Hey everyone!
As you know, Bud has decided to vacate the position here at PluginID, and I’m his successor.
So who am I?
I’m Brett. But, really, a name doesn’t tell much about me. It’s just a way to identify me, a way to pick me out of a crowd.
So let me tell you a bit about me!
If you thought Bud (and Glen before him) were young, I’m even younger. I’m 17 years old – and I haven’t even graduated high school yet. I’m an entirely different person than Bud and Glen, and it’s going to take a bit of time for you to get used to me. But Bud handpicked me – he came to me and asked me to take his place – so you should trust his judgment and faith in me.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I’m still in high school. What kind of student am I? A great one. I’m salutatorian of my class and have done very well on the various standardized tests I’ve taken. Since I’m a senior this year, I’m applying to schools – and I’ll say, for now, that the top schools in the country are on my list.
What do I do in my spare time, besides blog? I play hockey – the kind that’s played on ice. I’ve been playing for nearly my whole life and will be captain of my school’s team this year. I love the game like no one else, and won’t miss a game or practice for anything.
Entrepreneurship and business also round out my other interests. My soul ignites like sodium in contact with water (sorry for the chemistry joke – I love that too!) when I think about the possibilities for making my own company sometime in the future. I’ve already co-founded a nonprofit with a few friends to host events for kids in my city, but I’d rather be running a for-profit business sometime in the future, hopefully in engineering or design (the former being the field I’m planning to go in at college).
What else is there to know about me? You’ll see more of my personality in the coming weeks, but, as a start, I love dry, sarcastic humor, though I won’t use much in my posts. I love music and movies, and make a lot of references to both. I like to make offbeat, unexpected comparisons to drive a point home – that means I like showing my creative side. I treat everything I do as an art form – it’s just part of who I am.
However, the thing I think reveals most about me is my worldview. Here it is:
- I think that we should all do work that matters – practice something that positively changes lives, including our own, and fulfills us.
- I think that if we let our guards down and talked with other people, we’d find that we are a lot more similar than we are different.
- I think that you can have more than one “passion” in life – you just have to find the one that you’re good at if you want to make a living doing it.
- I think that 99% of the fear and negativity we experience is all in our heads and doesn’t really exist.
- I believe that we are all creative at heart – there are just different forms of creativity, just like there are different forms of intelligence.
- I believe that no one should live a life of regret and wish they had “lived more” when they’re on their deathbed.
- I believe that everyone should follow their dreams instead of those of someone else.
- I believe that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard – every time.
- I believe that talk is cheap and just taking action is the best thing anyone can do – if it’s in a positive way.
Miscellaneous Site Stuff
I’m going to be posting about twice a week from now on, bringing you the best of what’s in my brain from relationships to improving your mindset to productivity to identity to anything you can think of that’s remotely related to personal development. It won’t differ much from the stuff that Glen and Bud have posted over the years, but I’ll tend to write essays that develop an argument rather than make list posts; my posts will have a single focus rather than listing things the vast majority of the time.
I love my readers. Really. As a relatively unknown blogger being thrust into the spotlight, it’s going to be pretty cool to hear from all the readers in the comments. I’ll read each and every comment, and reply as much as I can.
If you read PluginID, I’m going to treat you like family – or, really, even if you don’t read the site that often, I’ll treat you like family! Feel free to reach out to me however you want – on here or on Twitter, or even email if you want to do that – and I’ll get back to you as fast as I can. Granted, I have a lot of work to do, but I absolutely promise I will get back to you sometime. To borrow Olive Garden’s tagline – when you’re here, you’re family. I pledge that I will take care of you to the best of my ability.
Moreover, this is going to be a learning experience for me too. Still being so young, I’m not arrogant enough to think that I’ve seen all of the world – but, by learning from others, I have been able to break down a lot of the things common in personal development, like pursuing your passion, developing a new identity (something I feel like I’ve been able to do), and becoming more mindful. I’m still learning, though, so feel free to challenge my views. That’s good!
Also, when you guys comment – I’d love to see discussion. So many comments are just a regurgitation of what the author wrote and include some comment like “Great post!”. I want discourse, debate, and discussion. If you don’t understand something I said, let me know. I want to have discussions with you – not just say “Thanks!” to every compliment thrown my way (though compliments are good, don’t get me wrong!).
Whew. That about wraps it up. Welcome to the third volume of the story of PluginID. Hopefully you guys like it!
For this post, I’d like to see you guys leave me some questions for me to answer. What would you like me to write about here on PluginID?
Welcome and congrats. I look forward to hearing what you have to say in future posts.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on the following topics/questions in future posts:
– What has been your worst mistake so far? What did you learn from it?
– What is your biggest challenge in life?
– How do (or would, if you don’t have personal experience with it) you react to people whose prejudices get in the way of them hearing what you have to say or seeing what you have to offer?
– What inspires you?
Hey Lydia!
Excellent suggestions! Thank you so much for giving me a few ideas to work with. I’ll try my best to remain as transparent as possible when I do post the answers up, since they’d be rather personal. If I had any say in it, I’d probably post what inspires me and how I react to people whose prejudices get in their way of seeing me (or my ideas) as they are.
Keep your eyes peeled, and thanks for the welcome
Hi Brett,
Welcome and we look forward to reading your articles
Hey Dia,
Thanks so much! You should see a “real” article up in the next couple of days
I really look forward to getting to know you and everyone else here!
If you need anything from me, just give me a shout.
Well said man. Welcome a board.
Thanks, Bud! I can’t wait ’til I have more material up, though
Hey Brett,
Welcome, and I hope you have a great time writing here!
I’m a 17 year old myself, turning 18 soon. A side that always interests and challenges me in personal development, which I think hasn’t been emphasized much, is networking and relationships. How about if we see more of that?
Hey Ahmed!
While I can’t say that I’m a professional network-er or even a great person at managing relationships (we all have our flaws, and juggling relationships is not one of my best attributes since I swing quite frequently between being an extrovert and an introvert), I CAN give you some surefire ways to make your relationships better.
Want one, right now? Spend more time with people. In person. Being disconnected, proximity-wise, sets up a lot of relationships to fail.
Thanks for your comment, man! Getting in this PD stuff early is great and sets you up for success later in life (or so I’ve been told).
Hey Brett,
I’m 18, and currently doing some personal blogging to strengthen my writing muscles, so that eventually I will be able to create a money-making blog, and maybe even a book. There are so many things I am interested in and I’ve really been struggling to pinpoint my passion.
I agree with what you said- “you just have to find the one that you’re good at if you want to make a living doing it. “… like my dad has always told me: “You can do anything, but not everything.” If you really want to excel in any field you have to zero in and devote all energy and attention to being the best.
How did you identifying your passion, and what suggestions do you have for getting started in feeding a passion, once you are decided?
Welcome to the site! Looking forward to reading your future posts,
Cheers,
Jessi
Hey Jessi,
Identifying a passion? Good question. I’d give you this answer: what I’m doing here, writing at PluginID, isn’t my “passion”. I don’t even have a “passion”, really. Think about that for a while and get back to me
As far as feeding a passion goes, just do it, over and over again. Learn as much as you can about it, but doing should be your main priority. Odds are you’ll find that you cycle through different “passions” depending on where you’re at in your development.
Cheers!
Seeing you come to this site at such a young age makes me wish I had the same opportunities when I was 17. It wasn’t much of an option back then when 28.8 modems were all the rage (I only had a 14.4). My parents were amazed at some of the things I could find online then, I can only imagine what your parents think of you taking over a major blog.
I look forward to gaining some insights from you, and rather curious as to how you came into personal development and blogging in general. Oh, and care to share your favourite NHL team? Just so I can bug you when that team loses, unless it’s the same as me, of course!
Howdy James,
Yeah, it’s crazy that I’ve been handed such an opportunity. I remember connecting via dial-up a long time ago as well, and it’s amazing what the ‘Net has been able to produce! My parents are pretty impressed with me, but I’ve been in the blogging game in some way, shape or form for about 3 years so it’s business as usual for me – just with a lot more readers! It’s going to be a blast writing here.
I’ll try to write some more personal posts if Adam’ll let me (maybe featured on the weekend?) so you can find out how I got into personal development and blogging. In fact, if you want, I can send you a link to a post I wrote about 7 months ago that details my transformation and how I got into PD (if you have a twitter account, I’ll be more than happy to send an @reply to you!).
My favorite team is the Blackhawks – and no, it’s not because they just won the Cup. I love how the Toews/Kane duo plays; I think they’re two of the most exciting players in hockey and I love the team’s style of play. Historically, I do have a warm spot in my heart for the Stars and the Avalanche as well, largely because of the nostalgia I have for the teams of the late ’90s and early ’00s.
Thanks for your comment
Hi Brett,
Congratulations on this new epoch in your life. Creating a new epoch means you are consciously setting out to break free from the usual drift that day to day activities are offering. I will be following along as you continually evolve and create yourself anew here on the blog.
Hey Rob!
Alas, I feel that the majority of my “transformation” – at least internally – has already been completed.
However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t have a serious amount of growing to do. But, for now, I realize that I’m whole, and that’s a pretty good place to be. However, I want to revolutionize the way I do work, interact with people, and express myself. PluginID is helping me do that in a big way
Thanks for your comment!
17??? :-/
Hey there Giulia,
Bud was only a year older than me, and when Glen was running this, he was about 19-20. Youth is the trademark of the PluginID writer. If only we could find Peter Pan to come write for us forever…
Anyway, just be careful to not let age bias cloud your perception of the work here. See first, then judge if you must.
Thanks for your comment, though! And I mean that sincerely – I’m glad you spoke up
Brett,
Sounds like a very cool opportunity for you. I’m looking forward to your material and unique perspective you can provide. I’m glad to hear of you’re excitement for entrepreneurship as well. Good luck and hope you enjoy it!
Hey Joe,
Indeed it is! I’m glad you’re looking forward to it – I’m definitely hoping to bring something different to the table!
As of right now, I’m enjoying every second – including responding to your comment! Thank you!
Hi Brett,
Thanks for the intro. I would like to see something written on discovering ones passion and direction in life. I find myself in a place where I have a lot of energy to dedicate to a passion, but I find it very difficult to determine exactly what that passion is.
Looking forward to your posts.
Jim
Hey Jim,
I’ll try to get in a post on that topic sometime, but I’ve got some time to help you out – so here’s my advice.
Odds are, you don’t have a “passion”. The idea that you have one “passion” that you’re going to do for work for the rest of your life is a myth, just like the myth that you have a “soulmate” who you’re “meant for”.
Use the energy that you have to shop around for different passions. Start involving yourself in different activities. Start reading up on various areas of interest and do whatever you can to actually “do” them. If you like a few things equally, don’t fret. Choose one and start getting good at it by doing LOTS of practice. Everyone is bad at something when they’re learning. Be willing to humble yourself at first in order to achieve mastery.
Also, keep in mind that once you find your passion – or art, as I call it – keep in mind that you might not be able to do it for money. Yes, we can leverage our “passions” and cash in on them like Gary Vaynerchuck says sometimes, but blogging for cash isn’t exactly the most reliable thing in the world. However, as long as you’re making something that you can sell, you CAN turn it into a business. But caveat emptor! By turning your art into a career, you could end up destroying your art by selling yourself out and not staying true to yourself in order to make sales. Watch out for that.
Keep me posted on your quest to find a passion!
Hey Brett,
Best of luck over here at Pluginid! I think that you will do great and the readers will love the content you create!
Cheers!
Diggy
Hey Diggy!
Man, you’re one of the best in the biz and have been a giant inspiration to me. Upgrade Reality was, I kid you not, the first PD blog I ever read (the second, weirdly enough, was PluginID). Thank you so much for all the value you’ve given to me and all your readers. Can’t wait to see what you create over there too!
Cheers!
Welcome Brett!
I’d like to hear your thoughts on:
1) Following your passion versus following what your parents or others want you to do. You mentioned that you’re 17-years-old and are applying to colleges. Are you being pressured to follow in your parents footsteps? What about your friends? How would you handle it if you were being pressured to go to a college and pursue a course of study that wasn’t in alignment with you?
2) How do you feel about America’s involvement in the Middle East? I’m interested in hearing your viewpoints on the subject. I often wonder what the younger generation thinks about this.
3) How do you approach goal setting and planning? Who holds you accountable? Do you need someone to hold you accountable?
4) How do you handle change?
5) How do you handle criticism?
6) What would you like your contribution to the world be?
7) Have you ever been bullied? If you have, how did you handle it? If not, did you step in to stop a bully?
I look forward to reading your posts.
Hey Rebecca,
I can’t answer all of those, but I’ll answer 1 and 2 (I promise that I’ll get to 3-7 sometime during my tenure at PluginID!).
1) I have been very lucky to grow up in a home that has been extremely supportive of almost everything I’ve done. I’ve been raised very well.
My parents do not have any ties to any of the colleges I’m applying to, and I’m not interested in what they studied in college – so I’m not feeling pressure that way. However, finances are an issue, so I’m applying to a lot of schools (11+ at last count) in order to compare financial aid offers, as I don’t really want to end up at a public school (I just don’t like the environment). The only problem I can see myself having is if I were accepted to Harvard – not that I hate Harvard or anything. I’ll explain why. Harvard has AMAZING financial aid compared to every school in the country. However, Harvard’s engineering is kind of weak, even though I could take classes down Mass Ave. at a place called MIT (which is my top choice). From what I’ve heard about Harvard, I’m kind of unsure about how I’d like it – there is purportedly a big culture of resumé building there that I dislike – but I could see myself going there for purely financial reasons. But I’m sure after spending time there I’d love it, if I got past their engineering weakness
(Note: Harvard isn’t for the rich anymore. It’s a very diverse school, socioeconomically and racially, largely due to their financial aid policy. If you can get into Harvard, you can attend.)
As for my friends, it’s unlikely I’ll go to school with any of them, which is perfectly OK with me, since I really want to get out and meet new people. The vast majority of them aren’t even applying to a single school that I’m applying to! They let me do my own thing as far as college goes, so it’s a good deal for me
I would being pressured to go to a certain school and do something that I didn’t want to do. It’d be like selling my soul, honestly. I would do whatever I could to combat it and plot my own course.
2) I’ll just say this – I do not condone nation-building of any kind, or “preemptive” wars. And, for the record, I dislike that Obama’s going to continue the fight in Afghanistan. That’s all I have to say on that
I second the how do you find a passion question. I crave meaningful work…but how do I find what is meaningful to me and balance it with making a living? I’d love some thoughts or a post around finding a calling or passion.
Hey JMS,
Ask and ye shall receive. Here’s what Glen wrote over 2 years ago! http://www.pluginid.com/how-to-find-your-passion/
As far as balancing it to make a living? It really depends on what this “passion” is. Sometimes, you can’t make money with it, and sometimes, you can. It depends on the situation, really. Finding meaningful work is up to you as well! If you do something and make it mean something to you, voila! Your work is “meaningful”. Sorry for the roundabout logic, but it really does work that way.
Hey Brett! Looking forward to your posts. One thing I am interested in pertains to the identity/following your passion idea. I have established my passion and stripped away enough social conditioning to find what closely resembles my identity (although this does mutate through life ) What are your thoughts on trading a safe secure income, for an insecure income when you decide to follow your passion?
Oh man, Alan!
Social conditioning? You’re awesome for just knowing about that. That’s great. Now to your question…
It depends on the case, but provided you can get a job with a “secure” income if your “insecure” plan fails, I see no reason to not follow your passion as long as you know all the risks involved. Think it over very, very, very carefully. Think for yourself.
Just be sure about whatever you do. Don’t shortchange yourself.
Hi and welcome. I am posting my comment to issue you a friendly challenge. I am 67 years old, have lived in several places around the world, and am currently an American expat living in Mexico, teaching English to university students from undergrads to Ph.D’s. I have reinvented myself about 5 times in this lifetime and think of them as reincarnations. Heck, I have grandkids older than you.
My challenge: You are a 17-year-old high school kid. Dazzle me, tell me something new and original, because kiddo, if you can dazzle this seasoned chick, you are sure going to wow the rest of the world. My money is on you.
Hey Marti,
This is quite the challenge. I have never been pushed to think as hard as I just did in order to find an answer. Hopefully this satisfies you! (Though, honestly, I don’t think there is any concept or idea that is truly “original”)
To start, it is nearly impossible for me to conceive of something that I do not have any prior knowledge of. As in, I can’t claim to know something that I never knew. I would not know about history if I never studied it, I would never know English if I never read or spoke to people who did know it, and so on. With this knowledge in hand, it’s fair to say that I’ll never say anything “original”. However, creativity and originality isn’t actually making something out of nothing – it’s making something out of two seemingly unrelated things (and that statement isn’t original either).
Linking this with personal development stuff: the greatest obstacle to overcoming the barriers that the human race is encountering has, and always will be, ignorance. And not just prejudicial ignorance either. It’s the ignorance of what is possible. Does the Chinese sweatshop worker know anything beyond his life – and if he does, does he know what he can do to capture the life that he wants? It’s ignorance of opportunity and the unavailability of opportunity that combine to hurt us. If we always knew what was possible with the opportunities we had, wouldn’t we always try and shoot for the stars?
Now that I look back on it, that’s not very original either. What is original with how I do things, though, is not the concepts that I explain – it’ll be how I explain them. It carries my personal touch because that’s how things make sense in my brain. I can only hope that how I explain things ends up striking a chord for a lot of people and they’re better off because of it. My style is unique to me, at the very least.
Let me know what you think!
Brett,
Welcome aboard my friend.
Believe it or not, of all the happy “woo hoo”, “yippee”
moments that exist in life, the best and the greatest
are the ones derived from helping others.
I can sense from your introductory post you have an
inherent gift and understanding of helping others
via personal development.
I’m certainly impressed with what you have accomplished
thus far in life. You are truly a breath of fresh air.
By the way, let me know how I can support you.
And again….welcome.
Stay growing!
Hey Kevin,
Thanks so much! Ironically enough, my focus to begin with was never to help others; I explored things on my own accord to see how I could solve my own problems.
Now, of course, the focus is on giving back. I hope I’ve thought of things that people will find compelling and can solve their own conundrums! Though, really, nothing is better than taking action.
You can support me by sending me $6000 through the mail
Just kidding, man. Just keep up the comments, bounce ideas off me, and be willing to connect – that’s all I ask. And say whatever you please concerning my work or anything else you have on your mind – I want to create as accepting and supportive a community as possible.
In a week or two I’ll show you all how I keep growing. Stay tuned!
welcome Brett, cant wait fir your first posts:)
Thanks Farouk
Really, really appreciated, my man!
It’s nice to see new faces and new points of view. In my lifetime I have traveled down some interesting paths, but most of them started later in my life than the one you are on now. When I was your age, they did not even have computers in our school. (Yes I really am that old)So considering your age, I offer you a sincere congratulations on what you have achieved so far.
I would be interested in hearing more from you about people who sink time and money into professions or passions. When do you think it is time to write off these items and move on? Is it a particular mindset that drives some people to keep trying even when they know it is time to move on?
I really like the comment you made earlier to one of the posts about passions changing. I have experienced this in person, as we grow and mature or just change, our passions or interests change as well. It is strange because at this time I am back to a passion that I had at a much younger age.
It’s nice meeting you and I will be following your posts.
Hey Vik,
People don’t quit doing things when they actually should because we equate quitting with failure in our society, whether quitting is good or bad. I will say this: most of the time, when we think of quitting, we actually shouldn’t! When we actually need to quit, all the evidence will be in front of us, objectively. It’ll be plainly obvious.
Thank you so so much! I can’t wait to post up some real content (first real post should go up tomorrow morning!).
I welcome you on board as the new writer of pluginID. Have been a loyal reader of this blog ever since the beginning of this year and i must confess that i drew inspiration from this blog and many others to start my own. How i will grow my blog, i don’t know but i believe if i continue to read your posts, the road ahead will be a bit clearer.
I salute your courage to take up this blog after the likes of Glen as the founder. You really have a lot of work to do to take this blog to the next level. Please keep sharing your success and failures as you go so that we all can learn from you.
Cheers.
Hey Paul,
I know – it’s so intimidating to follow in the footsteps of Glen and Bud. It’s like I can’t possibly live up to their example.
But I do realize that that’s not the game I’m playing; I have to change the rules and make the PluginID brand even stronger and stay true to myself. The great thing is that I really do believe in the foundation that Glen and Bud have set out for me – but I have to find a way to express the same ideas but still imbue my personal touch in everything I write. That’s why I want to develop a good relationship with the readership here