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Matt Cannizzo is an entrepreneur, a self-educator, and an out-of-the-box thinker. Humility and integrity are two of his core values. He also sets as his goal the people who have created their own definition of success.

Up is the only way to go according to Matt! He weighs in today on what education is, and how that definition comes alive in his life.

Education: “an open environment where you’re free to fail, test ideas in the natural world, and learn by doing.”

Free to fail.

Matt believes that part of successful self-education is intentionally creating an environment where it’s okay to fail. There are hundreds of learning opportunities to be found in failure!

Social Pressure.

One of the biggest hindrances to advancement is the pressure society puts on each individual. When you can distance yourself from what other people think, you are much closer to success than the majority of humanity.

What would you do if no one’s opinion mattered but your own? Whether you put this into action, the question is a good one to ask. How much do you rely on others’ opinions to guide your actions?

Other issues covered:

• Due to the increased access to information, a college degree doesn’t signal the same value that it used to.
• The power of the world lies at our fingertips: why does this generation not recognize the value of that information?
• How the school system influences young adults’ views on information.
• Those who succeed the most often fail the most.
• Matt’s tips for anyone going into sales (his expertise).

Resources:

This quote by Michael Jordan
Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz: Go For No
Tim Ferris: Four Hour Work Week
Isaac Morehouse and Mitchell Earl: Don’t Do Stuff You Hate
Matt’s Personal Website

So you set up your blog. Its design is perfect. You have the perfect catchy headline. Your About section has nothing to lose.

But now comes the work of setting the precedent for your blog: typing your first post.

Relax. Don’t overthink it. You’ll only make it harder on yourself by trying to plan the perfect post.

Yet it is true that your first post is the determining piece of work for your blog!

Here are some ideas for writing a killer first blog post:

1. Set you what and why. Who are you and why did you start this blog?
2. Cast some vision for the blog. What are your goals? What are you hoping to accomplish by writing?
3. Write about what sets your blog apart from others.
4. Engage your readers. Write something that makes them want to come back for more of your writing.
5. Keep it story-oriented. Everybody loves a story because it’s relatable. Tell about what makes you unique.
6. Talk about your inspiration. Make people come away wanting the world to be a better place.
7. Be yourself. The best blog post is a personalized piece!
8. Have fun!

After 20 days of copying Jane Austen’s work, here’s what I learned:

• Well-crafted characters are essential to good writing.
• Just using big words isn’t enough.
• It takes time to develop your writing style.
• Don’t force your ideas. Let them flow.
• Good sarcasm is well-masked.
• If it doesn’t make someone do a double-take, it’s probably not worth writing.
• A good story has a deeper philosophical truth behind it.
• Don’t force your ideas, but make the reader question his own.
• Challenge yourself with your writing.

I don’t like the term “work-life balance, because I feel like it is overused.

But that’s what I have been exploring for the last month. My situation is different from most, because I am not only working remotely, but I am working around a large family.

It’s wonderful, really. I don’t mind it at all. But it takes being intentional about my work space and my time.

I have the ability to take short breaks to clean, help with the kids’ school, or hang out laundry. It gives me the perfect activity to fit in between computer work.

I admit, it’s hard to sit for a whole work day when I am used to an active lifestyle. But I’m learning what works.

Here’s to the next month of balance.

Work copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapter 19

Some visions change the world. Others fade away with the life of the individual who birthed them.
What makes the difference?
The visions that make the most impact are the ones that other people can grasp. If no one understands the idea, it will not transfer into the world.

But some ideas resonate with everyone around them. To grow, a vision has to catch fire in the soul of someone who can carry it on.

Some people call it social capital. I say it’s vision casting. Surround yourself with people who are willing to have a part in putting your vision for the world into action, even if just in part.

Then, when you die, your vision will live beyond you.

What is vision? I define it as the ability to see something that others can’t.
In a deeper sense, to have vision is to have a goal for the future that is so deep in your core that it can’t be separated from who you are.

Recently I watched The Greatest Showman and it struck me that this story, in its purest sense, is about a man who had vision for the future. He built on his vision throughout his life, realized more of what it meant as time went on, made a couple mistakes, but came back in the end to his original goal.

Vision will have costs. You will give up all you have sometimes for what you believe is right, but a man with vision cannot be stopped.

In retrospect, and I quote Solomon: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” -Proverbs 29:18

Don’t be afraid of the dreams that are in the core of your being. Search your soul and find the deep purpose for your life. You’ll be surprised how fulfilling it is, even if you give your entire life for your vision.

Work Copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapter 15

This video was a long time coming. I can’t let anything unfinished, however, so I completed the deliverable for Month 4 Week 3 as soon as I got into the rhythm of my apprenticeship.

In the lecture series Commerce and Culture, Paul Cantor delivers his thoughts on the market and art.

There’s a misconception in many people’s minds regarding past artists. We imagine dying, poor individuals that feverishly worked on their pieces, only to be recognized years after passing away.

While this is the case in some art, it is a highly misconceived notion regarding art in general. Mostly, the market dictated what artists created, and had an intense role in culture.

Here’s my short video:

Work Copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapter 13 (the end)

The winds of time are blowing. Sometimes they blow softly, bringing you along a gentle path. At other times, they howl around you, and you get caught up in the swirling of their power.

The winds blow where they will. Grasp onto their freedom. Let go of the stress of figuring life out perfectly, and learn to flow like the winds of time.

At times, you will fly like a stormy blast. At others, you will float gently, almost forgetting that there is a breeze at all. But the wind never stops. Let it carry you.

Learn to enjoy each stage of the wind. In the storm, breathe the power. In the calm, relax and be still.

The wind blows where it listeth….

Work Copied: Pride and Prejudice Chapters 11 and 12

We are accustomed to hearing the path of life: go to school, go to more school, find a job, work, retire.

This is accepted by most of culture as the way in which we all should walk; no one ever stops to think what could be different. And because everyone lives his life in the same way as the next human being, most of us live boring lives that we secretly hate.

Thankfully there is an uprising of entrepreneurship. Many people are realizing that “work” does not need to mean a 9-5 job in a well-established company. They study the market (a skill learned, not taught) and create products that the market need.

In addition to the rise in entrepreneurship, there is an increasing amount of young people that are realizing that the school everyone is supposed to do may not be so necessary after all. Apprenticeships have become highly popular. More and more young adults are breaking the mold of schooling.

What if we could burst the bubble even farther? Why can’t young teengers and even tweens branch out of the mandatory school idea into entrepreneurial thinking?

Here are some ideas for young people who want to break out of the mold but don’t know how:

1. Find a job. Even if it’s a small one. Offer services to your neighbors or strike a deal with your grandmother if you’re too young to get an “actual job”. Doing something to make even small amounts of money boosts your self-confidence and teaches you the joy of hard work.
2. Throw yourself into things you enjoy. Think YouTubing looks cool? Try it. Do you enjoy writing? Write everything you can. Get feedback from people around you.
3. Watch people you look up to, and duplicate them. First, find someone to look up to. (If that person lived hundreds of years ago, that’s fine too.) Listen to (or read) what they have to say. Try out their way of doing things. Imitation is one of the best ways to grow.
4. Talk to people. Now is the chance of your lifetime. All the other young people in the world don’t talk to adults. You have an edge if you reach out to people now! Learn to ask good questions and listen well.

I’m excited to see young people stand against the cultural tide of passivity, and branch out into things they enjoy! The younger you start, the faster you are ahead of the general population of unconcerned human beings.