Between stagnation and change.

At the usual hour (same one for the past 1825 days) I wait for the metro to take me home.

It's one of those hard working days that make me feel lobotomized after the usual 9 intensive hours. By now, my brain refuses to think anything other than the basic stuff; can't challenge it with interesting ideas.

So, I take a sit, stop the audio book that plays in my ears, close my eyes and try to empty myself of today's baggage. No more disappointments on bad decisions, no planning in advance, no nothing. I simply give my brain what it craves for: peace and quiet..

Preconceptions - we all have them..

"Dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present" - Abraham Lincoln 

I was planning to write a post on preconceptions a while back, but for some reason I postponed it. However, the idea's seed followed me everywhere and slowly deepened my understanding on this matter. Now I'm actually glad there's no half-post of mine, because there's a blank slate to start from - for building my case against preconceptions.

Only recently I've started to grasp the true venomous power of preconceptions - and I've begun seeing them as some of the most destructive creations of one's mind. The whole idea of taking half-truths (or worse - something entirely wrong) - and wrapping the brain in layers upon layers of thick and resistant shroud - does nothing more than building a premature coffin for that particular brain. Too bad we have this capacity of committing suicide at so many levels.

Elements of change.. learned from photography.

When you're not happy with the results, just change the angle.

In photography it can make the difference between a failed shot and a great one. In life, a different perspective often brings new understanding, opportunities and possibly better results in any kind of situation.

When you like the angle a lot and spend too much time in the same spot doing the same damn thing, you're certainly missing other opportunities.

Again - change the perspective and make sure nothing passes by unnoticed.

A lifetime in numbers.

Have you ever wondered where time - our most precious resource - flies away during a lifetime? Below are some rough statistics for routine activities taking place in an average human lifespan:

- sleeping ~ around 20 years; - working ~ 9 years; - TV ~ 5 to 10 years; - internet ~ 5 years; - eating ~ 4 years; - talking on the phone ~ 4 years; - traveling/driving ~ 3.5 years; - cleaning ~ 3 years; - waiting in line for something ~ 3 years; - conversing ~ 2 years; - dressing ~ 1.5 years; - recreation ~ 1.5 years; - exercising ~ 1.5 years; - caring for children ~ 1.5 years; - shopping 1.5 years; - looking for misplaced objects ~ 1 year; - washing/grooming ~ 1 year; - opening junk mail ~ 8 months; - sitting at stoplights ~ 6 months;

Overcoming obstacles.

There are many ways to introduce this kind of topic.. I'm going for a leap of faith and choose the worst one: I'm not the best person to talk about this subject, because I still have a lot to learn and a long way to master it. This was also the main reason I postponed introducing the theme in a previous post. At that time I realized that some more time was needed to digest all the things recently learned.

But still.., we're here to share experiences, and even though this one is not yet complete, it is worth to be mentioned. So, let's get started:

"Every wall is a door" (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
As already iterated previously, any problem should be seen as an opportunity. With this positive mindset, we can overcome even the most difficult situations, and also turn them into profitable outcomes.
But what happens when we either have no idea what so ever, or many solutions to choose from. Well, now it's time to explain the initially desired connection between creativity and obstacles: when overcoming the latter, creativity plays an important role. Just trying to do things the "right way", may not always be the right thing to do.
Also, experimenting or initiating a failure can actually help us gain more knowledge, than applying the same old solution over and over again.
Initiating failure by intentionally making a mistake, can open new perspectives. For example, I know a few people that enjoy DIY projects and always come up with new solutions to old problems. More than that, they don't apply the exact same solution twice, but continuously try to improve on the last one, or even create new solutions.
Of course, not everything turns perfect every time, but things evolve at a fast pacing in this manner.
Now, that's a successful collaboration between creativeness and boldness in assuming risks. So, taking some risks is a actually one of the solutions when faced with an obstacle.

Another concept that I discovered to be useful is to ask yourself: "how much is this particular thing going to matter in 10 years?" or "who would care in 10 years about this moment?".
These questions come in handy especially when panicking over some petty little things that no one is going to remember in a few months, much less in a few years.
We have this tendency to exaggerate over the least important things in life and we forget about the things that really matter.

Membership has it's privileges.
Doing things alone is not always a good idea. We are limited by our own capabilities as individuals and it's a well known fact that together we can achieve a lot more.
Being a member of a larger community grants us access to sharing of ideas, acquiring knowledge from more experienced members, and seeing things from different perspectives.

Since we were introduced to the Bucharest's business incubator (Bucharest Hub), things that took us 6 months to understand, started to become more clear in a matter of weeks. It was not the amount of information that counted, but it's quality.
We used to think that the internet can provide for anything. The problem is that the internet is too big, with a lot of fragmented information (from which, a lot is ideal or too general to be easily applied in particular cases). Is a lot more useful to talk directly to experienced people and ask for their qualified opinion.

And I'll end this post as abruptly as it was started: "to be continued" :)

About inspiration, creativity and overcoming obstacles.

First, inspiration and creativity sources..in a few words (I wasn't trying to be ironic with "a few words", the post just got a lot bigger than initially intended).

hmm.. I wanted to start with something smart and comprehensive, like a "theory of everything" :) , but then I realized it's gonna be hard and it's probably more relevant to you all to start with some questions:
Where and when do you mostly generate new interesting ideas? Don't think about the trigger itself, but think about the circumstances; see if there's a pattern.
Did you notice that creativity tends to occur more often in cases like these:
- when going outside the comfort zone;
- after switching from the daily routine to a different environment (not necessary a major change, although preferable);
- when you have a total break from all the worries, tasks and whatever else occupies your mind most of the time.

All of these are true in my own case. If you dig a bit deeper and discover other situations, don't hesitate to share them.
About the last one, when in a getaway or a simple relaxation break, try to keep an open mind to everything that surrounds you, or that you come in contact with.
This last mention I think it is really important, as I can recall quite a few "breaks" in which no creative ideas surfaced, only because my mindset was to reject thinking and just craved for having fun & nothing else. We often do such things when we're fed up with work & routine, and then we just want to run away from them as far as possible, without taking into account the benefits of the "work & pleasure" combination.

Sources of inspiration.
The best ones are hobbies and areas in which you either invest a lot of time, or even excel at.
On the opposite end, new/unknown areas that you start digging into, can trigger some interesting connections.
A while back I had this purpose in life to know a bit from everything. It took me some time to realize that it's hard to keep up with the technological advancement and also it's pretty useless to now just a bit from everything, without having a topic to excel at.

I'll close this post mentioning some unlikely sources of inspiration:
- TV in general - yeah it can be a major loss of time unless you decide to follow programs relevant to your interests. Furthermore, it works just like Paracelsus's approximate saying: "the dosage makes the poison" ;) .
- movies or tv series that are worth watching.
Dragos Roua mentioned in his blog about acquiring "food for thought" by watching movies. I didn't actually got it immediately, but last night I saw one episode from "Being Erica" which was quite deep and meaningful.
Painfully meaningful I should add, because the ending part was awfully similar to some old discussions between me and Andra, when I was the one close-minded and Andra the creative mind :|.
On the same note, can you believe I once said & believed that motorcyclists are idiots that spend a lot of money on a useless mean of transportation :D. Yeah, I said that...please don't throw rocks at me.

About overcoming obstacles in another post..

Learn and Share - Weekly Sum Up.

Wallpapers with quotes from books recently read (some I've instantly understood, with some I'm already experimenting, and others are yet to be fully discovered):




Business 2.0 principles (An interesting point of view about the "New Economy" - written in 1998!)
Matter. (It matters less.)
Space. (Distance has vanished.)
Time. (It is collapsing.)
People. (They're the crown jewels.)
Growth. (It's accelerated by the network.)
Value. (It rises exponentially with market share.)
Efficiency. (The middleman lives on in "infomediaries".)
Markets. (Buyers are gaining dramatic new power, sellers new opportunities.)
Transactions. (It's a one-on-one game.)
Impulse. (Every product is available everywhere.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_2.0

Nothing to fear, but fear itself.

"We have nothing to fear, but fear itself" (presumably written by Napoleon Hill for Franklin D. Roosevelt)
It was a perfect timing yesterday, when I got the chance to hear this quote and also test it.
I was on my way to the dentist, after two years pause since the last visit. Needless to say I was SCARED, especially because 13 years back I had a major repair on the same tooth - without any anesthetic what-so-ever (traumatizing experience..).

Anyway, I got to the dentist in 5 minutes after hearing the quote. The lady doctor was busy with something else and invited me to go directly into the consulting room.
After waiting for one minute, the solution struck me.
Instead of delaying everything and waiting for her to invite me onto the chair, then ask me to open my mouth - with the syringe in her hand, I took the initiative in order to ease my fear. Don't worry, I didn't take a tranquilizer or sting myself with anesthetic :) (although I was kind of taking into account those solutions too :D).
Instead, I sat alone in the chair and got accustomed with it (it was quite conformable). Then, we made some jokes when the lady doctor got in and saw me just laying there.
Next, when the sprayed anesthetic numbed my gums sufficiently, I told her that I'm ready for the shot.

What I did was to take the tough decisions myself, rather than waiting until I had no other alternative.
It turned out to be the best experience I ever had at the dentist. It wasn't perfect, because I didn't manage to stay relaxed all the time, but it was way different than the previous ones.
Where can we apply this? Well.., I can think of many situations where instead of delaying the inevitable and just waiting for something to happen; we can do everything in our own terms and drastically improve the situation.
So, fear only the fear and don't loose the chance to turn an unpleasant situation into a nice learning experience.

Time is money...now I finally get it.

I've known this saying about time since forever, but I've never fully grasped the concept.

This week I've read (and listened) to some really interesting topics, related to optimal time usage.

Now I know that there is no such thing as "free time", and all the time spent doing nothing, costs us highly.

To put it bluntly, if we analyse everything from the money point of view, there are roughly three ways of spending time:

- learning and investing the knowledge (thinking about ways of reinvesting your profit / creating and reviewing new business ideas etc);

- simply spending money;

- or doing absolutely nothing (escaping in some temporary refuge like movies, sleep etc);

Now, it's not just about money; I only used the previous example to be as close as possible to the original saying. But.., to put it as Napoleon Hill says in his book: "riches" can be anything meaningful to you, not just material possessions.

If you don't use the "free time" to pursue your dream, no one else is going to do that for you. The world isn't simply stopping when you choose to do so, and you risk to be left behind.

So, stop loosing precious time and start doing something really meaningful (this last advice is also self-addressed).

Learn and Share - http://degiorgis.blogspot.com/

"Learn at least one useful/interesting/awesome thing - per week - and share it."

Raine found the "learn and share" idea to be interesting and - at her suggestion - we decided to write on Tuesdays :).

So, stay tuned for some constant sharing of learned things.

Here is their blog (Raine,Manuel and Emeline): http://degiorgis.blogspot.com

We're using the "learn and share" tag, so it's easy to check the previous posts on this matter.

Learn and Share - Weekly Sum Up.

Well well.., the previous week has been a busy one for me.
Because I had some medical issues, I couldn't go to work; but the time was used productively to learn some new stuff about the business environment.
I haven't yet reached the point where I can easily synthesize or create my own ideas, so we'll have to postpone this subject until my knowledge matures.

Still, there are a few basic things that can be shared at this point:
It becomes obvious from the first attempt to enter the business environment, that one needs to have (or to acquire) the followings:
- up to date information about trends, people needs and current implemented solutions;
- connectors: people that can easily introduce you to other people already activating in this medium;
- people skill and initiative in talking to others, proactive/positive/constructive attitude;
- reputation: this should be the first one on the list for an entrepreneur; but for those that are just starting, reputation is one of the major goals. This will help you to get closer to angel investors and VC.
- and...almost everyone says that it's prefferable to visit Silicon Valley :) ..before starting a serious online business.

Switching to other topics:
- There's a different approach to making presentations: http://prezi.com (maybe it's already old news for some, but I've just discovered it).
I played a bit and made my first presentation here: http://prezi.com/iokkjkwlwfwz/ (check other ones for some clear insights about the potential of this tool).
You control the animation with the arrows, and you can also zoom in with them - to show/see details.
It's quite refreshing after so many years with power point and slides.

- Picasa desktop application. At first, I found it annoyingly different than what I was used to, but different is good especially when it is customizable to some degree.
It's a great tool for organizing your pictures, easily uploading them to picasa web albums, making collages, adding tags, identifying and organizing by people inside the pictures (face recognition).

- Books for personal development.
This area is widely covered by many other sites, but a vast majority recommends books that have very similar topics or the same information iterated differently.
I have found an old book that breaks the rules and feeds you information rather than telling you what to do and how to act: "Think and grow rich" by Napoleon Hill.
I'm not praising books too easy, but this one..it is that good and different.

Problems equal Opportunities.

Probably one of the hardest thing to do, when faced with a serious problem, is to detach and see it as an opportunity.
In theory it sounds great and I though exactly the same, every single time some book suggested it to me.
Putting it in practice is a totally different thing.., "practice" being the key word here.

Seeing opportunities in some of the less likely productive situations, requires a certain degree of self control and a bit of creativity.
Because the first reactions to problems are quite the opposite to the purpose we're setting here, it's important to learn to stay cool and avoid panicking. Panic is so deep coded in us - being a perfectly natural reaction - that this is our first obstacle to learn to avoid. It's useful to remember that in the modern life, panic doesn't help in most cases and there aren't many situations where this primitive instinct can become in handy.

Next stop is the solution finding process.
It's a semi-obstacle because if we get to this point, it means we partially or entirely overcame panic. The problem is that we're instinctively searching for the immediate solutions, the easiest way out and not necessarily long term ones. So, many times we choose the first applicable solution which comes to our mind, instead of giving it a bit more though, to make sure it is also the best one out there.
Lousy solutions are generated at this point..
How many times have you blamed yourself with: "oh, I should have said that, or do that instead of..."
Why is that?
The answer it's the same one you probably told yourself, time and time again: "I rushed/jumped instead of thinking it through".

Next time when you're in a difficult situation, remember to stay cool, think twice and act only after that.

Getting back to problems=opportunities: instead of focusing on solutions and quick fixes, why not think about how you can turn everything around in your favor?
Or, after applying a good solution, go over the contempt feeling and take your time to analyze what you've learned from the whole experience.
Don't forget that every problematic situation is an opportunity to learn something new, or do things differently - in a creative manner.

Post-factum:
As usual, I learned all these after making a mistake one time too many, and only then realizing what could have been done differently.
The last problematic situation though, had a totally different outcome thanks to some practicing.
It wasn't perfect, but it won't take long until all will come from reflex.

Learn and Share - Rip-off in the health sector.

I have this annoying allergy which causes powerful eye itches and - as a treatment - the doctor prescribed me a quite expensive drug; ..useful, but way too expensive. This is when I became inquisitive regarding the pharmaceutical sector.
It didn't take long to discover that it behaves just like any other industry with the money being the driven factor. I'm sure this industry has its own angels and demons, but it seems I stumbled upon the latter.
The drug I was prescribed is made of only one ingredient, present in a certain amount. A simple internet search revealed that there were other similar pills, with the exact ingredients and dosage, BUT a lot cheaper: 2 euros vs 11 euros - for the same amount (a huge difference since I have to take these pills regularly).

Considering we live in a money based society, this fact shouldn't have surprised me.
What is surprising and worrying is that doctors prescribe such expensive drugs, when they should know better. Many old people buy what the doctors tell them and they don't have the same resources to dig for the truth or search for better alternatives.
Not all doctors are like that though, in one occasion, one of them actually mentioned to me to avoid certain expensive pill widely suggested by the pharmacist (which, like any seller is interested in profit). But that happened only once..

There should be some regulations in place and a well developed public awareness, in order to avoid being ripped off when it comes down to our health.
From my understanding, drug companies sometimes offer bonuses to doctors in order to influence them to prescribe their own products. This is wrong; there must be a limit to human greediness and we shouldn't try to benefit from the others' illnesses. There are better, more honest ways of making money.

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New aim - Learn and Share.

Learn at least one useful/interesting/awesome thing - per week - and share it.

As I recently realized that days and even weeks pass by without learning any new things, without growing and improving, I decided to set this new purpose.
At first, I intended to set one new discovery per day...but let's not get ahead of ourselves :).

Here are some of the things we recently learned about:
- word: "visceral" (it might ring a bell to my fellow coworkers);
- macro photography (partially detailed in the previous post): cheap solutions - inversion/reverse ring (~10 euros); extension rings (ranging from 50 euros to 200);
- entrepreneurship: we discovered more on this subject (thanks to Bucharest Hub) and even made the first steps in starting our own business. More details to come in the following months;
- audio books (trainings/tutorials). Nowadays it's really hard to find time to read a good book. On the other hand, we do waste a lot of time in various situations (traffic, long journeys outside the city, doing chores in the house etc) and audio-books can be easily listened in such cases.

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Importance.

In a previous post I was talking about a debatable Free Will and how others influence most of our lives.
On a similar note, today I would like to share some things I learned about the need to feel important, which is THE ONE motivational factor for most things people chose to do in life.
Everyone is driven by the desire to feel important in the eyes of others, so many of our decisions are directly influenced by this - from the things we chose to wear daily, to the car or house we buy.

Food for thought: if you'd be completely alone on this planet, which things would instantly become unimportant, or at least drop on a very low level?

After acknowledging the power of importance, the next obvious questions are:
- how is this useful to us?
- where and how exactly can we apply this information?
Well, it is a priceless piece of information, as it reveals the proper way to talk to people and how to befriend them.
Asking people about themselves and genuinely being interested in their lives and well-being, makes even the grumpiest ones to open up to you.
Instead of talking about yourself and trying hard to get people interested in you, asking about the other person's thoughts and expectations, has a lot better and quicker results.

And it works everywhere!

Networking in a business environment starts smoother with a smile and a question about the other person's project. No matter how good your project is, praising it from the start will gather less interested people, than talking first with everyone about their own ideas.
Don't start by saying something like: let me show you how good I am. Begin by asking others about their own accomplishments.
It doesn't look like a direct approach, but that's the fun in it: a favor always returns with some extra stuff like relationships, feedback and even new ideas for improvement.
This way we found out that you don't have to work on selling your idea (everyone is already fed up with selling techniques anyway); instead, you give others what they need: a bit of attention and the feeling of importance, and you accomplish incredibly more this way.

At the supermarket, greeting and smiling at a bored cashier can speed up things, change the look on her face and generally increase the quality of the service/treatment you're receiving (be aware..it might also get you a serious punch from your girlfriend :)..).
The cashier doesn't do all these because you were nice to her, but because she feels important to you and doesn't feel anymore like a simple clerk serving the ...god knows what number of customer in that day.

I feel like I jumped in the middle of a subject without covering the basics. Here's something about conversations.
When meeting strangers, many people tend to be passive and wait for the other ones to start a conversation. Unfortunately, this doesn't work most of the time, mainly because the others might expect the same thing, or just they're not that interested in chatting.
As an "ice breaker", a sincere "how are doing today" accompanied by a hand shake, works like a charm, contrary to the simple and sometimes rushed salute: "good morning/evening.."
In an effort to make a change in my relationship with the elderly neighbors of mine, I tried this a couple of days ago: I started asking them about the dog they were walking, or about some trivial things such as weather, health, spring etc.
And now, instead of being cataloged as "that noisy motorcyclist", they put a smile on their faces when they see me (I'm talking about people that didn't have the initiative to salute me in the morning, or hardly answered properly to my salute).
With this occasion I also discovered a misconception of mine: I had this feeling that many old people don't wish or can't have small talks (especially with strangers or youngsters), that they are close minded and bored with life..
How wrong I was, you just have to get them started and then it will be hard to make them stop.
It's obvious they still have the same need as the rest of us, maybe even stronger because with the passing of years they stop being important in their circle: kids grow up and become self-sufficient, connections with other people are lost or diminished, society changes and their knowledge is not useful anymore.

With this post I just scratched the surface about one of the basic human needs. So, feel free to add your own ideas and fill in the gaps.
To anyone interested in the subject, I recommend this book: Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People

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