Bill Riddell

An Emergency Review

Today I want to review the latest book by one of my favourite authors, Neil Strauss.

A former journalist for Rolling Stone and the New York Times, Strauss had previously mastered the art of the ghost written bio and has now produced two superb books that take you into a whole new world, where the author drags you by the hand into the most intriguing subcultures.

His first such book, The Game, unearthed the world of Pick-up Artists and men overcoming their fear of women – while today’s topic for discussion, Emergency, deals with people afraid of a major event causing social collapse.

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Forget the Fear & Get On With Life

In the past I have been a fearful person. I worried endlessly about what might happen and more often than not it prevented me from finding out for sure.

I am now slowly transitioning to someone who just trusts things will work out and goes for it, rather than being fearful and procrastinating. Sometimes I’m more successful at it than others, some progress is better than none.

Today I’m going to share what I have learnt along the way.

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More Than You Need to Know – More Than I Should Write

My regular readers will have noticed that I have a bit of an aversion to talking about myself. I always have.

I’d rather ask a million and one questions about you than reveal details about myself. Seriously – I have only 2 or 3 close friends who I freely share a personal details with and even though I’m very close to my parents there are things they don’t even know.

So this blog post is me metaphorically building a bridge and getting over my resistance to putting myself out there.

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Screw the Planet, Save the Humans

Today is Earth Day and it seems to me like people have blown this whole global warming caper right out of proportion.

In fact I think it is a load of rubbish. Feels good to admit it at last.

Don’t get me wrong though, the climate is changing.

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My Writing Illusion

Lately my brain has been spinning with thoughts on writing.

I have been questioning my abilities, motivation and how I will turn the corner to become a great writer.

More importantlly I have felt like a fraud.

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Ready – Fire – Aim

I have been one of those e people who often aims for perfection, but never gets even close.

There is nothing particularly wrong with that. However I have also been one of those people who also gives up when I believe perfection is out of reach or very hard to come by.

It is better to achieve something good and fall short of perfection, than to strive only for perfection and give up, achieving nothing.

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Easter, Kangaroos & Broken Teeth

Easter has always been a favourite time of year for me, in spite of the occasional bad times.

Not because I directly celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, instead since I was a small boy I have enjoyed devouring copious quantities of chocolate. And a four day holiday dedicated to mass consumption of the sugary goodness is ok with me.

Raised as an atheist I was largely unaware as a child of the true significance of Easter.

I didn’t make the connection between delicious chocolate and the death of some wise dude who was nailed to a cross, then entombed in a cave only to emerge days later, resurrected. Why would you?

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Picking Fights To Succeed

Who is your enemy, your rival?

After my recent posts about the rivalry between the worlds most famous inventors and ideas, I began thinking about major achievements/advancements and how they come about.

Competition is something that brings out the best in most people. We push ourselves that little further in a race than we would just training on our own.

Whether it is the thrill of a sporting victory, a little challenge between friends, cutthroat business competition or the dire need for military supremacy, the drive to win often leads to excellence.

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How I Achived My Dream Work Experience

Today I’m incredibly excited – it’s a big goals day.

I just ticked off one of my ultimate goals by writing an ebook about how you can get the work experience or internship of your dreams.

Several years ago I ticked off a number of other goals by gaining work experience in high school and then again in college (or TAFE here in Australia) with two of the worlds greatest racing teams – so it feels like things are coming slightlly full circle.

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Meaning of Life and Death

Since my mid-teens I have wrestled with the meaning of life.

It raised so many questions that would often swirl in my head. What is the meaning of life? What is our purpose on this earth? Does anyone really know! Is their a definition that a group of people can agree on.

All of those questions and more have plagued me since then. Here I give you my compressed views on life and death and how to live.

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