It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Aristotle
Category: Value
It’s all Greek to me
c/o an unnamed genius… I think having family (albeit distant relations) in Greece helps me understand the situation from a humanitarian perspective, but I also know there are going to be some severe implications for…
Nothing is for free. Nothing.
Sign-up for a free trial, no strings attached. Get free access to all the music you like, whenever you like. Search for anything on the internet and find what you’re looking; free. Really? How is…
Silly Season
It’s that time of year again, the silly season! I’m not feeling the usual hysteria though. Perhaps we’ve all run out of money? Maybe, we’ve began to see through the illusion of scarcity? Or is it that…
7 practical tips of persistence
Tip #1: Start small One thing at a time, ‘Φασούλι φασούλι γεμίζει το σάκούλι’. Affect change where you can, immediately, progressively, and iteratively – this stuff is easy if all you need to worry about is making a change to…
My story of persistence: Part #6
I know this story has been dragging on for some time so I’m going to try and wrap it up as quickly as I can, maybe even in this post…let’s see how we go…thanks for…
My story of persistence: Part #5
As you do when looking for work, especially when you know its time to move on, you look for anything and everything that looks remotely interesting. You don’t really put all your eggs in one…
My story of persistence: Part #4
There is something very reassuring about mail. I reckon it’s a key indicator of a modern, functioning civilisation (along with safe and efficient garbage disposal but that’s a story for another day). Almost without exception…
My story of persistence: Part #3
There are some professional service vocations that require practitioners to maintain a certain level of competence by obtaining what’s called continuing professional development points. The goal is 10 points in a 12 month period. You…
My story of persistence: Part #2
So the job situation was by no means dire. I had a good boss who understood me and how I worked. The pay was satisfactory for my level of qualifications at the time and given…
My story of persistence: Part #1
About three years ago, I started on a journey that would take me to a destination that I had decided I needed to reach. I’m making some head way and I want to share my story with you.…
It’s all about Valume
Yesterday, I had the privilege of hearing Adrian Fittolani introduce me to the concept of valume. Now there is no way I will be able to convey the message with anywhere near as much heart…
Disruptive Thinking
#EpicCollaboration
Firstly I want to thank everyone involved at #EpicCollaboration. I had the pleasure of attending a strategy session the other night with a group of honest, intelligent, compassionate, creative and committed collaborators. I appreciate you…
Taking stock
I’ve been writing this blog for almost a year now since I decided to make the switch. Every now and then I look back at some of the things I’ve written…sometimes I can’t even remember ever writing…
Noise
Wherever we turn, no matter what we’re doing, we have to deal with noise. Even in complete silence, we filter cognitive noise. This noise is audible and visual too. Our lives are being bombarded with noise. Useless and utter crap.…
Keep on…
Keep on running. Keep on learning. Keep on exploring. Keep on giving. Keep on receiving. Keep on wondering. Keep on asking. Keep on trying. Keep on living. That is the meaning of life. Keep on…
Letters of Note
The internet is a sharing tool. The inspiration and creativity found is that of fellow human beings. Occasionally you come across a truly inspirational collection of information that warrants our attention. Here is one site…
Learning from strangers
All our lives we are taught by strangers. We are told to listen, respect and learn from their teachings. It’s been a long since teaches actually taught us something worth learning though and that’s the…
Public Domain Dedication
“Public Domain Dedication” sounds like the type of thing you do when you’re about to ask your life-long partner to marry you in front of tens of thousands of people at a New York Yankees…
Shady
There are so many shady people out there it’s easy to forget that honest and genuine people exist. The shadiness isn’t always obvious. It’s not as if these people are necessarily rude or obnoxious or…
Working with your hands
In this day and age intellectual property rules but there’s something to be said about working with your hands. Going to university, getting a degree and landing that sweet desk job is the aspiration of…
‘Tis the season to be wary…
…of everything. The food will make you fat. The spending will make you poor. The small talk will be painful. The crowds will be in your way. The heat will make sweat. The cold will…
Community
What does community mean? How do we define who is in our community and who isn’t? Geographical parameters work…well sort of…but what about online communities? Do online communities exist by virtue of a username and…
Illusion of scarcity
Our consumerist existence operates on the concept of scarcity. We are made to believe that the things we have become obsolete, that the sales on offer are for a limited time, that the goods we…
Entertainment
It’s a wonderful thing: To entertain. To be entertained. To laugh. To make others laugh. It’s a skill that some people possess naturally. Others work hard at it and pull it off. Entertainment can take so…
One liners
A few words can be so powerful. In fact fewer words are often most powerful and influential. It’s not the quantity that counts but the quality. Same applies to everything. Everything. The creation of a…
On tick
Buying something ‘on tick’ usually refers to a purchase on credit. That is, using money you don’t have right now to buy something right now by borrowing money right now. Effectively what’s happening is that…
Eggs will hatch
You may have heard the saying: Don’t count your chickens before your eggs hatch The basic premise is self explanatory. We have so many chickens and yet we still insist on counting our eggs. Instead of…
Communications
The written word is powerful. It can also be boring and disengaging. We communicate in many different ways but by far the most ubiquitous is by written word. That isn’t to say it’s always effective…
Φασούλι φασούλι
‘Φασούλι φασούλι γεμίζει το σάκούλι’ – and in English: ‘fasouly fasouly yemizy to sakouly‘ translated from Greek means ‘bean by bean fills the sack’. Growing up I remember hearing this phrase bandied around quite often both in relation to…
Fabian strategy
I’ve previously touched on military strategy when talking about predicability. Another strategy that has its origin in war is the Fabian strategy. The Fabian strategy is where pitched battles and frontal assaults are avoided in…
This is water
There are so many people going places; doing things; always in each other’s way all at the same time. Everyone is in a rush operating in some sort of vacuum, oblivious to their surrounds. If…
Building
Working with your hands, learning a trade, building something you can see before your very own eyes is a wonderful thing. Like the intangible effort, building something with your hands requires skill, concentration and effort. Little is left to chance. Unlike the intangible effort…
Mastering
Getting to know something like the back of your hand takes time, dedication, commitment and above all sacrifice. To master an art is to choose this art over all others. Most fall into vocations that…
If this then that
It’s always worth re-visiting first principles i.e. the theory from time to time…today is a very basic recap of a fundamental logic using facts, rules and definitions as the basis for reason; deductive reasoning. Lets…
Sunk costs
There is nothing more sobering than a sunk cost. It’s the most truthful realisation of a f&*k up. Often the term is associated with business and economics and known as a previous expenditure that can…
Peaks and troughs
Peaks High, Bright Soaring, Powering, Unrelenting I am great and unstoppable | Why is this happening to me? Lacking, Unforgiving, Depressing Morose, Austere Troughs
Sudden stops are sometimes necessary…
…so hold on. We never know what is around the corner. No matter how prepared we think we are, we just never know. The only thing we can control is now, the present. What we…
Adding value
Where do you think you add value? It’s a question I ask myself often…it’s like looking yourself in the eye and asking what your purpose is…it’s a tough one. To answer the question you could…
Illusion of choice
We are constantly faced with decisions, hundreds of times a day. What to eat, what to wear, how to travel, who to speak to, what to say, how to say it etc etc. Choices. Decisions.…
Keeping it together
There are some people who juggle a lot with ease, others juggle a lot and struggle, some can’t juggle at all. What I find remarkable are people who seem to fit 48 hours of things…
Value
There are things that might seem trivial to some but to others these same things are valuable. That value can only be measured by one thing: time. Value is often attributed a monetary amount but…
Cafes, Coffee, Culture
I like mine strong, triple shot in fact. It helps me engage with my senses from the get go, every morning, regardless of how sleep deprived I might be. I’m also addicted to the caffeine…