The more perceptive of you may have realised that this guy that I speak of is me. Hi there.

Even though it may appear that for 10 months I have succeeded in living without spending money, the truth is that I have only accomplished what you have allowed to happen or what you have supported me in doing. WE have made it possible for one guy to live without spending money.

What’s also kinda beautiful is that it all happened rather organically. I have tried my best not to ask anyone directly for any kind of support, preferring a ‘just putting it out there’ strategy. That way, anyone who has responded to an invitation has done so out of their own free will…their action or contribution then is their own idea, their own creation. This has made me happy, yet I do feel that if I had been more comfortable asking for help, this story may have progressed a bit further than it has, and more people would know about it.

It is clear to me now that a community of people is way more interesting and powerful than any individual. My friends: Kelly Guidry Robinson, Calvin Dorman (also my minister of transport), Priscilla Talle and my trusty side-kick Anita B have helped me see that in the last 10 months, I have already begun to build that community.

In my previous message, I mentioned that I wished the story had been documented more effectively. That is an understatement. I’ve always known that the success of this experiment is dependent on its story being told. What good could come of this experiment if no-one knew about it? However, stories have the power to do much more than just spread a message. They can be leveraged in many different ways.

The story is where I would like much of the focus to be from now on. In the world of instant media and self publishing, stories are a powerful business tool. Being a part of this story has arguably been my most valuable trade item and I want nothing more than to add value to my friends, my country and the world. With a bigger and better story that reaches more people, WE can do that.

So how do WE tell a bigger and better story? In short, WE tell the story TOGETHER.Welcome to the future of story telling which I call WIKI-ALITY! (if wikipedia and a reality show were to fall in love and have a baby, that baby would be called wiki-ality!)

Seriously though, imagine an online reality show:

• that is Crowdsourced
• that is Open source
• that is a real time documentary
• where all the content is generated, contributed, shared, edited and published freely by a community of collaborators
• that exists on any and all social media platforms like: Youtube, Zoopy, Facebook, Blogs, Twitter etc etc.

I don’t think anything like this has been done before so we’ll figure out the best way to do this. We will use the Facebook group to have discussions as well as real life brain-storming sessions and face to face meetings. Everyone is welcome be a part of this process – all input is valuable. You don’t need to be an expert to be a part of this.

With social media EVERYONE has an audience and ANYONE can tell a story. If you are on Facebook, you basically have your own little multimedia reality show already and you are watching your friends’ shows too. What if we put a little intention behind that and chose to tell stories that have value? Wouldn’t you rather keep up with what your awesome friends are creating in the world than those silly Kardashians? Let’s create our own reality shows, let’s tell the stories that we think should be told.

All you need is phone with a camera and you can create content. With an internet connection you can share that content instantly with your own community, and their community and so on. Your reach is bigger than you think. By sharing that content with people who have skills that you don’t, the quality of the product (the video, blog post etc) can only improve. My biggest fear has been editing. I know that there are people out there who love editing.  If we provide them with footage, they can add what they love to it. Animators can make cool titles, musicians can make sound tracks etc. Maybe you like to take pictures but are not a confident writer. You could share you images with the community and allow others to use them in their posts. The reverse is also true, writers you can find awesome photos to add to your articles.

The best part is that you get to tell the story that most interests you and your community. You get to tell your own story or your version of another story.The possibilities with collaborations like this is endless.

WHAT STORIES DO WE WANT TO TELL?

I see 3 immediate areas of focus: the people who make up that community, the community itself and the projects created by the community.

The People:

Well that is you and me. So far I have been doing this for 10 months so maybe my story is the biggest so far. However, like I’ve said before, many people have played an integral part in that story. The interactions that have taken place and relationships that have made it possible for for me to live without spending money are what is really interesting about this story. Let’s say I have exchanged value with 5 people so far, then there would be 6 unique perspectives of those exchanges, 6 possible stories right there. But then, those stories could be perceived differently by the greater community and someone may choose to retell those stories to his or her community, then we have 12 stories. You see how this could work?

The Community:

The community that we are creating already exists. I was its first member, but you (my friends) are where its real value lies. Although it already exists our task now is to systemise it and formalise it so that it can be more effective.

It will:

• Answer the question “What can we create without spending money?”
• Support members to share and leverage value between each other by means of trade, sponsorhip and donation
• Be an incubator for the projects (social enterprises) that will make the money that will be given away (R555 555 555.55)

The Projects:

The projects are social enterprises designed make money to give away. What is special about them is that they will all be created without spending money. Everything that these ‘businesses’ require to create their products & services will contributed by community members.

By documenting each of these areas we make it possible for many stories to be told. You can either be the subject of a story, play a part in telling a story or share other people’s stories.

I believe that the best way to tell a really big story is to tell many small stories, don’t you? What story do you want to tell? How do you wish to get involved?

The following discussions have been created on the Facebook group (see if you can spot the subtle change in the name and description):

Who? What? Where? When?

What part of this story is most interesting to you?

What type of projects should we work on?

What would you like to know?

Please join the conversation.

Much love

Adin & Team

This conversation this morning did not go the usual way. Most times people offer some kind of support, say that are interesting in what I am trying to do or share an insight or an perspective that they may have.

Sandra, on the other hand, was somewhat more critical of my lifestyle. No no, that’s not true, she was ridiculously critical.

I wanted so badly to share this experience with you. My intention was to copy & paste the chat into this post so you could see ALL that Sandra had to say to me, but unfortunately FB chat doesn’t have a very long history.

The first thing she said in the chat was MOOCH! At first I thought she was being cute, making a little joke but as the chat went on it became clear that she was being totally serious. She went on to call me a ‘ho’,a ‘user’ a ‘kept man, a ‘glamor boy’ and a ‘pampered biotch’! There were a few other less nice things that she said too…

You see, people like Sandra are one of the reasons I am so passionate about what I am doing. Some people are so jaded by money and all that is supposedly means, that when anyone tries to do something a little out of the ordinary they can only get defensive and critical.

I am going to post this now on my blog, and share it on her wall. Please Sandra, pick up where you left off…I think the wold would like to hear from you.

So this experience, if nothing else, has inspired me to work harder in creating a new way of doing things.

Please join the conversation if it starts on Facebook….I think this could get FUN

WARNING! Sandra is:
NSFW (not safe for work) – Sandra likes to swear…a lot
Difficult to understand – Sandra types like a teenager on MXit, her lack of complete words (and the ability to spell) may make this a little difficult to follow. I know I had trouble…

Thanks for reading…

ENJOY!

Wow, it feels like just the other day that I embarked on this rather exciting, and somewhat crazy little experiment. (“somewhat?” my cheeky side-kick sniggers in the background… thanks for the support Anita!)
You’ve heard people talk about “life changing experiences”… well this has definitely been one. This journey has been filled with highs and lows, but way more highs than lows.

I would like to thank EVERYBODY who has supported me. I won’t be doing so individually because it would take too much time…but you know who you are. The truth is it is only possible to live without spending money if you’re supported by other people. If nothing else, living this way has taught me about the power of relationships… and I am blessed with truly awesome relationships. If wealth was measured in friendships… the no money guy would be the richest guy in the world!

When I started, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I applied the “jump off the cliff and grow wings” philosophy. I knew that if I waited until I had the perfect plan, I may never have begun. In hindsight, that may not have been the ideal way to go about it. In my first year A LOT has not gone according to plan. There are things that I definitely would have done differently, some that I would not have done at all and many that I wish I had done. In light of that, I am committed to making year 2 even better!

The first regret is that this journey has hardly been documented at all. I have not done the best job with my blog and my use of video (especially in the beginning) was limited. I always saw this as an online, open source, creative commons type collaboration – this has not materialised.

Having not documented the journey as much as I would have liked, I feel that I have not been able to make what’s possible without spending money more inclusive. What I mean by that is, I don’t how many people have actually seen the ‘how and the why of it’ and experimented with it themselves. If I just go for 5 years without spending money and nothing changes, what would be the point?

And lastly, and this is the one that stings the most, I have given very little money away in the last 10 months. One of my main motivators for beginning this project was to make a lot of money to give away. My target for the 5 years is in fact an ambitious R555 555 555.55! I still get a little fright every time I write it or say it out loud!

SO… what have I Iearned? Well, I can now see very clearly that I could never have done those things on my own. There are just some things that I am not good at. If there was a team of people, all sharing their skills, talents, ideas, resources and networks, the last 10 months would have had a much greater impact. The focus was on one guy living without spending money, when it should have been on the people who make that possible.

So WE is the new me!

In the next 2 months I am committed to building a team that is inspired to take this project to the next level. I have a vision that is too big for me to manifest alone. I can see now that my biggest strength is in connecting with people…let’s see how good I am at it. My commitment to this vision is to attract the right people to create it with me. If you are reading this you may be one of them… are you?

So if you have skills, ideas, resources and experience that would help us make a lot of money to give away, and to tell an amazing story – I would love to hear from you.
Yes, I said “WE”…I already have a few people who have said YES to this… but now we need a lot more. What do YOU say?

Please join in this discussion in my Facebook group if you are keen:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=12834&uid=136255177672

Thanks again and much love
Adin & Team

GO TEAM!!!!!

sexy isn't she?

What happened?
Well, I was invited for dinner by my friend Sally Wellbeloved on Monday night. You may remember Sally, she is the lady who took the photo on my home page.
Anyway, I hadn’t seen her in a while so I was updating her on my adventures. She hadn’t heard about my giving My Right Arm to live without spending, so I was telling her about how the campaign worked and she asked me what I wanted for the next tattoo.
I told her that what I really needed was a quality compact camera to help me document my journey and more importantly to give exposure to the people that support me.
She told me that she knew someone called Arthur who sold cameras and suggested I get in touch with him. So she sent him and email that night telling him about what I’m up to. Arthur replied the next day saying that he was interested, I called him a bit later and on that call he agreed to give me the camera.
Not wanting to get too excited I asked him to send me an email confirming his decision and he had this to say:

Hi Adin ,

Very nice to chat to you abut this exciting marketing opportunity.

I can confirm that ISO100 will be sponsoring you with a Canon EOS SLR camera. I will be handing over the unit early April if that is in order. I am awaiting new stock to arrive.

ISO100 is very excited about this and I think having our logo on you will drive our brand. We are planning on taking on the big boys in SA and offer competitive pricing.

Please find my Logo and also a link to my site www.iso100.co.za

Regards
Arthur van Zyl

So, I am very proud to announce that ISO100 is the 5th sponsor of My Right Arm and that the following logo will be inked into the history books very soon. You know that by history books I mean my arm don’t you?

this is gonna look great on My Right Arm!

To get hold of ISO100 to see what deals they have for you, here are the contact details:

Physical Address:
32 Prestwick Road
908 Quyside
Green Point Telephone:
+27(0)21 427 2777
Email:
sales@iso100.co.za
www.iso100.co.za

So thanks Arthur, thanks Sally! My ability to tell this story will be greatly improved now!

That means I have secured the first 5 sponsors who will get tattood on my arm…I wonder who’s going to be next…

If you wanna connect with me, here’s how:

www.facebook.com/adinvanryneveld

@AdinvanRyneveld

071 220 9605

adin@nu-buntu.co.za

http://www.adin.co.za/

I thought it was time to remind you of the types of things that I do:

Life Coaching
Consciousness Coaching® is a brand of coaching developed my Marc Steinberg of Creative Consciousness International.

Coaching is a professional, result-orientated dialogue about all personal and working issues. It aims to generate and expand success and personal growth, producing exponential breakthrough results through insight and action. For more info on coaching, please visit the website www.consciousnesscoaching.co.za

Marketing/Advertising
If you offer me your product/service/resources/support/advice, or generally help me to live without spending money and to give lots and lots of it away, you and your business will get exposure to people following my story.

I will blog about you, tweet about you and even upload videos to Facebook and YouTube. I do not have a rate card or anything like that and will not promise ‘x-number’ words in a blog post or ‘y-many’tweets if you give me something. This is where the authenticity comes in – I will write and share what I am moved to write and share.

Social Media Services
I may not be an expert but I do know my way around Facebook and Twitter. If you are new to social media or not familiar with all its wonderful opportunities and possiblities, I can show you how.
Let me help you create a group/event/fan page on Facebook or set up an account on Twitter.

Also, I have quite a few friends on Facebook (1853, to be exact) so I can invite my friends to your event /group or suggest they become a fan of your page.

House-sitting
If you are not going to be home for whatever reason, why not let me look after your pets, plants and property. I am a non smoking, non drinking all round good guy and I am pretty damn responsible.

Designated driver
As your designated driver I will drive my scooter to your house, pick you up and drive your car to pick up your other mates and head out on the town. I join you on your night out and you split the costs of my evening between you – if you go to dinner…I eat, if you go to a party…you pay for me to get in and you keep me hydrated with non alcoholic beverages. Then when you decide it’s home time, I drop everybody off safe and sound and then drive home on my scooter.

Inter-personal assistant
Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone had a personal assistant to take care of that stuff? But seriously, who can afford a full time personal assistant anyway? In fact, who needs one? We can take care of most things that come our way but every now and then we need a bit of help…that’s where I come in!

As your interpersonal assistant I can do those once-off, random, inconvenient things that you just can’t get to. And you can share me…I don’t mind.

My Right Arm
MY RIGHT ARM launched at the beginning of the year and is my answer to the question “What are you willing to do to live without spending money?” Quite literally, I am giving MY RIGHT ARM, are at least advertising space on MY RIGHT ARM to friends of mine with businesses.
I am creating 25 extremely unique advertising opportunities on MY RIGHT ARM for brands who would like to support me in my quest to live with out spending money. If your product or service can help me live well, or do the things that I need to do, get in touch with me, you could be next to have your logo tattooed on MY RIGHT ARM.

Public talks/motivation/inspiration
Remember Calvin Dorman, of Calvinbusiness.co.za, my friend who agreed to buy me petrol for the rest of my 5 year experiment? The deal that we struck was that I will give a talk per month at Calvin’s business networking and goal setting club, E=mc3.I will be happy to offer similar talks to other companies, organisations or clubs.

So that’s what I have to offer. Anyone out there want what I’ve got to give?

If you want to do a trade of some kind, here is how to get hold of me:

adin@nu-buntu.co.za

@AdinvanRyneveld

071 220 9605

http://www.adin.co.za/

I love this project and love volunteering there.

I thought I would give you a taste of what happens at the school and why I love volunteering there so much.

I hope you love these videos

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you are interested in purchasing a worm farm or getting involved with Earthchild in any way, please go to their website:
http://www.earthchildproject.org/
join their Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19401522208&ref=search&sid=647030714.1765310067..1
or call them on:
021 462 2218

If you wanna connect with me, here’s how:

http://www.adin.co.za/

adin@nu-buntu.co.za

@AdinvanRyneveld

071 220 9605

A company called Urban Harvest has been a great friend to the Earthchild project over the years.Not only did they help set up the garden and the worm farms, they actually come every week with a team to help the kids with ‘edu-maintenance’.

In this video I talk to Ben Getz, founder of Urban Harvest.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you are interested in purchasing a worm farm or getting involved with Earthchild in any way, please go to their website:
http://www.earthchildproject.org/
join their Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19401522208&ref=search&sid=647030714.1765310067..1
or call them on:
021 462 2218

If you would like to get in touch with Urban Harvest you can check out their website:
www.urbanharvest.co.za/

If you wanna connect with me, here’s how:

http://www.adin.co.za/

adin@nu-buntu.co.za

@AdinvanRyneveld

071 220 9605

(If this doesn’t make you smile there is something wrong with you!)

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you want connect with me in anyway, here’s how:
adin@nu-buntu.co.za
@AdinvanRyneveld
071 220 9605

http://www.adin.co.za/

Then last night I get a call from my Friend Kerrie who tells me that she and Michel had an extra ticket for Avatar at Tygervalley…and in 3D! SCORE! Thanks to you guys, I have seen the best movie ever. Also, thanks to Jared (who actually was meant to be going but couldn’t for some crazy reason…you missed out Dude!)

So, what do I mean by Avatar’s South African connection? Yes, I am not kidding. District 9 and Invictus are not the only internationally successful, movies of late with a link to our beautiful country. Ok, the link with Avatar is much more subtle, less in your face – yet, deeply profound and beautiful. I’ll explain…

On Pandora, the indiginous Na’vi People  greet each other by saying “I see you.” Does that ring any bells? Well if you are South African, it should. In Zulu, Sawubona, means the same thing: “I see you.”

In fact, it actually means “We see you”, which is a far deeper and even more profound. Consider for a moment what that means…it is beautiful and powerful. It points to forgotten truth, that we are all connected. This truth is acknowledged and celebrated in each greeting!

Please watch this video in which Orland Bishop shares his views on the subject. This guy puts it so beautifully.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you are reading this as a note on my Facebook profile, you can watch the video on Youtube.

Thanks for reading

Much love
Adin

If you want connect with me in anyway, here’s how:
adin@nu-buntu.co.za
@AdinvanRyneveld
071 220 9605
http://www.adin.co.za/

Trouble is, I have been agonising about what to talk about. Maybe it is just nerves because I have only done a handful of talks. I rather think it has to do with the fact that I see myself more of a conversationalist than a speaker. I am not so comfortable with the idea of me standing in front of people just telling them my story.

This is where you come in…

I have decided to build my talk around questions, questions from you guys. I guess, if I am responding to questions it will feel more authentic to me. So please, can you submit your question or questions ASAP, I would like to include them. I will pick the best 5 questions each month to build my talk around.
Please note, I will be recording all my talks so you will be able to see me answer your question online, cool hey?

Here is an example of the kinds of questions you might want to ask. These have been submitted Michelle Chamroo:

-What inspired you to go without money for five years?
-Do you have a plan for sustaining this lifestyle?
-How do you envisage meeting your aims, and have your aims/objectives changed since you started?
-Has your experience of being a life coach assisted you?
-Are you happy? : )

Awesome, thanks guys.

I do have much more to share but I think this is good for now, I promise to be more in touch from now on.

Much love
Adin

If you want connect with me in anyway, here’s how:
adin@nu-buntu.co.za
@AdinvanRyneveld
071 220 9605
http://www.adin.co.za/