blogging – the {r}evolution apparel blog

Mindfulness, Consumption and Why You Don't Have to Be Perfect

It’s tough putting all of your thoughts about consumerism on a blog for the world to see. Mostly because then your friends can call you out when you dip into a Wal-Mart or talk about wanting to buy this or that.

You can’t just talk the talk.

But it’s not easy. I’m straddling the line between living a life of unconsumerism, while still having and doing the things that make me happy.

And you know what? Sometimes, stuff makes me happy. I’m not a beacon of unconsumerism perfection. I never will be. I will probably always deal with want. And that’s OK.

Because I know what I believe, and I know that slowly, little by little, that “want” will ebb away, and I will find balance between what I believe and what I buy. For now, all I can do is try my best to be mindful, and be proud of the fact that I am aware of my purchasing power.

Sometimes I get to thinking that it’s one or the other. That I’m sacrificing my immediate happiness in order to do what I know is right (like not shopping, or not eating meat).

But there’s always a balance. With everything. Take eating meat, for example. While I’m really proud of my newfound vegetarianism, I feel like I could be doing more if I went completely vegan. Instead of focusing on the great things I’m doing for the environment by cutting out the meat, I look at what more I could be doing “if only.”

Well, “if only” is a fairly pointless attitude. I won’t be vegan this month or the next. And I will buy the occasional pair of socks and underwear, thrift store clothes, and a new phone this year. But I won’t go to the mall, or buy conventional clothes.

It’s all about the balance — be proud of the change you’re making, and do everything mindfully. None of us are perfect, but all of us can make a change with the little things we do every day. {r}

Mindfulness, Consumption and Why You Don’t Have to Be Perfect

You can’t just talk the talk.

But it’s not easy. I’m straddling the line between living a life of unconsumerism, while still having and doing the things that make me happy.

And you know what? Sometimes, stuff makes me happy. I’m not a beacon of unconsumerism perfection. I never will be. I will probably always deal with want. And that’s OK.

Sometimes I get to thinking that it’s one or the other. That I’m sacrificing my immediate happiness in order to do what I know is right (like not shopping, or not eating meat).

How We Made $2,000 in 8 Hours

Well, we haven’t, just yet. But by the end of today, we will. Just keep reading.

We’ve been on a wild goose chase for sustainable fabrics lately. Domestic cotton, recycled PET plastic fiber, and the new wood-pulp fiber, Tencel.

We have a few good leads. But it’s all a waiting game.

So we’re starting on the next phase of {r}evolution apparel: Fundraising. We know we have a killer idea. We know it’s going to be beautiful. We know we will succeed. So it’s time to get a little capital behind this thing.

We were invited to participate in a competition sponsored by Pepsi Refresh, GOOD magazine, and SelflessTee. We want to win $2,000. And that’s where you come in.

Watch this one minute video, “Eight Hour Challenge for GOOD.”
After you view it, leave a comment below. It can say anything — one letter, one word, a love note, a hate note. It doesn’t matter. Just comment.
Watch the video as many times as you want. Part of the competition is getting as many views as possible, so click away at that “play” button!
By 7pm EST, the blog with the most comments gets the money.
If you’re feeling extra helpful, then you can also go to the post on our Facebook page and leave us a second comment there.

The video is about selfless acts. So watch to see what our next “selfless act” is going to be, and cast your vote. As always, we’re eternally grateful. {r}

{If you have any questions, leave a comment or e-mail us and we’ll reply ASAP!}

Keeping Humor in “Sex Change” Moments

Kristin talked about the beginning stages of All of Us in a previous post and mentioned how all of our planning and execution is done solely through Gmail and Skype. But in August, we finally had the opportunity to work together in the same physical location. Kristin came to Boston for a three-day All of Us marathon — we literally did nothing else.

In those three days, we had a full agenda to follow (both of us love lists), and we accomplished just about everything, from finalizing our logo, to filming footage for our launch video, to developing a blog skeleton. But with under a month until our September 1st launch, we experienced our fair share of bumps in the road.

To give you an idea, we originally wanted to call our business “All of Us Exchange.” We had designed the logo, and when we went to buy our web domain we typed in “allofusexchange.com.” All of Us Sex Change? It seemed like such a minor detail but even when we asked my mom, “sex change” was the first thing she read. We had no other choice than to go back to the drawing board. In the end, we’re glad we did.

On top of that, after hours of filming video footage to go with our blog launch, the digital files on my camera wouldn’t upload onto my computer. I had two full memory cards, 2GB and 4GB, and my computer refused to recognize them. I had less than a month to put a baller video together with footage that was inaccessible with no option to re-film. An hour at the camera shop and a hundred dollars later, fortunately resulted in a solution.

With these obstacles behind us, September 1st went above and beyond them all. After collectively sending out several hundred e-mails to friends and family announcing the launch of our new business, our web-host crashed from a power outage. No one could view the site and it looked like our blog was a blank screen.

At the end of the day, we’ve kept our wits about us and have an underlying feeling that everything will work out. It’s important to keep challenges in perspective and know that a seemingly catastrophic problem is actually minor in the grand scheme of things. Kristin flew back to New Orleans in the wee hours of the morning, and when I woke up she had left this note: “Thanks for putting me up, motivating me and agreeing to embark on such a life-revolutionizing ADVENTURE!”

I’m convinced the key to a great business is first and foremost, a great business partner. {r}

Video: How We’ve Found Our ‘Passion’

Without sounding like an eHarmony commercial, we think the internet is a great place to meet people. Really.

Just after our blog launch, web & social media coordinator Jessica Malnik invited us to do a guest video-post for her “Follow Your Passion” series. As a recent college grad just getting into full-time work and keeping up with her blog, she writes about all things Gen Y.

Here’s a link to our short video on her site — it includes our personal views on passion, and an impromptu adventure in Kristin’s backyard. Enjoy! {r}

5 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Should Blog

Every bit of advice we’ve gleaned from the web tells us: Blog to build an audience. Blog for SEO. Blog to create a community and market yourself.

But there’s an unexpected and infinitely more valuable outcome from blogging than SEO and marketing. Writing. Writing helps to structure thoughts, develop ideas, and enhance creative thinking. If you are hesitant to start blogging, here are the real reasons why we find blogging (and writing) to be incredibly useful.

Writing helps deal with multiple ideas by forcing you to focus on one or two.

Writing helps you understand the big picture: where you are, and where you want to end up.

Writing leads to better thought structure which leads to better speaking.

Writing gives your business a “face”– it allows readers to connect with you through words.

A solid web presence paired with effective communication helps bolster fundraising when the time comes.

Most people end their writing careers after turning in their senior thesis. But writing has a profound effect on thought. It takes energy and willpower to sit down and really write. And when you finish your post/email/memo, you have a clearer vision of what you need to do next.

When I write a post I have a general idea of where I’d like to start — a vague vision for the overall message. After two or three copies, I’ve organized my thoughts in a meaningful way. Now I can communicate these ideas to my audience, but perhaps more importantly, I now have a clearer picture of where I stand and where I’d like to end up.

The writing process is especially important in business. When you start something new a million ideas pop into your head, sometimes all in one day. You can’t possibly deal with all of them. Through writing, you select the one or two things that are really important and develop those ideas into more detailed plans for later use.

The writing process is hard. Dealing with one thought at a time is hard. And developing one thought into a detailed viewpoint is especially hard. You subconsciously ask yourself the 5 W’s and reason your way to a conclusion — and that’s where ideas gain meaning.

Meaningful ideas gain a following. People respond to others who have clear goals and can talk about how to achieve them. Investors appreciate entrepreneurs who have taken the time to develop solid plans. Better writing leads to better speaking, which can ultimately lead to more capital to invest in your company.

So have a seat. Start typing. You know where to begin — the joy is that you don’t know where you’ll end up. {r}

Win a Chance to Change Your Life: The Art of Non-Conformity Project

You’re probably reading this blog for one or all of the following reasons:
a) you know one of us
b) you’re interested in our story
c) you’re interested in taking control of your own life

If option c) relates to you in any way, there’s something you should know.

“The Art of Non-Conformity” by Chris Guillebeau came out yesterday. (Note: This is not a paid plug. We just love the guy.)

Chris writes about setting your own rules, living the life you want, and changing the world, on his blog — and now you can read 227 pages of similar, thought-provoking advice.

I read Chris’ manifesto, “A Brief Guide to World Domination: How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World” a year ago. I didn’t take immediate action, but much of my decision to join this business venture was based on inspiration and hope I gained from Chris‘ words.

If you’ve found yourself unhappy with the status quo, or wishing your life weren’t so darn “average,” then check it out. You can read my Amazon review here and buy the book here. It should also be noted that 100 percent of the author proceeds from the people he meets on his book tour go to Chris’ charity project in Ethiopia.

We won our own free copy from Chris (we’re avid readers of his blog, too) and we’d like to spread the love.

We’ll mail our copy of the book to the first person who responds via comment — the only stipulation being that you must pass the book onto someone else when you’re done. We’ll glue our business card inside, and try to track the book, its readers, and their stories.

Just comment, and tell us why you’re interested! {r}

Video: Shannon Talks the Biz (and moonwalks…)

Find out what’s exciting about “the biz” for Shannon, and what she wants for fellow {r}evolutionaries who read our blog. If that doesn’t suit your fancy, she has some pretty sweet dance moves…

How We’re {r}evolutionizing Lifestyle Design

Blog and make $100,000. Quit your job and retire to the Philippines for virtually nothing. Become part of the “new rich.” Be location independent just like me!

It’s everywhere. Inspiring content that can claim hours of your life as you dream of location independence just like “john.blogspot.com.” It makes you think — maybe I could start a blog, move to Thailand, and be successful by sharing my success with others…

Where it All Began

Thirty years ago, a woman named Barbara Sher wrote a book called Wishcraft. It outlines the foundation of pursuing your passions and making your life what you want it to be.

Fast forward a few decades.

The term “lifestyle design” was coined by Tim Ferriss back in 2008 when he wrote the New York Time’s bestseller, “The 4-Hour Workweek.” He ran a fully-automated online business called BrainQUICKEN, selling performance-enhancing capsules in over 15 countries, and made a lot of money — over $40,000 per month.

The book tells people how they, too, can design their lives by using automation, Pareto Principle, and Parkinson’s Law to condense their work-week to four hours.

So began the lifestyle design fad. Bloggers started writing full-time about how to make a decent living by blogging. And while they blogged about making money, they made money. No fresh ideas; no new businesses. Even John Chow says, “I make money online by telling other people how I make money online” (granted, he had a burgeoning internet career pre-blog).

The newest spin-off is “location independence,” a fairly new term describing people who can work from anywhere. Just Google it for a slew of new blogs about people living in Mexico or the Philippines, making money by telling you how to make money.

The business model is pretty simple: read the blogs, apply it to your life (“I’m a 23 year old living the life on Greek beaches, blogging and living the dream. You can do it too!), add some personal flavor, and that’s it!

Sounds easy, right? For a minute, we toyed with the idea of jumping on the gravy train. But then we started thinking about what we really wanted. We started asking questions.

What happened to the whole basis of lifestyle design — pursuing your passion, living a fulfilled life, and doing what you want?

That’s going to be our basis. Not making money, not making every post SEO-friendly, not worrying about our Google Analytics. We’re just going to continue doing what we do know how to do: write about our business, our passions, our successes and our failures, and the little things we do every day to make life better.

As for your own blog, well, we can’t tell you what to do. Someday, when we know better and are making $40,000 a month, we’ll gladly pass on the secret. Our best advice so far: This blogging stuff is not easy. It’d better be something you care about with gusto, or you’re drive and determination will fade away. Do what you love, and the rest will fall into place (or so we’re told)! {r}

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

{the blog}

Tagged: blogging