I’ve had a lot going on lately, and have had a number of epiphanies over the last couple weeks so I thought I’d write a post about what I’m currently working on, what I’ve learned this summer, and what you can expect from cameronchardukian.com in the near future.
Socializing
After a lifetime of being an introvert I decided to take part in The 90 Day Social Challenge. I planned to get out of the house and do at least one social thing per day. The goal of this challenge was to develop my social skills, do some crazy stuff while I’m still a teenager, and build a social circle.
The results of the challenge?
June: 14 Social Days
July: 16 Social Days
August: 14 Social Days (Thus far)
Overall: 44 Days Out Of 88.
Obviously things didn’t go according to plan, but I like the direction I’m moving in here. In previous summers I’d only leave the house once or twice per month so there was definitely a lot of progress here. I may not have achieved my goal of going out every night, but I definitely had a lot of fun, developed my social skills, and have a better social circle than ever before (though it still needs some work).
I also had some key epiphanies in regards to socializing this summer. Perhaps most importantly the idea of classifying yourself as an introvert.
While it may be true that some people are “introverted” and have a less of a need to socialize than others it’s also true that we all have a need for some amount of socialization in our lives.
Your results may vary, but I’ve found that when I socialize less than three times per week there’s a noticeable buildup of stress in my body, and I also feel a lot more in my head and socially awkward.
On the flip-side, when I’m hammering away every night for a week things become less fun and my relationships feel less genuine. People begin to feel like objects that I’m using just to get things from, and I view reality through a distorted lens where girls are numbers rather than people.
I’ve found that ideally I need to be going out 3-6 times per week. This seems to be the ideal amount to maintain social momentum, while at the same time maintaining realness in my relationships and having fun.
This is definitely something to consider experimenting with, especially if you consider yourself an introvert. Going forward I plan to continue going out three nights per week (likely Fri-Sun during the school year), and I’ll also likely write a future blog post on specific social calibrations and lessons I’ve learned.
Blogging
I’ve had a blast this summer. I’ve written almost everyday and published nearly 70 posts (I think this is post 69 wink wink). With that being said I plan to take a different approach to blogging in the future.
Several of you have commented that the quality of posts have really gone up lately. Well, it hasn’t been a coincidence. I thought I was doing a good job before, but after writing The Ultimate Guide To Turning Your Life Around And Living Your Dreams I realized there was a whole ‘nother gear I could kick into.
In addition to the natural skill progression that comes from writing consistently I’ve also been putting a lot more effort into the blog posts here so I’m glad you guys have been able to benefit from it.
Higher quality posts take a lot more time to produce so if you’ve also noticed my posting frequency drop off a bit that’s why. From what I’ve seen though this decreased frequency isn’t actually bad though because I think many felt overwhelmed with trying to keep up with a blog post per day.
However, with summer vacation coming to an end blog post frequency is likely going to drop even further. In addition to school wasting eight hours of my life everyday, my actual writing time is now going to be split between writing blog posts for cameronchardukian.com, guest posting on other blogs to help new readers find us, as well as attempting to write my first ebook.
All in all, however, I think I’ll still manage to be able to post 2-3 high quality articles per week so don’t worry about me falling off the face off the Earth. 🙂
Rapping
My idea of “rapper swag.”
The recent introduction of rap into my life has been really interesting. I’ve tried to establish rapping as a hobby several times over the last couple years, but I never really enjoyed it much.
However, I tried it again a few days ago, and something inside my head just clicked. I was rapping to the beat, and I got completely lost in the music. I was completely dialed in, and similar to when you’re in a really deep meditation I was just vibing for several minutes until a funky beat came on and snapped me out of it.
I was able to get in that zone several times, but even when I wasn’t I enjoyed rapping more than ANYTHING ELSE I’ve ever done. I’ve only put maybe 50 hours of practice into rapping in my life so I still suck at this point, but even though my rhymes were whack I was having the time of my life.
Like seriously, I think this rapping business may be my passion. I’ve done it for 3-4 hours the last several days, and no matter what I do I’m unable to stop thinking about it.
It’s funny because a couple days ago I posted a thread in the community section of Tynan’s blog about The Dip and how to make the biggest possible positive splash on the world. I joked about rapping, but I think this could be it!
I was more passionate grooving out the last couple days than ever before. There’s a perfect niche opportunity for a positive, intelligent rapper among the (vast majority) of negative, idiots rappers today.
Of course, I may be jumping to conclusions as I’ve only been in love for two days, but I honestly think this could be what I’m meant for. If I dedicate myself to this completely there’s no doubt in my mind I’ll be able to get past the dip, and make it big.
I’ll still have the personal development blog here too, but then I’d be able to positively impact a lot more people, and not have to worry about social media marketing, guest posting, or trying to monetize this blog in any way. I could spend all of my time producing valuable content to help others grow.
I’ll see if this initial enthusiasm dies out, but I don’t expect it to. I think I’ve finally found my niche. Which brings me to my next point…
Juggling
Although I enjoy juggling and recently made an epic juggling motivational music video, I don’t believe becoming the best in the world is my goal anymore. Spending two hours everyday is a huge time-sink that I’d like to invest into writing, and rapping.
Juggling is kind of like writing. I enjoy it and it’s fun to look at the things I produce, but since juggling doesn’t (significantly) help others or make me come to life like rapping it’s not something I’m going to dedicate myself to.
However, I also don’t feel comfortable giving juggling up completely at this point either. This incredible rapping passion came out of nowhere so until I’m sure this fulfillment is somewhat sustainable I’m going to spend time practicing more technical tricks, rather than doing 360’s (spinning with high numbers of objects).
Under this new practice regiment I don’t think I’ll improve as quickly, but I’ll be able to at the very least maintain my skills while being able to practice freestyling as well.
This whole idea of no longer striving to be the best juggler in the world is really strange to me, but I’m beginning to come to terms with it.
Twitter, Lifting, Veganism, Video Editing, Meditating
Figured I’d lump these all into one as none of them are particularly significant.
- I’m now active on Twitter so if you’d like a more personal connection with me, or you’d appreciate interesting insights, and motivational tweets be sure to follow me!
- Although I hung up the cleats for soccer I’m actually in the best shape of my life. Current stats: Bench 160×5, Hang Clean 160×5, Squat 235×5, Pull-ups/Chin-ups 10-12, Plank varies, but typically 4.5-5.5 minutes. I’ve found a cyclical training approach where you temporarily deload on your lifts when you plateau is HUGELY beneficial!
- I’m still a vegan. I don’t take any supplements, and I have no identifiable health problems. However, I’m likely going to begin taking Vitamin B12 not because I feel anything less than optimal, but purely because I imagine if I don’t begin taking B12 at some point it’s going to catch up to me.
- During the process of creating Back 2 Life I enjoyed editing the video. I think the process is extremely lengthy, but it’s definitely an interesting medium for self-expression.
- I meditate everyday for about 15 minutes. Sometimes I get off-track during the school year, but there’s definitely a noticeable chill factor and relaxation I begin to miss out on when I neglect this for too long.
Conclusion
If you’ve made it this far I’m impressed. 🙂 I’ve said more than enough so I’ll give you a chance to chime in now. What are you currently working on? How can we help?
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Picture is of me amusing myself during Algebra freshmen year (2011).
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