Sleep

Sleep. Once it is lost, it can never be reclaimed. Speaking of which, I need to start getting more sleep.

This aspect of sleep is similar to time. Once I pass up on an opportunity, I can never get it back. Luckily though, time is a bit easier to negotiate with.  I can wait it out and continue to actively seek similar opportunities elsewhere. However, there will always be regret when great opportunities are lost. I think regret serves as a teacher in such cases. Regret is a great teacher. That goes without any exaggeration.

I wouldn’t want to repeat a class with her. It would be too heart-wrenching.

Sincerity

Sincerity is not for the faint of heart.

Sincerity is not something to toy others with.

Sincerity is more than just words.

Sincerity is not easily forgotten.

Sincerity is like a savings account.

Just make sure to have a positive balance before making a withdrawal.

Half-truths

Is it alright to tell half-truths? The obvious answer is no. However, it’s so easy to pass it as truth as long as there is a bit of interpolation involved. Everyone is guilty of it, including you and me.

If you’re given 30 seconds to tell your story, you better do it fast and do it convincingly. Otherwise, you lose your chance. That’s what traditional TV ads have imposed on innocent marketers who want a bigger share of the pie. Well, it’s not wrong per se but the problem is that these marketers often riddle their messages with half-truths. How else can a potential buyer be convinced in such a short time?

Take for instance, a juice ad which claims that it helps people slim down. The ad shows before and after photos. The problem is this supposedly healthy slimming juice contains loads of sugar. It’s almost as sugar-loaded as soda. If I didn’t dig deep or didn’t know anything about healthy eating, I would have believed the ad. My consumption of the said juice would have skyrocketed!

Yes, there were before and after photos. Yes, the participants could have used the product during the given period. Technically, they could have used it only once and still claim that the product helped them slim down. The ad doesn’t tell you that; it doesn’t attempt to fill in the gaps. The participants probably trained regularly and followed a diet plan. The ad just tells you to drink the juice until you see results. See the half-truth involved here?

The sad thing is that this ad is aired on national TV. Not everyone is educated in matters of health.  Healthy eating isn’t taught at school and it definitely isn’t common knowledge. The marketer behind this might be happy with his sales results but the people who were fooled would be dumbfounded when they find out that all that the juice did was worsen their sorry condition.

“Wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

3 weeks

2008 is almost over. For some, the holidays may be a relief after all the turmoil. For others, the holidays won’t even be enjoyable because of financial disability. For a select few, the holidays will be just like any time of the year because opportunities abound. I myself hope to be classified under the third group.

While everyone is heated up about the debate on whether 2009 will be for better of for worse, we should most definitely keep our cool. One important thing to do is to keep our eyes open and to listen to what others are saying. Chances are that the next big hit will be a result of someone paying close attention to the needs of desperate people. That group of people is now more than ever.

People who are equally as smart as they are rich will be on the lookout for ways to enjoy life without breaking the bank. They might also be a group to pay attention to. They will probably be as extravagant as ever but simple cues which claim to help them save a few bucks without shortchanging experience might work out well.

I’m using these last 3 weeks of the year to pay close attention to what people are saying. I’m especially interested in what they will do in relation to what they are saying. Maybe I will find something of merit that will spur me to change-making action.

How will you be spending the next 3 weeks?

No Hesitation

I wish I could write like a pro. I don’t want to scramble for something to write. I just want writing to be effortless. I want topics to come to me as naturally as eating. I wish.

In real life, the pros become pros because of their discipline. They decide to stick to their self-made commitments. Some would post one article a week, some would post one a day, and some would even post multiple times a day. The key is self-accountability and also more importantly, accountability to one’s readers because they are the ones who decide if the content is worth consuming.

I’ve always wanted to write a novel. So far, nothing has happened. I lack discipline. I admit it.

Now it’s time for me to up the ante. I need to get through this writing slump and things might just turn out for the better.

The Twilight of a New Era

I just watched Twilight last night. In all honesty, it was a very entertaining movie. The story had a simple but solid plot. The soundtrack was amazingly suited to the movie. After the movie, I had to know who Stephanie Meyer was so I googled her.

35, mom of three, Mormon, nothing flashy, none of the usual glitz and glamour. That’s very similar to J.K. Rowling’s profile. I was pleasantly surprised.

The world is changing yet again.

In the 70’s, celebrities were extremely influential and at times idolized. The Beatles, Saturday Night Fever, and all those stuff. People were glued to the radio, to the TV and to the big screen. This was also the dawn of the modern technological era.

The 80’s was bit different. People were constantly thirsting for the new thing. For some oddly unknown reason, the music from the 80’s are the least loved across generations. It’s like they had their own world. I never did understand new wave music.

The 90’s was the MTV generation. Grunge, sex, and booze were all unmoderated on TV. While the 70’s was widely known as the hippie generation, I don’t think the general society accepted these behaviors. Society was indeed enamored by the scandalous lives of celebrities but that was pretty much it. The 90’s was like the devirginization of society.

The new millenium is characterized by rapid technological change. Mobile phones, internet, Google, and the iPod are some of the hallmarks in our current era. The current era is a very interpersonal era. Connectivity is at its pinnacle.

I’m no historian but I think my depictions of the past few decades are agreeable to a great many. That was a long aside. So, what do Stephanie Meyer and J.K. Rowling have to do with my short critique of modern history?

Well, Twilight and Harry Potter are phenomenons of the internet age. Although the first Harry Potter novel came out in 1997 (according to Wikipedia), mainstream popularity was definitely reached after the year 2000. The thing is, there has never been a time in history where children and young adults held such a dominant force in the world. My best guess is that it’s all thanks to the internet and to modern technology.

The internet is changing the way people discover things. They no longer wait for the old media to dictate what’s in and what’s out. Can you imagine what the old establishment would have thought of people like J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer? I think they would have just been booted out of the door due to lack of credentials and/or connections. Check it out for yourself. Harry Potter and Twilight were not published by big name book houses.

This is a phenomenon and we’re standing right on top of it. This is the dawn of the wired world, where the masses will start to follow persons and ideas rather than establishments. This is definitely the age of the proliferation of tribes, as Seth Godin puts it. The question is what do we do with such knowledge?

It’s all entirely up to you and me.

Time flies

It’s almost Christmas time again. I’ve been working for seven months already and it hasn’t been a pleasant ride. Why am I so idealistic? Is idealism a dying movement?

I’m all for practicality but the vibrance of idealism is alluring. I’m sure there’s always space for both idealism and practicality to fit into one box.

Time does fly. In the past, there were at least five major competitors in my current industry and now it’s down to just two. That past was about six to seven years ago.

In the course of less than half a decade, an entire industry was shaken up. The underdog has now become number two. That’s us. But at what cost?

What once was seen as a dynamic and growing company is now losing the war for true innovation. A taste of minor success is all that’s needed for dynamism to die down. It’s easy to do something, but it’s definitely a big risk to do something new. Now that I ponder upon it, I guess the company was never a risk-taker at all.

When something from the depths rises, it throbs hard and wild. Instead of waiting for change, I’d rather be the change. The real question now is if that desire is worth putting everything at stake.

As I type this, time flies.

It just never stops.

Manager?

I got promoted recently.

The question is, what does it mean to be a manager?

I believe I got what I wanted but my schema dictates that managers get their position by sweating blood for an extended period of time. I don’t think I did anything close to that. All I did was take a risk.

For the record, that risk was sweet indulgence.

I can’t say that I didn’t earn the title. What I’m working on is how to prove my worth.

Since I took Seth Godin’s advice on taking the risk, I figure I should go all out with him. He’s proven his worth. I’m glad he helps others prove themselves by sharing his thoughts. I guess I can call him my unsolicited consultant.

So to answer my question, a manager is someone who takes risks and proves his worth.

I hope I can live up to that standard which I have now officially set.

I feel enlightened. Emboldened even.

“The most successful people are those who are good at Plan B.”

– James Yorke, chaos theory thinker.

Seth is in my head

Seth Godin has changed the way I think.

Sometimes, the way I think is too different.

Too different that it hurts.

Stuff other people take for granted, I loathe.

I guess it helps to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

I must’ve heard that line a thousand times, but it still rings true.

Lofty ideas fail

Life is harsh. Lofty ideas fail.

Experienced people are like turtles.

If all the idealists stick together, we’d rule the world.

Lofty ideas are possible, if given the chance.

It’s too bad majority of people give up too soon. A little tweak, here and there, can make all the difference.

Science trumps experience, a million to one.

But nothing beats luck. Randomness ala Taleb.

“Just do it.”