Did you ever wonder how to get things done? For me there is always one point when I start to lack motivation and I have to find some anchor point to get through that valley. Either I find that point or start to slack it off. You probably know what I am talking about. It’s all about this tiny spot where you have achieved something, but not enough to really matter. At those moments it’s obvious that the real breakthrough is just a matter of time when you stick to your plan. Strangely this does not matter and our mind tricks us saying that our efforts are not worth what we are doing! Quitting seems like the real deal.

Society trains us towards bad behavoir, we want instant gratification, which actually rarely happens besides learning for school tests and passing them.What did you learn from those tests? Most noteably that forgetting the information you soaked up does not matter much afterwards. Simply forget it and start learning for the new test. Instant gratification sucks, value comes from effort and wanting to do something. Getting things easy or for free devalues them.

Have you lost weight but did not stick to it? Did you want to do something exeptional, but failed miserably and quit a few weeks into it when you saw no results? Here is one of the well hidden ways on how to achieve what you want to! Make bets about your goals with your friends. Make a tiny bet about something that would really annoy you, this makes sure that you are going to put in your best efforts, or be at least punished a bit if you let it drop again.

The size of a bet

A bet has to be the right size, it can be done for honour, but some people need a bit more motivation than that.

• No humilation bets, don’t bet about stuff that will put you down in front of others. I am not a big fan of negative feedback, on the one hand it can excell your efforts tremendously, on the other hand you should only do things that you will not regret. It’s fine to have hard/tough/uneasy/uncomfortable/annoying bets, just make sure you can live with it in case you have to do it.
• The bet sizes should be things you care about, otherwise you will not make an effort. On the other hand, even though a bet should not be humilitating it should not be easy to brush off. Your ego has to step in to make this technique fully effective.
• Make your bets public, share them with other friends, commit yourself to your cause. The more people know about it, there more you will probably care, and the more you will want to get it done due to all those people who are on the sidelines.
• Make those bets to improve, not to put each other down. Those bets should always be a motivation and nothing to make you hate each other.

I truely believe in Parkinson’s Law “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” So the shorter amount of time you have left, the more effort you will put into something. It also goes hand in hand with point 10 of the The cult of Done Manifesto “10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.”

It does no matter if you win or lose, such a bet will simply help you to finally get done what you want to do, don’t hesitate start challenging your friends. You don’t have to gamble for money to enjoy yourself. Money is just colored paper! Always remember that there are far better motivators than money. Imagine how you want your life to be instead of some abstract bullshit “I want to be a millionair” mantra.

Make it three in the tree

At the moment of writing this article I have 3 small prop bets running where no money is involved, as don’t think of money as a good incentive.

1. The first bet will be due next month where I try to live off 31€ for food the whole month. I blogged about this idea last month and refined the rules for it. It’s time to make that step and try what’s possible for someone who did not have to save his money on food yet. Not that I am a big spender, but food is the single biggest money chunk that leaves my wallet besides the rent.

2. The next bet is with another friend on who will get a scholarship that will be given away next February. Perfect motivation, we will both get our butts up and do something about our situation.

3. And the last bet is with the same friend, who bet me that I would not be able to do 10 wide grip pull up’s with a lock-down after each repetion by next February. Right now I can perform one pull-up… this happens when you say you want to master the pull-up… you are instantly challenged by non-believers.

The 80’s were cool, back in the days kids could play games and had enough skills to do some pranks outside the computer world. Once we hit the end of the 80’s everyone seems to be obsessed with computers. What happend to the cool action hero’s? The cool action cartoon series? The nasty looking toys? The playing in the outside world? Ok, most of the music sucked, but there was the beginning of HipHop, which was better back then than most the shit now. Real Punk still was rockin hardcore, and overall it’s been a fun ride.

A kid’s Hero in the 80’s

Growing up in the 80’s makes you part of a Group introduced to a huge variety of action infested cartoons, Heros with more muscles than brains and Plastic action figures. There were not just nice animation and fast cuts, it was real action. Pharmazeutic Bodybuilder lookalikes were the shit, and if you didn’t have any of the figures you were simply not part of the culture. What happend to those mainstream cartoons once we crossed the 90s…. some suckers wearing pyjarmas instead of fur speedos, no more Mutant Ninjas, no battle Kitties, no Robot Cars & Trucks, no Carnival MASKed transformation vehicles… instead we have fuckin Zoo’s and Trading Cards raping everything that has been done by those Cartoons before. I don’t know exactly what, but hey at least those cartoons were cool.
Give us back some oldschool action heros, the good old non pain in the ass sellout fun.

Every hero gets old

Just as the good old He-Man Action Figures went straight to the attic, only a few strange collectors placed their blistered He-Man on an apron, every super hero gets old. Kids need new heros fucking the establishment. There was a need for more special effects, speed & color, but those attributes don’t make up for weak character design. Where are the Riders with a Saber, or the Rangers cruising a Galaxy, Green Mutants rocking the canalization, and Cats rolling Thunders. I don’t want fuckin yellow little monsters, no fuckin oversized dragon bullshit and no retarded rangers without powers.

What happend to style?

Kids should not be forced to think the new shows are cool, those are simply marketing products. With the simple Goal to SELL THOSE TRADING CARDS. Merchandise is cool, but trading cards are evil. That’s why they don’t rerun the oldschool series and just the trash. Kid’s are good consumers, and why give them quality that has not strings attached when you can sell them trash?

The old Superheros and Action figures are just fading memories bound to the playground of your childhood dreams. It’s time to say goodbye, or rather say hi & hello to the collector editions, they will find ways to get your money as well! Cause we all know, men are always a boy at heart.

The 11. coolest action Hero’s out of the 80’s

11. Jericho Jackson, can’t make a list of Action Heros’ without Action Jackson.

[hitting a bad guy with a flamethrower]
Action Jackson: How do you like your ribs?

10. Marshall Bravestar, the Chuck Norris of the Cartoon world.

09. the Galaxy Rangers, riding on metal horses, who wanted to get boys and girls to watch this show? Nevertheless, Gooseman rocked the shit.

08. Saber Rider & the Starsherifs, Metal horses number 2., seemed to be really popular at that time. A cool Kick ass robots, evil Outriders and nasty space ships, simply perfect.

07. Captain Ivan Danko, or I can beat you up with a burning stone in my hand.

Art Ridzik: What, you retire your uniform?
Ivan Danko: I now work undercover.
Art Ridzik: Undercover? You look like Gumby.

06. Dutch Schaefer, the short guide on how to I kill a Predator with wooden sticks.

Dutch: What’s the matter? The CIA got you pushing too many pencils?

05. Conan the Barbarian, never underestimate a barbarian with an austrian accent.

Mongol General: What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.

04. The Terminator, naked time traveller blowing a good kicking.

The Terminator: Your clothes… give them to me, now.

03. John McClane, average guy in the street name meets irish tough guy ending. McClane can bleed 10 times more than his enemies and still kick their asses.

Supervisor: Attention, whoever you are. This channel is reserved for emergency calls only.
John McClane: No fucking shit, lady. Do I sound like I’m ordering a pizza?

John McClane: Nine million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill one with feet smaller than my sister.

02. John Rambo, Dutch Schaefer’s role model on how to use chopsticks as a weapon. The ultimate guide to surviving in the american wood.

Rambo: I could have killed ‘em all, I could kill you. In town you’re the law, out here it’s me. Don’t push it. Don’t push it or I’ll give you a war you won’t believe. Let it go. Let it go.

01. He-Man aka. Prinz Adam the Wuzz. The prototype of the roided bodybuilder, it does not even matter if he has super powers or is the super wuzz. He’s the prototype Cartoon Superhero Arnie lookalike. He even has a secret identity!

By The Power Of Grayskull, I Have The Power!

It was about time, after 3 years of blogging svensworld jumped the plank. It’s amazing how good it feels to remove junk, it frees your mind.

the new start

svensworld is a place to share thoughts, findings and tough love. But it’s been like that before or not? Utterly wrong, before this tablua raza it’s been about nothing useful at all. To make a long story short, everything that crosses Sven’s life and is interesting enough to be passed over to tzeh readerz of this blog.
The fresh start did not only restart the whole content of this blog, moreover it refreshes the design and gives it a new groove.

is a restart smart?

Hearing those voices in the back of the room asking, was that a smart move to make? You will be punished by the almighty google! You will lose your readers! Seriously, this page has a pagerank of 2, which already is a joke and to be honest, which readers? There are almost no readers left besides the spammers posting their keyword stuffed links on a nofollow blog and the occasional friend passing by. To answer the question:

yes it is a smart move to make.

Enjoy it and have fun.