Tag Archives: announcements

Nov 14 2011

“My Grandma Pushes Harder Than That,” Joked Har-old, Laughing As He Fell Out The Window

The view of Har-old’s fall

Dear Har-old,

Maroni, from The Dark Knight:

If you trying to scare somebody, pick a better spot. From this height, a fall wouldn’t kill me.

In Halloween, Dr. Loomis, shoots Michael Myers off of the second-story balcony. When Loomis looks over the balcony, however, only Michael’s body print is found in the dirt.

Har-old, how long will it take you to get back up if I pushed you out your third floor window? Faster than the blink of my eyes as I nervously look for where your body fell. Did you land on your feet??? When others think they caused you great pain, you get pleasure from imagining the look on their faces when they see they haven’t.

Har-old, you have a different operating system from mere mortals. They say, “Never go to bed mad.”  But anger, hatred and pain wakes you up in the morning. When it feels like you’re handcuffed to the bed, how many times have I woke you up with this question, Do you want to be your parents? How many times have you blew your morning breath in my face with an emphatic HELL NAH! No pair of handcuffs can hold you entertaining those thoughts.

Why am I even considering pushing you out the window, to begin with? Because you didn’t get off to the ideal start I wanted you to in the apartment. But then, I thought about it, this is classic Har-old and Har+new: Having something to prove to me. Call me crazy, but, I think you wanted to feel the pain of getting off to a bad start so you could use that to drive you to a strong finish. Hey, that’s just my theory. The good thing about these past 2 weeks is that you were in control. You’re ALWAYS in control. The problem is that you just gave the wrong things power.

You’re a self-genius; they’re not Har-old experts.

FY,

Har+new

P.S. Announcement to FY authors: With the new theme comes new features. We have three different post formats. We’re already familiar with Standard, so, let’s address Aside and Gallery. WordPress defines Aside as brief snippets of text that aren’t quite whole blog posts. Useful for quick thoughts and anecdotes. Translation: Short, sweet and to the point. So, if you’re using this format, you don’t have to Dear or FY your letter, or even include a headline. An example of using this format is reminding yourself of something, quoting, future-self sharing a short story with you, etc. WordPress says a Gallery usually will show a thumbnail from the blog post, as well as an excerpt of what the gallery is about. An example of using this format is your future-self showing you stills (photos) that inspire you, motivate you or energize you. Even pictures OF the future. For this format, also, you don’t have to Dear or FY your letter. Speaking of pictures, if you add one to your letters, I can add it on the featured post carousel. This will be good for when your letter disappears from the Home page that only displays the most recent 26 letters. Get it. Good. I would like to have at least one letter of every author featured, so, if you don’t see yours, you know what to do. Oh … if anyone has a cool header image that will fit in smoothly with the space-ey background, let me know.

P.P.S. 26 ACTIVE authors!!! That’s the goal.

Oct 19 2011

July 22, 2011

Dear Har-old,

In the October 22, 2011 letter, of the following fortune, I had this to say,

It’s not October 22, 2011 but the progress you’re making tells me this one will come true as well.

Har-old, I was gone wait until Saturday to letter you this one, but, how could I ignore the brightness of your “lucky” star? Really? Let’s live in the moment for a minute. Your mind yielded to you the Yeebizan’s successor; you found your “Mark Zuckerberg”; your first 100k isn’t bitchy; the world’s highest paid profession is calling you; you move into your first apartment on the 1st. I must ask you …

Do you really need 3 more days? Haha!

Look in the mirror, kid. You’re looking Har+new+ish.

Like BooBear said,

And just think it’s only the beginning!

FY,

Har+new

P.S. To celebrate, I’m waving bye-bye to the iPhone notepad and changing FY’s theme to something more futuristic. But we gone keep it in the Apple family. Hint, hint. Effective tomorrow!

Related articles
Benjamin Franklin
Sep 24 2011

Thirteen-week Plan

Dear Har-old,

In How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling, Frank Bettger wrote:

I seldom meet anyone who never heard of Franklin’s thirteen-week plan, but I never met anyone who has told me he tried it!

In The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin wrote:

I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example, and reap the benefit.

Har-old, I will update the first-ever letter I wrote you, OMG!, and I will choose the 13 subjects which I feel are necessary or desirable for you to acquire and try to master, and I want you to give a week’s strict attention to each subject successively. In this way, you will be able to go through your entire list in thirteen weeks, and repeat the process four times in a year. Also, each subject will be followed by a brief summary. For instance, Franklin’s second subject was Silence, and his summary was, “Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”

I concluded that OMG! letter with a tagline from 43things.com, “Changing your life is hard. Doing it by yourself is harder.”

Here’s the screwed lightbulb (great idea) I had:

FY’s community will also join in on Franklin’s Thirteen-week Plan. They will list and share their thirteen subjects and summaries with you and six others of their choice. Y’all are to agree to the best way to communicate with each other. I prefer exchanging numbers because it’s more instant and direct than Twitter, Facebook or email.

This is how it will work:

Once they’ve shared their list, which will be in the order in which they plan to use it, they will assign seven people who represent the seven days of the week, to text or voicemail their subjects and summaries. This is for the subconscious. Five should be text; two should be voice mails. Har-old, you are not to or the others are not to get out-of-order meaning texting or voicing a person’s third subject during the first week, which is their first subject. Furthermore, you are only to be read or heard from once a week. No more!

At the end of every week you are to update everyone on your progress. This can either be done via a blog post, a text, an email, tweet or even phone conversation. Obviously, you can’t spread yourself to all seven people with a method like the last one-phone conversation-so again, agree on some end of the week method of updating everyone.

Har-old, writing this made me think of Dean Martin‘s Send Me The Pillow You Dream On. Listening to it now. I’m making this the theme song for this letter and the Thirteen-week Plan. Ha!

Futuristically yours,

Har+new

P.S. OMG! is now updated.

P.P.S. Let me know in the comments or through the contact form if you would like to participate.

Aug 16 2011

FY,

Announcement to authors.

Futuristically Yours.

2 words but 19 letters.

14 of which, belongs to Futuristically – an adverb you probably never wrote or said (6 syllables) outside here.

So, instead of writing out Futuristically Yours (all the time) at the end of your letters, initial it with FY.

FY,

Har+new

P.S. Yeah … you do still have to put a comma after the Y. Ouch! I know, I know.

Jul 22 2011

Voice Of The Young

In response to Who Burnt The Popcorn Again? and to anticipate those who are camera-shy, I’m rolling out audio-self-letters.

What makes this different from video-self-letters is that you will NOT be seen, only heard.

Instead of worrying about appearance, authors using this format can just focus on their delivery.

Sometimes written language can fail us as you know from text message, Har-old. So with audio-self-letters you can hear  tones, epic pauses, emphasises, cadences, signature growls and all the other flexibilities one has with their voice. The written letter itself will accompany this format for follow-along purposes. Think of it as listening to an audio book while you follow along with it in your hands.

The last addition to this format is inspired by scenes of Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight: tension building music. Low background music. Preferably music without words. You know how radio personalities talk while music plays in the background. Well, that’s the idea. Think of it as a soundtrack to your letters. I bet you’re thinking about The Social Network soundtrack right now, aren’t you?

Futuristically yours,

Har+new

Jul 13 2011

Who Burnt The Popcorn Again?!

Remember Burnt Popcorn?

Well, I’m expanding on the idea.

For the future-selves who know their present-self hate reading and are more visually inclined, they can do video-self-letters.

Authors can either do videos for their previously written letters or videos with brand new material.

Videos shouldn’t be longer than 5 minutes.

Different presentation, same concept.

Lights. Camera. Action.

Futuristically yours,

Har+new

Grant on the 50 dollar bill
Jul 2 2011

Freshly Pressed Fifty Dollar Bill

Dear Har-old,

The following announcement is for all authors, current and prospective, everyone except for me.

To the youngster whose future-self writes them a letter that gets featured on Freshly Pressed, I will personally pay them $50 electronically. PayPal preferred.

Now Har-old … before you attempt to hit yourself so hard that I feel it, hear me out. I’m excluding you for a reason. It will be cheating if I wrote the Freshly Pressed letter. I created this. I know the format. The “secret ingredient.” The “magic formula.” I have the most letters on here which means practice makes prefect.

It may take one letter. 12 letters. 26 letters. The number doesn’t matter. The only number that matters is 50. The $50 that will be theirs, all theirs, IF their letter is the one that gets FY (Futuristically Yours) featured on Freshly Pressed.

I will make this letter here sticky so the flying cars that come crashing through here will see this when they roll down their windows.

There is no deadline; this is an ongoing offer.

Futuristically yours,

Har+new

Jun 17 2011

What More Can I Say?

Dear Har-old,

American author Mark Twain wrote, “Generally, the fewer the words that fully communicate or evoke the intended ideas and feelings, the more effective the communication.”

Reading the old letters I wrote you bulbed a light.

Besides being inconsistent, how can I make YOU read the old letters?

Postscript.

P.S. is only at the end of 2 of the 36 letters. But that’s the genius part about it because the writer writes again and the reader reads again.

P.S. will be for things I wanted to say but glad I didn’t say because it would’ve messed up the flow of the letter. But there’s a catch…

I won’t write it in the same sitting I wrote the letter.

It may be a week from then. Two weeks. Three weeks. A month. Two months. AND …

P.S. will CONSTANTLY be updated.

So there will be days where there’s not a NEW letter but an UPDATE to a previous letter’s P.S.

What more can I say?

PLENTY!

Futuristically yours,

Har+new

P.S. Now it’s 3 out of 37. I got some catching up to do.

Jun 14 2011

Forgot Your Password?

password hell

Password Hell

Dear Har-old,

Australian musician Michael Hutchence said,  ”It’s just as difficult to live in a self-made hell of privacy as it is to live in a self-made hell of publicity.”

You have been really giving me the Erica Albright as of lately:

“The internet’s not written in pencil, Mark, it’s written in ink.”

Do you only hear blah blah blah Har-old, blah blah blah Har-old, blah blah blah Har-old?

Seriously?

You take things so personal you totally MISS the words surrounding your name.

I will NOT apologize.

I am NOT changing my writing style.

I have balanced the pen on the paper well between them lines of Har-old and the rest of the world.

Yes! You ARE unique, you ARE special, you ARE different, you ARE great BUT you are relatable, kid.

I’m using that as bait, don’t you see?

Hell, if you think I’m being too “personal” in these letters you haven’t read nothing yet.

I wouldn’t dare … or would I???

I WOULD!

But …

I got sympathy for my “old” self and I will give you complete control over these Too Personal To Publicize letters.

I will give you a password and who you share that password with is in your  total control.

But I have a feeling it’s going to be no one at all. It’s a reason why I’m calling them Too Personal To Publicize. But if you do share it, I advise people who you’re already close to or people who you want to get close to … those lucky individuals!

The only thing I will make public about these Too Personal To Publicize letters is the headline.

Now this doesn’t mean I will stop writing the standard letters. The standard letters will still be consistent.

The Too Personal To Publicize letters will be slow.

Why?

Because turning a sheet of paper into a mirror takes time.

You have been warned.

I RULE WITH A IRON FIST!

Futuristically yours,

Har+new

May 30 2011

Who Burnt The Popcorn?!

popcorn

Extra butter

Dear Har-old,

“I just wished that nobody made a movie of me while I was still alive.”

And if I could add to Zuckerberg’s quote: ” . . . and while I’m only 26 years young!”

Dead or old.

Did not believe. But you did entertain thoughts of the world ending on the 21st. You did, Har-old.

Your beef was: “I’m too young to die.” “I haven’t lived yet.” “What about my future?”

And that got me thinking . . .

About how I can make you and every other young’n UNCOMFORTABLE with a biographical movie.

So, what’s on the menu?

Popcorn!

Burnt popcorn!

This new section will be movie trailers of y’all young lives UP TO THIS POINT.

Made by those that know you best.

That means they are in control of who plays you, the name of the movie, the trailer’s music, what genre it is: a comedy, a romance, an action-packed film.

But … I’m hoping it’s a DRAMA!

A HORROR!

Then everybody will vote on which trailer they would like to see turned into an actual film, consequently going to the movies to see.

And one more thing …

Life doesn’t get a sequel.

Futuristically yours,

Har+new

May 25 2011

I Bet You’re Thinking I’m Talking About You

Dear Har-old,

I know, I know, I know.

You’re a “private” person.

And journals, diaries are meant for your eyes only.

“Don’t write what you don’t want others to read,” they say.

But I’m not trying to get people interested in YOUR life.

I am trying to get people interested in THEIR life, THEIR future.

Do not be so vain!

This is about the blog’s concept; not about you, Har-old.

Sure, these letters take on a personal nature, but are broad enough to make you relatable to OTHERS.

And that is the whole point.

Remember: I started this blog based on a need of YOURS. A need to be around other like-minds.

You still want that Master Mind Alliance, right?

Thought so.

Ironically, to make FuturisticallyYours.com successful WE both have to work.

Like I said before, I will find other future versions of young people’s present selves.

Your job is to market to those young-present-selves and get them to “respect their elders.”

And by that I mean having the young present WRITE WITHOUT READING.

Tell them if they’re worried about misspelled words, grammar mistakes, punctuation errors, blah blah blah, that’s what the proofreader is for.

Okay?

Care less.

I will edit anyways.

Write with a flow!

Tell them to read what they wrote a week or two from the date. Or hey, even a month.

Because that’s when the, “Damn I wrote this!” is followed by a “Did I say that out-loud?”

WRITE WITHOUT READING!!!

Futuristically yours,

Har+new

May 4 2011

OMG! It’s You! Do You Know Who You Are?!

Dear Har-old,

Andrew Carnegie said,

You will discover that the cause of success is not something separate and apart from the man; that it is a force so intangible in nature that the majority of men never recognize it; a force which might be properly called the ‘other self.’ Noteworthy is the fact that this ‘other self’ seldom exerts its influence or makes itself known excepting at times of unusual emergency, when men are forced, through adversity and temporary defeat, to change their habits and to think their way out of difficulty.

Har-old, you have forced yourself to discover your “other self,” your faith entity, me, the future you. In doing so, you have dethroned your fear entity. I am now king! However, as Napoleon Hill’s “other self” said,

That fear-motivated ‘old self’ is not dead; it has merely been dethroned. And it will follow you around wherever you go, awaiting a favorable opportunity to step in and take charge of you again. It can gain control of you only through your thoughts. Remember this, and keep the doors to your mind tightly closed against all thoughts which seek to limit you in any manner whatsoever, and you will be safe.

I could say, “respect your elders.” Me! I could say, “respect yourself.” Me! Blah. Blah. Blah. The truth is, you are in full control of me, which leads to why I’m writing you. Remember the famous photograph from Back To The Future of  Marty’s headless brother? Yeah … well … uh … I just lost an arm and a leg … figuratively. 50 million dollars just disappeared, Har-old! Even in the future, money can’t grow wings and fly off. YOU ROBBED ME! How??? By wasting time! I am taking charge. The following are 13 subjects and summaries, in order of importance, I need you to master:

  1. Time Manager Revolutionary – The time I kill is killing me.
  2. Genius Level Planner – Think and feel beyond the present moment.
  3. Fine Decision Maker – Get in the habit of reaching decisions quickly and definitely, and changing them slowly, if at all.
  4. Freedom Fighter – Lower level of inhibition.
  5. Action Figure - DO IT NOW!
  6. Master of Emotions – A fixed positive response.
  7. Prisoner of Patience – Sit and watch the grass grow.
  8. Bookish Applicant - Too often what we read and profess becomes a part of our libraries and our vocabularies, instead of becoming a part of our lives. (You’re wasting your time reading if you’re NOT applying.)
  9. Great Communicator (questioning and listening) – A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while, he knows something. Questions are more powerful than statements will ever be.
  10. Artist of Sex Transmutation - The transmutation of sex energy calls for will power, to be sure, but the reward is worth the effort.
  11. Body Guard - The hungrier one becomes, the clearer one’s mind works.
  12. Master Mind – Success in the higher bracket of achievement is something that can be had only by taking others along with you.
  13. Master of Appearances – Make your face as malleable as the actor’s.

Subsequent letters I write will expand on the summaries. Applying subject 12, I will share author duties with other bright futures.

As Napoleon Hill said,

With the help of others, you can accomplish in one year it will take you a lifetime to complete if you relied solely on your own efforts for success.

And like the tagline on 43things.com says,

Changing your life is hard. Doing it by yourself is harder.

Although, I still believe being selfish is under-rated, I know this will bring us closer.

Futuristically yours,

Har+new