I'm gonna hit the sack, I rarely sleep when my family does, my wife comes by every night and says, 'try to sleep early' and I say, 'yes baby, I'll try,' but I rarely do.
A Tough Fucking Year Writing publicly is a bit dishonest because it is hard enough to be honest with yourself and even your close friends, let alone an online community you are a part of. While I don't ever try to be dishonest with my writing, there are things that I do gloss over and because of that, it may give the wrong impression. One thing is, am I wildly successful in everything that I do, am I successful in my career and work? No, I fuck up just as much and usually much bigger than most other people.
A lot of times we'll put our best foot forward and a lot of times we'll read things about what people are doing and we'll think, damn that guy is lucky or he is in a good place, or I wish I had those kinds of breaks.
The thing is, this year has been my toughest year ever in business, 2011 is a year I'd rather forget even though I have learned a lot. For the most part, in my professional career, I've run good, meaning that I went from strength to strength- I made a lot of sacrifices, but those sacrifices paid off. 2011 wasn't that kind of year. Without going into much detail, every win I had was minor and every mistake I made, I got massively punished for. But that is what you get in a declining unstable market, everyone running for the hills.
Hating me is irrelevant to me Thing is, in life, I have a lot of people who hate me, just can't stand to look at me, and really, I don't give a fuck either, and when I was holding a very senior position at my old company (which was an industry market leader) I could keep the situation under control and even if people hated me for whatever reason, they couldn't affect me. Most of the time I was hated because people thought that I was lucky to be in my position and that they knew better or that I was an obstacle to their success. Well it's been 2 years since I went off on my own and in that time those same people who hated me openly and privately have done everything they can to drag down my name, reputation and re-attribute my accomplishments. This has affected my professional reputation and with it the ease in which I can get things done. Of course people tell me who and who is actively doing this and do I retaliate?
No, I accepted that it would happen, even by people who were relatively close to me, and more to the point, I am not in any position to retaliate, it would just be a distraction. Because I'm not doing what I do because of criticism both good and bad, I'm doing it because I want to do it and I have something specific I wanted to accomplish. In terms of business, I wanted to know that I could do every aspect of management from a large company to a start-up. So as it's been, to all those who actively try to to fuck me when I've put myself in a lower position, I don't confront them, I just let them be because I know when I do make it, all of it wouldn't be worth even a passing thought. I'm not looking to just be a bit better, but to be in a totally different league.
Why I'm on TL But my industry reputation and my TL reputation are two very different things, me being disliked because it looks like I lead a perfect life isn't helpful here. And I'm aware that that is how I present myself. I'm not here to brag, I'm not here for my ego, and I usually don't post up personal photos or share something that I don't think is insightful. I'm here sincerely, but it is hard to take what I say sincerely at times, and I get that and being human, I can't help but always try to put my best foot forward.
So I'm going to leave you guys with a few practical points that allow me to keep going, even when it is the most shittiest time and I'm seriously frustrated or even depressed with how things are going. We all have different standards,and ambitions and for me, those standards are always getting higher. For the first time ever, in 2011, I thought I probably bit off more than I could chew, and nearly choked on some humble pie, but I kept at it, even through some weeks I couldn't sleep or eat or exercise properly because I just couldn't make things work. I have sleepless nights and I never expect sympathy because I made the choice to be in the position I am in and I have to live with having a family that I provide for and force them to share in my ambition whether they like it or not and if things work out, great, but if not, I wonder if I'm just burdening their lives when I could have already lived on fat cat corporate easy street. I have to live everyday to know that I am a selfish ambitious mofo and some days when everything is fucked, it gets to me. But I accept that for what it is and really, selfish as it may be, this is me.
I started again because I didn't want to regret not trying The thing that pushed me to go off and do something else was because I thought and I knew that if I didn't try to go off on my own now, then I never would and I would regret that for the rest of my life. I basically started from scratch again, and I thought, with all my experience and skill, it would be difficult running a few start-ups (lol), that I could do it, no matter how tough. But I was completely unprepared for the toll it took, in that, hard work, experience and everything I could bring to bear, just wasn't enough. Mentally, it was an immense blow that took everything I had to recover from and not let it just drag me under, even when things were ok, because I've never just done ok, when I've put everything into it and I am considered one of the top execs in my industry. It wasn' t that my ego was shaken, my understanding of my own capabilities took a massive hit and it was extremely hard not to start to question everything. As it's 2012 and things have turned positive on most levels, but it has been the toughest year for me in my life full stop.
Thing is, being part of TL and of course my family, is one of the main thing that keeps me balanced from being a zombie work horse. So 100% of the time when I'm writing, something has been on my mind, so having the privilege to post and be received is something that also keeps me going as well. Thank you TL.
So if I give the impression that I have rosy life of fairies and money falling from the sky, and that I jet set around the world in 1st class- well at one point I did have that life- business not first class- but no matter how much fail my life can have, I am always thankful for my family and the fact that I can have the opportunity to at least try to go for it. So I just wanted to share the following practical points that allow me to work the best I can work and keep pressing on, even if I feel as though I'm 2 steps behind for every 1 step forward:
1. Always keep learning and develop skills. Whatever you do, something which is new or interesting, learn all about it, but experience it, try to do it, and develop skills around it. Of course there is a limit in how much you have, but at the very least read books, at least a book a week on anything that interests you and when you find a topic that is very interesting read everything you can on the subject until you can differentiate between shitty writers and good writers. Give me any business strategy or marketing book and I'll tell you if the writer is full of shit or not in about 10 mins maximum.
The only thing separating something from being an opportunity is preparation.
If you're not reading at least 1 book every 2 weeks, you're never going to have any in-depth understanding to do anything outside of your immediate knowledge base. From those readings, do some writing, think about it, understand it and apply it. If you have any extra time, learn a language, learn photo shop, learn to take photos etc.
2. Make sure your work table, room and PC desktop is always clean and organized. If it isn't, you're always going to be inefficient. ALWAYS. Even if you are good at what you do, you could be 20% better. Before you begin your work, clean your desk, even if you don't want to make a thousand folders on your PC, at least label your files properly and if you make a mess, clean it then, and keep your room clean. If you can't do this, forget everything else, cause if what I'm saying is true, then everything you do is 20% less than what it should be and carry that over 5 years, you just fucked yourself out of a year. Don't argue with me, don't justify it, just for 3 months do exactly as I write, and then let me know if you aren't that more efficient.
3. Have a schedule book/calendar. Even if you don't follow it to the T, every day write in it what you have to do, just list it out at the very minimum and even if you write the same list every day for a week, just do it, and don't write it on random sheets of paper, get a calendar book and write it in. And every time you finish or start something, check it off to indicate that it is progress or done. Every time you finish a few days, go back and fold the top page from from the top right corner down so it makes half page fold (triangle top) and the next page fold it from the bottom left corner up. So after a while it will leave an empty triangle space in the middle of your calendar scheduler. Don't ask me why I do it, I just do it and it does make me feel as though I'm progressing. And that is the thing, time is so elusive, but if you can just get a handle on how much time is really passing in relation to what you are doing, it just keeps you on track.
4. Never blame others and never complain. Even if it is 98% the other person's fault, that 2% is something you can improve on, but if you keep blaming others or dwell on it, you lose that 2%. Life isn't about these massive wins that one day you win the lottery, its about the small edges that build up and you need to be focused to do that. Don't get distracted by others, of course you need to work with them, of course they may slack off, but don't think what you're doing is the end goal, you developing your capabilities is an on going goal and by default you will be able to produce results. But you can't do that if you are blaming the world, others and complaining. You have a job, it's tough, everyone has a tough life, just shut the fuck up and get it done. Make it simple and straightforward.
5. Exercise everyday, at least 20 push ups and 20 squats. Just do it, every day, even 5 and 5 or whatever, but if you don't, you're body just isn't optimal to work.
6. Always be cheerful and look on the bright side; life can be very shitty and it is most shitty when things happen beyond your control and even more shitty when you made a bad decision and you are trying to work your way out of it. But regardless, enjoy the moment, understand that it is a learning period and swear to yourself you're going to learn from this and make the most out of it, and then smile, even if it fucking hurts, just smile and press on. You need to be optimistic, because if you aren't no one is going to be optimistic for you and most of the time, if you can just hang on a bit longer and a bit longer than that, things will usually turn around, but if you give up first, well it is just fucked right then and there.
7. It's ok to despair once in a while and just veg out for 1 full day. It is my dirty little secret, but I may press myself hardcore for a few weeks on end, but whenever I have a chance to veg out, or I just can't work efficiently anymore, I just veg out for the day and at the end of the day, we do need a moment to recharge. Sometimes our harshest critics are ourselves and sometimes we just need to take a day off and smell the air and be thankful we are alive because at the end of the day, things are relative. Yes, I'm not making the millions that I want to be, but I'm still doing what I love and that is more than what most people can say, so sometimes the entire process of achieving something becomes so narrow and suffocating, you just need to veg out and be a human instead of a machine- but more than just recharging yourself physically, it's more about getting relative perspective to get back into it with a level head.
8. Always keep your personal finances in check. Don't over spend, don't miss your credit card payments, get a second job if you need to, or take a non-paying internship if it means you'll get a job with a future better salary, but whatever you do, keep your personal finances straight or else everything else won't seem to matter. Its funny that when you're personal finances are fucked up, you won't be able to focus on anything but that, then you're entire life is on pause. Get this fixed and never let it go out of hand. Sacrifice to make sure your credit is always good.
9. Lastly, you can't do any of things, none of it, until you know you want to achieve something, then naturally the focus comes, that it isn't a constant force of will to try to press on And not everyone wants to achieve something, cause you need routine, discipline to make something out of nothing and anything you make is directly proportional to the time and sacrifice you put into it. Some people are natural born achievers, others are not. But say that you're not a natural born achiever, then usually it is about maturity.
It would seem strange that I talk about maturity now, but I mean it when there is a point in your life, you realize that this is the one life you have to life and you better damn well live it. It's the ability to fundamentally understand that without having someone tell you the equivalent that, 'you only have a short period to live'. But to also balance it in the context of building something step-by-step as well.
Nothing happens overnight, but you need to have that determination as well. And I think most people who do not want to really achieve anything are the ones who really know themselves the least, who do not know what are their real passions aside from what is fed to them for some minor sense of happiness. With maturity, you know what kind of person you truly are, your strengths and weaknesses, what makes you grumpy or what kind of person really makes you the better person, and you will have an understanding that this is our one life to live, but also balance that with the fact that things take time to do properly, a confidence of self. If you have that maturity, then all the points above are acceptable. It isn't an effort to do them and they have a effective result on what you are trying to achieve.
You Won't Break, Take that as a Fact In much of what I've written here is what I've written in the past in one shape or another, but I share it now because I also need to take stock of what I do and don't do. When I'm on the ball, all of the above are in play, even when nothing seems to be working, sometimes this is only thing that keeps me able to go on. But as soon as you stop pressing on, it's over. So you need to at the very least, keep pressing on to stay in the game. So I keep at it until something breaks, but what breaks will not be me.
My friends at TL, everyone's life is difficult if you are doing something that means something to you. If you go in with focus and an understanding that no matter how much you fail, are set back, or even completely fucked by circumstances outside of your control, as long as you just don't break, you'll make it through to the other side. If you don't break something else will always break first.
Go break em TL and never let them think you even broke a sweat trying.
Just when I was thinking about what new things I should start learning about, this pops up. I don't think it's any coincidence that it always boils down to studying yourself and the things you want to be good at. This is what my old professor told me would be "stretching", and your words just emphasize that success can only come with self improvement.
Goddamnit I'm navelgazing, but that leads me to one question:
When you figured out what you wanted to do, was it an evolutionary process that slowly unraveled as you meditated on it or was it something that emerged fully-formed in a single burst of realization?
Very great blog, to me, even if 1-9 werent any new concepts to me, I still think that when someone like you lays them out its is very great because even if I know what I should do, actually doing them is something else. Im actually at a point of my life where I am soon to start my career and this post was very good to read in that aspect.
Thanks and I hope 2012 will be a good (albeit a little easier) year for you
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
I think you missed the point of the blog, sure "unique" things may be good but the novelty wears off of anything. Maybe you can read some of the his other blogs, reading this alone may be a bit confusing. I thought it was pretty good, my desk is pretty messy lol..
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
well I don't know you, but I heard it from a lot of people and I know it by myself because since I started to exercise on a daily basis I am a lot more active than I used to be and way more efficient at work, before that I was always tired and didn't have the energy to do much.. oh starting to eat healthier helped a lot too
well this is the second blog I read from you and found it very interesting.. thanks for share
Do you want unique content or timeless truths? Maybe a great thinker and philosopher can come up with something that is both, but how many years does pass between those rare occasions?
People usually need to hear old "life advice" repeated and substantiated by experience (if you don't need any advise at all, count yourself lucky), before they consider to follow it with any conviction. I think MA passes on his hard-won(?) experiences out of kindness, why should you disapprove that? I think that Bertrand Russell disapproved of philosophers who felt that their own philosophies did not apply to them (this is of course open for critique).
I would like you to know that I am thankful for your advice, MightyAtom.
PS. Over the entrance to Uppsala University there is a quote by Thomas Thorild which may be translated to "To think freely is great, but to think rightly is greater". Which in my mind should mean that one ought to judge ideas and works in general by their worth, and not by their uniqueness (or lack thereof). It is sort of anti-hipster in a way - "I can't enjoy this because it is to mainstream". DS.
I really like the last two points that you made. I believe that you can achieve almost anything if you just want it badly enough. The reason why you don't achieve, is because you don't believe or want it enough.
Very good advice. Thank you! I often tend to chill to much. But I really wanna try my best and spend my time right. I will try focus on the calendar advice and see if I dont get more done.
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
If you have no idea what you're talking about, don't say anything -- another lesson you learned today!
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
If you have no idea what you're talking about, don't say anything -- another lesson you learned today!
Zing!
I love commenting on blogs, but in this one, I just have to agree with the clean desk part! (I cleaned my desk before posting this, and I feel at least 10% more efficient!)
On May 03 2012 02:59 Ciryandor wrote: Just when I was thinking about what new things I should start learning about, this pops up. I don't think it's any coincidence that it always boils down to studying yourself and the things you want to be good at. This is what my old professor told me would be "stretching", and your words just emphasize that success can only come with self improvement.
Goddamnit I'm navelgazing, but that leads me to one question:
When you figured out what you wanted to do, was it an evolutionary process that slowly unraveled as you meditated on it or was it something that emerged fully-formed in a single burst of realization?
For me, I came to business only after I had explored many many different fields first, and I don't think it was anything I ever meditated on and got understanding with, it was more like I would get exposed to something small, and just taste it a bit and then I'd seek it out a bit more and even though it wasn't natural or me at first, I kept at it because I was curious, then I started to actively search it out and then bang, I realized that this was it and I dove right in.
I actually actively avoided learning about business as I was very science and arts oriented growing up and it has to do with my mother's view that she was extremely risk averse and for her business represented that. In her life she had seen and been close with many wealthy families, based in business, and seen them rise and fall, in very dramatic fashion. In the 1960's much of our family's wealth/land had been transferred to the dictatorship at the time, some families were on the good side, others not. But it wasn't until I was in Korea under my uncle that I stopped judging things as good or bad and was just open to exploring options.
Learning business very late in life, 25, was such an interesting experience because I had no background in anything related to business that for the first time in my life I couldn't anticipate the questions and answers of the professor and that I had no frame of reference, I didn't know what M&A or IPO or even what stocks and bonds really meant etc, but I took to like a fish to water and what was great about it was that the practical nature of business was a great counterbalance to my more abstract upbringing. But if you think about, 25 is extremely late, most kids who go to an ivy league have a high level of focus by the end of high school with some very tangible goals, and by this time I had already finished my under grad and grad studies and then at 25 had started all over again; but it was the thing that really fit and after a couple of years, there was little I didn't know- I mean I'd buy text books on every business subject and read them for fun so I could just understand everything I could, just because it felt as though everything that I learned, did, was like another arrow to my quiver, I had that very deliberate feeling of self.
But I wouldn't have had it any other way, I think what allowed me to excel past a lot of others who had much stronger business backgrounds was that field of business did fill me and I'm sure you can tell I am very passionate about the field. I don't know if I had started in commerce that I'd be much farther along, but to be frank, I've always been more concerned about playing rugby than most anything else. ^^
On May 03 2012 03:35 TurpinOS wrote: Very great blog, to me, even if 1-9 werent any new concepts to me, I still think that when someone like you lays them out its is very great because even if I know what I should do, actually doing them is something else. Im actually at a point of my life where I am soon to start my career and this post was very good to read in that aspect.
Thanks and I hope 2012 will be a good (albeit a little easier) year for you
Thanks, 2012 is a bit better already ^^, for me it is a daily check list to see if I'm off track and if anything is a bit amiss, I know I'm just not being as focused as I can be. If I'm not taking the time to exercise a bit, or my room isn't spotless etc, I know that I have to man up a bit and get back on track. Thing is, you're right, nothing here is groundbreaking, but it isn't meant to be, that being said, don't do it, and nothing groundbreaking will have a chance to be applied. Good luck with your career. ^^
Good advice, thanks for taking the time to write this. Its very important to keep pushing yourself in life and not let yourself get demotivated when things don't work out (even if it persists for long periods of time).
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
If you have no idea what you're talking about, don't say anything -- another lesson you learned today!
Who said I have no idea? Have i not lived through the same life as everyone else?
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
I would agree that nothing in the blog was amazing or original, but I think for most younger people and people who aren't consistent in their achievements/performance, these basic things get neglected and that includes myself. Why I write on it is because, in my context, I am working 10-12 hours of actual work a day, I travel for months out of the year where I don't see my family or interact with friends outside of a few text messages or FB posts and in most cases I am the critical point where a deal or project could work or fail. And I'm saying, that these aren't just random pieces of equal advice, but at times the only thing that gives me enough breathing space to keep working.
I'll give you an example, people say, why only 10 mins of working out? Cause when you are working 10-12 hours of actual work a day, do you really have time for proper work out? You simply don't. It's not that I don't want to go down to the hotel gym and work out, but I seriously don't have the time or energy to do it, and when I do have some space/time, it is the first priority on my list, but for the most part, when you work that much, you don't have the time, but what I'm saying is, at the very minimum, do the minimum as a daily necessity.
When I hear younger guys in business talk among themselves about the 'best way to get over jet lag in business travel', I think it is cute, cause obviously their not working enough yet-, when you sleep as little as I do, you're never jet lagged because you're literally up all the time, I take naps whenever I can grab them, and I don't need sleeping pills to pass out, if I need to sleep, I sleep then get right back up. When I get on a flight, I don't eat don't do anything but put the blinders on and sleep. Other execs like to work on the plane, I don't I get my work done, even if it is in airport lounge right up to the final boarding call. And so what I'm saying, even at the most difficult levels and amount of work load, these very basic things are still very much relevant and even more than that, essential and it isn't something you can pick and choose.
As the regional director for my firm, I was responsible for any on site expenses for clients, other staff etc. So say we went to Taipei for 5 days with 5 staff, then I'd pay for the hotel and all expenses, food, transport on my own credit card. Of course when I know in advance the expenses are going to be over 20k euros then I'll get them to do a wire transfer to one of the offices where I can pick it up, but otherwise, business being what it is, my monthly expenses were about 7-12k euros a month. Now I made a lot of monthly salary, but still, doing your monthly expense report is a pain at times because you're so paranoid about missing any receipts or costs, that $10 receipt is really $10, or that $200 piece of paper really is $200, also at that level, a company is always trying to manage executive expense accounts. And at this particular company, why were weren't given corporate cards was because of the nature of the company structure, so while this isn't the norm for a company of this size, the fact is, doing one month of expenses took about 4 hours of work. Sometimes I really didn't have 4 hours to spare when this and that was on due. So some times I'd have 40k euros in back expenses, and then it starts to be distracting that the company owes you that much.
Thing is, if you can give me the benefit of the doubt that I already know that unique content is king, that I know that it is a rehash, but that why I write is to point to the context and application of the content. That is, even at the most difficult points of your work career, even at the highest levels, all these things done together still are a necessity. If you're looking for more knowledge on a certain subject, obviously two lines on exercising daily isn't meant to supplement the entire H&F forum, but for you just boil it down to pep talk, you haven't bothered to give me the benefit of the doubt. For you to even pick and choose 'being positive is good' is just as meaningless to write just because the individual points wasn't the reason why I wrote it. But I personally don't take it like that, I just don't think you read it in context and if you don't, your comments are entirely valid.
Hey guys, thanks for the posts, I'm always up for both positive and negative, and again, sincerely thanks, I share, but the feedback always makes it worth while and of course I read everything ^^. You're always welcome to see me if you visit Korea, and I'll take you all out for drinks, and bbq ^^ As long as I'm in the country, I'm always up for it.
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
If you have no idea what you're talking about, don't say anything -- another lesson you learned today!
Who said I have no idea? Have i not lived through the same life as everyone else?
LOL you actually haven't. I guarantee that you'll never be able to experience some of the things I've had.
OP, great job! I'm 100% certain that you could also produce a million and one specific things to help, but its almost always more helpful to just lay out the most essential tips.
awesome article! do u happen to know who i am on liquidpoker? if u are the person who i think you are, i wanna send you a quick pm to ask you about the career path im about to pursue.
On May 03 2012 09:03 MightyAtom wrote: ~snip I would agree that nothing in the blog was amazing or original, but I think for most younger people and people who aren't consistent in their achievements/performance, these basic things get neglected and that includes myself. ~snip~
Thanks for the blog MA, they always have some interesting stuff in them, and the above point I find totally correct for me ^ As a younger person myself I've let slip plans I've had for the year, just being lazy and inefficient at work uni and work and it really takes these kinds of blogs to make me look at myself.
So thank you - I even done 20 squats and push ups and I'm gonna set myself todo them every morning when I get up, as I never seem to get to the gym.
This blog timing couldn't have come at a better time for me personally. Just yesterday I had to deal with a major failure. It was just, oh mistake here, mistake there. It was straight up you failed. And that hit me really hard cause it's been a long time that I've just outright failed anything (mind you I make plenty of mistakes but nothing to this severity).To just see this renews my spirit and motivates me to do better cause I'm just a college student who fucked himself over. I can do bettter and I will.
So thank you for taking your time with writing this. We do need to be told these things every once and a while and you happened to say it right when I needed it.
Great blog. Late last year while unemployed I started the checklist every day. I cleaned up my desk and pc. And as this year rolled in I started going to the gym every day. Just last week I decided I wanted to touch up my Italian as I hadn't looked at anything in years. And all of this combined has made me a far better person. More organized. More active. I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said. Again great blog.
Wow, thanks for the life advice! Your 1st point had never occurred to me as something that might be important. Because I still have university classes, I try to focus on that and just the other week I convinced myself its too late to pick up an instrument or learn a new language. I guess its important to keep learning stuff, hmm...
Momentum is a hell of a thing. It works both ways...you can either keep it rolling or let it stop. Once it stops, it's going to be hard to start moving again especially when you have something that's weighing on you heavily. I've had points where I had so many things eating at my confidence to do anything even thought I knew I was more than capable of succeeding. These points are simple ways to keep yourself in check. Anyone who says exercising is pointless or won't help you mentally is crazy. The chemicals your body releases after a good work out stimulate cognitive function and can be a catalyst for a productive day.
I would add that ambition comes with burden. Any time you step outside of the realm of normal and put yourself in a place where things can go wrong, you'll often come face to face with humbling experiences. I have respect for anyone who pushes themselves to do something greater; anyone who decides that they don't want to be average. It takes time to adapt to something new but if you can keep everything relatively balanced and remember what is truly important to you, you'll be in a great position fulfill your aspirations.
This is a really great post and I know everyone experiences periods of time which tear at them mentally and emotionally. Thanks for the advice and good luck! The economy will settle down eventually and a business venture like yours will reap the benefits of long hours and tireless work.
On May 03 2012 02:59 Ciryandor wrote: Just when I was thinking about what new things I should start learning about, this pops up. I don't think it's any coincidence that it always boils down to studying yourself and the things you want to be good at. This is what my old professor told me would be "stretching", and your words just emphasize that success can only come with self improvement.
Goddamnit I'm navelgazing, but that leads me to one question:
When you figured out what you wanted to do, was it an evolutionary process that slowly unraveled as you meditated on it or was it something that emerged fully-formed in a single burst of realization?
For me, I came to business only after I had explored many many different fields first, and I don't think it was anything I ever meditated on and got understanding with, it was more like I would get exposed to something small, and just taste it a bit and then I'd seek it out a bit more and even though it wasn't natural or me at first, I kept at it because I was curious, then I started to actively search it out and then bang, I realized that this was it and I dove right in.
I actually actively avoided learning about business as I was very science and arts oriented growing up and it has to do with my mother's view that she was extremely risk averse and for her business represented that. In her life she had seen and been close with many wealthy families, based in business, and seen them rise and fall, in very dramatic fashion. In the 1960's much of our family's wealth/land had been transferred to the dictatorship at the time, some families were on the good side, others not. But it wasn't until I was in Korea under my uncle that I stopped judging things as good or bad and was just open to exploring options.
Learning business very late in life, 25, was such an interesting experience because I had no background in anything related to business that for the first time in my life I couldn't anticipate the questions and answers of the professor and that I had no frame of reference, I didn't know what M&A or IPO or even what stocks and bonds really meant etc, but I took to like a fish to water and what was great about it was that the practical nature of business was a great counterbalance to my more abstract upbringing. But if you think about, 25 is extremely late, most kids who go to an ivy league have a high level of focus by the end of high school with some very tangible goals, and by this time I had already finished my under grad and grad studies and then at 25 had started all over again; but it was the thing that really fit and after a couple of years, there was little I didn't know- I mean I'd buy text books on every business subject and read them for fun so I could just understand everything I could, just because it felt as though everything that I learned, did, was like another arrow to my quiver, I had that very deliberate feeling of self.
But I wouldn't have had it any other way, I think what allowed me to excel past a lot of others who had much stronger business backgrounds was that field of business did fill me and I'm sure you can tell I am very passionate about the field. I don't know if I had started in commerce that I'd be much farther along, but to be frank, I've always been more concerned about playing rugby than most anything else. ^^
I'm a freshman in college and have no fucking clue what I'm doing with my life. It's a struggle to just make it through the day's work, and I know I'm blessed to be here and have these opportunities and I hate myself so much for not taking full advantage of my education and for letting a whole year go to waste. Thanks for the advice, I guess it's really about finding passion, whatever that means.
Am I preparing for a trip to the moon or something?
IDK man I just like go to work, buy stuff I like, sometimes my stuff is really neat, sometimes it isn't... the only thing I really harp on is never being late to work and never calling off. Unless I absolutely have to.
Here is some advice for you: relax and give yourself a break bro. Nobody wins. You can't take anything with you. This is all you get. If you die with a whole bunch of money, you worked that much too hard. But, from the sounds of things, you have kids and are busting ass for them. That is awesome. Still, give yourself a break man. Just reading that shit made me tired.
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
If you have no idea what you're talking about, don't say anything -- another lesson you learned today!
Who said I have no idea? Have i not lived through the same life as everyone else?
Yeah, considering your last blog was asking people on how to avoid impulsive purchases of random shits I'd say you really do have interesting and insightful life advice.
Please don't let the haters here discourage you, do share them.
I almost didn't want to come in here to read this because I was in bed and didn't really feel like getting up, but I have work to do now and studying to be done and I needed that spark of motivation. So thank you.
I think the most important part is keeping a clear goal in mind. I've adopted a mantra of sorts similar to it recently and it's just a really good thing to keep in mind.
Thanks mightyatom, your blogs are always inspirational. I'm currently going through a slow time through my life and looking to try to turn things around. Gonna print this out and read this each morning :D
On May 03 2012 14:22 CursOr wrote: Am I preparing for a trip to the moon or something?
IDK man I just like go to work, buy stuff I like, sometimes my stuff is really neat, sometimes it isn't... the only thing I really harp on is never being late to work and never calling off. Unless I absolutely have to.
Here is some advice for you: relax and give yourself a break bro. Nobody wins. You can't take anything with you. This is all you get. If you die with a whole bunch of money, you worked that much too hard. But, from the sounds of things, you have kids and are busting ass for them. That is awesome. Still, give yourself a break man. Just reading that shit made me tired.
for me personally, it's about how far can I press myself and there are lot of things I'd like to do later on, I mean if I was really all about the cash I wouldn't spend what time I have posting here, no matter how much if does balance me, so I'm not living entirely for cash, but I have a lot of obligations as well. At the end of the day, I want to be in a position to help and do what whatever I find value in. The most inspirational thing I say was a interview with ted turner and they ask him about why he spend his money in this and that way for a charity and he says, something to the effect, ' I don't need to explain how I spend my money' and he just walked off the set in the middle of a major interview. My country, Korea, is pretty fucked up on a lot of levels, and part of why I work is that one day soon I'd like to contribute something, in whatever small way, and make something a bit better. The way I'd like to do it is by supporting financially.
don't get me wrong, I get tired, but fuck it, one life to live man, but to each their own as well. best time in my day is when I get to play with my kids, just following them around.
Guys again, thanks for the posts, I do read them all, and they are as encouraging to me as well ^^ I'm always up for a drink if you guys visit Korea and I'm here.
I really like the first step. A danish "society person" actually proposed that we make a 4 days work week and use the fifth day to learn something new that you didn't already know, that being playing a music instrument, learning a language, handcraft etc. etc. And ofcourse, it had to be mandatory. Just a thought!
As a followup i just beastmoded a paper and prepped for my exam with the same paper. aw. yeah.
gsl time now though so i guess i have a study break...
but as a question, when you hit these productive strides do you just ride it out, or let it go? I feel like I'm on this thin edge of writing really well, or collapsing and writing like shit.
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
Ive read every letter of this blog twice now, and have soaked in every bit of advice. This is a plethora of amazing knowledge and is really influencing my life right now. So if you don't like it then that's okay, but know that for others (like me) this is truly amazing advice; particularly because I want to go into this specific field. So thanks mightyatom for writing another masterpiece
While reading this informative, enlightening, inspirational blog, I can't help but think about my present circumstances. I'm a teenager that thinks he doesn't belong where he is, who thinks that he belongs somewhere better, because he can do better. And yet. Plagued by plain laziness, a severe lack of motivation and inspiration, I, unfortunately, am on the road to failure. I hope for a future of marriage, a well-paying job that I love (A lawyer, maybe a professor), but these dreams, I have come to realise, will remain as dreams. When I eventually reach adulthood, I know that these dreams will never be achieved, and I will lock them up in the back of my head, and create re-defined dreams to fit my new circumstances. This will just end up being a harsh, vicious cycle. I fear becoming a dreamer, and yet, I can not bring myself to do anything about it.
I understand that the life of a student, especially an Asian one, is to achieve a rather simple, yet tedious to reach goal - study hard to get good grades. Heck, education systems elsewhere in the world might claim that this isn't what the teach students to be, the values that they guide students by, but I'm pretty sure the hard truth is - that's the way if you want to succeed. There are obviously exceptions, like born-geniuses like Mark Zuckerberg and whatnot, but that is irrelevant.
I want to try my best to fix all these things. I want to be able to live my dreams for once. I want to learn to endure the pains of hard work. I want to overcome my laziness.
And yet.
I'll try to read a book every two weeks. Maybe I'll start with books that are of issues that I have an interest in - religion, linguistics, philosophy. I'm just afraid of coming off as pretentious when I read all these books, I mean, I'm a 15 year old teenager.
I'll try to keep to a schedule too. I'll use one of my old spare notebooks. I don't think this will go well, but it's worth a shot I suppose.
On May 03 2012 17:36 Utikiz wrote: I really like the first step. A danish "society person" actually proposed that we make a 4 days work week and use the fifth day to learn something new that you didn't already know, that being playing a music instrument, learning a language, handcraft etc. etc. And ofcourse, it had to be mandatory. Just a thought!
I would be down with that, at least society would be more well rounded, in Korea we generally just follow one acceptable path, makes us very competitive and narrow minded in terms of what we deem as successful or proper.
On May 03 2012 18:12 Juliette wrote: As a followup i just beastmoded a paper and prepped for my exam with the same paper. aw. yeah.
gsl time now though so i guess i have a study break...
but as a question, when you hit these productive strides do you just ride it out, or let it go? I feel like I'm on this thin edge of writing really well, or collapsing and writing like shit.
Also what is the drinking age in korea?
if I get into a productive rhythm I keep going and usually because of it, I'm able to wipe everything off my plate. Thing is, you do need to pace yourself and it isn't about the length of time, but the quality. When I say I work x number of hours, I'm doing more work than most people do in a week and I do it in a day. It actually takes a lot of time to develop that ability to extend it. And I think when you feel like you are on that edge, push yourself until you start writing like shit cause you'll know it. When you in the zone, you don't feel the time and just do. So if you feel it, and you start to really feel heavy, just stop, rest and get back to it later. I'm a big napper, and if something is really detailed, I personally need a lot of sleep to write coherently.
Drinking age in Korea, officially 19 american age, but actually, it doesn't matter within reason, i.e. 17 or so. Not that I'm advocating under aged drinking unless you're a relative. ^^
I think the advice you give is great. Sometimes we are so hung up on finding niches / shortcuts for success (or life in general) that we forget that it's the solid basics that matter the most.
You said you ventured into business at age 25, did you go back to university in order to study for it? If you did, whats your major?
While reading this informative, enlightening, inspirational blog, I can't help but think about my present circumstances. I'm a teenager that thinks he doesn't belong where he is, who thinks that he belongs somewhere better, because he can do better. And yet. Plagued by plain laziness, a severe lack of motivation and inspiration, I, unfortunately, am on the road to failure. I hope for a future of marriage, a well-paying job that I love (A lawyer, maybe a professor), but these dreams, I have come to realise, will remain as dreams. When I eventually reach adulthood, I know that these dreams will never be achieved, and I will lock them up in the back of my head, and create re-defined dreams to fit my new circumstances. This will just end up being a harsh, vicious cycle. I fear becoming a dreamer, and yet, I can not bring myself to do anything about it.
I understand that the life of a student, especially an Asian one, is to achieve a rather simple, yet tedious to reach goal - study hard to get good grades. Heck, education systems elsewhere in the world might claim that this isn't what the teach students to be, the values that they guide students by, but I'm pretty sure the hard truth is - that's the way if you want to succeed. There are obviously exceptions, like born-geniuses like Mark Zuckerberg and whatnot, but that is irrelevant.
I want to try my best to fix all these things. I want to be able to live my dreams for once. I want to learn to endure the pains of hard work. I want to overcome my laziness.
And yet.
I'll try to read a book every two weeks. Maybe I'll start with books that are of issues that I have an interest in - religion, linguistics, philosophy. I'm just afraid of coming off as pretentious when I read all these books, I mean, I'm a 15 year old teenager.
I'll try to keep to a schedule too. I'll use one of my old spare notebooks. I don't think this will go well, but it's worth a shot I suppose.
Thanks for reading.
1. People like Zuck or the google boys or even Jobs etc, they aren't the norm whatsoever, if you look at the top 100 richest of any country, most are over 60 2. at age 15, if you're even thinking about it, you're already doing pretty good, disciplined is built over time, you just got to start somewhere 3. when I was 15, I was just doing nothing but playing rugby and really nothing else and trying to get a girl friend.
Dreams are a great place to start, but don't expect to see things happen over night, plus at 15, every year is a new year, and as long as you just take things step-by-step, throw away the anxiety of not being able to achieve and just get into a really strong routine, then when the time comes for you to step it up, you'll be able to put the hours behind it.
Malcolm Gladwell writes these really good short pithy stories on unique sociological trends/observations and there is one story about how it takes 10,000 hours of training to be a world class expert in anything you do, now, that may or may not be exactly right, but classical musicians train that much as well as most pro athletes by the time they are considered world class. At the end of the day though, there is a start and you just take it from there.
Just do what I've mentioned first, make it happen, then as life takes you, you'll just add on to it, and as a Singaporean, much like Korea, if you don't study your ass off, you'll likely fail anyways, so its not like you have a choice in the matter ^^.
But don't think too much, it really isn't helpful, think after you've done something, thinking first about too much of something that you aren't sure about when you're young makes you speculate and makes you go cukoo and its unnecessary. Make a very clear schedule and make space in that schedule for something like a hobby and just enjoy and get better at it. Everything else will work itself out.
I don't think I had any plan until I was 30, otherwise, I was just living life without regrets and just continually learning as much as I could until things started to click into place, but I did learn on my own, I did take chances and opportunities that the rest again, will work itself out. ^^
Stop speculating and just make a routine and in that 30mins every day, just do something new, whether it is joining a coding free website and learning. ^^
On May 03 2012 20:35 NonFactor wrote: Nice blog, enjoyed reading it.
I think the advice you give is great. Sometimes we are so hung up on finding niches / shortcuts for success (or life in general) that we forget that it's the solid basics that matter the most.
You said you ventured into business at age 25, did you go back to university in order to study for it? If you did, whats your major?
Keep them blogs coming!
yes, did my masters in business from 25-27, my major was strategic management and business negotiation; I was going to do a masters-in-law afterwards and be a career gov't negotiator, but I enjoyed the business strategy so much, and eventually got into marketing. I ended up freelancing as a commercial fashion brand license negotiator, so it was through that I learned much of my marketing outside of studies.
Again, thanks guys, I do read the comments (I know I'm repeating myself), so I am selectively replying to the ones where I think I can add something more ^^
I seem to learn so much from reading great bloggers like you, JWD, and thedeadhaji. I appreciate all your works, and I'll apply your advice as best as possible come college.
Times like these where I am really depress about my self and I happen to read your blog really makes me feel like there is a chance to make a better tomorrow for myself and a better future . Will try implement all your advices and keep it in mind.
Nice blog. Even though I've heard of most of these points and try my best to apply them daily, it was great to see them laid out and explained very well. Wishing you the best in your business ventures
I might be a little bit off topic here but since you are working in the world of business (and seem to enjoy it quite a lot), and since you suggest reading a lot of books, would you have any suggestions as far as book goes for people that are also interested in the world of business.
I think that all comments about this being standard or "rehashed life advice" are from people who's still in the beginning of their careers or not even there yet. I'm 25yo and I'm CEO of a company that's not as big as MA's but it's still a lot of responsibility and I can totally relate to almost everything he's saying. I feel that I'm not 100% efficent all the time, especially when pressured at work.
I'm gonna print out these bad ass advice and put them close to my desk somewhere so I can remind myself that the small adjustments makes your working life easier. And the best part about being efficent when you work is that you'll enjoy your free time more, even if you're going to end up damaged and think about work even on your spare time!
If I'm going to SK I'd like to hook up, always been intrested in the korean life and business.
I can totally relate to "I started again because I didn't want to regret not trying".
I took a big gamble last year. I worked my ass off on a special project (this special project was on the side, and I was already working for them for 60 hours a week). I made a huge difference at my workplace (I was only there temporarily), and that ended up leading to an amazing job opportunity, since they wanted to keep me. Unfortunately, the location was not compatible with my plans for continuing my education in the long run.
I turned it down because it wasn't what I wanted to do. It was the hardest decision I've ever made. And things aren't going too great for me at the moment.
There are times that I regret declining that job offer, but I know that I would have been far more dissatisfied with myself for quitting my degree if I had taken that job.
Thank you for the blog. I always enjoy reading things such as this, especially at the point in life i am now. Really enjoyed the read. I am definatly going to bookmark this as i have a few other blogs on TL that relate to buisness life strategies and see if i can apply more of them into my life.
The little things help, and blogs like this always seem to get me into a better position because they tell me to do things i may have thought of, yet never got around to doing. Haveing someone such as MA, who has gone through much success and mental downfall, tell you whats up is a cool thing. It is also one of the reasons i come on TL, for gems like this.
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
Sure for most people being positive is good, but that isnt necessarily true for all. Some people actually strive off of being pessimistic, believe it or not. Personally in some situations I do indeed strive off the negative aspects of things.
8. Always keep your personal finances in check. Don't over spend, don't miss your credit card payments, get a second job if you need to, or take a non-paying internship if it means you'll get a job with a future better salary, but whatever you do, keep your personal finances straight or else everything else won't seem to matter. Its funny that when you're personal finances are fucked up, you won't be able to focus on anything but that, then you're entire life is on pause. Get this fixed and never let it go out of hand. Sacrifice to make sure your credit is always good.
I can relate so much to this. I thank my mother for teaching me the value of being financially intelligent. As she says: 1. Never spend more than you earn 2. Always make sure you have something for the rainy days 3. If its a need, buy it even if it's expensive, if it's a want, think twice before buying it even if it only costs a penny.
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
16 year old's response??? I find that insulting. This is really good advice all around and I'll keep reading it until I improve my life.
Thank you for taking your time to share your experiences. I like to find advices to use on myself to develop myself as a person, and while this behavior usually takes a lot of sorting out and discarding, I must say that your list brought up the major points, if not all, there is to know. I even got to add some of your points to my own list. For this, I am thankful.
I would like to repay the favor, to get you to feel better about yourself, and the only thing I can think of would be that "it gets better". We both know that that you already know that, but it is worth saying once in a while when things gets nasty. Kind of a mantra thing. But you know what, I think that will just have to do, for now. Refocus, one thing at a time, and you'll be back on track soon. I promise.
Always be cheerful and look on the bright side. Thanks!
Wow this is a really great blog. Sometimes you need to retell yourself these things so that you can push on and not give up. I feel everyone has room to grow and can achieve great things as long as they approach the matter with a good attitude/mindset and have the determination to stick it out even when things get though. Reading this made me reflect on different aspects of my life and I would like to thank you since I feel this has made me want to push myself even more and try to improve on my mistakes even when I'm not completely responsible for them.
On May 04 2012 00:11 TurpinOS wrote: I might be a little bit off topic here but since you are working in the world of business (and seem to enjoy it quite a lot), and since you suggest reading a lot of books, would you have any suggestions as far as book goes for people that are also interested in the world of business.
Thanks a lot again
I'm actually going to help contribute some in-depth on going reviews soon for TL ^^, so give me at least a week! Cheers!
On May 04 2012 00:46 JollYRoGeR wrote: I think that all comments about this being standard or "rehashed life advice" are from people who's still in the beginning of their careers or not even there yet. I'm 25yo and I'm CEO of a company that's not as big as MA's but it's still a lot of responsibility and I can totally relate to almost everything he's saying. I feel that I'm not 100% efficent all the time, especially when pressured at work.
I'm gonna print out these bad ass advice and put them close to my desk somewhere so I can remind myself that the small adjustments makes your working life easier. And the best part about being efficent when you work is that you'll enjoy your free time more, even if you're going to end up damaged and think about work even on your spare time!
If I'm going to SK I'd like to hook up, always been intrested in the korean life and business.
25 and CEO, sick nice! SK drinks anytime! And you're already a different breed, for me running some start-ups was because I just wanted to round myself out, but I find myself really more of an established company environment guy. I think I like crushing other companies more than starting one up ^^.
On May 04 2012 03:16 Impervious wrote: I can totally relate to "I started again because I didn't want to regret not trying".
I took a big gamble last year. I worked my ass off on a special project (this special project was on the side, and I was already working for them for 60 hours a week). I made a huge difference at my workplace (I was only there temporarily), and that ended up leading to an amazing job opportunity, since they wanted to keep me. Unfortunately, the location was not compatible with my plans for continuing my education in the long run.
I turned it down because it wasn't what I wanted to do. It was the hardest decision I've ever made. And things aren't going too great for me at the moment.
There are times that I regret declining that job offer, but I know that I would have been far more dissatisfied with myself for quitting my degree if I had taken that job.
My lovely wife, while extremely supportive and understands me, reminds me that I am a bit selfish and may have jumped the gun a bit, and she has a right to. But one thing is, that I would have regretted the rest of my life for not trying, when I was 35, I realized that if I didn't try then, then I likely never would. Has it been easy, no; has there been many bumps, yes, and I still working it out everyday, yup, would I like to enjoy the fruits of stability and build on the accomplishments I had, yes- can I do both...no.
But I reckon, when things eventually work out and maybe, maybe I just get back to square one, in terms of my financial position, I will be then in a position to have my cake and eat it too. Ultimately, have I progressed, yes, and I would say the only thing that fucks with my mind is that I have these expectations of where I should be at and they are based off of my past experience in working in large companies, which I have found to be entirely off base in working in a start-up situation. The days that I readjust my expectations and leave my ego at the door, are the good days, the days I don't, I feel the need to run through what I've learned and justify that I made the 'right' choice.
Thing is, while I know better than to even think there is a 'right' choice, I can't help it because I am human, but it comes down to the fact that if my future self, 10 years from now comes back in time to when I was 35 and says, 'Yo, don't fucking go to a start-up, you're a strategist, not a entrepreneurial type, you're gonna fuck yourself and your kids', I'd probably tell my future self to fuck off and ask him when he became such a pussy. If my future self came to me now, and said the same thing, I'd probably say, ' too fucking late,now just give me some pointers how to make it work the best that it can, and why are you such a pussy now?'
At the end of the day, the choices we make, whether for long term objectives, or by our passion, I think as long as we do honestly take a reality check, manage expectations and keep our focus up, life always works out in one way or another (cliche but true). It's only shitty when you give up because of anxiety. I'll walk away from a project that I've fucked up, no doubt, but it's because I know I fucked it up and after I did explore the options, -cause even retreat is a strategic option- but I won't give up or keep going in blind because of anxiety of missed expectations.
So good on you, at least you know yourself that you would have regretted and that shows passion. So take a moment also to realign your expectations instead of comparing to what was, what is past is past,and just to the next opportunity. ^^
On May 04 2012 13:29 MightyAtom wrote: Guys, I'm a bit in the weeds at the moment, but will respond in detail to posts in 24 hours ^^
Does that mean you're getting high or into trouble? :x
'in the weeds' is a term I picked up from watching 'top chef' when they are behind in their food orders ^^ so either, if I was going to get high, I wouldn't post it and at 37, only person I really get in trouble by is my wife (the police love me). ^^
On May 03 2012 03:35 Advocado wrote: The exercise advice is bullshit.
Oh jeez, the man writes an amazing blog/life advice, and thats the best you can come up with?
Seriously you could attempt to make a counter argument instead of a 16 year old's response
But even if it is bullshit there are literally no draw backs to exercising every day 30 mins a day unless you are doing it improperly and injuring yourself.
Amazing? I probably shouldnt have commented on this blog because I think the majority of it is rehashed life advice. If the guy wants to get good at writing - absolutely go for it. But unique content is king and that "You should exercise, avoid debt, keep your desk clean etc. etc." is boring. Its a lot of peptalk and incoherent advice.
Going to the Teamliquid H&F forum will net you way more information that you can explore yourself.
Being positive is good though.
Sure for most people being positive is good, but that isnt necessarily true for all. Some people actually strive off of being pessimistic, believe it or not. Personally in some situations I do indeed strive off the negative aspects of things.
In terms of perfecting something, like practice or working harder, I agree, some people need that to take things more seriously, traditionally most Korean families say, 'not good enough,' opposed to, 'great job' when the effort from their children is on that line between good and great- encouragement is usually framed in the negative; but in terms of continual productivity, especially when it is a shitty environment to begin with, whether it be a big project for the survival of your company or being in the middle of war, I'd disagree and I think that is more of the context of the post. When you're continually getting beat down on, optimism is more a survival tactic.
8. Always keep your personal finances in check. Don't over spend, don't miss your credit card payments, get a second job if you need to, or take a non-paying internship if it means you'll get a job with a future better salary, but whatever you do, keep your personal finances straight or else everything else won't seem to matter. Its funny that when you're personal finances are fucked up, you won't be able to focus on anything but that, then you're entire life is on pause. Get this fixed and never let it go out of hand. Sacrifice to make sure your credit is always good.
I can relate so much to this. I thank my mother for teaching me the value of being financially intelligent. As she says: 1. Never spend more than you earn 2. Always make sure you have something for the rainy days 3. If its a need, buy it even if it's expensive, if it's a want, think twice before buying it even if it only costs a penny.
Smart mama, especially point 3 for both parts of it.
On May 05 2012 06:57 Mr.X546 wrote: Thank you for taking your time to share your experiences. I like to find advices to use on myself to develop myself as a person, and while this behavior usually takes a lot of sorting out and discarding, I must say that your list brought up the major points, if not all, there is to know. I even got to add some of your points to my own list. For this, I am thankful.
I would like to repay the favor, to get you to feel better about yourself, and the only thing I can think of would be that "it gets better". We both know that that you already know that, but it is worth saying once in a while when things gets nasty. Kind of a mantra thing. But you know what, I think that will just have to do, for now. Refocus, one thing at a time, and you'll be back on track soon. I promise.
Always be cheerful and look on the bright side. Thanks!
Thanks, it is worth hearing,especially from others, repeating it to yourself sometimes actually has the opposite effect. ^^
3. Have a schedule book/calendar. Even if you don't follow it to the T, every day write in it what you have to do, just list it out at the very minimum and even if you write the same list every day for a week, just do it, and don't write it on random sheets of paper, get a calendar book and write it in. And every time you finish or start something, check it off to indicate that it is progress or done. Every time you finish a few days, go back and fold the top page from from the top right corner down so it makes half page fold (triangle top) and the next page fold it from the bottom left corner up. So after a while it will leave an empty triangle space in the middle of your calendar scheduler. Don't ask me why I do it, I just do it and it does make me feel as though I'm progressing. And that is the thing, time is so elusive, but if you can just get a handle on how much time is really passing in relation to what you are doing, it just keeps you on track.
It took me less than 10 minutes to realise you aren't full of shit :D
I agree with you. That's what I've been trying to tell my mother all along. She wants to learn Chinese and piano but only dreams. Same time about my brother wanting to learn music.
On May 03 2012 05:57 ruXxar wrote: I really like the last two points that you made. I believe that you can achieve almost anything if you just want it badly enough. The reason why you don't achieve, is because you don't believe or want it enough.
I read the OP and skimmed some comments. I don't think exercise is worth it, in fact I think it's a waste of time and energy in this day and age. I don't think I need more body mass to feed. I do exercise. I've ridden my bike to work last summer. I've swam before. But it was never exercise for exercise's sake, rather for fun or for travel.
I also think that it is ok to break every once in a while. The last time I would have broken down and really started crying would have been October 2010. Every single time it's happened, my convictions have seemed to strengthen nearly ten fold overnight. It's ok to break. You just need to be able to pick yourself back up.
On May 03 2012 05:57 ruXxar wrote: I really like the last two points that you made. I believe that you can achieve almost anything if you just want it badly enough. The reason why you don't achieve, is because you don't believe or want it enough.
I really did not like this video. Why? Because this video is irrational. You should prioritize breathing more then you want success, anything more is hyperbole. He also uses Rihanna as an example of someone who works hard. How many people do you know that say they work hard but don't? I don't know how hard Rihanna works but I just negatively stereotype her.
I've used an assignment notebook daily since middle school and switched to PDA last year. The reason I like the PDA more is because of the reminder and because it's easier to shift tasks that weren't finished one week to the next.
Now I, like you, keep an excel document, that opens on startup up, and I log exactly how productive I was that day and what I need to change. My diary is for random musings. I never want to prioritize play over work for days on end and end up failing a course or an equivalent ever again.
On May 03 2012 19:44 Azera wrote: MightyAtom,
While reading this informative, enlightening, inspirational blog, I can't help but think about my present circumstances. I'm a teenager that thinks he doesn't belong where he is, who thinks that he belongs somewhere better, because he can do better. And yet. Plagued by plain laziness, a severe lack of motivation and inspiration, I, unfortunately, am on the road to failure. I hope for a future of marriage, a well-paying job that I love (A lawyer, maybe a professor), but these dreams, I have come to realise, will remain as dreams. When I eventually reach adulthood, I know that these dreams will never be achieved, and I will lock them up in the back of my head, and create re-defined dreams to fit my new circumstances. This will just end up being a harsh, vicious cycle. I fear becoming a dreamer, and yet, I can not bring myself to do anything about it.
I understand that the life of a student, especially an Asian one, is to achieve a rather simple, yet tedious to reach goal - study hard to get good grades. Heck, education systems elsewhere in the world might claim that this isn't what the teach students to be, the values that they guide students by, but I'm pretty sure the hard truth is - that's the way if you want to succeed. There are obviously exceptions, like born-geniuses like Mark Zuckerberg and whatnot, but that is irrelevant.
I want to try my best to fix all these things. I want to be able to live my dreams for once. I want to learn to endure the pains of hard work. I want to overcome my laziness.
You're 15. There's a lot of potential.
I'm 21. I myself have felt the loss of ambition. I don't know if I can achieve my dreams anymore.
Why do you think Zuckerberg was special though? From what I gleaned from The Social Network and some blogs, he was just an average Harvard student who ended up being lucky in picking the right idea to follow. Designing a social networking platform isn't that hard with all of today's online resources. And I feel like he just had an idea to improve on Myspace's bad design (a mess on everyone's page).
There's content management systems that can make logins and web design easier. Most have addons, some probably have addons similar to social networking sites. Starting from scratch may be easier since you don't have to work with code designed for something other than social networking. There are online resources showing you how to save user info to databases, and how to make forms that don't need to refresh to submit so people can post wall pictures, and forms to let people upload pictures and videos to share. The social network wouldn't be as good as Facebook's since facebook would have better algorithms, but it'd have the basics.
Honestly, if you started tomorrow. If you dropped all your procrastinatory tendencies, started learning app design or web design or whatever in your spare time and on weekends, you could make something just as amazing as Zuckerburg's original facebook easily. You'd just need the right idea, and time. I started web design when I was in 9th grade but I did it very halfassedly. The Da Vinci Code movie had just come out and I was obsessed with da Vinci so I made a webquest about him after playing the da vinci webquest made to promote the movie.
Dave as always its great to hear from you. I will send you an email like you asked so I can update you on the cluster fuck that is my life haha.
Really love the advice in the thread. Some of the points seem so obvious but escape lots of people. I never thought that staying organized would help me so much but it really has. For the first time since middle school I have been using a planner this year because I just have so much shit to do and it keeps me motivated/ on track.
Glad to hear that things are going much better. I know that your business definitely was put to the test this last year and I believe it can only go up from here. Can't wait to make it to Korea to have that drink.
Ah yes. Bein an adult, being abroad, and being on your own, is the best way you will mature and learn fast and hard. In your case you are also married and have children. I can only imagine how difficult, happy, lonely, sad, exciting, and generally, in the end, awesome it must have been. May life continue as a happy adventure, my friend.
On May 06 2012 09:33 obesechicken13 wrote: I read the OP and skimmed some comments. I don't think exercise is worth it, in fact I think it's a waste of time and energy in this day and age. I don't think I need more body mass to feed. I do exercise. I've ridden my bike to work last summer. I've swam before. But it was never exercise for exercise's sake, rather for fun or for travel.
........
I'm 21. I myself have felt the loss of ambition. I don't know if I can achieve my dreams anymore.
Why do you think Zuckerberg was special though? From what I gleaned from The Social Network and some blogs, he was just an average Harvard student who ended up being lucky in picking the right idea to follow. Designing a social networking platform isn't that hard with all of today's online resources. And I feel like he just had an idea to improve on Myspace's bad design (a mess on everyone's page).
......
Honestly, if you started tomorrow. If you dropped all your procrastinatory tendencies, started learning app design or web design or whatever in your spare time and on weekends, you could make something just as amazing as Zuckerburg's original facebook easily. You'd just need the right idea, and time. I started web design when I was in 9th grade but I did it very halfassedly. The Da Vinci Code movie had just come out and I was obsessed with da Vinci so I made a webquest about him after playing the da vinci webquest made to promote the movie.
The one thing that people have very little frame of reference is, when I say work hard, if I were to put it to a comparison of undergrad work, I work an equivalent of a 20 page 4th year research term paper every 2 days. And these are long days, with 4 hours of sleep, with a couple of 30 min naps where I can take them so I can still write sharp.
After many years of professional training, I don't waste time, I know exactly what information I need, and how to structure it and then I don't think about the task, I just get it done. I went on a business trip to Manila a few weeks ago, I just got the call today to come back for Monday for a presentation on Tuesday. The proposal I had written was 52 pages with 3 other executives and had it done in 4 days with 12 hour days of pure at the desk working. The presentation I have for Tuesday will be 8 pages long, but each of those 8 pages will be essential to closing the deal and the deal is work at least 200M over the next 5 years. So the 52 pages + the 8 page equals 3.34M page in value.
But I didn't just get to this way in one day, it wasn't easy to develop this level of capability and I didn't just speculate or wonder about this or that, I worked like a mofo and at the base of whatever I write is that no matter how brilliant or intelligent, there will be people who are just as brilliant or intelligent or more so, and the only thing you can do is not just work harder, work fucking harder with more focus and dedication and when the majority wash out, your survival is good enough to win the day.
When kids that are above average intelligence say, 'I studied a hour and got a B, no problems, if I studied another hour I would have gotten an A, but whatever.' they are still in some la la fantasy land. The reality check is, if you studied an hour to get a B, you'd need to study 2 hours to get a B+, and 4 hours more to get an A and 8 hours more to get an A+. Being a bit above average is nothing meaningful and school gives you bullshit idea that somehow your Bs and B+s are worth something. In the real world, A+ is the minimum, there are no levels of ok work, if I sent in a 52 page document that was a B, I don't get 10M, I get ZERO. That is the way life really works.
But the other side is, you need to work your way up to this point, it doesn't happen over night and it doesn't happen in some half ass way.
Just to pick out some points:
1. The people who don't get the exercise point because they've never worked that hard to really need it when it is essential for their performance, if you're not physically sharp, your work quality suffers. If you only work a hour a day, well, you don't need exercise then.
2. At age 21 and you talk about loss of ambition, and dreams, well, let me ask you, a very simple question, how many countries have you visited, do you know what a venture capitalist does, or an investment banker or the head of a media agency? Ambition, dreams, they aren't just our own speculation, they develop and mature and grow with the new experiences that we encounter. If at 21 you've already lost your ambition and given upon your dreams, well, they weren't worth very much to begin with if you can lose them so easily or they were based on naive expectations. At 21 you haven't even started working yet for any real period of time.
3. There is no such thing as an average Harvard student, the first thing people ask you in your freshman year is, 'what is special about you?' why because it isn't enough to have good marks, be president of your school, valedictorian, volunteer work, cause everyone does, you have to have something special about you. Go and read 'The Facebook Effect' then come back, you think back when Zuck was doing his thing it was even based on thoughts of MySpace? And comparing now and then when he started, man, it's already ages apart. Timing plays a part, but to attribute this to just luck?
4. If things are so simplistic, why doesn't everyone have a facebook, after all there are thousands of average harvard students out there, and some average MIT students, but none of them are going to IPO at 80 Billion dollars in a few weeks time. I can barely understand what 80 Billion actually represents.
Procrastination doesn't occur because it's a bad habit or tendencies, it is because of a lack of good habits. Good habits that put you in a position to really challenge yourself to know your limits, your true passions and interests and to eventually get that focus and dedication. We don't procrastinate because we have 'procrastinatory tendencies', it is because haven't found a passion or focus and to do that, we need some level of daily clarity, injection of some work for the sake of work and experience.
It is these very basic things that don't solve our issues of focus or procrastination, but allow us a bit more space to develop our capabilities over time, this will naturally draw us into a point of focus and dedication. That time may take a few years, but is is a process. Some people are born organized, they have time to see, to make adjustments are thus are naturally focused as well. Other are not and it is an effort, but if you can level the ground a bit, what you'll find is that once you get that space, your other abilities and outlook kick into play.
I didn't write this to cure anyone's procrastination. I wrote it so you could get to position where if you could increase/maintain your productivity, you'd have space to increase your capabilities and the rest will usually work itself out. But I had to reply to this post in detail because I think it is pretty much the typical mind set of someone who maybe of above intelligence but without any effort is simply at the same spot armed with some speculation and observations, and maybe back in high school or even college that was enough, but in the real world, it ain't nothing but bullshit.
On May 06 2012 09:33 obesechicken13 wrote: I read the OP and skimmed some comments. I don't think exercise is worth it, in fact I think it's a waste of time and energy in this day and age. I don't think I need more body mass to feed. I do exercise. I've ridden my bike to work last summer. I've swam before. But it was never exercise for exercise's sake, rather for fun or for travel.
........
I'm 21. I myself have felt the loss of ambition. I don't know if I can achieve my dreams anymore.
Why do you think Zuckerberg was special though? From what I gleaned from The Social Network and some blogs, he was just an average Harvard student who ended up being lucky in picking the right idea to follow. Designing a social networking platform isn't that hard with all of today's online resources. And I feel like he just had an idea to improve on Myspace's bad design (a mess on everyone's page).
......
Honestly, if you started tomorrow. If you dropped all your procrastinatory tendencies, started learning app design or web design or whatever in your spare time and on weekends, you could make something just as amazing as Zuckerburg's original facebook easily. You'd just need the right idea, and time. I started web design when I was in 9th grade but I did it very halfassedly. The Da Vinci Code movie had just come out and I was obsessed with da Vinci so I made a webquest about him after playing the da vinci webquest made to promote the movie.
1. The people who don't get the exercise point because they've never worked that hard to really need it when it is essential for their performance, if you're not physically sharp, your work quality suffers. If you only work a hour a day, well, you don't need exercise then.
I don't actually believe in exercise. From the bullshit theoretical side of things, exercise is a large input of energy that is supposed to increase the generation of energy afterwards. I don't know if the increased generation is enough to make up for the energy lost. I've looked but never found any studies that found exercise objectively increased the amount of energy a person felt overall. There are observational studies that find people who exercise are more motivated and have less risk of getting mental diseases but these link correlations and it is unclear whether there is a cause and effect relationship and if there is one which way it goes.
I believe it's important to have a healthy body but that a healthy body can be achieved from merely eating properly.
If you can find any studies that prove exercise is worthwhile please link them.
2. At age 21 and you talk about loss of ambition, and dreams, well, let me ask you, a very simple question, how many countries have you visited, do you know what a venture capitalist does, or an investment banker or the head of a media agency? Ambition, dreams, they aren't just our own speculation, they develop and mature and grow with the new experiences that we encounter. If at 21 you've already lost your ambition and given upon your dreams, well, they weren't worth very much to begin with if you can lose them so easily or they were based on naive expectations. At 21 you haven't even started working yet for any real period of time.
I would categorize myself under naive expectations. I wanted to make a flying car or something equally big
3. There is no such thing as an average Harvard student, the first thing people ask you in your freshman year is, 'what is special about you?' why because it isn't enough to have good marks, be president of your school, valedictorian, volunteer work, cause everyone does, you have to have something special about you. Go and read 'The Facebook Effect' then come back, you think back when Zuck was doing his thing it was even based on thoughts of MySpace? And comparing now and then when he started, man, it's already ages apart. Timing plays a part, but to attribute this to just luck?
4. If things are so simplistic, why doesn't everyone have a facebook, after all there are thousands of average harvard students out there, and some average MIT students, but none of them are going to IPO at 80 Billion dollars in a few weeks time. I can barely understand what 80 Billion actually represents.
Not everyone has 80billion but there are still companies that start today as 1-3 people that develop a great app. I think if these people went back in time to the time facebook was just starting, they could redesign facebook just like zuckerburg did. Whether they'd have the raw ability to make it look good and the people skills to find investors is another issue, but the overall design isn't difficult with as much effort as 8hours a day 5 days a week. I was trying to tell the other guy that you don't need to be a genius to design a social networking site.
Harvard does accept a number of exceptional candidates. I used to frequent the college confidential forums and I saw tons of amazing people who'd done groundbreaking research or that had won a math Olympiad get in over Valedictorians. But I think it also accepts too many people based on legacy and to a degree affirmative action. In addition, I don't think admissions were as competitive in Zuckerburg's time.
Procrastination doesn't occur because it's a bad habit or tendencies, it is because of a lack of good habits. Good habits that put you in a position to really challenge yourself to know your limits, your true passions and interests and to eventually get that focus and dedication. We don't procrastinate because we have 'procrastinatory tendencies', it is because haven't found a passion or focus and to do that, we need some level of daily clarity, injection of some work for the sake of work and experience.
It is these very basic things that don't solve our issues of focus or procrastination, but allow us a bit more space to develop our capabilities over time, this will naturally draw us into a point of focus and dedication. That time may take a few years, but is is a process. Some people are born organized, they have time to see, to make adjustments are thus are naturally focused as well. Other are not and it is an effort, but if you can level the ground a bit, what you'll find is that once you get that space, your other abilities and outlook kick into play.
I didn't write this to cure anyone's procrastination. I wrote it so you could get to position where if you could increase/maintain your productivity, you'd have space to increase your capabilities and the rest will usually work itself out. But I had to reply to this post in detail because I think it is pretty much the typical mind set of someone who maybe of above intelligence but without any effort is simply at the same spot armed with some speculation and observations, and maybe back in high school or even college that was enough, but in the real world, it ain't nothing but bullshit.
I'm starting to believe that you're right, that I do need to find what motivates me. I heard the same thing from someone else recently.
I thank you for implying that I am above average in intelligence. I don't know how to reply to the rest of your post. I guess it will have to have been enough that I've read it.
When kids that are above average intelligence say, 'I studied a hour and got a B, no problems, if I studied another hour I would have gotten an A, but whatever.' they are still in some la la fantasy land. The reality check is, if you studied an hour to get a B, you'd need to study 2 hours to get a B+, and 4 hours more to get an A and 8 hours more to get an A+. Being a bit above average is nothing meaningful and school gives you bullshit idea that somehow your Bs and B+s are worth something. In the real world, A+ is the minimum, there are no levels of ok work, if I sent in a 52 page document that was a B, I don't get 10M, I get ZERO. That is the way life really works.
But the other side is, you need to work your way up to this point, it doesn't happen over night and it doesn't happen in some half ass way.
1. The people who don't get the exercise point because they've never worked that hard to really need it when it is essential for their performance, if you're not physically sharp, your work quality suffers. If you only work a hour a day, well, you don't need exercise then.
Procrastination doesn't occur because it's a bad habit or tendencies, it is because of a lack of good habits. Good habits that put you in a position to really challenge yourself to know your limits, your true passions and interests and to eventually get that focus and dedication. We don't procrastinate because we have 'procrastinatory tendencies', it is because haven't found a passion or focus and to do that, we need some level of daily clarity, injection of some work for the sake of work and experience.
It is these very basic things that don't solve our issues of focus or procrastination, but allow us a bit more space to develop our capabilities over time, this will naturally draw us into a point of focus and dedication. That time may take a few years, but is is a process. Some people are born organized, they have time to see, to make adjustments are thus are naturally focused as well. Other are not and it is an effort, but if you can level the ground a bit, what you'll find is that once you get that space, your other abilities and outlook kick into play.
Just want to say that these really hit home. Sadly I'm at the end of high school and I know I can do better but I'm not, I hope it doesn't punish me in college. Its never too late right ^^. Undergrad is still a place to learn, I suppose.
EPT
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