Posts Tagged ‘paulo coelho’

Pains that heal and those that don’t.

Sunday, June 1st, 2008

In life, some problems can be solved by throwing money at the problem (e.g. growing pains in scaling up (or down) operations in your fledgling tech startup? invest in cloud computing). However, there are certainly some problems that cannot be solved even with deep pockets (e.g. Microsoft can’t for all its might and power build a Google-killer).

I’m reminded of this money-can-help vs. no-money-can-help problem in this series of Paulo Coelho’s Reflections of the Warrior of the Light. Some sufferings can heal. Some cannot. Pick wisely what you wish to suffer.

A warrior of the light never acts in a cowardly fashion.

Fight may be an excellent art of defense, but it cannot be used when fear is great. When in doubt, the warrior prefers to risk defeat and then cure his wounds – because he knows that if he runs away, he is giving his aggressor more power than he deserves.

He can cure physical suffering, but will be persecuted forever for any spiritual weakness.

Faced with difficult and painful moments, the warrior faces unfavorable circumstances with heroism, resignation and courage.

Tags: ,
Posted in failure, fear, things to remind myself | Comments

Lessons from the Warrior of the Light

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

I’m definitely a fan of Paulo Coelho, the renowned Brazillian author. He has a unique way of teaching the lessons in life that he has learned through storytelling.

A few lessons from the Warrior of the Light.

Using one’s own madness

A warrior of the light studies very carefully the position he wishes to conquer.

However difficult his objective may be, there is always a way to overcome the obstacles. He verifies the alternative routes, sharpens his sword, and seeks to fill his heart with the perseverance necessary to face the challenge.

But, as he advances, the warrior realizes there are difficulties he had not foreseen at the outset.

If he waits for the ideal moment, he will never move from his position; he sees that a little madness is needed for the next step.

The warrior uses a little madness. Because – in war and in love – one cannot foresee everything.

Life is such that if you wait to gather 100% of every single detail before you can make a decision, others would have surpassed you. If you waited for the fog to clear, then what you see is what everyone else will also see. Given the perfect picture, anyone sane would make the same correct, best choice. This is exactly how *not* to beat the market.

CEOs often make decisions with incomplete data–and that takes a little madness. It’s about making decisions with the best information possible available at that time. Standing still through inaction is waiting to fail–and I’ll fail from action than inaction.

So when do you put yourself out there and wear your heart on your sleeve?
(more…)

Tags:
Posted in changing the world, entrepreneurship, execution, failure, fear, goal setting, passion, perseverance, quotes, regular reads, self improvement, startup, strategy, things to ponder about, things to remind myself, values | Comments