first area of my research has been concerned with de-cluttering my life of physical and emotional baggage; in addition to providing me with the necessary tools to enable me to re-build my life and my mindset, on my own terms, from the ground up.
Creativity
I research by doing!
- Filmmaking
- Writing
- Daydreaming
- Dreaming
- Photography
- Fridge magnets
- Sketching
- Doodling
- Lego with the nephew
- Editing (I LOVE editing).
- I have just started learning to code.
You name it, I make it.
Creativity is one of the single most important cognitive exercises you can do on a daily basis, because it reminds your brain that it is still alive.
Creative practise also encourages your brain to think innovatively and you never know what startling results it will produce as a result, those results might just allow you to live the life you want to live.
Mindfulness, Meditation, Memory Training and Memory Palaces
Mindfulness:
Mindfulness:
"Mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn has described mindfulness as paying attention to the present moment with intention, while letting go of judgment, as if our life depends on it. The present is the only real moment we have. And, in fact, our life may actually depend on it. Among its many benefits, mindfulness meditation has actually been proven to increase telomerase, the ‘caps’ at the end of our genes, which, in turn, can reduce cell damage and lengthen our lives. In addition, research demonstrates that mindfulness bolsters our immune system, making us better able to fight off diseases, from the flu to cancer. Mindfulness helps improve our concentration and reduce ruminative thinking that contributes to the high levels of stress that is so prevalent in our society. Stress and ruminative thinking are not only mental health hazards, but they are, quite often, the very symptoms that lead people to seek out the help of a therapist."
Meditation:
"Maybe meditation isn't so mysterious after all. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex - brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety. There is also less activity in the amygdala, where the brain processes fear."
Memory training:
"A trained memory was not just a handy tool, but a fundamental facet of any worldly mind. What's more, memory training was considered a form of character building, a way of developing the cardinal virtue of prudence and, by extension, ethics. Only through memorizing, the thinking went, could ideas truly be incorporated into one's psyche and thier values absorbed. The techniques existed not just to memorize useless information like decks of playing cards, but also to etch into the brain foundational texts and ideas."
- Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein, 2011:10
Memory palace:
"The idea is to create a space in the mind's eye, a place that you know well and can easily visualise, and then populate that imagined place with images representing whatever you want to remember. Known as the 'method of loci' by the Romans, such a building would later come to be called a 'memory palace'"
- Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein, 2011:96
Your mind is your realm.
If you don't get in there and start taking charge of it, your mind will be programmed by whatever messages (sight, sound, smell, touch and taste) or patterns of behaviour it gets bombarded with in the real world. You will get stuck in the flow of the things you are bombarded with and you will become a slave (zombie) of circumstance.
"Sam Sommers, associate Professor of Psychology at Tufts University and writer of the book “Situation Matters”, believes that the power of context is often underestimated. He says that where we are, who we are with and also what’s happening in our life matters and determines who we are...
You all know the following type of people: they are full of negativity and they see life through a pair of broken glasses – it all looks fairly messed up. Let’s call these people energy vampires as they steal our energy and leave us feeling drained.
The people we spend a lot of time with have a big impact on us because we subconsciously imitate others around us. I read that “some evolutionary psychologists believe that automatic imitation may act as “social glue” – helping people to empathise and connect with each other”. So without knowing we mimic the people around us! Of course just because you are around pessimistic people, doesn’t make you a pessimist per se – but certainly these people don’t make you feel energized, passionate, enthusiastic or happy."
- Maxine Schiffmann, How our surrounding influences us and what we can learn from it
Seriously, don't go there and if you are already there - get out!
Always be aware of the contexts and surroundings you place yourself in, are they really benefiting you and your aims?
Take charge of your mind, so that you can take charge of your life and never, ever underestimate the power of your mind!
Build a mindset for success - habits!
Good places to start:
- Google it...
Health, Nutrition and Fitness
This one is no-brainer and very good for your brain.
Increase your overall functioning, well-being and lifespan.
Some of the things I have learnt:
Increase your overall functioning, well-being and lifespan.
Some of the things I have learnt:
- Keeping physically active, keeps you physically alive, disciplined and feeling great!
- Walking - good for the body and good for the mind. Your brain is at its most effective when you are walking, it's a good time to think things through; as well as listening to audio books and podcasts.
- Running - I have found it to be its own form of meditation and, of course, it has its other health benefits.
- Cycling - a highly effective and time-saving substitute for running. I love cycling! 30 reasons to take up cycling - enough said.
- General workouts (with or without weights) - short bursts of high intensity work best. Keeps you streamlined, general health benefits, wakes you up and is a good way to kill time (waiting for the bathroom, dinner or computer to load).
- 5:2 fasting diet - been on it for nearly 2 years and the benefits are astounding (I am currently participating in an investigation into the diet the University of Bristol is conducting). Since undertaking the eating pattern I have experienced vastly increased energy and cognitive functioning. AND I am no longer a TOFI (thin on the outside, fat on the inside); in fact, I have an easily maintained athletic build now - NICE! Definitely worth a look. The diet, not just me.
- Green Tea - the HOLY GRAIL - drink it!
- Water - drink it! And keep drinking it!
- Too many to list here...
Psychology (myself and other people)
It's all about honing your personal intelligence.
I have always been interested in psychology and I have been reading up on it since about 2006. We have to deal with other people in our day-to-day lives, so you might as well get good at doing it.
Another important point that often stops people from achieving their goals - what other people think of them.
Do not worry about what other people think about you. No one cares. Seriously. We all do it. People always, always worry about what other people think of them and, because of this, ask yourself this - when are the people around me actually sparing a moment to think about to think about me?
If everyone is constantly worrying about what others think of them, when are they actually thinking about you?
They're not, they're thinking about themselves and their own state of self-preservation, so stop worry about it. It's a waste of mental assertion, assertion that is much better spent at achieving your life goals.
Finally, If you want to be successful in anything, it is also vitally important to gain an ideal balance of arrogance and humility - be the most open minded, narrow-minded person you can be.
To this end, you won't become disconnected from opportunities because of your own self-importance and you won't get lost in the bigger picture of opportunities available to you.
Be open minded to the world and people around you, but know when it is time to narrow your focus and handle business.
Happenstance - stop and think - evaluate the situation - then take the appropriate action to produce the most positive and productive result for all involved.
An automatic mindset everyone should nurture - habit!
Good places to start:
- Psychology Today - fantastic set of blogs. I read at least one blog post a day!
- The Social Animal: A Story of How Success Happens - "A fascinating study of the unconscious mind and its impact on our lives." - The Economist.
- Smart Thinking - this is my favourite section of Waterstones and the one where I source most of my reading material from; this one is heavily concerned with psychology and many other things besides. Take a note of the books that interest you and then buy them of Amazon or the Book Depository - much cheaper. I would happily classify myself under the Smart Thinking section.
- People. Real flesh and blood people help with this one - listen, watch and interact with them.
Emotional Intelligence
Psychology again, but this one is more focused on controlling the emotions of yourself and of other people.
It's about handling the situation.
Psychology again, but this one is more focused on controlling the emotions of yourself and of other people.
It's about handling the situation.
"The Four Branches of Emotional Intelligence
Salovey and Mayer proposed a model that identified four different factors of emotional intelligence: the perception of emotion, the ability reason using emotions, the ability to understand emotion and the ability to manage emotions.
1) Perceiving Emotions: The first step in understanding emotions is to accurately perceive them. In many cases, this might involve understanding nonverbal signals such as body language and facial expressions.
2) Reasoning With Emotions: The next step involves using emotions to promote thinking and cognitive activity. Emotions help prioritize what we pay attention and react to; we respond emotionally to things that garner our attention.
3) Understanding Emotions: The emotions that we perceive can carry a wide variety of meanings. If someone is expressing angry emotions, the observer must interpret the cause of their anger and what it might mean. For example, if your boss is acting angry, it might mean that he is dissatisfied with your work; or it could be because he got a speeding ticket on his way to work that morning or that he's been fighting with his wife.
4) Managing Emotions: The ability to manage emotions effectively is a key part of emotional intelligence. Regulating emotions, responding appropriately and responding to the emotions of others are all important aspect of emotional management."
Critical Thinking and Philosophy
Critical thinking is a vital cognitive tool: it teaches you to be highly selective; as well as how to assess a situation and/or problem and/or point of view(s) fairly and objectively.
It's also a good tool to identify and dispense with time-wasters, while giving them a bit of constructive criticism.
Philosophy, assists with this, but, in particular, it encourages you to think about the bigger picture and you should always, ALWAYS challenge your mind to think bigger and better.
It's also a good tool to identify and dispense with time-wasters, while giving them a bit of constructive criticism.
Philosophy, assists with this, but, in particular, it encourages you to think about the bigger picture and you should always, ALWAYS challenge your mind to think bigger and better.
- The entirety of my First Class Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies degree and my award-winning theoretical dissertation, Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle, formidably nurtured my critical thinking temperament.
- The Philosopher at The End of the Universe - "who would you rather have as a philosophy teacher, Socrates or Schwarzenegger?"
- Everything I know I Learned from Television - same as above, but with television.
- You can get a bit more hardcore and read the original philosophers and their texts, if you want to bore yourself to death! The modern day summations provided by contemporary philosophers are much more enjoyable, easy to digest and cover a broader range of philosophical issues.
- Most smart thinking books delve into these areas. The clue's in the name.
Basic survival
Seriously, you never know when things are going to go tits-up. I am pretty slack with this one, but:
Seriously, you never know when things are going to go tits-up. I am pretty slack with this one, but:
Basically, if you look after your body and your mind, then your greatness, your passion and your ideal lifestyle will positively prosper!
"We are the stories we tell ourselves, the key to understanding the purpose of the interfacing process is in realising both the deceits of the abstractions in which we constantly immerse ourselves and the ways in which we constantly immerse ourselves in the truths of those abstract deceits."
"Life doesn't have to be so damn hard. It really doesn't. Most people, my past self included, have spent too much time convincing themselves that life has to be hard, a resignation to 9-5 drudgery in exchange for (sometimes) relaxing weekends and the occasional keep-it-short-or-get-fired vacation."
- Tim Ferriss, The 4-Hour Work Week, 2007:7
"Gone are the days of institutions that provide steady employment and guaranteed retirement. I personally lost everything in the 2008 collapse of the banking industry. But I have many friends who spent 30 years as employees in that field and also went through great hardship. I was able to rebuild by taking advantage of opportunity"
I will not spend too much time outlining Ways 2 Interface, as it does already have quite a thorough explanation on its website. Ultimately, it should be seen as the next phase of the research project I initiated in my highly praised practical and award-winning theoretical dissertations of my BA (Hons) degree.
It is a very experimental venture that I will be heavily developing in my upcoming MSc in Creative Technologies and Enterprise.
"From the bison sketched on the cave wall to the latest meme posted on the facebook wall, the interface of the spectator and the spectacle, a physical and cognitive intermingling of consumer and content, is an integral identity and reality constituting process, that quite literally tells the story of our universal and underlying ways of being...
By examining the habits and manifestations of our cognitive, corporeal, cultural and connected ways to interface, Ways 2 Interface will aim to build a unified understanding of this interfacing process - the brand at the heart of all our stories."
- Ways 2 Interface: Welcome #2Interface, 2014
Stories, narrative, fables, legends, branding, etc., the power of stories and the potential of stories are very much at the heart of what I do and who I am - my fundamental focus, my philosophy!
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| What is my fundamental focus? I'll give you a clue... |
I have already written quite a bit of material for the project, over 50,000 words, which I am now in the process or re-writing, as a result of taking my Writing for the Web MOOC. However, the first wave of posts should be all up by the time I begin my Masters; in addition to further defining and populating the content of this blog.
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| ... it has something #2dowithfilm. |
Ultimately, this second banner of my research is about defining and refining my own branded speciality based around my fundamental focus; that will, in turn, enable me to build my own self-sufficient infrastructure to maintain and manifest my ideal lifestyle.
This blog and Ways 2 Interface are going to play a huge role in that endeavour, whatever it ends up being - I research to explore and I explore through doing. Make every facet of your fundamental focus work for everything else in order to increase the strength of each element and the effectiveness of your passion as a whole - all for one and one for all.
Beyond changing viewing habits, spectators, spectacles, stories, neuroscience, interfaces and cavemen, etc., my self-sufficiency research has been looking into:
- Digital content creation - blogging, copywriting, social media, social media marketing, podcasting, videography, photography, creative computing, etc.
- Digital Storytelling and the future of storytelling - filmmaking, documentary filmmaking, interactive documentaries, story apps, web series (independent and non-independent), transmedia, virtual reality.
- Branding - its about telling and selling a story (Ways 2 Interface + this blog + me).
- Success - Due to the success I experienced in my BA (Hons), which surprised even me, increasingly, I have been looking into the science and process behind 'success'.
- I have been conducting this research to ascertain how I managed to employ this process for my degree and how I can further deploy and refine it for future successes.
- In addition to reading quite a bit of literature on this topic, I have been examining entrepreneurs, athletes, thought leaders, politicians, celebrities, etc., in an endeavour to uncover the habits, the mindsets and the principles that produce their greatness.
- I have made quite a bit of headway with this topic; so much so; that I am currently writing an explanation (that is fast becoming book length) of how I employed it and how others can do likewise. Keep your eyes peeled for I RUN NO MORE: Realise Your Focus, Embrace Your Fear, Claim Your Time and Achieve Your Greatness!
- Start-ups - logistics, innovation, culture and purpose.
- Entrepreneurism - that's the dream.
- The New Rich - The 4-Hour Work Week - a variation of this, that's the ultimate dream. If we were meant to get stuck in unfulfilling careers and gruelling lifestyles, then the human race would never have left the cave! I promise you, if they could see how their descendants are stumbling today, they would go right back to their cave wall and dream bigger, much bigger.
- Marketing - online and offline. Absolutely necessary for building and propagating your brand around its appropriate niche audience. A handy way to make money and tell a story as well.
- Leadership and management/project management - If you can manage other people in a productive, positive and inspiring manner (which is essential for any type of venture or project), then taking control of your own life will be a walk in the park.
- Negotiation and conflict resolution - more management and emotional intelligence. Really, this is a skill and temperament everyone should acquire.
- Legality - shoot me!
- Freelancing - it's got to be done.
- Outsourcing - this falls into entrepreneurism, freelancing and start-ups. A highly useful tool and industry sector. This is something everyone REALLY needs to get their heads around, considering how quickly the outsourcing sector has grown and continues to grow - it is the future of work, period!
- I have been identifying areas in my knowledge where I can outsource work, opposed to doing it myself; in addition to looking into outsourcing areas where I can exploit my own skills for financial, experiential and testimonial gain.
- Finance - personal, economics, the banking system, student loans, venture capital, investing, cryptocurrencies (bitcoin), freeconomics, passive income, crowdfunding (I am big on crowdfunding - huge untapped potential here).
- Money is worthless if you do not know how to handle it and you will be a slave to it, if you do not see it for the tool that it actually is, it is not God!
- Crowdfunding - forget traditional means of gaining venture or project capital, if there is something you want to get off the ground, put together a crowdfunding campaign, market it to its the primary niche target audience and gain a following through the course of doing so.
- I have been keeping a very close eye on this one since July, 2013; I even assisted the I AM THE PRIZE campaign in achieving their goal, based on the research I had conducted. I am currently in the process of building my own crowdfunding campaign...
- Self-publishing - digital and print - I do write a lot now and a little extra money would not go a miss, it's good for building your brand as well. This is something I am currently writing to exploit.
- Podcasting - a hugely under-exploited medium and a brilliant way to build a following for your brand. It's also a good way to research pretty much every area that is in this list and many other things besides, while doing other automatic work, such as walking or folding t-shirts.
- Online film distribution and video on demand - these streets are lined with gold! Seriously, filmmakers, this is where you are going to make your living, get accustomed to exploiting it.
- Real world film distribution - it's not dead and it is still highly lucrative when a very creative, immersive and pervasive approach is realised. In accordance with the above online film distribution and video on demand, filmmakers, this is where you are going to make your living.
- Film festivals, public film exhibition, pop-up cinemas and immersive cinema. I have mixed feelings about film festivals, I am not big on film snobbery, I am not big on any kind of snobbery! I am very interested in public exhibition and cinema, especially when it is immersive and innovative, see Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle.
- Academia - the larger workings of academia and the reformulations it is currently experiencing is something that I started to look into due to some of its shortcomings I experienced while undertaking my BA (Hons). It's not all bad, but could still be a lot better, it certainly needs to encourage self-sufficient proactive tendencies in students.
- When I was awarded my high marks for my BA (Hons), many people assumed that I was going to on to become a fully-fledged academic. I have no ambitions of becoming solely an academic, I even took some convincing to undertake my Masters, but there are major advantages of nurturing an academic temperament in my overall skillset.
- E-Learning and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) - In addition to undertaking quite a few MOOCs (they are great for getting overviews of subjects), I have been examining the different types/platforms/shortcomings/untapped areas they offer, there is potential here for educators, academics, brand builders, thought leaders, students, content creators and technologists, etc.
- Travelling - logistics and the knowledge required to build a self-sustaining infrastructure to enable me to interweave travelling with my other pursuits. Saving up and then going off is fine... until you run out of money.
- I am figuring out my own way of generating income, while travelling. It is possible, because I have been examining other people who have mastered it quite successfully. I have always wanted to travel and I can not go to another planet (someone prove me wrong), so I might as well make the most of this one.
- Solo living and modern lifestyles (life and work) - 50% of Americans are single, 50%! And most are either living on their own or would like to. Other countries, including the UK, are showing signs of the same trend. This is a major changing social and existential trend, that is only just being looked into. It's a type of professional and personal lifestyle that is going to require a whole new cultural mindset and infrastructure of support.
- I am also quite big on the freedom solo living provides, if you have not noticed already. See Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone.
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