Know What You Like

0ptimizR is here to make sure that the public knows how to not waste their life. It has come to the attention of the author a very strange form of life wasting. It is no novel idea, it has been around since the beginning of time, and it is a trap that springs on even the best 0ptimizRs. In the quest to have more friends, people waste so much of their time falling in line with what they feel others expect them to do.

First, I would like to study two cases. 

Billie Jo is an average high school girl. Ever since middle school, her friends and her had always been in the school's chorus. Moving into her upperclassman years, she realizes that having taken chorus for so many years, she has missed out on other electives that she never bothered to even look into. When she brings the idea up to her friends, they shoot it down, and Billie Jo is expected to show up after the summer sitting in the exact same 1st soprano seat. 

And then there is Michael. Michael gives the impression that he hates the mainstream. His whole persona is to be so far away from pop culture that he seems to be living in another era. He swears that he listened to Dubstep in 2008, and then when Skrillex came out it "all went down hill". He wears mismatched socks under his shoes that have different color laces, and wears large poindexter glasses that have no prescription because he has perfect vision.   

These are two very different cases, but they have problems that are rooted in the same source: lack of originality and thinking for oneself. There is no real happy ending here. Billie Jo does what she is expected to do, and graduates with top honors in the music department, but then goes to college hating singing, and spends money on an introductory course in what she never knew she had a talent for: psychology, a class her high school offered for free. Michael goes the rest of his high school years unhappy with the way he is, because what he doesn't know about himself is that he is a natural born leader, and thus he comes to school every week with a different style because everyone starts to mimic him. 

There is however a solution to both of these issues. Here it is: Find what you really enjoy doing and do it. Especially now, high schoolers. High schoolers have so much opportunity to learn what they enjoy. High schools offer classes in everything from history to music theory to psychology to computer science to languages. If you take an elective and don't like it or get tired of it, drop it. That means it is not a passion for you. By all means, move on. 

Also, don't go against the crowd for the sake of going against the crowd. That's stupid. By no means am I condoning anyone to fall into a conformist pit of following those who are considered by all outside sources to be "better than you". But here is a hint: If many people like it, it may actually be good. Sure, society has a knack for exploiting the mess out of trends until you can't stomach hearing Adele sing "Set Fire to the Rain" not even one more time before you commit yourself to the happy house. But don't oppose it from the beginning because it is accepted. It is alright to like things others like. Its okay to not like things other like. 

Leading and Managing

Anyone with a sol;id Type-A personality knows the struggle to get a higher position in whatever they are doing, whether it is school or work or an extracurricular. Gaining a position usually means more authority, and the ability to make decisions. Not to mention, gaining position is a serious ego booster. 

However, there are two paths a person with position of authority can take: One may lead, or one may manage. Now the secret is to know the difference. That is 0ptimizR's role this week, to teach the difference. 

The simple answer: Managing has the connotation of keeping things running smoothly without much change, while leading has the connotation of moving forward. 

The not so simple answer: When we think of a manager, we tend to think of paperwork, reprimands, and general chores that a certain business goes through. He is the one who makes sure all of the workers are safe, and have fair moral. He ensures the quality and quantity of his product or service. While these things are necessary, he has no stock in moving the organization forward to the next level. 

Then we think of the leader. He focuses much of his energy on moving to the next level. He thinks to himself "What can we do to advance this organization?" and "What needs to be done to fulfill a greater desire?". He cares about his subordinates, not because they are a liability, but because he sees their value in progressing the organization. He has no stock in reprimanding minor offences or filling out paperwork.

While in most situations, there is quite a bit of overlap in the two descriptions, a leader and a manager have different and seemingly opposing end goals. And for a person with position to be an 0ptimizR, he needs to know which on his position calls for. 

How to Train Your Elephant: 0ptimizing Evernote

As an avid user of Evernote, I know the struggles and benefits of using the note-taking software. It prides itself on being a sort of everything box that is compatible and accessible on multiple devices through the web or mobile apps. Just take notes or clip articles from the internet, and have that information wherever you go.

One of the major complaints I see all over the web is that people just can't "get into" using it. I had the same problem, and I overcame it, and now I am devoted to the green elephant on my kindle fire. Here is the secret to that: you have to trust Evernote for everything. Absolutely everything. See here is the thing, Evernote may not be the fastest software out there for note taking, but it is really good at what it does. It keeps your notes and makes them accessible nearly anywhere on earth on any mobile device.

Another secret: Use the resources Evernote gives you. For example, the web clipper. On Chrome, it take the click of the Elephant icon in the top right of my screen, and I have the whole page or just a selection of what I am looking at forever at my fingertips.


In all, this is 0ptimizr's big spiel about Evernote, and that everyone should download it here. Until next week 0ptimizrs, stay safe, stay efficient.

Transitional Periods

There always comes a time in everyone's life where things change, our circumstances change, or we shift focus. For some, it is starting a new job, or getting married, or moving to a new place. One that hit cosest to home for me these days is high school graduation. It's the end of my primary school years, and the beginning of the rest of my life.

What many people don't know is that there is a way to 0ptimize this shift. Here are a few simple steps in doing so.

Circumstances Change, Relationships Don't Have To

One of the hardest things about moving or graduating is fear of losing all of your friends. However, we live in a time blessed with instant communication, textually, audibly, and visually. So, when things change and it is time to move on, remember that keeping contact is a two way street. Granted, things might change a little bit, but true friends don't let a changed circumstance get in the way of a good friendship. 

Embrace New Beginnings

One of the better things about moving into a new era of life is the ability to start fresh. There aren't people who know every excruciating detail of every screw up you've ever made, and there aren't mistakes lingering over your head. It is a new opportunity to start new healthy habits, like regular exercise or better work ethic. You have the opportunity to build your reputation from the start and not worry about roadblocks. So take advantage of new beginnings.

Finish Strong

One of the hardest things to do when you are aware that your circumstances are changing soon is to finish what you are doing strongly. In the case of graduation, it is a syndrome known commonly as senioritis. But, to 0ptimize the experience, you must finish what you are doing strong, or else you might regret it later. Why go into colege with a 3.4 gpa because you slacked instead of a 3.6? Or at rank 34 rather than 22, because "you've already made it so why does it matter"? That's setting you up for for a rough transition. 

As for this 0ptimizr, I need to start taking my own advice.

Break Time

I have found that there is a certain common misconception that being efficient means not taking a break until the task at hand is completely finished, and this misconception has seeped into businesses and work ethics of professionals for years. 

Coming into Spring Break, I found it an opportune time to try and break this for my readers.

Okay, so it seems counter intuitive. Because it is. To get a task done, you have to...stop doing the task? Yes.  Taking breaks has many positive effects, especially if you have been laboring on the task for a long time and put a lot of work into it nonstop. What are some of these positive effects? Here are some

1. Clears your mind to reorganize your thoughts later
2. It gives a fresh perspective when you resume the work
3. It lowers blood pressure, thus physically giving the ability to concentrate on the task better
4. Gives time to sort out any other distractions, like hunger or drowsiness

Here is the thing. This is not anything that is a secret. Stephen Covey wrote about taking a break in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and his son Sean wrote about it in his adaptation Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Lifehacker interviews CEO's of major companies and professors at Ivy League schools and asks them how they work and what their office looks like. Many of them, surprisingly enough, have a bed or a comfy couch in their office. Why? Because they understand the value of a break.

So students: Enjoy the mess out of your break. If you have been working hard, it is well deserved. If not, then you have a clean slate when you come back. It is a win win, really.

Create an Action Plan

This week I enlisted into the United States Marine Corps. It was a huge step in my life, and will consume many of my young adult years. I had supporters, and those who were maybe a bit more negative, but it was ultimately my decision, and I ultimately followed through with it.

But, I am by no means going to spend the rest of my life in the Marines. Make no mistake, I love the Corps. I loved it before I started the process of joining, and I love it even more now. However this is not my end-goal for my life. This is merely a stepping stone to my end-goal: to end human trafficking and slavery. That fight is my passion, and what I spend much of my time thinking about. So, why did I join the Marines? It was a means for the end. It serves as a stepping stone.

What does all of this have to do with an action plan? Let me break it down for you. Your parents want a clean house. That is their end desire, for the week at least. The clean house is not going to happen by you wishing for a clean house. That mess is for fairy tails.

How do you clean the house? First you figure out what all that entails: vacuum  sweep, mop, wash clothes, clean bedroom, clean bathroom, wash dishes. Now you know what needs to happen. Next step is to figure out what order would best suit your interests. You don't want to mop before you sweep, and you definitely don't want to wash clothes before you can get all of your towels and cleaning clothes in the machine. So the next step is to carry out that plan.

This simple recipe can help you create the action plan for anything you need to get done.
1. Establish end goal
2.Assess the situation
3.Establish means by which short term goals can be carried out in order to reach end goal
4.Do it.


Yep. It's really that simple. Your going to be skeptical when trying it. I just ask you, try it. It helps me out so much that it has become methodical.


So here is another fun game. Please, feel free to get addicted. I need pageviews. And this one is from a more credible site, so I wont get a virus on my site.

Be An Individual

Okay, first and foremost, I want to apologize that 0ptimizR was down for a few days this past week. Apparently some malware got onto the site by way of the snake game, so I took it down. The post is still there though. That will not however be the last fun HTML content I will have, so stay tuned.

Now on to the good stuff. Your asking what being an individual have to do with personal efficiency.

Well, here is the thing. I watch people ride the coattails of their parents political, religious, moral, and practical beliefs, and honestly they are wasting their life. I have peers who claim a certain party affiliation, but their life or personality goes against that platform, and numerous people claim their parents religion purely because its the only thing they have ever known.

I repeat: THIS IS THE BIGGEST WASTE OF YOUR LIFE YOU COULD POSSIBLY ENDURE.

Am I saying become the opposite of what your family follows, leave your religion behind, and separate yourself from everything your friends believe? Absolutely not. If you didn't think similarly with the friends you have, they would not be your friends. What I am saying is, know what you believe and follow, and why you believe or follow it.

I'll give you a personal example. When I was little, I never really grew up in church until I was in middle school. I claimed Christianity, but only because I didn't know much different. When I entered middle school, I had the epiphany: What is it that I believe, and does it actually make sense. So, without any push from outside sources, or without any type of pressure, I began to actually read my Bible. I asked the hard questions: If God is good, why is there suffering? Why would Jesus die for sinners? What does the Bible say about dinosaurs and whatnot? So I did my own research. I understood that there were questions that needed to be answered, and I searched for the answers. If there were things I found in my search that were compleately illogical, or definitely disproved the existence of God, then I had no problem planting my faith elsewhere.

In my search I found the answers to all of the hard questions, and furthermore I wholeheartedly believe in the existence of a pure, good God, who sent his son to die for sinners, because he made people to love and to love Him, and without a sacrifice of His blood, there would be an eternity of separation from Him, thus our existence would have been void. I believe God is logical, and omniscient, and understands all things. I also believe that God is compassionate, and ever loving of not only His followers, but everyone He created.

But this post is not about my conviction. If you want to know how I believe, you can take a look at my buddies blog. He and I have very similar beliefs. This post is about you finding your own.

I had very similar experiences with my political and practical ideals. You may call it an awakening, but I call it simply knowing what you believe and why you believe it.

Until next week. 'Mericuh.