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Post by Justin Dixon Follow me on Twitter Photo courtesy of Pipitdapo

Today officially kicks off the Holiday Season. This is the season that is regarded as both one of the happiest times of the year, and as one of the most stressful. So this year I’d like to lay out some ground rules to make the holidays a little less stressful and a lot more fun.

Call a Cease Fire If there is someone in your family that you normally fight with this is not the time to fight with them. If you feel the need to get something out, than write it down, and save it for after the holidays. (more…)

Post by Justin Dixon Photo courtesy of Kchbrown

The scientific method has a few basic steps we are all familiar with. Research, make an educated guess, try something to find out, and than record the results. The thing is that in our own lives most of us leave out a step.  We research, we make our “educated” guess, and than we assume the results.

Imagine where we would be if this is how the world functioned? What technology would there be? What discovery would there be? How would we move past the dark ages where any new idea was punished as heresy or witchcraft? Simply said we wouldn’t.

Now most of us are not going to argue that a scientist should try an experiment before writing down there results. An engine should be tested before it is claimed that it runs. Yet in our own lives it is much more common for us to make predictions about what is going to happen and than hold them as fact. Today I want to challenge that. For joy, for inner-peace, for the sake of moving forward, we must challenge this. (more…)

This Post by Justin Dixon Follow me on Twitter Photo Courtesy of notsogoodphotography

This post is dedicated to someone who I can only hope will get to read it.

It was my last year of high school, and you were asking people of all different grades, to write a poem about what their life was like. You said that you were looking for something free-verse, and that you wanted to put these poems in a book for others to read. You made me promise that I would do something with my poem.

Mrs. Laura Skinner, one of the great teachers that has had a powerful impact on my life, this post is dedicated to you. Here is that poem: (more…)

This Post by Justin Dixo Follow me on Twitter Photo courtesy of Bhav Bhav

There is a large body of advice when it comes to careers, what is smart to do in life and what is not. There are also two classes of advice when it comes to following your passions. Some say that following a creative passion is likely to bankrupt you, others say that following something that you are passionate about is the absolute best way to go.

So who has the best advice? The best way to narrow this down is to look at who has the best results. If someone is miserable at their job, do not take their advice for where to work. If they really knew a better way they would act on it. The fact is that the successful people I’ve studied are people that pursue their passions.  But I want to take this a step further, I say that those who follow their passions are not only more successful people, but they become better human beings.

Ayn Rand set a standard that we must do the work we love, in a standard that we can be proud of. Richard St. John who has been a writer, a public speaker, and a successful entrepreneur followed eight principles to his success, the first of them being passion. He was asked while on his way to a TED conference how people become successful. He than dedicated the next few years, to learning these things. You can view his results here (link opens to new window). In regards to passion, on his study, it became the number one thing that he listed. So what is it that makes passionate people more successful, and why do I say they become better human beings? (more…)

Post by Justin Dixon Follow me on Twitter Photo courtesy of Photomish Dan

First let me start by telling you what this article is not. This is not about telling you to become a libertarian. This is not about what political party you vote for. This is not about condemning the evils of communism. What this is about is a group of people and a philosophy that have had a positive impact on my life, and that I wanted to share a little bit with you.

Libertarianism gets a bad reputation in the media, partially because libertarians have controversial ideas, partially because there are few points that all libertarians agree on, but mostly because there are some strange apples in this bunch. In all the craziness and weirdness that can be found in a group of libertarians though there is an underlying philosophy that everyone no matter their political beliefs can benefit from. (more…)