A Kid's Dream

Hey everyone. It’s been a while since my last post. As usual my only excuse is that I have been quite busy. Amongst the Web work, Jazz Guitar Life interviewing/reviewing, Internet Marketing and whatever else, I have also started teaching Guitar at a private Music School which I find really enjoyable ’cause I’m giving back in a small way…but dang does it keep me busy. That being said, I am very grateful that I can do this alongside everything else. Which brings me to this post: Dream like a kid. Hmmmm…what exactly does that mean? Well, I’ll tell ya. Click to continue »

Karl Marx

As a student of Sociology I studied many of the World’s greatest thinkers and none of them affected me as much as Karl Marx (1818 - 1883). While many dismiss him for being a “communist” and an antagonist of the Capitalist system, he was actually, at least to me anyway, an individual who cared deeply for the common man/woman and what it meant for such an individual to give up the one thing that we all have to exploit: our labor, be it physical or creative.

The industrial revolution allowed the poor and impoverished of society to eke out an existence for some form of remuneration, be it a spot of land to build a shack or an hourly sum just enough to stay alive. While this may sound like a good thing, it left those who labored feeling alienated and without purpose, spiritual or otherwise. Simply put:

Under capitalism, social relationships of production, such as among workers or between workers and capitalists, are mediated through commodities, including labor, that are bought and sold on the market. For Marx, the possibility that one may give up ownership of one’s own labor — one’s capacity to transform the world — is tantamount to being alienated from one’s own nature; it is a spiritual loss. (Wikipedia) Click to continue »

Inspiration

Today’s post is all about inspiration and motivation. It is about a thirty old* Andres Idarraga, who ten years ago was arrested and imprisoned for drug dealing. Since then, he has gotten a high school education in prison, paid his debt to society, worked his a** off to get into Brown University and has now been accepted into Law School at Yale. “OK, that’s nice” you might be thinking, “but what does this have to do with me breaking free of MY life?” Well, actually, a lot. Click to continue »

Irene Suchocki

Irene Suchocki is an amateur, turning professional photographer who has been making money online selling her photographs for the past eight months. She has become so successful at it that she has been able to quite her well paying job to focus exclusively on her photography business. This interview was conducted vie email May, 2008. ———–

From Small Beginnings: Where abouts in the world do you live?

Irene Suchocki: Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

fsb: What is the product or service you are using as a means for making money online?

IS: I’m a photographer. I sell fine art prints of my photographs.

fsb: What first got you into making money on the web? Click to continue »

small idea

The greatest accomplishments are usually the result of a single, small idea that gets dramatically bigger as we develop and nurture it. At least that’s my experience and from what I’ve seen around the Web, others as well.

Do you have a small idea? One that has been nagging at you for a while? An idea that you think would be cool BUT couldn’t possibly attempt to do? Or could you!

I say, you could, and you should. Sometimes we get a little freaked out at the enormity of something because we end up projecting in our minds eye the final outcome and all the work it needs to get there. We begin to panic. Doubt starts to set in. “How can I do THAT!?” “I CAN’T design a website!” “What am I thinking. There are way BETTER writers than me!”

All of the above statements may be true…for now. But if you are really determined to get that idea off the ground you will find a way.This site will hopefully provide you with ways to minimize the doubt, and sometimes fear, that goes along with new beginnings. By reading what others have accomplished, people, who like you, started with a small idea and who have somehow gotten past the obstacles to come out ahead, may prove to be an opportunity to forge ahead. In doing so, you most likely will find that you are not alone and that dogged persistence will go a long way towards your success.

I find this works in any area of life. I have taught, and still teach, guitar to beginners and there experiences mirror those who have come before them. Doubt and uncertainty play a huge role in their development and the one’s who “get it”, the one’s who step up to the plate and take their guitar studies seriously, always come out ahead. They know that there is a “point A to point B” factor and they also realize early on that they will learn by taking baby steps. This sometimes proves a tad too “boring” for some as they go through the “paint by numbers” learning process, and I get complaints like: “Why am I not playing any AC/DC songs? I’ve been coming here for three weeks already!” or “How come I have to learn scales and arpeggios to improvise over a Jazz tune? Can’t I just learn one lick and put out an album?”

In this life of near instant gratification we sometimes forget that the things that matter most take time. A tasty and healthy dinner, a beautiful piece of art, a lifestyle change, even the latest Batman: Dark Knight movie, all take time, and the efforts of those who take the time to create something that lasts speaks volumes in the end. This does not mean that you need to be perfect or an expert in all things before you can get that small idea off the ground. But you do need to know how to get from “point A (the idea) to point B (some form of action)”. Once you take that first baby step, whether it’s searching forums on web design, learning how to make money online, or by checking out this site to see how others “have worked it”, you will have chosen to act…and that’s always a great beginning.

There’s more to come on www.fromsmallbeginnings.com so please check back regularly.

Take care and all the best.

Lyle