In any arsenal you’ll find key weapons for defense and offense. Growing up with zombie video games, I’ve learned your evasive techniques and gun ammunition rank absolute in survival. In these games, any regular gamer can blast through endless hordes covered in endless bulletproof (teeth-proof?) vests. However, every zombie video game character comes equipped with a knife and health. Mastering evasion and knife thrashing techniques leads to defeating the game with bonus rewards.

Maybe you’re cool with just beating the game - you like the storyline. I mean zombies, right? What about those aspects of your life where bonus rewards would be seriously awesome? A shield of intuition and sword of counter-intuition protects you from common pitfalls and provides the ability to change yourself and the world.

In honor of Bill Gates’ departure from Microsoft, I want you to think for a moment about Bill and two other computer figureheads: Steve Jobs and Linus Torvalds. These three individuals are very different yet yield a few commonalities. Just think how counter-intuitive the idea of a computer in every home was, the importance of aesthetics in personal computers, or the ability of the millions to work towards a singular goal synergistically. Now we take these things for granted; My grandmother has a computer, I went to school to make pretty things with computers, and collaborative software like Firefox far exceeds Internet Explorer and Safari. From a present point of view, my intuition tells me I should know how to use these concepts.

The Shield of Intuition

Like an insurance policy, intuition parallels education. Schools, certification programs, and apprenticeships provide you with the knowledge of the past. The phrase ‘Standing on the shoulders of giants’ describes this very well. For any adventure in life, an understanding of what those before you have done is always helpful. It’ll win points with employers, contractors, and works so much better than any pickup line. Unlike formal education, intuition is not rational. Instead it relies on your instinct, or what feels right. As with any defense, if honed it can definitely serve your goals in life. Intuitively you may know who to make friends with for that high paying job, where the best coffee shops are, and the most attractive quality (read: confidence).

Intuition can be scathingly wrong as many gamblers could attest to. However intuition is a tool like any other ability, it should be used with caution. I recommend using it as a defense, strategically. Taking in a feeling of ‘this doesn’t feel right’ and processing it is very different then simply acting on it.

To hone such a skill, I recommend learning how to meditate. Meditation can act like a pit stop in the race of one’s busy day. It reconnects you to your body and serves to better understand internal neural responses. I always saw meditation as practicing how to understand emotions and intuitive feelings. The more these could be understood, the more awesome that shield becomes. There are many online resources on how to meditate. If you’ve never done it before I recommend reading a few of these guides… and jump in! Find a quite place to sit and focus for twenty minutes.

The Sword of Counter-Intuition

As noted earlier, those three individuals made conscious decisions of counter-intuition. How could you really believe every house would have a computer when they were simply large calculators? Why would it matter if such devices were aesthetically pleasing? How could you trust the world to make a singular piece of software? If you really think about these, they’re crazy. I could think of countless other examples of craziness throughout history that have shaped the way people think.

Counter-intuition goes against what you’ve learned in school. It’s the idea the earth may be round, the thought time may be a dimension, and the foresight wherein ‘emo’ would ever become popular. Just like intuition, counter-intuition can also backfire (read: Phlogiston). Impossible to regulate, but when used correctly it can change the world.

Thinking hard, and a lot breeds counter-intuition. Take note from Socrates. This man sat around and thought. He spoke after thinking, thought some more, and spoke again. His contributions to modern political theory are astounding, none of which would have occurred if he didn’t sit, and think.

My Recommendations

As elementary or new-age as it may sound, these two skills are paramount. If you’re looking to achieve more than those before you, a mastery of these skills could give you those mad knife slicing and evasive skills to defeat the zombie horde. The recommendations are simple:

Meditate and Think

That’s all, now go do it!

The difference between the internet and human society has been commented on many times in the past; humanity forgets while the internet does not. Although it’s great to talk about caution in regards to facebook’d photos of your 21st birthday, or that angry rant you decided let out at that poor blogger five years ago but there’s something to be said for honesty. We all have dark moments and some have scars seen instantaneously with a quick google search.

The internet won’t forget your past. Simplify your intentions with the internet and the rest will follow. Being honest, acknowledging the past and moving on does wonders.

Okay, so it may seen weird for me to bring this up, but look at my blog. I said I’d simplify fifty aspects about myself in sixty days. It clearly stops at Day 32. Unlike the rest of the internet I could erase the past on this blog (for future jobs), but that’d be wiping it under the rug.

Your best foot forward

Attitude and personality build from your past but on top of it. Acknowledging past mistakes shows future contacts you are both human and learn from your mistakes. I could bury this blog and restart it with intentions to blow everyone out of the water and cause them to forget my original intent, but that’d be lying. Plus, it’d get terribly complicated when asked what happened to the old blog. Instead I’m going the more simplified route of saying yes I dropped my blog, and I’m bringing it back.

The ancillary benefits

I have read many articles about managing your online identity and they are all very credible and quite informed. For me though, the steps would take too much energy I’d rather put towards my life and learning instead of spending it on systems. By making this decision to acknowledge the past and move on many of the results of those techniques fall into your lap. Your search engine status gets better, your online presence becomes more positive, your confidence becomes public, and your humanity shines.

Blow it out of the water!

Do learn from those mistakes though. Now that I’ve dropped a blog after thirty days, it’ll take double that to prove I’m in it for the long run. I have a feeling people will pay attention and take note.