A WORLD WE DARE TO IMAGINE PART 3

ORGANIZATION: Social Media for Social Change

SMSC is an organization that plans social media campaigns for social change. We will achieve this by bring together the social media world, celebrities, their fans, and events that help raise money and awareness for various charities. These campaigns will include social media challenges, collaborative events with artists, and much more that help each charity raise awareness and funds for its cause.

Our mission at SMSC is to bring together bright minds from around the world and create a team that will break the Internet for social change. Social media charity campaigns that go viral are seen and heard all around the world. The chances are you have seen at least one video of “The Ice Bucket Challenge.” If you haven’t, go check it out. If you have, then you are part of the millions that have seen it, and possibly participated in doing it. But this challenge isn’t the first social media charity campaign to go viral, and based upon the success of these other online movements, it certainly won’t be the last.  This is where our organization comes in and doesn’t let it be the last. Our goal is to bring together ideas that will constantly get people’s attention, and social media is our golden ticket. 

I am passionate about the work that my organization will do because I simply love helping. I may not have all the resources or money in the world to help each charity, but I can use what I know in my personal life to contribute to society. Social Media marketing is what I enjoy and what I am good at; therefore I can use my skills to contribute in making the world a better place. I am passionate about this because I am bring together the two things I love, charity and social media. The world would be a better place if everyone contributed knowledge and ideas rather than wait for someone popular to come and do it. My organization will allow people to be apart of something bigger than them by spreading awareness. My organization is unique because it teams up a powerful group that can use the power of the Internet to be heard. Having celebrity support, getting their fans involved, raising money, and bring awareness to social change is what we are passionate about at our organization.

Anima Mundi Development Partners should support our organization because SMSC is unique in that it is a middleman organization that satisfies all parties involved. The artists are getting credibility for participating and hopefully donating as well. The fans are helping a charity and enjoying their concert or special event. And the charities are getting awareness and funds to continue their aid to the less fortunate. The ultimate goal here is to make a positive impact on the world through our organization, and we will be doing that by utilizing modern day social media that lets us reach millions of people. We are a successful organization because we create a chain effect that spreads love and a helping hand rather than hate and violence.  

A WORLD WE DARE TO IMAGINE Part 1 of 3

My first step in making the world a better place…

When I think of this question so many ideas run through my mind. I start thinking about ending world hunger, poverty, racism, sexism, violence, hate, and pretty much anything negative that we hear in the media everyday. Time after time individuals and organizations have tried to end these world problems, but unfortunately they still exist. What is motivating is that people keep going, no matter how many times it fails, there are people willing to dedicate their lives to making the world a better place. 

Thinking about how I can help, while being realistic, I believe starting with social media in today’s society is a great way to help make the world a better place. If we create a movement that is “cool” and get celebrities involved, that would form a trend. Imagine a world that people think it’s cool to visit a shelter and help or donate food and clothing. I know people already do this, but my point is to make it a bigger movement. Maybe start an organization that involves inviting artists, actors, and other well know celebrities to make guest appearances at some charity events. Social media is the best way to get people’s attention, so with the help of the right people we can create a movement that involves artists and their fans working together to bring awareness to things like poverty and world hunger. One man can’t change the world, but a few celebrities and social media can. These celebrities have so much influence on the general public, so I believe social media is the perfect outlet to use to motivate and inspire people to make a change.

Some Ideas I had in mind:

•  Create a name for the organization that stands out and popular.
•  Having a trending hashtag on social media so celebrities can use to promote our movement.
•  Make apparel and accessories to spread awareness- have celebrities wear it and give away stuff on their social media accounts.
•  Have events at lower income neighborhoods to attract attention- if people actually see the struggle in these neighborhoods on social media, then maybe they’ll help.
• Do everything possible to have these issues pop up on social media everyday so it stays fresh in people’s mind.

Level X Apparel- Game plan

I did't really know what to blog about so I decided to use this time to brain storm some of my plans for my clothing brand. I been working on my brand for 8 months now and learn something new about the industry everyday. The name Level X came from my personal training company that I transformed into a apparel brand because I love fashion. The X in roman numeral represents the number 10, so Level X (10) is like saying max level. Indicating maximum effort, performance, or whatever people want to apply it to. It is a fitness brand but also a lifestyle brand, meaning we work on promoting healthy living but with a fashion twist so people can enjoy our apparel not only when training, but also when just living life. When I just started this thing I designed one shirt and one hat, now 8 months later I am working on about 10 more products to add to my collection. The support from my family, friends, and fiancé has been amazing and I feel so blessed.
This past week I been busy trying to find new business partners for my cut and sew production that are local so I can deal with them directly. It's such a headache doing business overseas, the communication is always lost. I rather pay more but know the people I'm working with.
I am also looking for new website designers and graphic designers for the company so I've been handling that this past month. I posted an ad on the USC connect website so hopefully we find students from SC so they can get experience through our company. If you're reading this and know anyone contact me! HAHAHA!
For the upcoming months:
We are working on designing our summer collection.
Meeting with manufactures locally and overseas to get an update on production and cost.
Come up with new advertising strategies, and continue growing existing ones.
Find new Athletes for sponsorships, and work with our media team for photo/video shoots with our models.
And finally, Launch the new collection!!!

Genius of Money Post 3- Interview with an Anonymous Donor

I chose to summarize the Anonymous Donor (AD) interview because I respect the fact that this person does so much for the community yet desires no recognition. This is a true sign of philanthropy because the process becomes all about the giving and not about the giver.

We see from the start that this person comes from a wealthier Jewish family that is not new to the business world and non-profits. This family structure helped because the AD was about to soak in information from his father about the business world. Simple conversations at the dinner table and on the phone can go a log way for children that are always ready to soak in any information provided to them. AD explains that philanthropy is not her priority, as she rather focuses on motherhood and farming, but the world is always in need and she goes everything possible to stop any suffering. “Bodhicitta” explains an enlightened mind, which is the reason why AD does what she does. To have a positive life and attitude, AD turns to meditation, prayer, and other practices. Spiritual practices often help people clear up their thoughts in order to tackle the day with a rested mind. It is interesting that AD’s family success was a result of immigration and hardship. They were good at grain trade but were Jews in Russia, so they had to prove themselves worthy enough to make trade in the main lands. They could not own land but found ways to be influential in society at the time through commerce.

GENIUS PART 2 "A Topography of Transactions" - Chapter 1 “Economics and the Presence of Philanthropy”

The main focus of this chapter was the importance of philanthropy. The economy can still function without philanthropy, but without it we start seeing non-profits and other services suffer. Some of these things include education, research, and art. Without philanthropy they would pretty much be headed for extinction. Bloom argues that, in traditional classic economics we cannot find philanthropy and the art/science of giving.
Philanthropy is not only good for the economic cycle but it also supports social capital. Boom argues this point by saying throughout history human kindness has gone a long way. We can find many cases in history that money was not needed to create happiness in our society. Besides money we can always share care, knowledge, imagination, and inspiration. Boom says that our society does not value these things as much as money, so it has been left to philanthropy to make gifting an important aspect of society. It is not always about getting something in return, when you gift, the return is immeasurable. Boom's point is that, through gifting we learn more about life (education, research, and art) that can then lead to economic renewal. “The logic here is one of functional integration rather than cause and effect.”
Social finance explains how money and finance supports human initiative and the evolution of new communities. In the global economy, social finance shows that humans are fully interdependent. An example of this is businesses making charitable distribution of a portion of their profits. This gifting creates a whole economic cycle, which leads to an improved and sustainable future.

The Genius of Money

Chapter 6: An Inventory of Polarities

In Chapter 6 of The Genius of Money, the author displays an artwork by Quentin Metsys of The Money Lender and His Wife. Within the painting there are several symbols of the social and religious realm of the time. It is mentioned that the painting is from the renaissance era, and it perfectly portrays many different social features of its time. In the portrait, the man is seen folding the money and the woman is seen with a religious piece. This reflects the societal view of women’s incapability to control money and finances during this time. The reading then explains the lessons that are meant to be shown throughout the painting. This artwork symbolizes a common Christian man and his wife with a representation of their daily lives. The details in the painting, such as the crucifix window reflection, show both the author’s creativity and reason for the painting.

One vital lesson behind the painting is that each exchange of coin had a story to tell about the “issuer, provenance, and value system.” For the money lender and his wife, money represented judgment. Their devotions, however, fell to the church. The author uses this example to show how times have changed and people now see banks as the new high priesthood. The fact that the woman’s attention is with the man and not her religious book shows the lust for wealth and the material world over the desire for devotion and the holy. The painting seems like a warning that the society is in danger with such values in place. The chapter ends with the explanation of the old man and child in the background. This is a representation of wisdom and acculturation being passed on to the next generation. Overall, this chapter helps us think about our own values and morals as well as how we are the example to our younger generations.

Chapter 14: The Touchstone and the Labyrinth

The main focus of this chapter is the real value of money. It really makes the reader think about what money is really worth when the author compares it to a touchstone and a labyrinth. Money makes the invisible visible because it brings together value with material goods. The touchstone and the labyrinth denote material meaning and purpose and are metaphors just, like money. The touchstone symbolizes the value of money; it is supposed to measure the value and the purity of the money. When money was backed by gold or when money was actually made of things from the earth, this analogy makes more sense, but now it is a lot harder to measure the purity of money. The Labyrinth is supposed to symbolize a person's journey while moving through life.

Bloom talks about meaning and explains it by saying; meaning is taken in as understanding. Then that understanding is turned into action. When talking about money, the “meaning” is actually referring to value. This value is present when people agree upon it, but has no meaning when not talked about. The stones from the labyrinths represent the currency, which then gives meaning to the journey that the path signifies. Bloom then compares this to the history of gold, and how gold came to have such a great value in our society. Gold served as the symbol of power and wealth in Egypt, which carried on to surrounding land as something valuable and meaningful.

In recent years, money is not represented the same as before. It is not a physical exchange anymore because it has really become invisible and speedily. With banks, ATMs, online services, and more, money has no real experiential value such as the touchstone and labyrinth. Money now and in the future will become increasingly “indistinguishable” from the rest of our experiences in the world.

The Good News

Honesty I didn’t know what to write about until I got a phone call today around three in the afternoon. It was my mom on the phone crying, so I immediately panicked because I am at work and had no idea what was going on. After a few seconds and scaring the hell out of me I noticed my mom’s cry wasn’t from sadness, but from excitement. I immediately knew what it was about because we’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. For 23 years to be exact. The good news she told me was that the Armenian embassy finally gave my dad an interview date to review his paper work so he can finally come to the US! It’s been a long road for my family to get to this point and it feels great being this much closer for all of us to finally be together. My dad has never been to the US and I haven’t seen him in over 16 years so this is a huge deal for my family and I. We struggled for many years for all of us to be together but it seemed like something always went wrong and changed our plans.
I came to the US to live with my grandma and my sister when I was just 7 years old because my parents were not able to care for us because of financial hardship. My sister and I grew up with my grandma while my parents were stuck back home in Armenia and Greece for years. My mom finally got all her approved paper work and came to the US two years ago, but unfortunately my dad was not able to come. But now it finally seems like things are falling back into place.
I wanted to write about this because this experience has not been easy for me and I realized how hard it must be for my parents. I am already an adult and have my life planned out and will soon start my own family. What makes me happy is that my parents will have each other to grow old with and watch their children grow with their own families. They missed my childhood but I’m glad they’ll see my adulthood. Over the years they have sacrificed a lot for my sister and I, and this is what motivates me to succeed in life. I want to give back to my parents so they know how much I appreciate them. My goal is to catch up on all those lost years that we spent apart. I want them to relax and enjoy life without any worries, I think they deserve at lease that.

Growing a Farmer - Part 2

Throughout the book we see a set goal that Kurt is trying to reach. All the way to the very end he keeps his drive and determination and it finally pays off when he ends up with a fully functional farm. Determination gets Kurt what he wants and proves to the reader that you don’t need to be an expert on something in order to master it over time. Yes, luck was on his side because he didn’t always make the best decisions but life is also about taking risks.

A chapter that I found interesting was “The Slaughter” It was intense to read but also very familiar as I see religious slaughtering in my culture all the time. We are so costume to our traditions that we don’t second-guess our actions. But reading this chapter made me think about how bad we treat animals most of the time for our selfish pleasures.

At the end, I noticed that Kurt is a businessman over anything else. He is doing this and sacrificing his time to make a profitable business out of the farm. Throughout the book we see him strategizing ways to spend less money raising the farm but getting the most out of it. Like feeding the pigs leftovers and having Sunday dinners.  Overall the book was funny, informative, and something new. I’m not going to stop everything in my life and get into farming, but I am more informative as to where my food comes from and what I can do to help the environment and be more eco friendly. And that’s all that Kurt is asking for from the reader.  

Why Diet When You Can Just…

A nutrition technique that will help you look and feel good while eating the foods you love.

Tired of trying different diets that seem to be too complicated so you end up getting bored and quitting? Yeah, me too! Even as a personal trainer I found myself having trouble staying consistent and following instructions that seemed so boring and demanding. I don’t know about you, but I hate being told what to do with my life, especially when it comes to eating. If you’re like me and want results without the hassle, well, today might be your lucky day. I’ve done the research so you don’t have to.

After doing a great deal of research I had found the answer! A solution that allows you to plan your own healthy lifestyle that fits your personal schedule and still gets you the results you’re looking for. It’s neither easy nor an overnight process, but it is something that anyone can do because it is flexible and FUN! Join me on my journey on breaking down the concept of flexible dieting and how it can work for you.

What The Heck Is Flexible Dieting?

With years of experience in the fitness industry, I understand how difficult and stressful dieting can be. With this article I hope to break down flexible dieting for you so it is very simple to understand. No hidden messages or claims. Just the simple facts and truth about dieting and how you can use it to finally get your dream body. While many diets are fussy about which foods you can and can’t eat, how much you can have, and even when you consume it, for some people, the extreme limitations can be a formula for failure (Matthew). Instead, the “If It Fits Your Macros” (IIFYM) diet targets to get away from that, focusing on the three most important energy sources needed for our bodies to function properly. We’re talking about protein, carbohydrates and fat (aka macronutrients, or macros).

Why IIFYM Works.

Counting your macronutrients (calm down, I’ll show you how in a bit) allows you to lose weight and have a much easier time keeping all that weight off by building a strong physical and nutritional foundation. One essential base of the IIFYM approach is to stop thinking about eliminating foods or choosing foods based on their supernatural powers and instead being mindful of the amount of food you are eating.

You’ll notice that when you integrate flexible dieting into your lifestyle, so many dieting worries disappear.

§  You will have fewer urges to cheat on your diet.

§  You’ll stop worrying about when each meal comes.

§  You won’t obsess over the piece of pizza that you ate last night while drunk.

§  You can have that donut after dinner if it fits your calorie and macronutrient goals for the day- you just can’t have the whole box.

How Does IIFYM Work?

In order to lose weight and fat, all you simply need to do is burn more energy than what you’ve consumed. Don't get me wrong, though. Food choices do matter, and when dieting, it should be extremely important to focus on eating a wide range of foods and making sure you get all your micronutrients. Meats, vegetables, fruits, beans and nuts all contain a extensive range of vitamins, minerals and fiber, which can all have a positive effect on one’s long-term health (Gutman). But it's not the primary reason you'll gain weight or lose weight. Even eating “healthy” or “low calorie” foods can still make you put on weight. Chicken and broccoli is healthy but too much of it will get you fat- I’ve done it, trust me. In the same manner you can eat chocolate cake, be incredibly controlled in how much you eat, and lose ridiculous amounts of weight safely and effectively- I’ve done that too. Don't overcomplicate things. Practice balance, don't fear food, and instead, focus on how much you're eating.

The Magic Equation

To keep things simple, I’ll step you through the process by outlining how I calculate my own macronutrients for one of my personal goals, which is losing weight while maintaining muscle mass.

Step 1: Calculate your baseline.

The first thing you need to establish is your baseline total daily energy expenditure. This is simply how many calories you burn in a 24-hour period. A simple online calculator (like http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator) will do the trick. This number is calculated using your gender, age, height, weight, workout routines (if any), and daily activity level/intensity. For me it’s 2,700.

Step 2: Set your goals and calculate how many calories you need to eat to achieve them.

The next step is to figure out what your goals are. Is it to lose weight? Great! Is it to maintain? Cool. OR you can challenge yourself and play with the numbers to lose weight and gain muscle. Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) from step one will now be used to calculate your new goal numbers. To lose weight: Simply subtract between 300 - 600 calories each day from your TDEE. For most people, this seems to be a safe figure for losing 1lb or 500g/week (Brown). I suggest reducing no more than 900 calories/day.

Using myself as an example, if I wanted to lose 1lb of bodyweight a week, I just eat around 2,200 calories per day (2,700-500). If weight stays at the same place for longer than two weeks, I drop by 100 calories.

Step 3: Calculate your macronutrient breakdown.

This final step is optional, as you can simply see results simply following steps one and two. In step 3 you need to do a little bit of math of your macros (simple stuff) in order to figure out your personal goals.

Personally I like losing weight but maintaining my muscle size. For that reason, I’ll eat high protein, moderate carbs, and low fats. Here’s the breakdown!

§  For protein, a rough guideline is 1 - 1.5lb per lean pound of bodyweight. For me, weighing in at 200lbs that's 200g of protein.

§  For fat, a rough guideline is 20% - 30% of total calories. For me, this equates to 2,200 x 0.2 / 9 = ~49g.

§  For carbohydrates, I put the rest of my calories into here. So, that's 2200 calories minus fat (49g * 9) minus protein (200g * 4) which totals 959 calories = 238g of carbohydrates (959 / 4).

Final figures:

§  I must eat 200g of protein each day.

§  I must eat 49g of fat each day.

§  I must eat 238g of carbohydrates.

IT’S THAT SIMPLE!

Just Incase You’re Still Confused

To help you out, here are some accurate IIFM calculators I found online. It’ll do the math for you; all you need is your goal numbers. Remember that your macronutrients are personal to you, so mix them up and see which combination works best. If you find yourself needing more carbs in the day, increase it and decrease the others. Here are the links:

§  http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/layne36.htm

§  http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

§  http://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

Final Take.

Many of my clients find diets to be boring, demanding, discouraging, and costly. With flexible dieting, also know as “If It Fits Your Macros” (IITFM), these factors are eliminated because it is personalized to fit each persons goals and lifestyle. There is no doubt that changes need to be made in order for you to see results. But it does not need to be crazy changes; simple things as changing your junk food habits can go along way. This makes it fun because you get to play around with your personal goals and numbers, so it becomes almost like a game. If you play the game right, you win by feeling and looking great. It is not demanding at all because you are in full control. You decide on the types of food you want to eat and the only requirement is not to pass your daily budget. When you do all this, it does not seem discouraging because you start seeing results so it motivates you to keep going. And as far as cost, you can actually save money because this technique requires only simple grocery items and nothing extra that you would normally waist money on.

Work Cited

Brown, Billy. “If It Fits Your Macros: The IIFYM Diet, Made Simple.” The Daily Beast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/16/if-it-fits-your-macros-the-iifym-diet-made-simple.html (16 January 2015).

Farr, Mike. “IIFYM And Flexible Nutrition Interview With Dr. Layne Norton!” Bodybuilding. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/iifym-and-flexible-nutrition-interview-with-dr-layne-norton.html (18 December 2014).

Gutman, Andrew. “Everything you Need To Know About IIFYM” Muscle and Fitness. http://www.muscleandfitness.com/nutrition/lose-fat/everything-you-need-know-about-iifym

Harper, Devin. “Eat What You Want: Your Macros and the Truth About Carbs.” Breaking Muscle. http://breakingmuscle.com/nutrition/eat-what-you-want-your-macros-and-the-truth-about-carbs

Mathews, Michael. “How to Make the “If It Fits Your Macros” Diet Work For You.” Muscle For Life. http://www.muscleforlife.com/what-is-if-it-fits-your-macros-and-does-it-work/

Taylor, Russell. “IIFYM Vs Meal Plans.” IIFYM. http://www.iifym.com/iifym-vs-meal-plans/ (14 March 2015).

Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live Off the Land - Unique & Interesting Book

Kurt Timmermeister does not start off as a farmer, so as you read the book, you see him grow into one through trial, error, and luck. As Kurt transitions from being a chef/restaurateur to a farmer, we learn about making cheese, raising cows, growing vegetables, killing pigs, and an overall understanding about the food we consume. He had to do the same thing from the ground up because he transitioned from a businessman into a farmer. There are a lot of good life lessons in this book that are very inspiring and encouraging. Kurt takes huge risks right from the start to begin something he has very little knowledge about and succeeds because he doesn’t give up. He sets his mind on making the farm work, which inspires the reader to follow their passion and work hard towards what they truly believe in. The book describes the production of the farm over an extended period of time, so this is not an overnight success story. Success takes time and consistency; Kurt had drive, passion, and a vision. I like how from the book we can actually learn a lot about growing our own farm and find ways to live a healthier life without sacrificing too much of our old habits. 

We learn that there is more to farming then we might think. Besides actually growing food and milking cows, Kurt had to learn the business side of it, in order to gain consumers and find a firm place in the market. There is a lot of technique and equipment involved that we don’t think about because we often think about farming as a hobby. But from this book we see Kurt make a business out of his farm, which required years of effort, planning, experience, and consistency. Overall I liked the organization of the book and how it flows from the city life into the farmer life. It really did help me understand parts of nature that I never took time to think about, like where my food comes from, how honey is actually made, and an overall appreciate for the simpler things in life.