About me, Alar H. Aksberg, who wrote the Fat to Fit in Minutes manuscript and will record the edu-tainment DVD.
Love of Learning, Curiosity and Creativity are the Curses of my Life. Some think it must be wonderful to have those core talents to a rather extreme extent. It is, because they combine to both earn some level of wisdom and are constant sources of optimism. On the other hand, there is never any arrival to any final answer. The journey toward Truth has no end station. There is always something new to know, even in areas already very well known.
There are family stories about my tugging on moms skirt to get her attention and answer to the next question. There are also stories about my climbing furniture and whatever else that got me to look at something out of reach. If we would have had a cat, my curiosity would for sure have killed that cat, when I fell on it. Somehow I survived.
During High School, in the late 1960's, I started reading more. A minimum of one book per week. I called my autodidact (self-directed) learning Helicopter Thinking. (Dr. Edward de Bono later called part of the creative process Lateral Thinking.) I was, mentally, flying over areas of Knowledge and landed on spots I found more interesting. It added to my Knowledge, but this seldom helped my grades in school. Science, Technology and Human Behavior have been my primary interests. The late economist, Peter Drucker, would have labeled me a Prosumer. That is somebody who pursues skills and knowledge at a professional level, but primarily for personal pleasure.
The why and how about Humanity has fascinated me ever since I can remember. A minimum of one book a week for 40 years is well over 2,000 books. Most were about aspects of human life. A fair estimate is that I have read a minimum of 1,200 books related to human behavior. On top of that stacks of articles in various related journals and magazines. I love and appreciate well stocked libraries.
My good fortune had me to move from Sweden to Edmonton, Alberta, Western Canada, in 1982. The last 15 years have provided me with substantial time for additional learning. I have also been involved in various organizations dealing with improvement of the human condition during the past many years.
Dr. Jonathan Haidt introduced his book the Happiness Hypothesis in April 2006. He introduced the Rider on Elephant concept, as an analogy describing Willpower and Rational Thought (Rider) on Wants and Desires (Elephant). I immediately understood why I, and many others, at times act contrary to rational thought. This has a direct impact on human health, eating habits, exercise and to some extent on addictions.
I added the Landscape of the Subconscious with the Tree of Knowledge of accumulated past experiences to explain most anything else of human behavior. The well meaning Rational Rider is powerless over the desires of the Elephant, unless the two can cooperate.
Using the understanding of motivation, combined with good science about food, with exercise optimization I developed a Fat Burning Program for myself. In eight months I lost 80 pounds. Then, even my own well developed motivation weakened.Addiction research shows clearly how and why the Belonging to a Group has an amazing power over our behavior. Therefore, I need to have others rely on my information, and allow me to join their Motivating Group.
I like to get rid of another 50 pounds of no longer needed fat, and the Fat to Fit in Minutes Members will help me to reach my Goal, while I help the Members to reach Their Goals. Like the imagined Twin Brother of mine that I have dumped all my past bad habits on, and now comes haunting me to help him get Younger, Healthier, Fitter and smarter.
My imagined Twin Brother knows as well as I do, that
Only when You have a Goal
can You Score a Goal!
Live, Love and Learn!
Edmonton, Alberta, Western Canada
May 21, 2007