“If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived”
Nov 9, 2008 life
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Came across this video, and had to share it. It has a great message, in my opinion.
[?]“Make the best out of it”
Nov 7, 2008 Personal
That’s something that lots of people have told me, with regards to my National Service.
But I’m starting to realize, I don’t agree. Instead of making the best out of the situation that you find yourself in, why not move yourself so you’re not in that situation?
The former is safer, of course, and will bring you good results. The latter is riskier, but provides more opportunities for you to become exceptional, and remarkable.
[?]The Top 5 Most Over-Rated Traits
Sep 18, 2008 life
The world has changed a lot, from even just a few years ago. And as such, the traits that were important in the past are arguably not as important today. So, here’s a list of what I think to be the most over-rated traits, in no particular order.
Hard Work
Or rather, ‘long’ work. Even today, kids in school are thought to believe that if they’re not doing well, they should study longer and try harder. We are taught to think that working longer would lead to better results. I don’t think that’s true anymore. As Seth Godin has said, “Hard work is about risk“. It’s not the number of hours you put in that matters, it’s not necessarily how hard you try. It’s about what you are trying - how many approaches, etc.
Being Reasonable
To quote George Bernard Shaw, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. All progress depends upon the unreasonable man.” That says it all, really.
Modesty
I don’t know about other cultures, but this is one of the biggest problems I find in Singapore. Yes, humility is all well and good, and too much arrogance isn’t a good thing. But on the flip side, you shouldn’t always be playing down your contributions or talents (as too many people, in my opinion, do over here). If you did a good job, take credit for it, you deserve it. Humility isn’t about playing down your strengths, it’s about admitting both your strengths and your weaknesses in balance.
Discipline
Yes, it can be argued that rules are there for a reason. But sometimes, you have to break the rules. That’s why I love House (the TV show). House, the doctor, often breaks the rules. He goes with what he believes is right, even if it’s against normal procedure. He takes risks, and it’s those risks that saves lives and makes him such a good doctor. To take a quote from the show, “the rules exist because 95% of the time for 95% of the people, they’re the right thing to do.” That doesn’t mean that it’s always the right thing to do. There are times when you have to break the rules - or at the very least, you should be thinking about the rules and willing to break them.
Persistence
Before you start jumping on my back, let me clarify this. Persistence is good, in some cases. It’s good when you know what you’re doing, when you believe firmly in it, when you know why you’re persisting. But persisting for the sake of it, just because you don’t want to quit, is not a good idea, and it’s something that too many people do. In some cases, it’s better to quit. Sometimes, you hit a dead end, what you’re doing doesn’t work anymore, and the best thing you can do is quit (for more information on this, read The Dip
There are probably more that I can think of, but those are 5 of the most over-rated traits, in my opinion, at least. Do you agree? Why (or why not)?
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Tags: Cul-de-sac, ego, humility, over rated, reasonable, risk, seth godin, traits
Do You Believe in Your Own Product?
I remember when I bought my hard guitar case. It was a relatively new/unique design, that’s less common. Even now, I rarely see people use it. But it’s lighter than normal hard cases, with just as much protection.
When I first bought the case, the store owner demonstrated the case to me. How? He used one of his own store guitars, put it in the case and tossed it on the floor. Literally. Practically like how the airline people tend to toss luggages. And the guitar was perfectly fine.
That one demonstration went really far in my decision to buy that case. The fact that the store owner was willing to risk one of his own guitars to demonstrate the case (which was cheaper than the guitar, definitely) showed how much he believed in it. And it made me believe too.
Would you be willing to take that kind of risk for your product? How much do you believe in your product? How much would you risk for it? (For those thinking about your personal brands, substitute “product” with “beliefs”.)
Because if you don’t believe in it enough to take the risk, and believe in your product, your customers are much less likely to either.
[?]Tags: belief, credibility, Marketing, product, risk
Don’t Look Down
Dec 8, 2007 Uncategorized
Anyone who’s done climbing will probably have heard the tip “don’t look down”. There’s a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, it’s for safety (this is what I just read), because if anything falls, you don’t want it hitting your neck. Secondly, and this is the point that I want to discuss, I think it’s about confidence. Sometimes when you look down, you realize how far off you are, and that gets you slightly more apprehensive. And that apprehension is never good.
In life, whenever you’re trying to progress, when you’re trying to go ‘higher’, it’s always risky. And when you look down, it’s always going to be scary. So my advice? The same advice that rock climbers are given.
Whatever you’re pursuing, don’t look down. Yes, you prepare for the worst. You make sure that you don’t come off too bad (like the safety harness for climbers). But once you get going, don’t keep thinking about the worst case scenario. Don’t think about the risk you’re taking. Basically, throw out all second thoughts once you get going. If you’re doing it, go in 100%. Because if you don’t, chances are, you won’t be successful. You need to be committed, believe that you’ll succeed, and just keep looking forward.
Once you’ve started climbing, don’t look down.
How do you stop yourself from having second thoughts about what you do?
Photo Credit:
093007 climb lcl mgs
Originally uploaded by MICHAEL G. SEAMANS
Tags: commitment, risk, self belief, Sports
Snowboarding and Discomfort
Dec 5, 2007 Uncategorized
I’ve personally gone snowboarding a couple of times, and I’m decent at it (especially considering I don’t get too much practice being in Singapore). I’m not good by any means, but I get by, and don’t fall. And what I’m writing here is based on what my experience learning snowboarding.
2 points. One about apparent risk, and one about vision (and my personal failure).
Firstly, risk. Or rather, apparent risk. In snowboarding, if you want to turn, you lean in the direction you want to go. It’s not always the most comfortable position. It’s slightly off center; off balance, if you will. But it’s the only way for you to direct yourself, instead of being dictated by the environment, controlled by the curve of the slope. It might seem risky (you’re off balance, leaning to one side, seemingly more likely to fall), but in the larger picture, it’s the only way to be sure of where you’re going.
In life, sometimes you have to do what seems risky. You have to go off-kilter a bit. You need to know where you want to go, and lean in that direction. It might seem risky, it might bring you off balance for a while. But in the end that’s the best bet you have if you want to control your own path.
My second point is more about my personal failure in snowboarding, the biggest thing I myself have trouble with. I never manage to board toe side (with my back facing downhill). I always struggled with being unable to see where I was going. I knew where I was going. I could see the slope before I got on the board, and I’m pretty sure the slope didn’t change. But just the inability to see where I’m headed as I’m moving made me nervous. And that has held me back (until now) from going to the next level in my snowboarding. It’s something that I need to get over.
Again, this lesson can be applied to life as well. I personally have to learn this lesson as well. Sometimes, it’s hard to take a step without being able to see where you’re going. Even if you’ve seen the path before hand. But sometimes, if you don’t take that ‘blind’ step, you won’t be able to progress to the next level.
Both these lessons have a common thread, though. Doing something that might not be comfortable. Because, as Curt Rosengren, the M.A.P Maker, told us, being too comfortable can be bad.
I’ll leave you with the same two questions as Curt, because I don’t think I could phrase them any better.
How are you exploring your Discomfort Zone right now? How could you?
Photo taken by Jasmic
[?]Tribute to a Daredevil
Dec 1, 2007 Uncategorized
Evel Knievel, the daredevil, has just died. So this post is dedicated to him.
The name of Evel Knievel is more or less a household name. As his Wikipedia article puts it, he is “arguably the most iconic motorbike stuntman of all time”. He made his living by pushing the limit. He took risks and achieved what others thought was impossible.
And that’s why his name is a household name.
I’m not asking you to go jump off cliffs on motorbikes. But the risk-taking, the desire to push the limits, is something we can all learn from him.
As my favorite sports brand says, “Impossible is nothing.”
What risks are you taking today? What “impossibilities” are you willing to pursue?
Link via Hoovaloo - Evel Knievel Has Jumped His Last School Bus
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