Why you will fail to have a great career: Larry Smith at TEDxUW

I do have a dream. Do you?

And my excuses are varied, complicated, sometimes even valid…  but they are still excuses.

I do not know anyone doing it, and actually being able to live off it. So ok, maybe i will be doing it on the side…  Yes, after the 9-5 job, in the same time frame where i will fit in sports, quality time with family and friends, household chores, personal care time and sleep. Yes, i tell myself, i will have the time do DO IT, if not, i will make time. But will i? Or will i be left with just that….   a 9-5 job, then sports, quality time with friends and family, household chores, personal care and sleep… and the latter will be the only time i am allowed to “live” my dream?

It is difficult to pursue. I would have to do X and Y and Z. I am not afraid to work hard for it, but i will have to make some difficult choices. My close relatives will not agree, but i am sure my spouse will, so at least i have that working for me.

I would have to ask for help.

I would have to fail. A lot. And then some more.

It will be difficult.

I would have to give up, at least at the beginning, a lot of my other activities. I am not able to quit my job, and thus i will be working on my passion outside work hours, when i am already tired and lifeless, with the hope that my passion will make up for it. It will probably take longer to get to where i want to be, as i will not be PHYSICALLY able to both deliver a good work performance and work on my own project. And then there are the other obligations… So yes, there will probably be NO TIME for me to pursue my dream, as i am too busy screening facebook, snoozing the alarm 4-5 times, watching mindless TV series, wasting time with the wrong people and worrying about the unimportant.I do cherish the time i have with my family, with my true friends; i cherish the time i spend doing what is right at the moment. But that should energize me, not render me lifeless. So something is wrong here….

I am afraid i will be bad at it. And then what will i be left with? What will my dream be?

That and more, are the reasons i will fail at having  a great career. Unless…..

Our life in jelly beans

Finishing off today’s jelly bean in Amsterdam

Bank robbery – short story from the net

During a robbery in Guangzhou, China, the bank robber shouted to everyone in the bank: “Don’t move. The money belongs to the State. Your life belongs to you.”

Everyone in the bank laid down quietly. This is called “Mind Changing Concept” Changing the conventional way of thinking.

When a lady lay on the table provocatively, the robber shouted at her: “Please be civilized! This is a robbery and not a rape!” 

This is called “Being Professional” Focus only on what you are trained to do! 

When the bank robbers returned home, the younger robber (MBA-trained) told the older robber (who has only completed Year 6 in primary school): “Big brother, let’s count how much we got.” 

The older robber rebutted and said: “You are very stupid. There is so much money it will take us a long time to count. Tonight, the TV news will tell us how much we robbed from the bank!” 

This is called “Experience.” Nowadays, experience is more important than paper qualifications! 

After the robbers had left, the bank manager told the bank supervisor to call the police quickly. But the supervisor said to him: “Wait! Let us take out $10 million from the bank for ourselves and add it to the $70 million that we have previously embezzled from the bank”.

This is called “Swim with the tide.” Converting an unfavorable situation to your advantage!

The supervisor says: “It will be good if there is a robbery every month.” 

This is called “Killing Boredom.” Personal Happiness is more important than your job.

The next day, the TV news reported that $100 million was taken from the bank. The robbers counted and counted and counted, but they could only count $20 million. The robbers were very angry and complained: “We risked our lives and only took $20 million. The bank manager took $80 million with a snap of his fingers. It looks like it is better to be educated than to be a thief!” 

This is called “Knowledge is worth as much as gold!” 

The bank manager was smiling and happy because his losses in the share market are now covered by this robbery. 

This is called “Seizing the opportunity.” Daring to take risks! 

So who are the real robbers here?

Demons

“Don’t fight your demons. Your demons are here to teach you lessons. Sit down with your demons and have a drink and a chat and learn their names and talk about the burns on their fingers and scratches on their ankles. Some of them are very nice.”

Demons are the past, the regrets that we have, the things we did wrong and the ones that we did not get around to doing.

Demons are our fears: of loneliness, of failure, of death.

Demons are our secrets, some of which we keep even from ourselves.

Demons are our insecurities, our strangest and darkest desires, our hidden natures.

We all have them, whether we want them or not. But it is already our choice how to deal with them. They are part of who we are, what we do, how we do it and why. And thus yes, i guess it does not hurt to have a cup of coffee with your demon. You might actually learn a thing or two.

 

 

Kissing in the rain – Youtube

Would you?

Perspective

We all see the world differently :)

Statement of self – Repost from Dec 2011

Saturday, December 17 2011

 

 I am the average person who dreams of achieving spectacular things, but who has at the moment deviated from the initial route. it all started when i decided to look around and discover my alternatives. there is nothing wrong with knowing there are side roads that one can take, nor is it wrong to actually explore them every once in a while. But i am a bit worried that i may have gone too far into the woods, where there are no roads, just mere paths of ambiguous origin and destination.  

i am aware that some broken fences cannot be mended, and some tracks cannot be  erased- but i think that it is all just part of the travel. Sometimes i stop and try to look back in order to make sure that i still remember the way, but ever since i stopped seeing anything,  i just keep going further and farther, without actually knowing where i’ll end up. i keep bending the trees and pushing away the leaves, even though, somewhere inside, i know that the path i am taking is probably not traveled much for a reason. and yes, i do fear that my irrationality will catch up and more than likely it will not be a pleasant encounter, but even if i see the main road – paved, lighted, clean, safe – i think i am gonna stay on the side ones for a while longer.

i have come to know myself a lot better ever since i commenced this journey, some things i like and some i don’t. some i hate and some i have learned to accept. so i do not even attempt to lie and say that i will get back on the highway. yes, it will get me THERE faster. Easier. Safer. And, most importantly, it will get me there for sure.  

i was a little worried that i, unlike others around me, am not in a hurry to do X and Y, the latter being all the stuff that i am expected to do till i reach a certain age, status, position etc. But i cannot help but wonder, what do i do after a get to max(X) and max(Y) ? Wonder about those side roads i could have taken ? And why ? Why do i need to get to X and Y ? Maybe i am different. Maybe i want Z. Maybe i want a less regular variable.  

maybe i want to be special. maybe i don’t. i guess i will figure that out as i go.

It’s a cliché, i know. But for me, IT IS all about the getting there. My goal is not the destination, it’s the journey.  …  Ok, maybe 50/50. of course, i have to make sure that i do get to A and B, because no matter how trite these destinations are, i actually want to get there. I am just not sure if i am close enough to those points yet.  and the fact that i am not doing anything to get any closer is a red flag.

Maybe i am not ready. Maybe i am just plain irresponsible.   half of the time, i do not know why i do the things i do.  

i am just trying to be happy.

Almost 2 years have gone by, and i am still in the woods. Maybe it is time to light the signal flare.