Believe it or not, if you are able to read this you are savy enough to build a decent website.  And with the whole world turning to the internet, there is no good reason for you not to have a personal website.  It doesn’t have to be extravagant, but it should be clean and neat enough that when someone googles your name your website comes up first.  If you plan on being a professional in any field, or even if you’re just looking for a little extra motivation (like I am with my 6 pack experiment), a personal website is a great way to keep family and friends updated, as well as gain credibility in your respective fields.

With domain registration and web hosting so cheap, how can you afford not to be online, right?  ZenCollegeLife.com domain costs me 7 dollars per year, and hosting for all of my sites is about 7 dollars per month.  This may not be the biggest, best option, but it’s cheap and it works for now.  I’m generating more than enough to cover my costs from this site alone, anyways, and it helps me to improve my writing and creativity.

So with that in mind, here are a couple of great reasons to have your own website.

1. It is a 24 hr per day representation of you (like my IbrahimHusain.com)
2. it’s global, “world wide web”
3. it’s a great way to promote yourself, your organization, your business etc.
4. it’s not just for nerds anymore (or at least that’s what I tell myself)
5. you can build a community around your website (think ZenHabits.net with almost 80,000 subscribers)
6. you can share your professional knowledge, and give back to the open source online community
7. you can reach a specialized niche market world wide
8. you can say whatever you want (including things like “Sex and the City is a terrible, ridiculous show/movie that turns women’s brains into useless goo.”)
9. raise awareness, spread ideas, educate (Breast Cancer, World Hunger, etc…)
10. you can start a movement (like Kiva with the 3rd world microloans)
11. a website earns you credibility, makes you look bigger than in reality
12. it’s a great way to increase productivity
13. you can run online contests (many blogs do this to gain subscribers)
14. improve communication (the way I do this is with my contact page, which forwards straight to my email, without giving the writer my email address.)
15. it’s crazy fun
16. awesome personalized email addresses (for instance superman@ibrahimhusain.com, which isn’t actually real, but i could make it, and then I’d be even more awesome!)
17. a website is a great way to share your creativity with the world (i show off my graphic design HERE)
18. start an online business (You may not think of a blog as a business, but I make enough money to cover all of my web ventures, and maybe even a coffee or two just from this humble blog)
19. it gives you an edge over the competition (sure people can use linkedin, facebook, myspace, etc, but when you have a personalized website you are way better than they are. hehe)
20. it’s free pr
21. because people will look for you online
22. a website can save you time (business FAQ pages save companies from receiving endless calls)
23. it raises your awesome factor by at least 10 pts.

If you have any questions about building a website, hit me up on my CONTACT PAGE.
If you’d like to share your website leave a comment here.  As long as it isn’t inappropriate I’ll share it on the list below.  I’ll start it off with a couple of my sites/projects.

Site Share (my sites and ZCL reader’s sites)

• ZenCollegeLife.com (obviously…)
• IbrahimHusain.com
• Unassociated-Press.com
• BrainVault.net (request invites here)
• YouthPros.com (a youth education project I’ll get around to sooner or later)

When it comes to doing pretty much anything in life, you’ll find that there are 3 types of people; the quitters or “dropouts”, the amateurs or “normies”, and the experts or “badasses.”  If you are the type of person that tries something and finds that it is too hard, this article is for you.  If you are the person that is pretty decent at many of the things you do, but you’re rarely the best at anything, this article is for you.  If you are billy badass, but you can’t pass calculus, this article is for you.  If you can read, this article is for you.

Sooner or later we all come to the realization that most people view life as a competition.  You’ve all heard the saying “it’s a dog eat dog world.”  Maybe you agree, maybe not. But either way, you wanna stack up.  We all have it in us to want to strive right? To be the best that we can be?  Well it takes more than big biceps, a motorcycle, and cool sunglasses to be a badass (although all of those are important).  I’m going to show you how.

First of all there is a few things you must understand about the Badass.  Being a Badass isn’t a tough guy act, it isn’t an attitude that disappears at the end of the day.  Badasses are Badasses all the time, they don’t take breaks and they don’t rest.  Also understand that to be a Badass is to be in control of yourself all the time, whether someone just smashed a bottle on your head or you walked into class to a test you forgot to study for.

Steps Toward Becoming a Badass

1. The first step to becoming a badass is to forget about societies rules and conventions. I’m not talking about breaking laws or cheating here, but rather don’t worry about what is “normal.”  If your intent is to be the best that you can be, some of societies rules are only going to hold you back.  Break a couple of rules and you’ll earn the Badass identity quickly.
2. Be honest all the time. A Badass doesn’t have to lie because he doesn’t have to.  After a while people will come to like your honesty, and some will want to talk to you even if what you have to say hurts.  They will respect your honesty.
3. Speak your mind anytime it is necessary. Don’t wait to be asked, don’t worry about what people will think.  If something needs to be said, it’s always the badass who says it.
4. Speak with confidence and power. If you aren’t sure of yourself, nobody will be.  Also use strong vocabulary.  Words like “cool” are so weak and used by the mediocre.  It’s time to step it up.  Adapt war metaphors and powerful vocabulary to show strength.
5. Be mysterious. The more people know about you the more normal you are.  Never talk just to talk, and never share just to share.  A badass always has a sense of unknown to him.
6. Always look to improve. No matter what you do, there is always someone and someway to do it better.  Find this person or way and master it.  Then find a better way and master it.  Always adapt, always be ready to move, to improve.  Never, EVER quit because it’s too hard, and never be content with where you are.  Always strive for better.
7. Have a Badass look. You’ll never be a badass in your polo shirt and khackis.  Find a way to Badass it up, and wear it with confidence.  Find your inner macho man and exploit it.  Note: Cool sunglasses, watch, and a 5 o’clock shadow never hurt.
8. Assess yourself physically. While a badass might not be a body builder, he is always ready for any situation.  This means he is physically fit, he can shoot a gun, ride a motorcycle, drive a stick, start a fire, survive in almost any condition, can hold his own in a fight, and is intimidating even to his superiors.  If you can’t run a mile or lift 100 lbs, you have a long way to go.
9. Have a soft heart for the weak. A badass always, and I mean always, sticks up for the underdog, which includes old ladies, kids, the underdog team, puppies, etc.  This means that if the little guy is about to get pummeled by some big dude, you have to step in, even if the big guy looks like he can disfigure your face.  This is your responsibility as a badass.
10. Get Badass hobbies. That’s right, more than one, and all super badass.  For example, I ride a motorcycle, workout every day, play guitar like a rockstar, make badass movies, and can photoshop any of your pics to make you look like a badass too.
11. Be ready for anything. This one may not be for the weak of heart.  If someone is dying, a badass knows what to do.  Most badasses carry a knife.  Not something that looks like it’s made to kill people, but something that can be used as a tool (not a leatherman, but a cool looking pocket knife).  You gotta be handy with the steel.
12. Walk with a swagger. A badass’s walk says so much about who he is.  It shows strength, intimidation, coolness, and a little something that says “I don’t care what you think about me, and that’s how I know you want me.”  Get in front of the mirror and don’t leave until you can see that in yourself.
13. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. No idle talk, and no confusion.  A Badass means everything he says, and says only important things.
14. Have a mean stare. A Badass knows the importance of a steel gaze; it can save them from many situations from an arguement with a ladyfriend to a fight with a big dude.  This is also congruent with the Badass’s stance.  Never lean against things, or slouch.  Badass’s look ready and aware at all times.  Cross your arms whenever you can.
15. Never order anything with whipped cream. Badasses don’t have time or patience for that whipped womanizing fluff.  Don’t even dare touch it… hahah
16. Master a war cry. This is serious business.  You should have a war cry that strikes fear into the heart of your enemies.  Practice a scream until it scares you enough to wet your own pants.  In fact, if you do wet your pants, you’ll know it’s good.
17. Do things without looking. From passing something to a friend to locking your car with a remote, doing things without looking is so Badass. Practice throwing things at a target without looking so you don’t hit someone in the face.
18. Always be nice, until it’s time to be mean. A badass isn’t a jerk.  Have some manners, and be nice to people until you have to be mean.  But when that time comes, hold nothing back until it’s time to be nice again.
19. Gaurd your time. A badass protects his time like a father protects his daughter.  Spend your time doing only things that are important to you, and if something isn’t, terminate this quickly.  This will ensure that you are developing or exercizing your badassness all of the time.
20. Forget the Haters. Every badass knows that haters are gonna hate, every day, all the time.  Do yourself a favor and forget the haters before they come.  A Badass is a hater’s main target, so be aware.
    
21. Read Zen College Life every single day. A Badass knows many sources to find to refine his Badassness.  Check ZCL every day to find new ways to be a badass.

What else do you do to be a badass?  Leave a comment and let everyone know what makes you such a badass.

I’ve had my Eee Pc 1000 HA for a little over 2 weeks now.  I’ve used it in class, on the go, for blogging, and even tested gaming.  I’ve installed most if not all of the important software I need, and I’ve tested it all.  Here’s the rundown.

Usablility

The keyboard is nice.  It’s a good size (unlike all of the 9 inch netbooks), and after a couple of minutes of typing I got used to the 95% fullsize keyboard.  I am a tall guy, and I have larger than average hands, so I’m sure it would be fine for most, if not all people (if you have fat fingers you may fumble around a little while longer before you get adjusted).

Asus claims the battery lasts 7 hours.  I get anywhere from 4.5 to 5.5 hours out of it.  It’s not 7, but its not 2 either.  I’m satisfied.  The screen is fantastically bright, and I never turn it up past half way.  The laptop boots up and is ready to go in about 45 seconds, although some people claim to trim it down to about 25.  My only real complaint is that I am unable to get hibernate to work.  I have to shut down or standby, and standby still uses battery power.  Hopefully I’ll figure it out.

Software

This one will probably tell you a lot about me.  I think you can tell a lot about a person by the software on their computer.  We’ll see.  Everything in this list works great on this machine.

• Adobe Photoshop
• VLC Media Player
• Skype
• iGuidance Navigation
• Starcraft Brood War
• Firefox 3
• nCleaner
• AVG Pro Internet Security
• Winamp
• PowerIso
• Hamachi
• VNC

I haven’t really tested much beyond that.  I will install Microsoft Office sooner or later.  Right now I’m just taking notes in class using Zoho Writer, a web based word processor.  The computer is pretty fast, but it definitely couldn’t take the place of a desktop computer.  Overall its great for what it is, and for the price it can’t be beaten.

I know a couple of you were interested in hearing what I thought about this netbook.  If you have any specific questions that I could address, leave a comment, and I’ll be sure to let you know what’s going on!

Check out these EEE PCs on amazon.  They have great prices there.

Today I was made an uncle!  At exactly 7am this morning my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Ava Layne Johnston.  She’s beautiful!  The pic doesn’t do her justice (she was sleeping). She’s a beautiful little thing, with brown and blonde hair (looks like highlights, it’s crazy)!  Her birth has made me realize that I am an adult, and there is so much for me to do in life.  I want to give this little girl everything this world has to offer her, and protect her from any harm that lies in her way.

I want to do that for everyone.  I started Zen College Life as a way to give something useful to future college students.  But I think it’s time to expand my goal.  I don’t know where this new motivation is coming from, but look forward to something big sometime soon!  Take care everyone.  Enjoy the holiday and give a big hug and kiss to all your loved ones!

Finals are just around the corner, and with them comes a whole new set of stress for many of us.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  A little stress is great when harnessed for success.  Follow these tips and you are sure to be well on your way to success.  If you are an A student it’s time to make 100s across the board, if you are a B student, it’s A time.  Follow the tips here at Zen College Life and you are gauranteed to have greater success than you have had in previous semesters.

Plan your week around studying

This may seem like a no brainer, but somehow some people still find ways to shop, hang out with friends, and do all sorts of things that are not studing.  For that week you should be a hermit.  Seriously, find a corner in your library and move in.  Plan every hour of study for that week, and plan your breaks.  Know what subject you are going to study at what time, how long you’ve allotted to each class, what time you are going to eat, what drinks you will drink, etc.  Everything you can plan for your week of studying should be planned, and every other aspect of life should be put off till the week after finals.

If your underwear is dirty, then you’ll have to be smelly that week, or go commando, because your laundry time could be better spent with your head in a book.  Tell your little brother/sister to call you in a week cause you’re busy.  Grandma dying? Ok, well you can make time for things of this nature, but anything else needs to be put on hold.  This means forget any thought of a social life.  Your social life doesn’t exist the week before finals.

Create an Environment Conducive to Studying

Stop kidding yourself.  Starbucks is not a place to get good studying done.  Your study locale should be silent, distraction free, well lit, and with enough room to spread your books across a table.  You should have headphones and an MP3 player, whether you listen to music or not.  Put the headphones on when studying, even without music.  This will generally keep anyone from bothering you.  Bring a jacket or sweater, just in case.  And a watch with an alarm. If i’m going to be there a while I sometimes take 15-20 minute naps, and the jacket can be used as a pillow while the watch is my alarm clock.

Bring snacks.  Chex mix is a good snack, and pretty much any kind of nuts work great.  Nutragrain bars and power bars will keep you alive.  Also, even though I’m not a big supporter of large amounts of caffeine, if you are going to drink it, this is the week to do so.  So stock up on coffee, redbull, monster or whatever it is that keeps you awake.  I personally drink green tea.  It’s less caffeine, but I’ll drink 3-5 cups in one sitting, so it adds up.

Meet with a Study Group

Study groups work for some and not for others.  I don’t usually advocate using a study group until after you’ve already completed your studying for that subject.  The reasons are simple.   If you don’t know your stuff you will probably not learn it fast enough with the social distraction, and if you do you can test your recall ability by teaching it to the group.  For these reasons I usually like to meet with friends of the class right before the test, say the night before or the day of.  I dont usually use this time to learn, so it’s perfect for sharpening my skills.

Schedule in Sleep

I cannot believe how many people walk around like zombies during finals week.  It’s an epidemic, due to non-planning and all nighters, neither of which I advocate.  Do yourself a favor.  If you don’t function well on 3 hours of sleep, don’t try to.  If you need your 8 hours regardless, factor that in and don’t push it.  If your brain can’t take the lack of rest, your study time will be wasted anyways, make good plans for sleep as well as study.

Strategize

Don’t study for an essay test based on recognition of terms.  They won’t be there, and if you can’t recall them you’ll fail.  In the same sense, don’t try to memorize every word for a multiple choice test.  You’ll see the key elements spelled out for you, and the extra time you spent memorizing sentences could be better spent on that essay test we talked about.

Strategize your studying around the type of test that your professor administers.  If your teacher gives true/false sections of a test, understand the qualities of the fact that would make it true or false.  If there is matching, know the important aspects of key terms.  The only parts of tests that you really need to memorize every aspect of are essay tests, especially if your teacher gives you nothing but a premise and you have to explain in great detail.

Exercise

This is the one thing that I do not neglect during finals week.  I work out 5-8 times a week, just depending on my mood, and to give that up would be devestating to my stress relief.  Don’t overdo your physical exercise to the point that you are too tired to study, but short, stress relieving activities will only do you good during finals week, keeping that blood blowing through those veins and arteries.

Even if you are the regular couch potato, don’t underestimate the vaule of a good walk between study sessions, or even during one if you can’t get your mind straight.  Sometimes I need to get away from the books, if only for a few minutes, just to get perspective.

Meet with Professors

Let’s face it, if this is your first time going to office hours the professor probably isn’t going to give you the extra point between an A and B.  But that doesn’t mean it wont do you any good.  Your professor teaches this same subject year after year, and any question relevant to the test could be answered in a matter of minutes.  If you can’t understand something, you pay tuition to have access to them or the TA.  Pick their brains until you understand every aspect of that test.  And ask the professor for old versions of the exam.  The worst thing he could say is no, right?

My Personal Plan (just for reference)

This is how it works for me.  It’s simple, easy, and I’ve made a 95 or better on every single final exam for the past 2 years.

Plan of Study: I have 3 different places of study:  My school library, an empty classroom, and my desk at home.  I try the library first, if it’s full or noisy, I go to a classroom.  The only reason I choose the library over a classroom is that many classrooms at my school don’t have windows, and I like to look outside…  Home is my last choice.  It is quite and I have the space, but there are still too many distractions.  As far as preparing for each exam, I don’t schedule hours for certain exams.  I usually just try to get through one at a time, only switching if my brain starts to reject learning a subject.

Snacks and Supplements: This one I still have some work to do on.  I always have green tea, so that’s not an issue.  But since I work out so often, I’m always hungry.  This semester I’m going to try mixed nuts, carrots and celery, and something sweet.  I don’t recommend candy, because the insulin spike never seems to help with studying. I usually take a multi-vitamin every day along with 1000mg of Vitamin C daily.  If I’m going to lift weights that day I will drink a protein shake.  I stay away from fried foods and fatty foods that week, they just tend to slow me down.  Fast food is already banned from my diet, so that is not an issue.

Study Breaks: I make study breaks fun.  The way I work is an hour and a half of study and a half hour of break time.  This may seem like too long a break for you, so go with what works for you.  But with this plan I can study for 12+ hours a day, so it works for me.  I like to keep my breaks fun so that once they are over I’m ready to study again.  I usually take my guitar, laptop, mp3 player, and a fun book to read.  I take turns between those for each break.  Planet Earth is probably the most fun thing to watch during studying.  It’s educational so your brain doesn’t go to sleep, but it is still very interesting.

Naps and walks: I don’t kid myself.  Studying isn’t fun, and sometimes I just can’t concentrate.  For this I don’t take a break, since I haven’t yet earned it with an hour and half worth of studying.  I take a 15 minute nap, or a 10 minute walk.  Usually if I’m going to nap I close my eyes and visualize myself taking the exam, visualize the success of answering each question correctly, and turning each page with a smile on my face.  You’d be surprised at how quickly that can melt away stress.  If I’m walking I do the same, or just try to empty my mind of all thoughts, like a Zen walk of sorts.

Test Day: I don’t study on the day of the test.  Some people keep their books open till the professor walks in, and they look at me like I’m crazy.  The truth is that is just too stressful for me.  I give myself a break.  If I don’t know if by the day before, I just wont know it, but I’m not going to cram in the classroom before the test.  It would be too hard on my brain and I probably still have other finals to worry about.

Conclusion

Well this was quite a long post, but I hope you found a few diamonds in the rough.  Like I said, I have great success following this plan and I’m quite sure if you take it and modify it to your needs you will have great success as well.  And once that week of finals is over you are free.  You can sleep in late, and waste all day playing video games if you want.  Keep that in mind and be disciplined about your finals.  You’ll be glad you did.  What do you do when studying for finals?  Have any tips or tricks to share? Leave a comment, we’d love to hear them.

I’ve long been without a laptop.  I know, how do I live, right?  But seriously, I broke my laptop screen about 2 years ago, and I had just built a pretty awesome desktop computer, so I really didn’t need one. At least till now.  I found a great deal on a new netbook called the EEE Pc 1000HA (tiny little laptop). If you’ll indulge me, I’ll give you my first impression.

So my first impression?  You should go buy this laptop.  With the cost of this laptop being less than an iPhone, there is no good reason to not have a laptop anymore.  It is a little thing, weighing in at barely over 3 lbs.  It has a 10 inch screen, comes with a 160gb hard drive, 1gb of ddr2 ram, an intel atom processor clocked at 1.6ghz, a multi-touch mouse (like the iphone screen), and a whopping 6.5+ hour battery life.  There is a built in webcam and a stereo mic.  It’s fast, sleek, and sexy. Oh, and I paid less than $400 for mine.

I have yet to find something I don’t like about this laptop.  I can say that I wish the resolution of the screen was a little bigger (it’s 1024×600) but that’s just being picky, and the small size is one of the most attractive features.

the Eee Pc comes with the power cable (also tiny), an awesome free padded sleeve case, a small peice of cloth to keep it clean and shiny, and all of the manuals and disks.  Mine came with Windows XP, and I couldn’t be happier.  My experiences with Vista tell me that it would probably be laggy on this machine, so unless Windows 7 comes out and is just amazing, XP will probably stay on it (unless I feel like putting Mac OS X on here, but that is a lengthy project, and things never turn out right…)

Speaker quality is par.  I tested the camera and mic on skype and they seem to work fantastically.  I haven’t really tried any software that would really give the computer a good run but so far things are great.

I purchased a bluetooth usb dongle and a bluetooth gps, so pretty soon this little laptop will be a full navigation system for my car as well.

I’ll give you all an update after a week or so of usage, and let you know how things go.

Here is my model, for $413.99
ASUS Eee PC 1000HA 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel ATOM N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Fine Ebony

Here is an even small (8.9inch) version for only $319.99.  You really can’t beat these prices.
ASUS Eee PC 900HA 8.9-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel ATOM N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) Black

Check these out, and really consider the usability of these new little laptops.  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised about how great they are.  Have you recently purchased one of these new netbook style laptops? What are your experiences?  I’d love to hear them/compare.

I know what you are thinking.  Eating healthy is difficult in college.  It’s expensive, takes too long, and just isn’t important enough right now.  Sadly, this is how many college students feel, and by the time they are ready to change into a healthier lifestyle they’ve already developed terrible habits.  And anyone who has made the switch to eating healthy knows that bad eating habits are pretty much the hardest habits to break.  To help you make the switch, I will offer you a few tips.  This will not be a quick process by any means, but you know what they say, “Slow and steady wins the race.”  Oh, and it will be easy, cheap, won’t take long, and is the most important step you could possibly make for your future life.

Tip #1 - Nothing too Drastic

This will make your transition into healthy eating easier and more enjoyable.  Don’t start shopping at wholefoods, don’t start eating only organic, don’t become a vegetarian (unless you want to). Drastic changes in dietary habits never stick.  Instead remember the food pyramid from gradeschool, and work towards getting each group into your daily diet.  Find a healthy snack and meal that you enjoy and add it to your daily/weekly menu.  Skip McDonalds or other fast food joint once this week.  The small improvements you make will make you feel good about yourself, won’t be too costly, and will motivate you to pursue a healthier lifestyle overall.

Tip #2 - Pack a lunch

This one will require a little effort, but the benefit is so great that it is worth it.  First off, this will save you huge amounts of money (and college students are poor).  Second, this gives you a better idea of what you are eating and how good or not good it is for you.  This doesn’t mean you can’t eat the things you like, but rather that you can also stick a bag of carrot and celery sticks in there too, or another healthy snack.

Tip #3 - Slow it down, Speedy Gonzales

Enjoy your food.  Take time to actually think about the taste of your food.  It takes your stomach about 7 minutes to respond to the amount of food you’ve eaten, so that means that you could potentially eat 7 minutes worth of food after being full.  Ever notice that after a big meal you feel like garbage?  That’s because you aren’t just full, you are beyond capacity.  If you take your time and eat slowly your body will signal that you are full and you wont over indulge.  Just another easy way to cut calories.

Tip #4 - Make it a Big Deal (thx to Farahk for this one)

One great part about cooking a fancy meal is that you know it’s a big deal so you savor every minute of it; the preparing, the cooking, the presentation and of course the tasting.  By making healthy meals a big deal you squeeze every moment of enjoyment out of the meal.  You will be excited with the entire process, rather than just the meal like fast food.

Tip #5 - Learn to Cook, use Recipes

Cooking can be like therapy, especially when you enjoy what you are cooking.  Find a great cookbook, or even better get recipes online for foods you’ve never had, or never knew how to make.  By cooking and eating new exotic foods like curries, stirfries, and other crazy fantastic dishes, you won’t want to head to your local fast food place for dinner.  It just wont seem right.  My newest craze is Roasted Garlic Hummus.  It’s fantastic, and it’s healthy.  I eat it with pita chips, carrot sticks, and celery.  Great stuff!

Tip #6 - Enlist Friends in your Health Goals

One of the easiest ways to eat healthy is to be surrounded with other health conscious eaters.  Get your friends excited about what you are doing and they will definitely want to be part of it.  This is one of the best tips, because there is nothing worse than trying to eat healthy and going out to lunch with friends who love to eat junk.

Tip #7 - Supplement

Lets face it; most of us aren’t getting all of the vitamins and minerals we need, regardless of our eating habits.  One easy way to help with this is by supplementing.  A good multi-vitamin is a great way to get all that you need and help your body fend off foreign contaminates.  Vegetarians and vegans will want to supplement with a Vitamin B complex, and some women may want to supplement iron and folic acid.  I supplement protein when I workout, about 1000mg of vitamin C daily, and a regular chewable multivitamin (i don’t swallow pills very well, so if I had a regular multi-vitamin I just wouldn’t take it…).

Tip #8 - Skip organics

For the most part, the cost of organics isn’t worth what you are getting, especially not at this point in your life.  I’m not saying that organics aren’t worth the money, but the extra money you will save by buying regular produce can be better spent elsewhere, and chances are you aren’t rich enough to justify it right now.

Bonus #9 - You tell me

There are millions of great tips for starting your healthier nutrition goals, and I can’t possibly be the only one who knows a few.  What are some of your best ways to eat healthy?  What tricks do you use?  What tips would you give a friend?  Leave a comment and let us know!

I’ve been very disciplined in my fitness lately.  For 10 weeks now I’ve been working out 6 times a week without fail.  But to make things more interesting I’ve decided to set an extreme challenge for myself, a goal that if acheived will feel like an ultimate victory.  I’ve decided to modify my fitness and diet to lower my body fat percentage to between 8 and 10 percent, or visible abdominal muscles, as the pic above clearly defines (ladies, wipe the drool).  So, yeah, I want a 6 pack.

I’m hoping to have a few bloggers take up this challenge as well, for a little extra motivation, so if you are interested let me know, and I’ll share links to all of your progress as well.

Before you get all crazy on me, allow me to explain that this is not about vanity.  I’m not the guy who likes to take his shirt off everywhere I go.  In fact the only time I do is when I swim or am at the beach etc.  This challenge is purely an extreme mental and physical goal.  There is no reward worth having if it didn’t take some good ole fashion hard work, right?

So here’s the deal.  I will take pictures every week to chart visible progress, I will record my dietary and supplement intake, and I will journal the mental and physical feelings throughout the journey.  Regardless of whether I can get washboard abs or not, I’m sure this experiment will be a wild success, and it will probably get me in the best shape of my life.

If you want in on this challenge leave a comment and let me know.  Like I said, I will share your progress with all of Zen College Life readers, as well as my own.  The link below is my introductory status.  If you don’t want to see pictures of me without a shirt, I would advise against clicking the link.  You’ve been warned.

Ibrahim Husain’s Getting a 6 Pack Experiment

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That’s right folks.  8 months down the road and I have reached 100+ posts.  I don’t know about you, but I’m excited.  And to celebrate, I’ve compiled a fantastic list of resources to hack your life and make you an amazing well rounded person.  This may be my favorite post yet.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

If your life is anything like mine you probably don’t have time to read all of these at once, so bookmark this article and read a little bit at a time.

• 50 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do - We start off basic.  This list is fantastic.  Some of you could spend weeks just mastering this list, and let me tell you, it would be well worth it.  This list has everything from survival techniquesto computer basics, cpr to giving great speeches, job interviews to time management, travelling to swimming, and so much more.  This must be one of the coolest lists compiled that I have ever seen (a special thanks to Marc and Angel Hack Life)
• 30 Useful Tools Everyone Should own - Another fantastic Mac and Angel article. In this list you will find everything from a laptop to a hammer, and even some hand sanitizer.  A great read.
• 100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library - When I first looked over this list, I realized that I had read, or at least had interest in reading many of these books.  The fact that I was already interested in so many led me to believe that I would be interested in most if not all of them.  Look over this list, then head over to amazon and pick up a few.  And don’t be afraid of the list just because it contains a few books you may have had to read in high school.  They really aren’t that bad!
• 10 Skills You Need to Succeed at Almost Anything - Dustin Wax at Lifehack.org created this fantastic list, including skills like public speaking, critical thinking, and self-management.  If you start now to master every aspect of each skill listed here you’ll be way ahead of the crowd.
• Top 20 Motivation Hacks - A fantastic article written by Leo over at ZenHabits.net.  If you don’t know Leo, or you aren’t a regular at ZenHabits.net then it’s time you did.  Get over there and see the amazing things this guy says and does.  He’s truly inspirational.
• 73 Great Debt Elimination Tips - Another great ZenHabits article.  Since most of us college students start our post-academic lives in large amounts of debt, these tips are just what the doctor ordered.
• 31 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Excercise - yet another ZenHabits masterpiece.  Many of us get caught up with schoolwork and trying to balance college life that fitness takes a hit.  Here are a few ways to get back to feeling that wonderful euphoria of exercise.
• 11 Thigns You Shouldn’t Leave for School Without - I found this great list of web based resources over at Dumb Little Man, a great site for increasing your life effectiveness.  This is one that every student should have bookmarked.
• 25 Absolute Essentials for Networking Success - Networking is something that every student, in fact, every person should work to perfect.  Many of us don’t start to learn this till after we need it.  Take my advice, read this and learn to implement the tips into your daily life.  Future you will be glad you did.
• 10 Hard Ways to Make Your Life Better - Dustin at Lifehack.org comes through again with an interesting way to improve your life with great tips such as volunteering, starting a business, and many others.
• 22 Best Motivational Videos Online - Steve at Change your Thoughts compiled this great list of videos to motivate you.  It’s a great list, so check it out!
• 30 Fundamentals of a Wonderful Life - Peter at The Change Blog created this wonderful list of ways to create a wonderful life.   You’ll enjoy this one.

Well there you have it.  If you took my advice to heart and read these, or even just skimmed over them, you now have a pretty good idea of what it will take for you to be the greatest version of yourself possible.  If you are a regular here at Zen College Life, I assume that this is something you are interested in, so go fourth, master life, and be great.

If you have a great list of ways to improve life, leave a comment, I’d love to add it!

First of all, congratulations sir.  You campaigned honorably, didn’t fall to slander the way the republicans did, and you have already done America a great justice.  You have respectfully become the 44th president of the United States, and, through your great actions, you told every man, woman, and child that they can truly become whatever and whoever they want to be in this great land, providing they are willing to work for it.  For that, future president, I thank you.

But what you have cut out for you is a treacherous path.  You will be dealing with wars, international threats, a dying economy, oil, terrorism, and a whole slue of other things that only you will be aware of.  I am hopeful that you are ready and able to be the best man for the job.  We are counting on you to lead us into a better America.

I will share something very personal with you Obama.  For the last few years it had dawned on me that if America keeps fighting every Muslim country in the middle east, and the hatred for Muslims continues in America, that this may not be the best place for my future.  That is not the world that I want to raise my Muslim children in.  Being of African decent, I am sure you are able to understand the pressure of this prejudice.  But Barack, the world is holding it’s breath to see how you will handle these affairs.  No longer does the world see us as a bunch of war loving cowboys.  You have a chance to transform America’s image into something so much greater.

I hope you will use your power and resources to fulfill your promises.
I supported you throughout this election, and I will continue to support you, as long as you stay true to your citizens.  We put you in power.  Now your responsibility is to us.

One of the greatest Americans of all time came out of Illinois.  His name was Abraham Lincoln.  I have great hope that you are prepared to be the next greatest American to come out of Illinois.
Lead us to a greater tomorrow, and you will go down in history as one of the greatest men of all time.
I’m hopeful Barack.  Keep my hope alive.