A significant lack of concern coupled with unbounded opportunity has created quite a mix of stage fright and entitlement. Not just in my life, but all across the world. I’m a part of the 53% who, as a group, refuse to see themselves as part of the 99% who, as a whole, don’t seem to realize they are a part of the 1% in the eyes of a child who scrapes by on whatever food $2 will buy today. All that entitlement gets in the ways of such thoughts. All that stage fright keeps us from standing up and forcing change. Occupy Wallstreet needs work.

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Nikola Tesla

Todays words from the digital man cave are about something that I find both strange and disconcerting. Genius level intellect in men and fully successful relationships. It seems like they just can’t coexist peacefully.

Now before you go throwing daggers at me, allow me a minute to explain.

There are frequently accounts of individuals with genius level intellect leading sometimes strange and sometimes solitary lives. More often than not, they don’t have long lasting relationships, or any at all. They don’t fit in with their lives and how they see the world.

Let me give you some examples.

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I started writing today with an accomplishment in mind, but my reason for posting changed a little when I read/saw a news story that's close to my heart these days. My little corner on the web, finally jumped over a milestone and I'm pretty happy about that. But has anything significant really happened?

Well let's see…

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Image courtesy/copyright 123rf.com

Todays words from the digital man cave are about taking the leap of faith that is starting a new business. The last piece of advice someone gave to me was “Don’t expect to break even for three years. If you can hang in there that long, it’s worth it on the other side.” It’s commonly accepted that 9 out of 10 new businesses fail before or shortly after the 1 year anniversary, and 9 of the 10 that make it past the first year also fail before or shortly after the 10 year anniversary. It’s also commonly accepted that most new businesses have a period of about 3-5 years where you will be in the negative.

All of this information was around and accepted pre-recession.

So if anything, it’s much harder now, right? Probably.

Should you really be concerned about that if you’re just starting out? Probably not.

New adventures are a lot like sky diving. You make the decision, you prepare, you check your equipment, then you get real real REAL scared. And if you’re lucky you have a moment of clarity in the midst of the heart pounding anxiety that is just long enough to get your feet moving and your body careening out into the clear blue yonder. And then you’re falling and it’s the scariest and most exhilarating thing you’ve ever experienced. If your bladder was full you’d probably end up doing some crazy mid-air urine avoidance gymnastics. Once you pull the chute and it opens, it’s a beautiful ride back to earth.

But first you have to take action, and pray everything is working in order. That way you can do it all over again as soon as possible.

This brief post in the digital man cave is about something I have been thinking about off and on for a little while now. Everyone talks about how any smart business that wants to thrive in the coming years will take advantage of social media, but no one really talks about what that means in the same conversation. I read an interesting blog post that brings up that very point. How are you leveraging your pull in front of an audience just by saying you’re using a new technology without actually using the new technology. How does that do anything for anyone? You may notice that I am now on the Twitter. Believe me it’s not because I like Twitter. Or the concept of tweeting. I’m there because from a business standpoint it makes sense for me to use it and be aware of it. Plugging my ears and shutting my eyes isn’t going to make it go away, so I’ve moved on to a new strategy.

Jumping on the bandwagon isn’t enough if you want make an impact in life. This goes for businesses and people. And is this really something that everyone needs? No, I don’t think so. But here we are right?

Stay tuned for more words from the digital man cave!

Todays words from the digital man cave are for every person out there who has a well manicured exterior and a crumbling infrastructure. I’m talking to you over there. And I’m talking to me too.

Last week I had a strange evening. For reasons unknown to me I decided to put on a movie I hadn’t seen in quite some time. It was a foreign film and I remembered the basic plot of the movie, and I also remembered that I didn’t really “get it”. Watching it for a second time, what I “got” was a deep and painful feeling of sadness and emptiness about life. So what did I do? Put on some rock music! Some favorites. Apparently I like too many soulful mournful rock ballads because that’s all I heard for a good 20 minutes.

In no uncertain terms, that was a terrible move on my part, because it did nothing positive for me. It only left me feeling very scared, very doubtful, and very depressed about my recent choices to venture out on my own to hopefully stay away from the guaranteed security/slavery of a conventional job. I sat at my desk in the digital man cave, with a map of my activities and plans on the wall in front of me, and a task list with items recently checked off to my left, and I felt like I had no idea what I was doing.

See people have always told me that I’m successful, and that I’ve done well for myself, and since being laid off they’ve added “you’re young so it’s okay, you’ve got plenty of time to bounce back”. Really? Because I’ve been under the impression that no one is really promised tomorrow around here. We plan for the future but they are only plans. As successful as I’ve been at my endeavors, and as young as I am, I’m not immune to tragedy, and I’m certainly not immune to failure.

I have been, and I will be scared out of my mind. It is an inevitable fact of life. I have moved past, and I will move past my obstacles. It is a natural result of determination.

This post is for everyone out there who has caught the feeling of “HOLY $H!T WHAT AM I DOING THIS IS GOING TO CRASH AND BURN SO BAD ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY“ at some point in the past. You are not lost at sea, and you are not alone in the dark. Just keep swimming, and keep moving forward. The anxiety will pass, and the success will come.

Stay tuned for more from the digital man cave!