• McDonalds had a two egg and cheese biscuit for $3 deal… I indulged twice
• I only read one chapter of one book this week
• I watched a lot of television with the sole purpose of being entertained
• I only exercised twice
• I only meditated once
• I did not write at all

Wins

• I talked with a marketing research consultant about my current work and my career
• I read my one chapter in a local bookstore/cafe and met like-minded reading and writing enthusiasts
• I watched a TED Talk that inspired my writing
• I re-watched Malcolm X and took notes on character development, parallelism, and plot devices.
• I was retweeted by Deepak Chopra and Spike Lee
• I started a promoted tweet campaign to test out the effectiveness of the service.

In order to kick an old habit/addiction, it is best to create a new one to replace it with. I don’t think it’s the activity I am addicted to – I think it’s the routine. I’ve been coming home from work/school and immediately turning on the TV since… I was a child.  I guess it’s time for me to put away childish things. The Master needs to create a routine of mastery.

• General Marketing Strategy
• Guerrilla Marketing Strategy
• Yogic Lifestyle
• Storytelling

It’s now Day 7 and I’ve read one chapter of three of my books respectively and I’ve not touched the fourth. I’ve learned a few things:

1. I know more than I thought I did
2. There is so much more to learn
3. I need to create an environment that fosters success

This week, I ate out for lunch everyday only went to the gym on Day 6 and today, Day 7. On a positive note, I read one of my marketing books at the local Starbucks and had a great conversation about relationships and astrology signs with one of the employees. Sharing experiences and conversing with different people are valuable assets for all three of my disciplines. Today, I went shopping at my local grocery store (which kinda sucks) and bought cleaner healthier food for this weeks lunch.

My yoga book deconstructed the disciple into three components:

1. Physical – The moves and the breath
2. Spiritual – The philosophic lessons and meditation
3. Lifestyle – Ayurveda or holistic living

Luckily for me, I’ve studied basic Ayurveda on my own, learn transcendental meditation in a class and have a Yoga X dvd. I’m totally unfit and will be eating and going to the gym to support my ability to perform the lifestyle and physical aspects of yoga from now on. I will also resume my twice daily meditations.

Next week, I will read more of my yoga and marketing books while taking notes.The reading of my storytelling book will most likely begin at the end of the week.  I feel hopeful about the way I’m spending my time. I no longer feel like my days are drifting away from me – wasted. I’m one week closer to becoming a master.

Today, I asked the Chief of Family and Public Engagement at DCPS for a brief meeting. I explained to her that I had an epiphany and wanted to become an expert in my field. I offered to take on any marketing related responsibilities and asked that I be held accountable if I wasn’t exceeding expectations. As you can imagine she was surprised with an impressed smirk. She agreed to my terms and thanked me for my current and future efforts.

I had planned to go to the library after work to check out books on the essentials of my three disciplines. Unfortunately, I ate something that definitely did not further my yoga and paid the price of mild food poisoning.

You live and you learn.

Step 1. Make life efficient: Make a plan and create routines.

I did this with the understanding that the plan would probably be altered several times before getting it right.

I defined my mastery. Is it possible to master he vast subject of writing? Do i need to master something smaller within writing like mastering writing young adult fiction. Do I even know enough about yoga to know what to master? What is yoga exactly? What is marketing? I have a bachelors degree in it and I couldn’t even narrow it all down to a sentence. I needed to <strong>research</strong> what I’m mastering so I can accurately <strong>define my goals.</strong>

First, I went food shopping. Then, I looked for online for articles, books and documentaries to teach me the basics of each of my three new disciplines.
That’s it for day 1.

On January 25, 2011, I wrote a post about becoming an accidental expert. I wrote it more from a theoretical perspective. I didn’t really think I was becoming an accidental expert in complacency and ignorance like the people I was hoping to reach. I did exercised on occasion. Hell, I even did yoga every once in a while. The truth is, I get sucked back into the “normal society” just as easy as everyone else. I don’t want to be an outcast even if it is the key to success. An academic success without social success and vice versa is a failure. I was not actively accomplishing either. I was watching television and being social without purpose. I’m sure it served some purpose, but whatever that was, it did not drive me forward in anyway. It was a cycle of mediocrity that had I not decided to change, would have definitely continued more and more unnoticed into my disappointing death.

On May 4, 2013, after being at job after job of fulfilling work and day after day of feeling like I am capable of so much more, I decided to take my own advice. I decided to dedicate my life to mastering yoga/meditation, writing, marketing. After picking the three things I am most interested in, I realized the sheer luck and accidental brilliance of my choices.

I am a natural introvert and extremist so I worried that I would focus on the academic side and ignore the social side. I didn’t want this ideal to ruin my current relationships. So I learned how to be social while secretly mastering my three choose disciplines. When I watched TV with friends and family I was taking mental notes about plot and character development. When I watched commercials I was thing about marking behind them an the estimate cost of this media buy.When I was in social situations, I would use aspects of writing and marketing to better understand the motivations of the people around me. Instead of my usual being self absorbed or easily distracted, this practice turned me in to an active listener – a skill everyone would benefit from.

Becoming a master while at work was going to be more difficult. I didn’t have a job that was directly in my field but luckily for me it wasn’t completely off either. I was a New Media Coordinator for DC Public Schools. Basically, I copy and pasted content into a Content Management System all day. In late February, I volunteered to assist with the school level marketing and student recruitment efforts. Please allow me to take you a brief tangent to provide background. At this time DC Public schools were hemorrhaging students for a variety of easily debatable reasons – one being increased competition from charter schools. Our grossly underfunded department was tasked with accomplishing this a brand “facelift” for DC Public Schools.

Before May 4, 2013, this task was a huge burden. After, I saw it as the petri dish to my self experiment. I would practice my writing and marketing by actively looking for ways to improve their content strategy for their website. I started researching effective low budget marketing strategies and tactics. At times when focusing on one task became overwhelming, I would do something less exhaustive but still purposeful even if indirectly. I got creative and found ways to unwind with purpose. I went to great lengths to find value in the things I was already doing e.g. watching TV and listening to music. I discarded the things that could not find valuable e.g. drinking to the point of being drunk and eating food that did not further my yoga.

This is a journal of how I became a master of yoga, writing and marketing without almost anyone noticing.