The 100 items from DW

It was just last week that I sorted out all of my drawers and closets to give away 100 items to GoodWill.  And how actually easy it was…for a few reasons:

1. After backpacking for 25 days in Europe, I realized just how much “stuff” we all get accustomed to collecting.  Before I got on my 14hr international plane ride prior to my study abroad experience in Ireland, I struggled with how one packs their life for 5 months.  Then I arrived to my apartment and realized I had everything I needed.  Continuing the same storyline, I traveled all of mainland Europe out of a backpack.  I had everything I needed.  My mind gasped when I landed back to my Ireland apartment after the weeks of traveling, “Do I really need all this?”  Which leads me to my next point…
2. Traveling leads to people of all kinds and spokes.  This is one thing I love, thoroughly.  One night in a Galway, Ireland hostel, I met a middle-aged Canadian man who preceded to give me the low down of his life and adventures.  He was in Ireland traveling prior to his Spain, Santiago de Chile pilgrimage.  He told me the tale of how he just sold everything at his Canada dwelling, including the dwelling itself.  One, this speaks of how bold of an adventurous life he craved.  Two, he was a minimalist.  He even called himself that many times as we talked.  His lesson he spun to me was just how simple some things should be in life.  Less stuff, more simplicity.  I couldn’t agree more.
3. Now as I drive my car to the GoodWill store, (no I’m not texting blogging and driving, but is that illegal?) I realize what a gratifying feeling it is to give.  Gratification is key to simplicity.  Exactly why giving 100 items for a minimalist approach rewards the minimalist mind along with their storage units.
4. Lastly, a lesson taught from my mother:  Before buying new clothes, shoes, etc, always give away an item to make room.  The OneForOne movement if you will.  Blake Mycoskie can agree.  I believe we all know this rule of thumb (execption of TLC Hoarders) but who actually remembers to put the “DO” in it.

So, I’m curious…What was the last thing you gave away?  For a minimalist approach?  Comment below.

PS…I hope after writing this I will know how to spell minimalist without at least one spellcheck.

–DW seeks BIZ Opp, BIG/small–

Looking for internship/contacts/experience related to creative, funky, motivated teams of ppl in the marketing, advertising, entrepreneurial scene.  Ideal scene working for marketing/pr for niched music scene.  Open to other scenes too.  Specializing in copywriting, internet marketing, direct mail, event marketing, great relationships and funky glasses.  Chicago.  MPLS.  DM.  Or Dublin.

Prefer paid after helping out the IRE economy the best I can as a visiting, non-working student for 5 months.  Contact via email dkw [at] iastate.edu. Cheers.

As you can see, I’ve never shied  away from opportunity, even when it comes from a complete stranger.  This is just another one of my experiments to see how viral opportunity really is.  Looking forward to knowing soon…

Why?  Well a few in particular wrote how they requested someone’s hand in marriage.  No dates.  Just hop on a plane and I’ll arrange the limo to the chapel.  Down to the point and for convenience.  I found that very interesting in many ways. 

How can some people fear the fear of belonging and love that much?  To basically go back to the Stone Age and have it randomly arranged.  Definitely missing a few sparks in my book.  Yet, they brought up the point of how many marriages lead to divorce. 

“Why does it matter if you know the person prior to one when it leads astray?” they question. 

Is there more fun in the journey of making it work upon meeting?  Possibly a good point they were making…or so they thought.  I feel that love cannot be looked at as a game in life.  And this is just another way of trying to play the cards right.  But only this time, you deal with no real bet (emotion) behind it.

As any psychology will tell a student of LIFE, love is the human emotion shared with another.  I think the Craiglist marriage requester lad skipped this class that day…probably due to his responsibility to the pub life.  Can we blame him? 

Below I’ve attached the link to his personal ad.  Respond if you feel the spark.

http://dublin.craigslist.org/m4w/2163092376.html  

Do some students experience this now, only to experience it later in life?

Afterwards, I walked to a tea store my roommate told me to check out.  Walked in and got teas and chocolate.  But what was more interesting was the twenty-minute conversation I had with the co-owner.  She was from Lithuania and had been in business for a little over two years.  We talked a lot about the recession taking place in Ireland and worldwide.  It was interesting for she said that the US had a come around but she thought the recession translated to the black hole for Ireland.  Immediately, I wanted to find out if this was just a negative opinion or if there were facts of why. 

I got a mix of both.  She talked a lot about how many of the big names are moving to Czech Republic and Turkey since labor is so much cheaper there.  Also, that Ireland is in total dooms day of debt to the EU.  More than the other countries affected by the recession.  But I reflected the rebound of the recession back in the States.  I brought up the issue of the increase in small biz and entrepreneurs.  One of my passions, if you can’t tell.  I made the point that many people who do lose their jobs actually find that they hated what they did.  It lets them get control of their lives and pick a field/hobby that they long forgotten and create a job.  Be the job creator, not taker.  She saw my point, but not fully.  She presumed that that was only a very small amount of people.  And only ones that were optimistic.  Interesting enough, when she said that comment she made it sound like those were not her ‘cup of tea’ people/tribe.  We also got on the subject of education and the difference between college and university in Ireland.  I hadn’t known there was one.  But she said that the University prestige will give you a diploma but only teaches you theory.  No real world.  I guess the colleges here bring in the experts and have the experts be the teachers.  More of a network and real world learning experience. 

I did agree with her that the problem with education today in colleges and universities back home is how it’s all one big theory.  Even the concept of going to one.  Go to college.  Get diploma.  Get a job.  Such is life.  Really though, that’s all shit. 

Who wants to one: spend an overpriced amount to learn theory of whatever subject interesting enough to choose right out of high school? 

Two: theory is not the equivalent to LIFE.  You’re most likely not going to experience a dilemma and refer 5 years back to your professor’s lecture notes.  It’s called real time.  And real world.

Three:  Why be a job taker?  What about a creator of jobs?  Yeah, an entrepreneur.  Years back the term was obsolete or only hushed around conversations.   But it’s possibly on the verge of mainstream, if not already entering the minds of many.  To actually create a life doing something you love.  Crazy.  Cool.  Not try to force yourself to conjure up the concoction that this is the only way to make ends meet, take a job, make a living and be a miserable being. 

Note:  I understand that I can’t be biased and that many people are fulfilled with working for someone.  The big guy…or small.  I just trust that you get such great gratification and still take risks in other matters of your work, hopefully play.

And where do I fit in?  Well, I’m a student.  I don’t say this to contradict my thinking.  In reality, I had this breakdown to my mom just last year.  I pleaded to her why couldn’t I just take a year off and really experience what learning is.  Go to learning conferences such as Dan Kennedy (the best of the best of Marketing/Copywriting) or big networking events within my chosen field of interest.  Gain real world contacts that would mentor me with my aspiring passions.  I even threw in that I wanted to read over a 100+ books to really grasp the knowledge of the old and new thinkers.  A Quest for Experienced Knowledge.  This idea was really appealing to me at the time as I sat through my statistics class bored and my mind not truly present.  And how it still appeals to me. 

But I’ve seemed to fallen in the vast crowd, using college really as my buffer to the real world.  Many students I know don’t mind this notion.  They’re mostly scared of the real world and having to work their first time job that they presumably will dislike.  Why is it that jobs are so scary to students?  Oh yeah, we’ve seen the wears and tears from parents, friends, colleagues and ourselves of what life looks like not be 100% happy with your job.

I will say, I truly don’t mind the thought of graduation and life after the college of theory.  Why?  For I know that my life is what I make of it.  No one is going to throw me on a truck and take me to do work I didn’t sign up for.  Instead, I see college’s greatest and maybe only asset is the contacts and mentors I come across.  One big Rolodex.  A pricey one to get as well.  Hopefully well worth it in the end, speaks my thrifty wallet.

What are your thoughts?  This is an open book for fresh intakes no matter what stage you’re on of the education route.  Far astray or riding the yellow lines?  Discuss on…

So I stole this title from Mr. Roy Reiman from his autobiography book revealing how BIG his ideas are and where they led him in his life.  Great read if you ever want to get behind a creative mind.

As for me…What if I (DW) could write a book? Of course I will. That’s not for you to answer.  But it makes me wonder just how many people say this in their lives.

What would you write about?

I see it as how you want work to be your passion of which time stands still.  Pick a topic you enjoy or feel strongly about.  Writing the book will start to be your passion pooling from the previous passion.  It’s not like grade school anymore when you were assigned a topic.  No, now the teacher has left the room and asks to be surprised when she comes back.

So surprise her.  Better yet, surprise us.

See each day as a new opportunity to surprise those around you.  What makes you remarkable?  In business you hear this a lot.  You deliver a 30-second elevator pitch all to answer, “What makes your idea remarkable, kid?”

And if you look closely around every corner in LIFE, you will find how we all try to answer the “remarkable question” for ourselves.

So, sit down and realize.  What are the seeds that grow you into being a remarkable one?

Now to hear some of the after effects of these pennies:

• After writing down in my journal to attract abundance through applied scholarships, two days later I was informed I was the recipient of the Mary & John Pappajohn Scholarship (1 of 10) at ISU.
• I was selected as attendee for the Okoboji Entrepreneur Institute this summer.  At the institute (straight from website)
  • • Attend education topics on entrepreneurship;
    • Work in teams to complete a computer simulation to start a company
    • Network with northwest Iowa’s finest entrepreneurs and mentors
    • Experience the culture of the Lakes region and Okoboji hopitality first-hand
    • Pitch your business to investors to compet for top monetary prizes
    • Earn 3 college credits
    • Develop a set of contacts that would make any entrepreneur envious

All for free.  No complaints

• Won 3 raffles items:  free Jeff’s Pizza, Qdoba burrito, free Little Caesar’s pizza.
• Got my flat tire (due to Ames potholes) half reimbursed (which only few cases were reimbursed this winter).
• Just recently, a great opportunity came DW’s way to work with Roy Reiman (founder of Reiman Publications) on a special project at Reiman Gardens in Ames, Iowa.  The World’s Largest Gnome for Reiman Garden’s Celebration of Garden Ornamentation is how it all began.  DW’s official title: Gnome Coordinator at GnomeHQ.  One for the resumes, you could say!

Now I don’t say any of this so the “unlucky” people will say, “Good for you, but that’s not me.” Rather it’s all in your state of mind.  Is it ironic that you can find on my Facebook,

“I make my own luck”

Hmmm…coincidence not at all.

Might just have to dedicate a floor in my future house to all my findings.

And on another note:  There is no such thing as being unlucky.  All I’m going to say for now.

And to end the story of The Lucky Penny Girl, I will share with you the day I moved out at the end of my sophomore year at college (2 days ago).

I was frantically cleaning and packing all my stuff since I only had two hours to do it before my house was closed up for good.  Note: never move out without the help of someone else.  Needless to say I was jealous of all the students with their family members as I walked down 3 flights of steps, helplessly.

While taking off my bed sheets, I found a familiar item underneath the area of my pillow.  A shiny, gold, circular object.  You guessed it, a penny!  And I will say that I never had placed it there.

Ask yourself, how good can I stand it?  I do.

Too many of the principles in the book relate perfectly well to today’s changing times.  But money is money.  That’s never changed.  Only the mainstream belief about money has started to shift.

Money has very little to do with work, unless it involves work with your mind.   

“I worked for a menial’s hire,

only to learn, dismayed,

That any wage I asked of Life,

Life would have willingly paid.”

The secret.  Do not wish for it.  It must be a desire.  Desires have feelings/emotions tagged to a thought with a distinct state of mind.  Obsession.  Then plan definite ways and means to acquire riches.  Finally, back those plans with persistance which does not recognize failure.  Ah, what rich words these are to create riches.

Don’t want to believe DW?  Well, this comes strictly from Mr. Napoleon Hill, himself.  

And please share favorite lessons learned from Think & Grow Rich.  Or suggestions left out?   

Now, for the eyes who haven’t gotten to read my piece.  Learn ways to be thrifty in the wallets of college kids at Iowa State University.  Look to your right for previous post.

It is a skill all college students learned to do dating back to elementary school—spelling.  Now ask a college kid to spell thrifty and they’ll ace the test with a teacher’s sticker placed on top.  T-H-R-I-F-T-Y.  It defines their lives.

Here are the seven top thrifty finds around the ISU campus.  Have you mastered all of them?  No?  Maybe that is why you have so many holes in your pockets.  Read on to patch the financial holes and stretch your dollars.

• Thrifty Find #1

Books. Books. Books. A buried receipt from the University Bookstore totaling to $614.89, is what junior Lydia Chronos in apparel design found crumpled in her wallet.  “And that was just for ONE semester,” she exclaimed.  A quick fix to this problem is renting used textbooks from Chegg.com, an online store.  Simply order the desired textbooks and Chegg will ship it to students, including a return label when books are due after the semester.  Students can save up to 40 to 50 percent compared to college bookstores, reports Chegg.com.  If you’re really feeling the thrift, don’t buy any of your books.  An anonymous ISU student has sought out a new plot to end overpriced textbooks.  “For my Econ102 class, I didn’t buy the book.  I knew it wasn’t highly used for the class.   When it came to test day, I went to the ISU University Bookstore and camped out for thirty minutes to skim for any information that’d be on the test.  That was my defining moment of thriftiness.”

• Thrifty Find #2

Coupons Today’s coupon consumer has changed considerably.  Since the “dot com” boom, Internet technology is fast-paced and everyone is on the net—especially college kids.  Popular coupon site, RetailMeNot.com has seen an increase in visits by 20 percent from last year, totaling to 40 million people printing online coupons each year.  Another outlet is the printed coupon books that the vendor, College-Coupons, distributes each semester.  It’s an old-fashioned printed book but the disadvantage with this, books get lost or thrown away.  If only there was something better.  Coming soon, ThriftyCollegeKids.com, an online coupon site with a spin.  Social thriftiness at it’s best.

• Thrifty Find #3

Goodwill Hunting.  Halloween.  Ugly Christmas sweaters.   Greek house parties.  Or maybe just attire for students.  Over the last few years, vintage-clothing section of thrift shops is the popular corner with college kids.  “The number of college students shopping at thrift stores has been increasing drastically over just the last five or six years.  It’s mainly because today’s college students are committed to reuse and recycling.  It’s cool for them,” Cindi Forslund of Seattle’s Goodwill told during an interview with USA Today.  “It’s a cool way to find something a tad bit different for themed parties,” says junior Amanda Rosauer member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.  “Oh, and you’ll always find a red-tag sale.”

• Thrifty Find #4

Free/Win/Luck. Feeling a bit on the lucky side?  There are chances to win all around ISU’s campus.  Many times it just takes a little effort to look.  Organizations tend to offer incentives to students through raffles, drawings and surveys.  Just don’t go dropping pennies only to pick them up yourself.  That’s breaking the Law of the Lucky.

• Thrifty Find #5

Browse Around. The Browsing Library located on the first floor of the Memorial Union offers serenity and refuge to students to cut their daily noise and confusion.  It even cuts cost for some students.  Times, National Geographic, People, Sports Illustrated and Business Week could be in your hands without the newsstand cost.  But remember that it’s a “browsing” library and you can’t run off with the latest gossip from People to show your friends back in the dorm.  They will have to find this ISU hidden gem for themselves.  Another item to browse through—the ISU Bomb yearbooks.  Maybe you’ll even see good ole mom and dad captured together in a photo while they attended ISU.  The Browsing Library hours are: Monday-Thursday, 8am-10pm, Friday 8am-5pm.

• Thrifty Find #6

Free Flicks. The Student Union Board (SUB) offers students free flicks every Thursday at 7 or 10pm, and a showing at 7pm on Sundays at the Memorial Union.  Recent fall showings include Public Enemies, UP, The Proposal, The Hangover, and Harry Potter. And don’t forget to get your Films Punchcard punched at any of the showings.  After three punches, turn your card into the SUB Office for a chance at the end of the semester to win a $100 gift card to Best Buy.  A double incentive.

• Thrifty Find #7

Free access for printing. Thomas Lashier, sophomore in business—management, finds himself frequently returning to the Gerdin Business computer lab, sometimes daily.  He says he’s not alone as he barely catches an open seat.  It’s a packed house on this Thursday during the noon hour.  But he’s grateful for the 1800 pages of free printing available to him for the entire year.  He adds, “You can print off a bunch of lecture slides just before class.” Perfect for all note takers alike.  This college comfort is also available to majors in engineering and design.

Imagine this.  You’re standing in the Memorial Union food commons.  The news comes on and story after story the rising cost of gas, food and tuition is the headline.  Less bang for your buck, essentially.  Students around you begin to grumble.  A slight smile comes across your face.  For you, it’s news of opportunity.   You are a masterful, thrifty college kid who’s practical, common sense ways seek out the hidden thrifty finds on campus.  May your thrift live on.

I’d thought I would do this one a little different

Respond with any quotes that make your life worth living.  A mantra.  Words that add to your personality.  Anything.  

Here are my favorite words put together:

“How good can you stand it?”  This contradicts, “How worse can it get?”

“Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas.”

“Energy flows where attention goes.”

“I make my own luck.”  This explains why I just received $1500 in free money.  Maybe you should make it your mantra.