I’m really excited to present my very first VideoCast via [1] YouTube. I have recently dumped by Dell Laptop for a Macbook Pro, which has a built in iSight camera and enough capacity to handle movie making. It also has a neat integration with YouTube for 1-click uploads.

This video is a quick look at one thing I got out of the Landmark Advanced Course which I took this weekend. That one thing is me discovering my act. An act, in the distinctions of the [2] Landmark Education, is who we are being in the face of failure. Not our personal failure, but what perceive as a failure on someone else’s part.

The act that I have discovered myself to have is ‘you aren’t going to pull one over one me’. This means you aren’t going to take advantage of me, con me, or get away with anything. It’s not a rational reaction, but one that I have been traveling with since I was a child. I can’t even think of the first situation where it occurred but it was surely something silly.

I have seen my act in action with family, friends, people I love, as well as people I have just recently met. A good example of how the act works for me is if people are late. I have a pet peeve with being on time, so if someone is late I find myself frustrated, pissed off, or annoyed.

The impact of me being frustrated, pissed off, or annoyed is simple - I’m not happy. Remember how we defined happiness after completing the [3] happiness project?

“Happiness is being the creator of your experience, choosing to take pleasure in what you have, right now, regardless of the circumstances, while being the best you that you can be.”
~Alex Shalman

The choosing to take pleasure in what you have part is not happening when I am choosing to be annoyed. They are in direct conflict with each other. More specifically me being my act is directly conflicting with happiness. My act is just that, an act, and it isn’t who I really am. I am committed to being really awesome with people, so I am glad I have made this distinction and have got a way to blast it.

[4]

Since this is my first video, I would appreciate some constructive criticism, so let me know in the comments below. (oh and I know the video shows a really funny face on the cover, but it picked in randomly from the middle, and well… it’s funny!)