Illuminated Mind

The Future and Evolution of Illuminated Mind

Nothing is stagnant and neither is Illuminated Mind. Some big shifts and growth is happening around here, and I want to update you all on what’s in store. Design update In case you haven’t noticed (you read this blog solely in a feed reader) Illuminated Mind has received a long overdue face lift. As usual, due to [...]

The Future and Evolution of Illuminated Mind

The Art of Being Ridiculous; or Why Being Serious is a Waste of Time

Being a serious person has its benefits. You fit in. The rest of your life is fairly predictable; not many surprises. No one asks questions. You’re considered “normal.” You wake up with a pretty good idea of what your day will consist of. Your life is steady; it feels safe. I used to accept this way of living because whenever I told [...]

The Art of Being Ridiculous; or Why Being Serious is a Waste of Time

How to Reclaim Ownership of Your Mind

The views and opinions of others are a petty tyrant when compared to your opinion of yourself. What you think of yourself is more valuable than any external validation or outward symbol of authority. Self-validation and internal congruence is where the real battle takes place. Winning over your own heart and mind — not those of [...]

How to Reclaim Ownership of Your Mind

Choose Not to Fail

Much of the time when we set out to do something, we go in with a mindset of trying. We attempt to do it. We “test it out” to see if we can handle it. While this approach is certainly useful in many contexts, at some point it’s more beneficial to discard it. At some point, we [...]

Choose Not to Fail

Unstoppable Passion: How to Eat Inspiration For Breakfast

[Note, if you're reading this in your email or feed reader, click here to see the video] In this video, I talk about how I got on the path to doing what I love for a living, and how I sustained my motivation when I was still on that path but hadn’t quite made it there [...]

Unstoppable Passion: How to Eat Inspiration For Breakfast

Why Most People Fail to Make a Living Doing What They Love

More people are waking up to the reality that they don’t follow the typical work template: college > corporate job: ladder climbing > retirement. But waking up to the possibility isn’t enough, and unfortunately, a lot of people fail at making it happen. They know what they don’t want — a 9 to 5 soul-sucking job [...]

Why Most People Fail to Make a Living Doing What They Love

Self Qualified & Degree-less: How to Sneak in the Back Door to Your Career

A long, long time ago, there were no such things as schools or credentials. Your reputation in the community was your certification. Your diploma came from the school of real-world, hands-on practice. Institutionalized training and schooling has changed that. You can now get a degree or certification in just about anything. And there are certain professions [...]

Self Qualified & Degree-less: How to Sneak in the Back Door to Your Career

How to Live Two Lives in One

Is it possible to have two loves, both equally cherished, without jealousy? In our society, this is illegal. You can only have one (legal) love. But what about other pursuits, like our work? I think being professionally polygamous is often equally frowned upon. We’re supposed to have one specialty. One niche. And perhaps a micro-niche on [...]

How to Live Two Lives in One

Reclaim Your Dreams Reviews

January 13th marked the one year birthday of my first ebook. In that time, a lot has happened. It has sold over 650 copies and has made up a good portion of my income for 2009. In December last year I also finally released the long-awaited worksheets that accompany Reclaim Your Dreams. The response has been [...]

Reclaim Your Dreams Reviews

Kill Your Curiosity

[Note from Jonathan: This is a guest post written by Jeremy Bennett.] curiosity –noun, plural 1. the desire to learn or know about anything; inquisitiveness. Curiosity is over-valued in our society, and one of the top causes of distraction in our increasingly information-saturated world. Mind you, I’m not completely opposed to curiosity. Children are curious about the world, and that’s [...]

Kill Your Curiosity