THE BLOG WILL BE MOVING

And the “Think Outside the Box” blog is having its fair share of change.  As I have been learning about blogging and web design, I am working on a bigger, better and uncut… (well, it will at least be easier to interact with) blog site.   It will actually be attached to ShopInnovent.com rather than the WordPress website.  It will be nice to have everything under one roof.

So I apologise all, I know I promised some more articles about what this whole ‘Innoventor’ business is all about and they will be coming….

as soon as I get the new blog up.

Til then, keep your chin up and keep on innoventin!

-Aharon Smith

Ok I have been saying that word quite a bit and some of you may be wondering… what the heck is that?

Its a word I made up, (at least I thought I did, turns out that there are several websites that beat me to the punch!) but as you can see, it is the merge of the words INVENTOR and INNOVATOR.

INVENTOR:  An inventor is someone who invents things.  That is pretty self-explanatory.  Inventions focus on products or tools.  Thomas Edison is a great example of an inventor and so is Doc Brown.

INNOVATOR: An innovator is similar to an inventor, but they focus on improving systems.  A very famous innovator was Henry Ford.  He did not invent the automobile, but rather innovated the assembly line which made the car affordable for just about everyone.

AN INNOVENTOR IS MUCH MORE THAN THAT… HE OR SHE IS ALSO AN INSPIRATOR

So, while you all are realizing that “innoventor”  is just a clever (or maybe cheesy) way of labeling inventors and innovators, there is one more word I want to add into the mix, and that is inspirator.

INSPIRATOR (not to be confused with the breathing device) is another new word that I think best describes the message I want to get across.

an INSPIRATOR is a person who inspires others to be their best selves.

That is key to being an innoventor.  Sure it is one thing to bring us the spork or make a faster email system, but if we are not focusing on improving humanity, then whats the point?

I will be writing a few more articles this week diving more into this subject. In the meantime, tell me people that you consider to be Innoventors.

-Aharon Smith

If you like this one, you may enjoy my simple exercise you can do in order to get started ‘innoventin’.  Check it out here at our new blog site:  Unlocking Your Genius

I know this blog will stir some emotions amongst my friends in the freedom movement, and I want to say that I respect and appreciate all that every one of you do in the quest to maintain liberty. I ask that you hear me out on this one.

Picture from RobW on Flickr

In all honesty, I am not completely sure. I have been involved in the think outside the box style freedom movement taking place today and I have run into several people who passionately believe in those things that I posted above. So passionately in fact, that they spend most of their online time from what I can tell promoting and sharing information regarding their beliefs. It disappoints me that there is such a focus on these things right now and to see so many involved in the freedom movement quite frankly worries me.

A study of history, leads one to believe that it is probable that there are conspiracy groups out there. The Roman Senate was full of corrupt people who killed anyone trying  to take their power. Look at what happened to the Gracchi brothers.  Industrialized America of the late 19th century had its fair share of conspiring businesses who formed secret pacts to set market prices, and events like the Watergate and Enron scandals come up occasionally in the news.

But to use this as proof that there is a small group of super elitists planning the take over of the entire world? When one dives into this hypothesis, the stretch of the imagination begins, and objective thought is left at the door. Scary things happen when people believe that their very existence is threatened. They will react, and the reaction can come out very badly.

For instance, take Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building in 1995. Many people died from this man’s overreaction to fear. The worst thing the freedom movement needs now is for someone to perform a similar act.

Now, I am not saying that nothing shady is going on. We should continue to demand answers to the unresolved questions of 9/11 and the Federal Reserve’s deals with international banks. But we cannot be claiming to know things that no one can really know, like the Fed intentionally planned the economic meltdown of 08 or that the government ejected swine flu bacteria from planes to wreak the H1N1 pandemic.

IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO FOCUS ON CONSPIRACY THEORIES

The morning we wake up to find the news reporting that a Federal Reserve Bank has been bombed and it turns out to be another “freedom fighter” like Timothy McVeigh, our entire effort to audit the Federal Reserve and get facts and evidence to the American people will be seriously damaged, if not completely derailed.

We should be thinking of ways that the American people could independently investigate situations like the Federal Reserve and 9-11 so we don’t have a Government that is investigating itself.

We also need to be prepared to be wrong.

If we’re not just as open to the fact that the Government wasn’t involved in planning and carrying out the WTC 9-11 attacks, as we are that they’re guilty, then we’re not seeking truth, we’re seeking blood. That sort of mentality is going to keep many patriotic main-stream Americans at arm’s length or further from listening and joining in the asking of the questions.

FEAR AND PARANOIA ARE ENEMIES TO LIBERTY

If one dives too deep into the realms of conspiracy one inevitably faces those vices of fear and paranoia. Trust in society is lost, and in the extreme sense trust in everyone is lost. History shows us these results, and unfortunately this phenomenon has occurred repeatedly right here in the land of the brave. The Salem witch trials and the red scare brought about by Senator McCarthy are common examples of what happens when the community gets carried away. There are other more serious examples, such as the bloody end of the French Revolution.

For our movement to prevail, we need the voice of the people. The best way to influence is with the principles of liberty. Let love and virtue be our weapons rather than conspiracies! I appreciate you all for reading this. I hope that this has, if anything, brought to your awareness the dangers of focusing on conspiracy theories.

Let’s fight the darkness with light, rather than more darkness.

-Aharon Smith with David Pangrac

Ok, I don’t want to get into a big, drawn out speech, but I am pleased to announce that the store is up!  I am still working on a few changes on it, to make it more grapically appealing, but check it out:

www.shopinnovent.com

Poems are an expression, done from the heart, and thanks to e e cummings, we can write a poem any crazy way we want!

challenge:  comment to this with your very own outside the box poem.

Here is mine: (kudos if you find a cool pic to go with it!)

The silence of CYBERSPACE

no one can hear you scream in cyberspace

the only sound is the hum of your computer

But yet the world is OBSESSED
with this place.

Where websites have more members than countries,

and Youtube  more videos than movies ever made,

and Google more searches than people ever born

and yet,

as I stare at my computer screen, the doorway to this vast portal…

I hear nothing.

-Aharon Smith

I tend to cringe when I think of setting goals.  When I hear the word, my mind is filled with images of failed hopes from procrastination and a lack of self drive.

That seems to be the biggest enemy when it comes to achieving our goals:  PROCRASTINATION

I recently learned a simple acronym that is a sharp weapon in battling that ferocious foe:  It is to focus on the WIN, or What’s Important Now.

When setting goals, it is important to understand the why behind our goal; Why is it important to you?  Why are you motivated to do it?  What will you recieve from it?

Using the weapon of WIN is to prioritize your daily activities with relation to the why behind your goals.   It is to ask yourself:  What can I do today that will bring me the most results?

From a financial standpoint, the question can look like this:

“What can I do today that will bring me the biggest return on my investment?”

From a personal development standpoint, the question can look like this:

“What is the one thing I can focus on today that will make me a better person tomorrow?”

With using the simple strategy of WIN in your life, you can defeat procrastination and find the motivation to achieve your goals.  You will see dramatic changes take place in your life, and you will turn into the person that you want to be.

Do What’s Important Now, and WIN!!

Aharon Smith

Not trying to sound cocky here, but I have the ability to see things from many different perspectives.  It seems like I can never decide my opinion on a subject.

Keep the spark alive

Sometimes I have gotten much criticism from this way of thinking but other times it has paid off handsomely. Here are two experiences I have had:

Example 1: In my College Engineering Physics class, we were doing a problem which required math outside of what I had learned.  I was asked to work it out on the board.  The problem required taking a derivative of an integral.  I had never done that before, and was not aware of the proper notation for doing that problem. (I would soon learn it in my concurrent math class.)   I didn’t let it stop me though.  I made up my own notation and put it on the board.  I came up with the correct answer, but my attempt to it was not exact.  If the problem would have been different, my answer would have been wrong.  My teacher criticized me for it and told me to stick to the proper math format used by the field.  I felt embarrassed in front of my peers and figured I look dumb for being so bold.

Example 2:  I was a new supervisor for the telemarketing firm, FMC.  Yes, that is right; I was one of those guys who interrupted your dinner to try to sell you disability insurance for your credit card.  I hope you don’t hold it too much against me.  Anyways, our company was about to go bankrupt, and the board had hired a hotshot CEO who had the sweet skills of turning failing companies around into successful moneymakers.  He had a tough road ahead of him, for he was dealing with burnt out management.  I was fortunate to be so new to the group that my mind had not been soured by all the unfulfilled promises given from the past.

He would set us down and give motivational meetings about how we can turn things around and tell us we got to do what it takes and so forth.  I took those to heart and tried all I could to make my telemarketing team successful.  My team was selling newspapers and I ran into a stroke of luck.  One of the other managers, who had been on the newspaper program before had had phenomenal success.  He was so successful that he got a sale every 5 to 10 minutes.  (at the time, I had guys who would be lucky if they got a sale once an hour).  I asked him how he did it, and it turned out that he had invented a “secret script” that when followed, guaranteed sales.  I copied that script and made everyone in my team follow it.  I also told them if they got a set amount of sales, they could all go home and still get paid.  You should have seen how motivated my guys got!  The project went from 50% below goal to around 300% over goal.  I got some serious kudos from the new CEO for those numbers.

So, I am an outside the box thinker.

Sometimes it pays off well, and sometimes I gloriously fail.  But in all honesty, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My failures have been great at times (like the money I’ve lost in business ventures) but I have learned tremendously from them and while  it hurt terribly I would not trade those lessons for anything in this world.

The key to successfully thinking outside the box is to realize that you will fail.

You will probably fail more than you succeed.  That is nature.  When one is blazing a path in the wilderness, the road tends to be meander for we don’t know where the heck we are going! But in the end, when all is said and done, there is a road, and those that follow will be grateful and reward their innoventive leader greatly. So embrace your failures, know that

as long as you audaciously continue to move forward and dare to spark, you will have that moment of success that will revolutionize the world.

-Aharon Smith

Oh how I love the internet!  You can find information on practically any subject.  It is a perfect place for a thinker outside the boxer to roam.  I once had the idea of creating a website that would show you all the local restaurants in town that you can order out from.  With one click you could order you favorite meal and have it sent to your home.  Well, I did a little bit of research, I found out that someone had already beat me to the punch.  Several some ones, actually. After a google search I found a few websites that exactly provided the service I was thinking of. So amazing!

The internet is also a great place to discuss ideas. With a few clicks of the mouse, one can be engaging in a controversial subject with people from all over the world.

I got in a discussion about religion with a professor from Duke University.  He is a brilliant man, and a strong advocate of atheism.  It is interesting how a discussion with someone of an opposite opinion reveals unknown insights of the subject.  As we discussed our differences of opinions for several weeks, one thing became quite clear to me:

we all carry with us some sort of core philosophy.

how me and the Duke university fellow thought

This is a set of principles, beliefs and maxims that we use to understand the world around us.  We all have a different outlook on the world and I venture to say that no two philosophies are exactly alike.  Even though we may come from the same background or school of thought, our interpretation of things will be different.  Every person is unique, and so is our core philosophy.

This core philosophy goes beyond the observable and testable in the scientific sense.  It is outside the realms of empiricism and science.  It can’t be proven any more than it can be unproven.

For example, take the philosophy that people are generally good.  Try to prove or disprove it.  How do you even begin?  It can’t be done.  However, despite that we will never know whether it is exact or not, it is still an important principle to believe.  This is the same with each of our core philosophies. We find them worth believing in, for they give us the foundation of the world.  Here is a link to more insights into what I am talking about.(go to second lions dialogue)

However, a horrible consequence can result from clinging to a philosophy.

Like a factory that produces a valuable good for society, but pollutes the environment around it, so too can our core philosophy emit toxic character traits. A common one can be named as arrogance or intolerance.

If we hold too firmly to our belief system, we endanger ourselves into thinking that our way is better than another’s.  Another way that intolerance can rear its ugly head is if we hold shallow the sacred experiences that another has had in building their core philosophy.  Disrespect and intolerance for other’s beliefs has been the core of many wars in human history.

While we don’t have to agree, it is imperative that we respect each other’s ways as much as we do our own. I believe that this is consistent with the teachings of Christ, (and other spiritual leaders) for the golden rule says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I like the way the founding fathers looked at religion.  I agree with what Paul Johnson says in A History of the American People:

“The Founding Fathers saw education and religion going hand in hand”(p209).

They saw it as a good institution that teaches morality to the people, but, as the first amendment shows, they did not favor any particular one.  As a matter of fact, they looked at religion more for its ethical teachings rather than its dogmatic doctrines and saw it as a necessary element for the American republic to thrive. This system of neutrality is good; for it demands that we build a tolerance for others religions.

So why do we fall prey to these cancerous traits? Why, when we live with the first amendment, does so much intolerance and disrespect abound? It is because of the way our minds function.

Our brain is highly efficient in connecting the dots of the events that make up the experiences of life. It simplifies the million pieces of information it receives into a logical path of cause and event. It explains the why. I don’t think that it is coincidence that reason, the very word that describes the highest mental process one can use, also means cause.

The fact that our mind does this is good, for without a simplified understanding of what is happening; our lives would be full of chaos.  For example, if our mind never picked up on the subtle social norms (guys may struggle with this one more) of proper interaction with others, we would ostracize ourselves. Also, if we did not have an inert sense of the laws of physics, we would not be able to walk. For example, if our mind did not subconsciously assume that the ground is stable when we take a step, we would walk very fearfully.

So it is very good that our mind functions the way it does. However, just because our mind likes to come up with conclusions, does not always mean that it is the only answer, or even that it is right.

So what is the solution to the disease of intolerance?  If our mind is designed to head down that path anyways, what can we do to stop it? The solution can be found in the trait of good old fashioned humility.  I am not talking about thinking less of oneself, but rather being aware of the fallacy our brain can put us into.

Question our thought process.  Think about why we have come to the conclusions we have. Do an occasional cleaning of your core belief with positive skepticism and study other’s perspectives to bring in new insight.

This type of thinking is what is called “thinking outside the box”, and it is key to changing the world.

-Aharon Smith

We are proud to announce the e-building is up! A few technical things need to be worked out, and the store will be functioning perfectly, allowing you to shop and discover with ease.

The inventory truck arrived today and our workers are now stocking the e-shelfs. We are excited with all the cool gizmos we have received and excited to share them with you!

Dept Store

Our supplier arrived today with the goods!

-Aharon Smith