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Showing posts from January, 2022

One head down

 Do you remember the story of Heracles, fighting the hydra? The hydra has many heads, just like the months of the year. Congratulations, you had just killed one of the head. How do you feel? Was it an achievement to celebrate? Did you work on becoming healthier and more balanced? Or do you think it was a waste of time and there was nothing to celebrate? If it's the latter answer, you still have 11 more heads to slay. Try to make most out of it.  

The comparison trap

 Many people don't start something just because it is too difficult. To trick ourselves to start doing it we need to simplify the task in our mind. Maybe version 0.1 is only for our eyes and the eyes of trusted people. Maybe we need to learn something, and it doesn't have to be perfect. There are too many people who don't start because they compare themselves with other entrepreneurs who already have a team of 10 people helping them with different tasks. The best way to not do something is to compare yourself from the start with someone who has more resources than you! And yet again, there are so many new companies, artists and professionals who are able to escape that trap, If they can do it, so can you!

The power of buffer

 In project management, there is the concept of having a buffer and buffered budget. Depending on methodologies, you need to account for any unexpected expenses by adding a percentage buffer on top of the expect cost of the project. Guess what it works in the real life too. Make buffer to whatever you are doing. Create fake deadlines, try to push things sooner and see what will happen? Maybe you will discover that suddenly you have more free time since the things you procrastinated are already done. The scary thing is now that you have all this free time, what would you do with it?

Small increments

 After 28 days from the beginning of the year, I started to do morning routine and workout. I tried to blame myself for not installing this habit every day, but this is not how the habits are installed. Every day just applying small increments it is enough to create a huge change in the span of one year. Instead of being angry for not keeping up with the intention, just try to do less and small changes. Only after that you will be able to actually change faster.

Experts

BTC was supposed to be an asset protecting you from inflation. And it failed miserably. The inflation growth to astonish rates and BTC plunge down like a pro diver. Who should we blame? The influencers who promise us this amazing resource? They have a piece of the pie and are paid to do that. The experts were skeptical, but few people listen to them. It is very important to know to whom you trust. Market is driven by emotions, so it is important to follow and see what influencers who will pump the market. However, to be rich, you need to invest in fundamentals and listen to experts with vast experience. 

Science + money = progress

 With the amount of Covid case increased around the world, it’s time to ask ourselves what should we do in the future to make such pandemics less likely to span for multiple years. It seems masks and vaccines are not the only answer. And the science was unable to provide us with a magical cure. Hopefully, this situation will trigger further researches on better procedures how to protect us in the future. Because money might not be everything in life, but only by investing a lot of money we can find a solution for though problems like keeping people alive even if most of them are slightly irrational.  

Thoughts on Mondays

 Why Mondays are so hated? One reason is that you might have only a little time to recharge. Think about it, there are studies shown that when we go on vacation, we start to feel relaxed after a few days. If my memory serves correctly around 3rd day, we start to let go of the daily grind. Since for most of us, Monday is the 3rd day after vacation, we didn’t have time to let go of the work. What does it mean for us? If you feel tired and need a break, just take Monday and Tuesday off as well, and this will give you enough time to decompress and relax.

Roles and responsibilities

 One key thing in managing projects is having clear roles and responsibilities. But what would happen if leaders just try to delegate everything to others? What is the leader's role? Is it to motivate, to encourage, or to show the direction? For some, the answer is all of it. For other leaders is to not be involved at all and just give direction and disappear in the way of others. But when this happen what are the leader’s role and responsibility and do we still need such leaders in 2022? The thing is middle management is going extinct, more and more roles and responsibilities are assigned to the low level of management so if the time comes and someone ask you what would happen if we fire you and your answer is nothing, than you are in a trouble. It’s better for you to define clearly your role and responsibilities before someone else makes you obsolete.

Purposeful research

 In my previous post, I wrote about the time wasters on social media. You can play their game, but instead of wasting your time, be purposeful about what you want to see. This is the only way how you can invest your precious time in things that would benefit you.

Fail fast, fail often on using social media

 One of the biggest time wasters on social media is the never ending refresh. New and new content bombs you with the only goal to keep you on the network. Congratulations, social media had trapped you for the next minutes or hours. Sometimes I find out a quality content, but it takes a long time to find it. The question is, does this wasted time actually be worth the surprise content you could find?

The curse of being popular

 Recently I read about the stock fall of Netflix and how it is getting more and more expensive for them to keep up with fresh content and how it is hard to increase their sales. The dream for any founder is to be the dominant in their field, but what is the price they pay. See as an example Nokia, who were the dominant business in the mobile market until they weren’t. This means that being the best in any category is temporary as everything else. Once you go down that road, you tend to do more of the same, which gives your competitors a chance to do something totally different and steal your precious first place.

Persistence is the key

 Sometimes, the only way to know what will happen is to be persistent. Writing blog posts daily might not be the sexiest thing in the world, neither is going to the gym. But if you persist in what you do, then you will reap the rewards.

Powerpoint is dead long live the powerpoint

 Is PowerPoint dead? Not really, but there is something that should have been long gone. Boring PowerPoint presentations. I have seen it over and over again, people present way too much things without conveying any message. Unfortunately, even in 2022 we will still live in boring PowerPoint world.  

Wordpress steps up

 I love WordPress. It helps me to publish content, and it is easy to configure and maintain. But WordPress becomes too comfortable with its market domination. It is similar to what I wrote about stagnation . This is why I am really looking forward to the time when WordPress steps up. WordPress version 5.9 will introduce complete theme customization using Gutenberg and the WordPress module system. As of WordPress 6.0, we will introduce the long waited multilanguage sites support.    

Cheap vs Quality time wasters

 Watching movies or Netflix is a waste. However, there are different kind of waste. Is watching constant TikTok more wasteful than watching a quality movie? Sometimes we think we waste our time watching quality entertainment, but we forget that this also gives us ideas and helps us to recharge. Cheap waste does the opposite, it just makes us like zombies. Next time, when you want to rest, invest in books, or quality entertainment which will increase your level of satisfaction.

Innovation vs stagnation

 Innovation is when we need to do something differently. Stagnation is when we are tired of doing the things the same way. Furnitures used to be expensive and take ages to build, but since people change their habits and moved to difference places frequenter, the stagnation and frustration raised. Think about the change you want to introduce in the world. Is there a huge frustration in the way people are currently using a service or a software? Only when the time is right, you will be able to introduce the feature and capture that market.

Fear of distance learning

 Fear of distance learning is a thing among high schoolers. According to an article I read today, what do you think? I had been to some remote learning sessions and true to be told, if you are a good educator, you can make exciting online learning as well. However, most of the teachers and professors are not there yet.

Make learning fun

 One of the biggest advantages for the last few years is the knowledge you can get literally for free. One of the biggest disadvantages is the fact we don't have the time to use that knowledge. Instead, we have plenty of time to waste on Youtube or other entertainment medias. The challenge for you and I is how to make learning fun to go further in life. Would you use sprints in your learning or a reward to help you to keep motivated? It's difficult to find the right formula, but the end result is worth it.  

Delayed satisfaction

 One amazing thing I read today was that investment is the ability to delay the usage of your money to a later period. And it works, million of people invest in the stock market and make a living. There are millions of other people who invest and lose as well. The moral is simple, don't just delay satisfaction, but have a clear goal and start small. Hint: You can also use this strategy for your fitness goals.

Inflation globally

 One of the downsides of the global economy is that one event can influence the entire system. Therefore, we can never be a lonely island like before. No matter what you do, you must follow the trends and see how you can adapt to them. Inflation is one of those events we must learn to adopt and use if we want to be relevant. One question to ask today is how can I become more resilient to such global events in the future?

Free is the new expensive

 I know people who constantly try to "sell" their free courses. It is free. You should come. Is it really free? The person I know will brag about how many attendances he has, but he will also lose my time. When I was younger, I wouldn't mind to do random activities. At the moment, I prefer to invest my time, rather than spend it. Free is the new expensive! Be very careful when someone offered you something for free!

Leadership as a daily activity

 We all must practice leadership daily. This implies setting up our goals for the day. If we don't do that, someone else will set the goals for us. Maybe Netflix, social media and so on. Instead, set your goals of the day and practice daily leadership!

Locus of control

 What would you do if your neighbor is very loud? Maybe they are having a renovation or something else. It is hard to do something outside of your control. Indeed, this is true for the business and the current financial situation. We can't control the market crashes, the raise of the property prices and so on. What we can do is shift our locus of control to the things we have a saying about. And remember the old wisdom that bad times shall pass.

On building stuffs

 If you don't want to be disappointed, never start something new. The point is, we all want to feel like winners. But once you move to a new place or purchase your home. You will realize that the thing you want to order will be delivered in 3 months. Things you want to assemble will have the wrong or missing instructions and so on. The question you and I must ask is, what does it mean for us? Starting a business or building wardrobe it requires the same skills. Being resourceful, finding the right team or finding a friend with a car or the needed tools. Being flexible and taking your time figuring out the craft of your niche or how to read the instructions. Know whom to trust and whom not.

People don't like novelties

 How about having a glass of green glow drink? I made this drink up. But if you had never tasted such a thing, the chances are that majority will choose something familiar. This is also the reason rich companies get richer. It is safer to buy Mac than Zomzo (another made up brand). It is easier to buy branded, well-established things. Also, it is safer. That is why people tend to stick to the same habits and purchases.

The power of reflection cycles

 Do you know what happened this week? Last week, or the week before? Most probably not. The reason is simple. You and I tend to drift on the river of life. It is very hard to shift our focus on what we are dragged into daily. The daily tasks, the daily decisions and lose the main focus of our existence.   By reviewing where you are, you can make better decisions. Create review cycles, minimum daily and add on top of that, weekly and monthly review cycles. Try it and let me know if you see a difference.

Lack of inspiration

 What is inspiration, really? Is it the product of a sudden stuck of genius flow? Is it something we developed over time? Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. One is sure, if you don't start looking for inspiration, you will never find it. Looking is an active part. Waiting for inspiration is passive. Next time when you complain about being stuck without inspiration, try to create an active ritual to find it.

Thank god it is Monday

 Most people hate Mondays. Most people don't have steady habits. Make your life work for you! No matter what they of the week it is, by creating a steady routine, you won't notice the time. But on the other hand, a steady routine will help you be on track with your goals. So instead of hating Mondays, look for an opportunity to win that day! Do your regular workout and thank for the opportunity to do so. Have the business call and thank for the opportunity to have a job. Instead of hating Mondays, embrace them as another opportunity to utilize 24 hours of your day and put it in a good work!

On the time wasters

 We all want to get the most out of life. But ironically, we don't mind wasting it. Will you have the 6pack this year or not it, it all depends on your efforts. Try to say as much "No" as possible this year and only say yes, when it is something that could benefit you and the society. Only then you will get greater return for your time. And you will transform the time wasters into time value creators.

Underpromise and overdeliver

 It’s a dawn of a new beginning. 2022 a lot of promises, maybe New Year's resolutions for going to the gym. All of those big promises will fail. Not because you do something wrong, but because you want too much too fast. Instead of overpromising and underdeliver, try to underpromise and overdeliver. Don’t ask for a fit body, ask to not go over your body weight and do one more push up per day. Don’t ask to be rich, ask to have at most the same amount of expenses per month minus 1 dollar. Start small, and if it works, keep going. Try to under-promise and day after day, month after month, increase the level. Increase the difficulties. Keep going until you reach the hardest level, which, in your case, will be your desired level.