30 Days of Discipline- Half Way Point

I am a liitle more than half way through Victor Pride's 30 Days of Discipline (www.boldanddetermined.com).I feel much more consious and engerized from doing this intense 30 day challenge. To summarize the challenge consists of the following for 30 days, no excuses:

1. Wake up at 5am 
2. take daily cold showers and only cold showers 
3. eat only 3 meals per day (no snacking)
4. no masturbation (sex is okay)
5. 100 push-ups, sit-ups, and squats ( strongly encouraged to continue or get a gym regime as well)
6. daily todo/ goal list

This is a vague outline of the challenge, and i also added daily meditation.

This has totally changed my daily routine, i usually stay out late drinking and socializing and get up a half an hour to an hour before work (if that), now i am up at 5-5:30 am drink my coffee meditate and can get 2-3 hours of learning/writing/reading/exercise  in before my work day begins. I have consistently gone to the gym for years but being committed to focus on my legs, abbs, and quads every day has allowed me to put more focus,do more research, and work out harder. I would say in general i tend to be lazy or just a more relaxed person and doing this challenge has made me more ambitious and intense. The cold showers are really fucking intense but i have to say after doing them for two weeks they are my favorite part of this challenge,  their is nothing more shocking and rejuvenating then hopping in an ice cold shower. The no masturbation is also very energizing, and has improved my sexlife with my girl. overall so far as i am not finished yet this is a kick as and epic challenge that i would recommend to anyone who feels like breaking out of the ordinary! lastly and maybe most noticeable is that my tolerance for bullshit, chilling out, and doing aimless activities has gone down to none, which is awesome. 

 

Beast Mode

Its all about beats mode!

Its one of the highest operating states that exist. Beast mode does not recognize excuses, it only recognizes complete commitment to see something though until the end. Beast mode is an essential tool to enable mastery and awesomeness. When in beast mode state their are not expectations only a deep motivation to be persistent and learn no matter what happens.
It could be said that beast mode is a philosophy and way of life. Beast mode does not look to others for validation and approval the motivation for this way of being goes beyond what other people think. Beast mode allows a person to get results while being wild and free in a world full of chaos and conformity. Beast mode is irrational and most people will not approve of people who engage life in this way. Looking at any majorly successful person they all implement different levels of beast mode to attain their successes. For example look at Richard Branson, Sean Carter, Obama, Vance Miller, Timothy Ferris, Mother Teresa, Charlie Sheen  and Shirin Ebadi just to name a few. All these are people who are operating under some variating degree of beast mode.

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Their for all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

-George Bernard Shaw

                             

                                                     

Prince Richard

Richard Prince is an intriguing artist. He is one of the most financially successful photographers/ artists with one of his paintings selling for more then eight million dollars, and many of his photographs selling for six and seven figures. He is one of the pioneers of rephotographing pictures taken by other photographers and his exploration of the famous Marlboro man is classic example of this.

I am intrigued at how wild and free this image is without the context of a cigaret ad. Its a interesting idea to take images out of context and rebirth them to give the viewer a different impression. It is not a process that i would ever consider doing myself and i do think that it takes away much credit from the original photographer but i appreciate how unconventional this style of photography is.

I have included this image because i dislike it, i think it is bland and plain and completely dull.
The Image of this watch sold for more than $60,000 which is a joke to me. But it shows how influential and desirable Prince has become as a photographer.  I think his photography is unlike most and in many ways i believe he shares similarity to Andy Warhol (which may be an insult to Warhol) in how stylized his photography is and how strong of a character he is. 

Steve McCurry

Ever since i saw the famous image titled "Afghan Girl" which made the cover of the 1985 National Geographic i admired Steve McCurry. His portfolio is overwhelmingly vast and rich with a variety of images and style. The core of his work focusses on the human condition. These two images are from his series titled "Children of War". At the core i believe photography is about spreading knowledge and awareness, not just about pretty pictures and this series and particular these two photographs provide that awareness into the situation some children are faced with. 

In most of the world toddlers and infants are very well sheltered from what is dangerous, it is almost as though children in general are kept in a bubble of safety. Whenever guns and children are combined its startling. The expression on both of the subjects faces are peaceful and their body position suggests they would be holding a stuffed animal. A child that is warm and soft is the complete opposite of a cold steel automatic weapon. These images make me as the viewer feel incomplete, slightly disturbed and wanting to know more and i think because of that they are extremely successful.

I do not know the specifics about the camera and format that McCurry uses to shoot with but i am inspired by the depth of his images and his tenacity to capture the conditions of people around the world.