New Years Resolutions

A fabulous new years eve spent quietly at home with the fam for the first time in many years. But as much as I was apprehensive about my decision earlier today to stay, I must say that I had a great time. I was supposed to fly to L.A. to hang with the sir Michael and lady Beth Ann, but I have been digging hanging with my family so much while I've been out here that I just didn't want to leave them. so I stayed and never flew. May head to L.A. on Sunday instead. I cannot explain how much being with the fam this holiday meant to me. I feel a lot happier and grounded; recharged and refueled. Something changed in me as well in the last few weeks. I really got into this whole kids groove and for the first time could see myself getting married and having kids one day. Not just in an imaginary way like in your mind or in a video or something, but actually saw that I could do it and enjoy it, would welcome it now. crazy. I'm not saying leave the business and become a mainstreamer, not at all. I'm saying do it in spite of still being in the business and staying outside the mainstream. Do it in my own cool way. if I can find a cool non-mainstream wife who digs the idea of having a big family. [but I'm also not saying going totally overboard and naming my kids Dweezil and Moon Unit either. Has to be a subtle in between kind of a thing).

Anyway, we rang in the new year right. lots of Champaign and all of us singing and dancing and all the kids around and I must say that it was very merry and homey and fun. I am very lucky to have such a close tight knit family. It just took me a fucking long time to dig how cool family was. if you would have told me ten years ago that I'd be taking in the new year with my mom and brother and sisters and nieces and cousins at my parents house rather than being at some party somewhere with a bunch of friends, I would have told you that you were fucking nuts. But it was good times indeed. My heart feels warm and smiley and I will fall asleep tonight with a big smile on my face feeling very cozy and full of joy. As Mindy would say, family rocks.

O.k. time for some new years resolutions:

1. Clean out stuff from the last twenty years. All things items AND habits and thoughts that are no longer serving me. Free up space and time and energy to allow new things to come in and feel a fresh start for the New Year and a new life from now on. 2005 is your year of creativity and fulfillment.
2. Practice more and master the art of extending the least amount of effort to achieve the biggest and most rewarding results. This is definitely the highest priority behind clearing clutter and freeing up space this year.   
3. Figure out and find where the fuck I am supposed to live and actually move into a place rather than living out of boxes. I've been living out of boxes since July and I have had enough of it. 
4. I will sign up for French class here in America again and get through the first two levels where I can actually speak French and then... 
5. I will go to France and study French for a few months in Paris. Spring or summer time would be good.
6. Speaking of which, I will register for sign language classes when I get back to the city. there is no reason not to speak sign language. Makes me feel like a loser. That would be cool to be able to communicate with people in that language.
7. From the get go, the most important thing is this: Focus the most free attention on whatever is going to bring in the most money the fastest so I can start delegating more again. delegating is key. Delegating is power. and right now my most immediate need is to have more money available to delegate more.  
8. Be more artistic. Allow/open myself to be more artistic more of the time. have to get mooooooooooooore into the flow of pure art, flowing art, all the time.
9. Me and the boys will finish the new album we started in October and it will be our best album ever. I want it to be the best album I have ever been a part of and I am willing to get totally out of the way of it to make that happen. if that makes sense. I know what it means. 
10. Develop more partnerships. This is really cool and interesting that in the last three days three separate friends of mine have shared with me this same resolution for themselves: acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses in everything that they are doing and develop partnerships with other people that can help fill their needs so their projects are more flowing, and I have been working on developing the same habit. stop trying to do it all yourself and get other like minded people on board. There's a great book I read last year called mentored by a millionaire that says that this is the number one thing successful people do. 
11. Along the same lines is the importance of delegating more. this is easier said than done sometimes. I have always been good delegating. But lately I haven't been doing it as much because of money, or the lack thereof really. There's tons of stuff we delegate already obviously. If we’re lucky we delegate our laundry and dry cleaning, our massages facials and nails of course, our food preparation when we eat out, etc... but I just want to kick it into overdrive and take it to a higher level. Delegate a shitload more so I can free up more time to do what I'm really good at and what I enjoy doing. True that.  
12. The TV show we started filming the last quarter of this year will get picked up by a major network. Everyone has worked so hard on it and we deserve to see it through. Plus, I got a chance this holiday while vacationing to catch a bunch of other reality shows on TV now and we have something really cool. Don't hate me, but I actually watched about five minutes of the nick and Jessica show a few days ago for the first time and for political reasons I won't say anything except ... we need to get our show on the air. And FAST. I'm not going to say it was every bit as stupid and inane and asinine as I thought it was going to be. I'm going to say it was ten times that. times infinity. 
13. I want to create a way to promote and celebrate GEEKNESS. I'm not sure exactly what I mean by this or how one would do it. But I can feel it. I think that our culture has gotten so totally out of hand with glitz and style and non-substance and hype and crap that we need more substance and authenticity thrown in there to balance things out a bit. [I think ashly simpson and her sister kind of sum it up pretty well... say no more...] We need to honor and celebrate our brains a bit more. and since I am so over the top stupid most of the time I may be the perfect candidate to try to bring some of that out into the mainstream. In other people of course. like if I can just be my cool self and interview smart people that would be cool. I can learn while other people learn watching me learn. That would be cool.
14. I will not use so many explanation points when I write from now on! Whoops. I mean, I wll not use so many explanation points when I write.  
15. Of course I will join a gym in nyc when I get back. haven't been working out the last six months or so and frankly I feel like shit. I live on coffee, sugar, and pizza and that's no way to live. so I will also make a conscious effort to get through this new anti-aging book by Gary null and really try my best to follow his advice. You should read this book and what he says about sugar and caffeine and processed foods. Its some scary shit. if I wasn't suffering from all the symptoms he says we do if we eat like that, I would quickly write him off. The problem is that everything he says we experience when we eat like shit is exactly how I feel. go figure. 
16. I will eat a lot more healthily. More organic, more free range, more whole foods, more natural foods.
17. I will focus less on being cool and more on being human. Whatever the hell that means, I can feel it and I will try. 
18. But on the other side of the equation, I will focus less on being so self conscious and allow myself to start dressing as creatively as I want to again. Like I used to. I think I got such a backlash for the sleep with you album from everyone that I went in to reaction from it and started getting really self conscious about how I was being perceived. Kind of closed up too much and wasn't allowing myself to be the full me for a while. too bad. But not anymore. I'm going to start getting back to dressing as gay and wild and freaky as I want to everyday again. 
19. I would say I will stop smoking so much, but just writing it makes me nervous. So I won't. 
20. I'm going to start a charity of some kind. Some kind of non-profit that gives back. the problem with this idea is that we already have enough non-profits in the world, so there doesn’t seem to really be a need for any more. But maybe I can find a void that needs filling and help fill it. I must say that recently finding out that over 30,000 people die of hunger a day really fucked me up. maybe I can help with that one...
21. I will resolve and finish all business with Cleopatra and get back to a balanced place with that situation.
22. As in one of the top ten tips of success by Donald Trump I will “get even” with all the people who fucked me or the band or any of my businesses this year. I have to say that when I first heard Donald recite his ten tips of success at a lecture I attended a few years ago, I cringed when he said that number seven was “get even” with people who fuck you over. I thought that was so unenlightened. Like revenge was only for mainstream idiots. But now after living such a fast paced lifestyle the last few years and seeing how easy it is for some people to fuck other people over if they think they can get away with it, I have come to a deeper understanding of why he has this as one of his top ten tips for success. He's not saying fuck them over; he's saying “get even.” Meaning, get back to an even playing field with them. So if that means suing them and taking it all the way to the bank to stand your ground and show them that they can’t take advantage of people just because life is fast paced and they figure you won't take the time to go after them... well then, that's worth it. just to “get even” and teach them a lesson. I think it also teaches us a lesson too. that we are bigger than that and won't take shit. makes us a bigger person and makes us more proud of who we are. So this will be the year we get even with a few folks. And I must say my body tingles at the thought of it. 
23. I would say that I will find my wife and get married because I would love to have a family, but that seems more like a fate thing, doesn’t it? and besides, is marriage really a goal in this day and age? I mean, this isn't the old days where you needed to find a wife and start having kids immediately for practical reasons... isn't the goal more to just connect with people and if you do happen to fall in love with someone then perhaps you decide then what to do about it. and really, in the bigger picture, I should be more concerned with just not being so shy and actually talking to girls rather than just talking back to the ones who approach me. that would be a better goal. To just not be so shy. That's a big joke amongst my friends, that I never talk to girls. I just wait for them to talk to me. But this is going to be the year that I start opening up more and actually approaching them as well. cross your fingers on this one. but on a deeper note, still have the goal of not goofing off too much. I don't want this new approach just to turn into a fuckfest like in times past. Still keep the light on for the one and not get too distracted. [o.k. I cheated, I've been sitting on these resolutions a few days now before sending them in to post, and I have thought more about this one. the truth is that my mom is right, God bless her. I should focus more on sowing my wild oats completely before I settle down to get married so I can really be there one hundred percent for my wife and family. Once you go for it, that's it. there's no going back in marriage. its not like school or work, where you can take a vacation for a few weeks. Imagine going up to your wife and asking her for time off to go fuck around with a Swedish cheerleading squad or for a few nights in a brothel in Amsterdam stoned off your ass on hash brownies in various positions in a few mad orgies. I mean, that would be one hell of a wife who would allow that. No, truth be told, these things need to happen first, before I get married. O.k. so I need to reset this resolution. The real resolution has to be something about taking the year to finish sowing the old wild oats. Just fuck like a madman. Just go crazy and fuck everything that moves. That should do it.]   
24. I will start signing more and more other artists to my record label. That is a feel good goal. Really juices me. how will we afford it? how will we make success with it? don't know. But it inspires me. In some cases I will take acts that I am passionate about, sign them to a shopping agreement and shop them to larger labels that can better meet their needs as artists if I feel that I can’t.
25. There is the infomercial project I am currently working on that has the potential to turn into millions. Will finish this project to completion and realize buku dinero from it. this work I don't like so much but its good money.
26. There is also the new business of playersearch.com that recently resurfaced out of the blue just from me thinking about it. will explore this puppy and see if there is some good action that can come out of it. I used to feel really weird about being a rock singer/artist AND a business man/entrepreneur at the same time. as if by being one or the other minimized the authenticity of the other identity. But now I feel that I have integrated both aspects of who I am and can make them both rock and get inspiration out of both. spent some time watching ‘where are they now’ and one thing I don't want is to be twenty years down the road and be a broke singer from a once not so famous or successful band. a person can open up to their true potential, can become big enough to encompass many aspects of who they are, not just one or two.  
27. And last but not least, we have a new album coming out in January. I would like it to do better than any other album we have ever released. More radio airplay, more positive press, more sales at retail and iTunes, more live shows and bigger live shows, and more money in every area coming our way. amen to this one. Fo schizzel. 
28. Also, something about experiencing more depth in my daily life, more godness, more soul, more ritual and more feel-goodness. This is important. How do I do it? hard to get close to nature in nyc. But there are the parks. Hard in winter to go in the parks. Its so fucking cold. Will find a way to get all this and more. need more soul and godness in my daily life. workaholic or not. Need to feel more fulfilled spiritually on a daily basis. 
29. Also, something about opening up even more and not living in fear or being guided by fear or hesitation as much. There is a fine line between being really open and free and just being an idiot who acts before he thinks things through. Have to find that balance so I can do and experience even more out of life but not be an idiot who doesn’t plan ahead. Allow, and this is the key word here, allow myself to open up more and not be so tight-assed. Let myself go a little bit more. Something like that. 
30. O.k. a few more I have thought about the last few days (I am writing from the future so this is actually possible – to add notes to new years resolutions of the past... heh heh.) I will spend less time focusing on social things, on friends and family things, during potential ‘business hours,’ during working time, and more time focusing on business, career advancing, and money making tasks. Too focused on friends and family all the time I am I believe. Need to hone in more on making shit happen. save the social stuff for night time.
31. Same thing with learning, studying, and research. I spend far too much time “working” when in fact what I am really doing is reading or studying or researching different things that interest me. I would be laughing now instead of just smiling if this weren't so damn true. But I have noticed for years that I could be right in the middle of some all important business task like reviewing proposed artwork for a new CD or new PR for a press release or something or even reviewing dates for a upcoming tour, and I'll just stop in the middle and start reading about Genghis Kahn on msn Encarta. an hour will go by and then it will be late and I'll be tired and be like “o.k. well that's enough for today. lets come back tomorrow.” and lo and behold I never got done what I told someone I was going to get done. So what should only take an hour or two usually takes me days or weeks. Cleopatra used to hate this. used to scream about it all the time. I'd be up in my office studying stocks or real estate or cloud formations when I was supposed to be doing the most simple of tasks instead. o.k. well at least I am on the outside of it now. at least I see that this is happening. I don't think I ever even noticed it before. I just could never figure out why I never got things done as fast as I wanted to. But I sure developed a large knowledge base about a lot of worthless things for better or worse. haha. 
32. I will not get ‘caught up’ on things as much and then delay the doing of them. this is about not thinking about things more and just doing them. hard to explain this one. but I can feel what it means. I will see something that needs to be done, and tackle it right then and there. the old ‘email inbox’ is a good metaphor for this tendency. I have messages in there that have things that I need to do in them that are from January 2002 still in my inbox. Crazy but true. from now on: see it, plan it or do it. delete it. period.
33. O.k. one more I thought of: be more watchful of spending money on different things, mainly business promotions or other offers that come in. So you don't get ripped off. Have contracts in place first. Have NDAs and CAs. Have agreements in place first that protect you. everyone talks a great talk when the deal is being made, but then if the shit hits the fan, which it always seems to after the money has changed hands, that way your ass is covered. 
34. Develop more partnerships. This is really cool and interesting that in the last three days three separate friends of mine have shared with me this same resolution for themselves: acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses in everything that they are doing anddevelop partnerships with other people that can help fill their needs so their projects are more flowing, and I have been working on developing the same habit. stop trying to do it all yourself and get other like minded people on board. There's a great book I read last year called mentored by a millionaire that says that this is the number one thing successful people do. 
35. Along the same lines: Delegate more. Delegate a shitload more so I can free up more time to do what I'm really good at and what I enjoy doing. True that.
36. O.k. one more. I will not be so needy. What does that mean? Well, I have an inbox and a voicemail filled with unanswered business proposals and messages from associates, family members, and friends and I feel no juice on this. that's just life. but if I don't get a timely response from someone when I reach out to them I freak out like a motherfucker. Always have. I take it really personally. Rather than just honoring the flow of life. I will accept and honor the flow of life more. that's it. 
37. Work more standing up, less sitting down, in front of the computer. More in the flow.
38. By the end of this year I will own enough positive-cashflow-producing properties that I will be able to support myself solely from the passive income.
39. Finish the Cult Brands and Overnight Celebrity: Welcome to the Personal Expression Age book main key-points (outline it only) and pass on to a ghost writer to finish. Sell the book to a publisher.   
40. Sell The Tribe goes to London script to a Hollywood studio. Outsource the writing now or once it’s sold, or just let them have it.

That should do it. Happy New Year everyone! 2005 will be the schizzel.

Last screening: Mean girls. This is my new favorite movie of all time. At least for tonight. mainly because I love Tina fey for some strange reason, I'm sure it’s the glasses. And Lindsey lohan... well...