Nov

28

While you whine about how it can’t be done, someone else is already doing it

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The world is moving so fast these days that the one who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.
–Harry Emerson Fosdick

This quote reminds me that why I like whiners and skeptics. While they reason and debate why something cannot be done and why they are better off not doing it, I get a head start by planning and strategizing how it can be done. The more they work to convince themselves that they can’t do it, the larger the perceived barrier to entry for them — and the lesser the competition for me, and I get the first-mover advantage!

Works great for me :)

Nov

20

What will happen if you try and do not succeed?

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For some reason, many times I catch myself not taking an action for fear that I might not get what I want, for fear of being rejected or laughed at. Then, I fail because of my inaction, rather than action. It happens over and over. So therefore, sometimes I find it extremely beneficial to couch the projected end result in terms of complete total failure (as in, the mission was not accomplished).

I ask myself “Seriously, if I failed miserably at this, how bad can it be?”. More often than not, the answer is “I will still have my arms and legs”. So it’s really not that bad at all. And I go do it. And if I do fail, I will have no regrets because I failed by action, and not inaction. Yes, I’m a person of action. I will not look back and say, “See, you shouldn’t even have tried”.

At my hockey practice with my buddies, we usually cheer when one of us fall and crash hard on the ice during practice. It’s actually pretty funny, because someone usually yells “.. AND HE’S OK!!” (insert scene from Austin Powers where mini-me falls and then gets up OK) It’s our way of reminding each other that “Hey, you did good, and you are learning! Keep on doing it!” And the truth is, when learning to skate, if you aren’t falling, then you’re not trying hard enough. I have completely let go of the notion of “not crashing”.

I’m going for breakthrough improvements. Little incremental improvements over time are ok, but not fast enough for my tastes ;) When I’m passionate about something, I push myself to attempt something that scares me, which usually result in me falling down. Fail fast, recover fast. No pain no gain (yes, that was a complimentary worn out cliché).

And with a mentality like that, I admire those _still_ around me. Thank you for putting up with me, and helping me in one form or another, with your words of wisdom. For those those who didn’t like or agree with the way I see things, I’m glad we parted ways because I am a product of the people around me and I too, wouldn’t want to be around birds from a different flock! Not to say that I’m always right, but I acknowledge my mistakes (and attempt corrective measures) when they are pointed out to me.

No one wants to fall short or be laughed at. What will happen to you if you try and do not succeed? The same thing that has happened to pretty much every successful person in history. You will get up and try again. Then you will probably fail again at some point in the future, yet continue to persist through setbacks. Every failure offers valuable lessons that you can’t learn any other way.
– Dave Lorenzo, author of Career Intensity

Career Intensity: Business Strategy for Workplace Warriors and Entrepreneurs

Nov

15

Disabled comments for now

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* 11/19/2006 update: Comments re-opened

I checked my comment moderation queue, and I have 420 spam comments waiting for me.

Yes, I could surely use a loan/mortgage, car insurance, and porn — but no thanks.

I’m hoping that the spam bots will notice that this blog is unspammable and quit. Odds of that are low, but I’ll try and see what happens. Later, I’ll bring back comments with some anti-spam measure. Perhaps CAPTCHA.

Damn spambots!

Nov

13

Reinventing yourself

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Today, people at work rely more on their knowledge than skill. Knowledge and skill differ in that skills tend to change slowly whereas knowledge changes faster and quickly obsoletes itself. Therefore, a knowledge worker quickly becomes obsolete if he/she does not strive to learn and reinvent himself/herself.

The test is to ask yourself if you are confident that whatever knowledge and skill you have accumulated up until today be enough to carry you over the next 50 years of your working life. Finding a new supply of energy only goes so far and you are not growing younger each day. You have to make something different out of yourself.

Nov

13

Identity theft prevention tip

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Identitfy theft is on the rise, and financial services are all trying to sell all their anti-identitify-theft products for profit.

As a measure of precaution:

  • Have only your first name initial (instead of having your entire first name) printed on your checks. A thief will not know whether you sign your name with only your first initial or entire first name, but your bank will.
  • Don’t sign the back of your credit cards — instead, write “PHOTO ID REQUIRED”. That should prompt the merchant to ask for driver’s license.
  • Ready the “emergency” pack consisting of: photocopies of all your credit cards & documents in your wallet and be sure to have the phone numbers to all 3 of the national credit reporting organizations immediately (Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union)

If you do find your wallet missing:

  • Cancel all credit cards
  • File a police report (where cards were stolen)
  • Call national credit reporting organizations to place fraud alert on name and social security number. Any company checking your credit will know that your identity has been stolen, and will have to take extra steps in verifying the application to authorize new credit.

Nov

7

Worry don’t pay the bills

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Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.
– Mary (Mrs. Ernest) Hemingway

The cumulative effect of stress and anxiety adds up over time. If there is something that you are worried about, then take a step back to address it, and then move on – you will feel much happier after doing so. The act of worrying itself does not make the problem go away, but you will feel much better if you took some action (whether or not the action actually solved the problem).

I usually feel better after taking action knowing that I actively did something to address a problem, even if the action actually made the problem worse. So I took a wrong turn. Great. Now take another action to address that problem. I’d rather fail because of action, than inaction.

So get off your lazy ass already (and stop reading blogs!!)

Nov

7

Fast bike vs. fast car benchmark

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Fast car and fast bikes, what more can a guy ask for :)

Lamborghini Gallardo vs. Ducati 999. 3:02 minute clip. See who wins the race!

Thanks Carny.