"Some if not all people are fearful of mistakes, they shun it and do all they can to avoid them. Sometimes its best to welcome mistakes" -- June 15 2008
George Soros once said "Every day I hope I find a mistake, when I find one I am extremely happy" or something to that effect. Soros approach to investment is to come up with an idea and then find what wrong with it. When he find a mistake, then he is able to correct them. Each mistake makes his plan even stronger.
To me, I believe it in the same way. Mistakes tells me that I am expanding my horizons and I am trying to improve. Mistakes allows me to stay humble because it reminds me that there is still more that I do not yet know. Mistakes give me feedback on what works well and what doesn't. Mistakes are real, not hypothetical. Small mistakes allows me to grow one step at a time. Larger ones not only forces me to work harder and work smarter to solve but challenges me psychological to overcome perhaps the greatest failings of men, our egos and I have a large one.
Sunday 15 June 2008
Thursday 12 June 2008
Life's Mysteries
"The excellence of life is its filled with mysteries that we can't help but yearn to solve, that is the human strength, not the weapons we craft, not the cities we built nor the societies that we cling to" -- June 13 2008
Barry, A fund's manager I spoke to once, told me "don't be a pessimist, don't be an optimist, be a realist" it was such a profound way of thinking. I won't insult him by mispelling his last name but I asked him how can someone who deals with so much money in this market that has more wild mood swings than a tropical hurricane, can he be so happy all the time?
He replied, I live in a world full of possibilities. Each day I wake, there are a million more and I can't wait to find out what they are.
Thanks Barry. it really changed the way I looked at the world.
Barry, A fund's manager I spoke to once, told me "don't be a pessimist, don't be an optimist, be a realist" it was such a profound way of thinking. I won't insult him by mispelling his last name but I asked him how can someone who deals with so much money in this market that has more wild mood swings than a tropical hurricane, can he be so happy all the time?
He replied, I live in a world full of possibilities. Each day I wake, there are a million more and I can't wait to find out what they are.
Thanks Barry. it really changed the way I looked at the world.
Fear
"There are somethings we should fear, somethings we could fear but hardwork and trying shouldn't be one of those fears" -- June 13 2008
I have an anxiety problem. Quite often its not something I can't control and usually, its over something that seems quite trivial. Should I buy this tie, should I buy that tie. Should I go with the white shirt or the blue shirt? Hardly life or death situations but for some odd reason I tense up.
Even more unusual, when I am in the kitchen, making something reasonably complicated, I always find myself singing or humming. Its one of those mysteries of the mind that I want to solve.
It brings up another idea I had.. I have been reading a lot about zen recently..
" Mistakes are there to be made, but so are the lessons that you learn from them."
I have an anxiety problem. Quite often its not something I can't control and usually, its over something that seems quite trivial. Should I buy this tie, should I buy that tie. Should I go with the white shirt or the blue shirt? Hardly life or death situations but for some odd reason I tense up.
Even more unusual, when I am in the kitchen, making something reasonably complicated, I always find myself singing or humming. Its one of those mysteries of the mind that I want to solve.
It brings up another idea I had.. I have been reading a lot about zen recently..
" Mistakes are there to be made, but so are the lessons that you learn from them."
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Earning the Day
"We fight, sweat and struggle to earn a day's honestly living and yet we are rarely happy, perhaps its because we haven't yet earned a day worth living" -- June 11 2008
Money is not the most important thing in the world but if we are all honest, it is maybe 3rd or 4th in our list. Why? Well because everything we covet needs money in some shape or form.
It affects our mood, it can make a miserable day seem like our best. And yet, with salaries close to 1000 times those of our fore fathers, we are more miserable than ever.
Personally, i think that the reason why there is so much despair is because we don't value our time. what we already have. We always look at things we don't have. Believing that if we had those things, we wouldn't be where we are.
Graham Bell once said "When a door is closed to us, we often focus on the closed door so much that we don't notice the other doors that are open to us".
So make the most of your day. go out and live it. be grateful for what you have and worry not about things that you don't.
Money is not the most important thing in the world but if we are all honest, it is maybe 3rd or 4th in our list. Why? Well because everything we covet needs money in some shape or form.
It affects our mood, it can make a miserable day seem like our best. And yet, with salaries close to 1000 times those of our fore fathers, we are more miserable than ever.
Personally, i think that the reason why there is so much despair is because we don't value our time. what we already have. We always look at things we don't have. Believing that if we had those things, we wouldn't be where we are.
Graham Bell once said "When a door is closed to us, we often focus on the closed door so much that we don't notice the other doors that are open to us".
So make the most of your day. go out and live it. be grateful for what you have and worry not about things that you don't.
Dreams
"Reach for your dreams, nothing is impossible. Besides, no one else can live them for you" -- June 11
When I was growing up, I always hear of things that I cannot do or shouldn't do. Not because they were dangerous or illegal but people always viewed them as impossible. I can't be a pro tennis player because I am too short. I shouldn't be a doctor because its hard work and no body appreciates you when you do something right but love to hate you when you are wrong.
I always feel that people see the bad because thats what they want to see.
Zig Zaglar once said "You can't be great for something you are going to do, only for what you have done"
Another one of my personal favorites is "Fate can lead you where you need to go but you alone must decide to make the last great leap"
So did I succeed? Am I a pro tennis player or a doctor? Well... not yet but then again, the story is not over yet.
When I was growing up, I always hear of things that I cannot do or shouldn't do. Not because they were dangerous or illegal but people always viewed them as impossible. I can't be a pro tennis player because I am too short. I shouldn't be a doctor because its hard work and no body appreciates you when you do something right but love to hate you when you are wrong.
I always feel that people see the bad because thats what they want to see.
Zig Zaglar once said "You can't be great for something you are going to do, only for what you have done"
Another one of my personal favorites is "Fate can lead you where you need to go but you alone must decide to make the last great leap"
So did I succeed? Am I a pro tennis player or a doctor? Well... not yet but then again, the story is not over yet.
Saturday 7 June 2008
Moving Forward
"A fact of life is nobody is perfect so we make mistakes, take the lessons they offer and move forward. Otherwise, fate will give you something else to regret" -- June 8
I am somewhat of an egotist. Worst, I am a vain egotist. I expect myself to do the right things and to be perfect. Ironically, I seldom am and I know it. But it doesn't stop me from holding myself to my impossible ideals. So I allow myself to be haunted by my past mistakes.
I wouldn't say that I am cured but part of the reason for this blog is to work my way thru it. At least i can say I am a better man than I was yesterday.
Life anyways is a working progress.
I am somewhat of an egotist. Worst, I am a vain egotist. I expect myself to do the right things and to be perfect. Ironically, I seldom am and I know it. But it doesn't stop me from holding myself to my impossible ideals. So I allow myself to be haunted by my past mistakes.
I wouldn't say that I am cured but part of the reason for this blog is to work my way thru it. At least i can say I am a better man than I was yesterday.
Life anyways is a working progress.
Regrets and Failures
"Regrets and failures are in the past, the past doesn't exist except in our mind, don't let something that doesn't exist torture you" -- June 8 2008
In the past, I used to wish I could travel back in time and tell me, the young me the mistakes I would have made and avoid them. Then I realize that the things I had to work thru, the struggles that I had to deal with is what makes me.. me.
I have decided that the reason why I can never let my failures go is because to me, I haven't lived up to my potential. So i sat down and made a plan, my first objective is to solve the riddle of body.
I will reach for my ideal body. I have resolved the scarifices that i must make to achieve it and the work i must endure. the rest is up to me because words without action are a waste.
In the past, I used to wish I could travel back in time and tell me, the young me the mistakes I would have made and avoid them. Then I realize that the things I had to work thru, the struggles that I had to deal with is what makes me.. me.
I have decided that the reason why I can never let my failures go is because to me, I haven't lived up to my potential. So i sat down and made a plan, my first objective is to solve the riddle of body.
I will reach for my ideal body. I have resolved the scarifices that i must make to achieve it and the work i must endure. the rest is up to me because words without action are a waste.
Be Different
"The world is full of people who believe what can't be done, why not try something different and believe otherwise" -- June 8 2008
Tuesday 3 June 2008
Retrospective
"Have you ever wondered how a future you would think if they could see you know?" - June 4
I am a procrastinator. Not that I am proud of this but whenever I see an opportunity to do something I always focus on the 1% chance that it could fail. And in the one in a hundred situations, it does I have justified my fear but I always miss the other 99 successes before that.
Edison once said "I didn't fail 999 times, I found 999 ways not to do it but I only have to find one way that it works" To put this person's achievement in perspective, you need to see it as a whole. Where would we be if Edison simply gave up after trial 998?
Thinking or saying what you will do, could do. Accomplishes absolutely nothing. Procrastination should be considered one of the greatest evils because it kills. It kills the potential that everyone has.
So the best thing is to improve. however small because very step takes you forward. At the very least, the next time you think about what could have been, you can be happy that you haven't stayed still.
I am a procrastinator. Not that I am proud of this but whenever I see an opportunity to do something I always focus on the 1% chance that it could fail. And in the one in a hundred situations, it does I have justified my fear but I always miss the other 99 successes before that.
Edison once said "I didn't fail 999 times, I found 999 ways not to do it but I only have to find one way that it works" To put this person's achievement in perspective, you need to see it as a whole. Where would we be if Edison simply gave up after trial 998?
Thinking or saying what you will do, could do. Accomplishes absolutely nothing. Procrastination should be considered one of the greatest evils because it kills. It kills the potential that everyone has.
So the best thing is to improve. however small because very step takes you forward. At the very least, the next time you think about what could have been, you can be happy that you haven't stayed still.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)