Back on Track... almost
Well things have been hectic on my end and I slowly finding my balance again with everything. I've been getting a lot of good, genuine advise from people regarding the way I deal with my business and it's made me re-realize (re-realize? I'll explain later) a lot of things.
Basically, as I've been going through building my business, I've encountered a lot of things I never expected. I suppose this is what we all call experience. The more I learn, the more I realize I still need to learn. The funny thing is, I recently met some other businessmen, that at least to me, seem successful in their business, but work quite silly. I'm not criticizing them, I'm simply saying, that for me, I'm the type of guy that doesn't like wasting his precious time doing something that I shouldn't be wasting my time on. I try my best to automate whatever I can and have computers do any monkey work that I may need to process. For example, all my DVD's and archives are all saved into a database that lets me search through it immediately, without having to take out each disc, and check what's inside. Of course, I could still get the job done either way, but with the automated process, I'm simply speeding things up by letting my computer do what it does best -- brainless repetition! After all, it's supposed to compute! right?
Speaking of computers, I'd like to introduce you all to my brand new MacBook! :) A lot of my friends are probably going to mock me now and say how I've caved because I used to always say that it's not the operating system or configuration that makes the difference! It's the person driving the machine! Well, to be honest, I still stand by that. So why the MacBook? Well that's because Mac computers can now happily run Windows as well as Mac OS :) That's one selling point, and also I was getting sick of my super slow eMac computer, not to mention I realized I needed a notebook for times when I found myself outdoors, commuting or just unable to get my workstation. There's a lot I still have to do with my MacBook (for one, I need to properly learn Mac OSX 10.5 Leopard!) and then have a workflow/system set up so I can work out all my projects without worrying about inconsistency :)
Another milestone in my life is that I've finally worked out a good drum practice routine that hits my needs :) I'm seeing improvements and let me just say, I'm finally understanding the concept of "technique" vs "brute force". Let's take my double pedaling as an example. I used to think that it was my muscles that weren't developed enough to keep up with the speeds, but the more I practice now, the more I realize it has a lot to do with technique rather than just muscle power! I've changed my technique a bit to follow a suggestion by (and my idol) Jo Jo Mayer and may I just remind you all that this guy is a God to me :P I admire his drumming like businessmen admire Warren Buffet's style. This technique vs brute force concept has really made me come to think about a lot in life. Someone had told me before "have you ever stopped to wonder why you're always finding yourself drowning in your work?". In many ways, I have, in many ways, I haven't completely. I pride myself in knowing that I'm actually already quite organized. Just to keep you updated, I'm a big GTD user. However, I was reading an article on lifehack.org recently and it talked about how very often we find ourselves always trying to improve that we shift our mentality of "happiness" to the future and never stop to appreciate what we have now. This was like a good refresher's course to me! I've been so tied up about how I can keep striving for more that I never stopped to realize what I already have achieved now! My technique of life is actually quite good (at least to me!). I'm able to keep up with a lot of things! I just remembered when I used to have a full time job, it was like all I could do was have one extra hobby in life because that's all that the time I had permitted me to do. Today, I'm able to juggle a lot of my personal passions all at the same time!
I guess with everything, improvement is always possible and so going back to technique vs. brute force. The thing I try to do is to maximize whatever I can get out of every minute of my life. Like last night, I wanted to eat a slice of pizza, but also I needed a shower. So the question was, do I heat the pizza, then go for a shower, then come out and eat the pizza? Or do I go for a shower, come out, heat the pizza, wait, then eat the pizza slice? For all of you who know me well, I detest pointless waiting. However, here's the catch in the situation, the slice of pizza only needs like 3 - 4 minutes to get warmed up, could I shower, dry off and be ready to eat in 3 - 4 minutes? No. So what I'd end up with is a warmed up, but cooled down slice of pizza! No No! I deserve better! So here I was, thinking about how the hell I was going to best use my time, and then I realized, so I needed something that takes me 3 - 4 minutes to do, and I got it, it probably takes me that much time to pick out my clothes, change into them, and get a plate, napkin and everything else in preparation of eating the pizza. Ah, perfect. So shower it was, come out in my boxers, get the slice of pizza, start warming it up, go get clothes, get changed, get plate, get everthing, pizza's ready and I was eating it :)
Now you may be saying "dude, that was really overkill of thinking just to save like 1 - 2 minutes". But it's like telling a person they're crazy for trying to save every cent. These are like the building blocks of everything to me. Once I get into the right state of mind, I'll get used to the habit of trying to maximize my output with minimum waste. Which really is what good technique is all about! To do something that achieves the result you want, with the least amount of cost/damage/waste or in other words, the highest efficiency.
So here I am, I know what I need, basically, I need to work on my techniques of tackling everything in life. With good technique, I don't rely on brute force which, much like fitness, requires you to take a lot of rests. With good technique, you can still achieve the same output, but reduce the amount of input involved. Yes I'm talking to myself. I'm not crazy. :)
Basically, as I've been going through building my business, I've encountered a lot of things I never expected. I suppose this is what we all call experience. The more I learn, the more I realize I still need to learn. The funny thing is, I recently met some other businessmen, that at least to me, seem successful in their business, but work quite silly. I'm not criticizing them, I'm simply saying, that for me, I'm the type of guy that doesn't like wasting his precious time doing something that I shouldn't be wasting my time on. I try my best to automate whatever I can and have computers do any monkey work that I may need to process. For example, all my DVD's and archives are all saved into a database that lets me search through it immediately, without having to take out each disc, and check what's inside. Of course, I could still get the job done either way, but with the automated process, I'm simply speeding things up by letting my computer do what it does best -- brainless repetition! After all, it's supposed to compute! right?
Speaking of computers, I'd like to introduce you all to my brand new MacBook! :) A lot of my friends are probably going to mock me now and say how I've caved because I used to always say that it's not the operating system or configuration that makes the difference! It's the person driving the machine! Well, to be honest, I still stand by that. So why the MacBook? Well that's because Mac computers can now happily run Windows as well as Mac OS :) That's one selling point, and also I was getting sick of my super slow eMac computer, not to mention I realized I needed a notebook for times when I found myself outdoors, commuting or just unable to get my workstation. There's a lot I still have to do with my MacBook (for one, I need to properly learn Mac OSX 10.5 Leopard!) and then have a workflow/system set up so I can work out all my projects without worrying about inconsistency :)
Another milestone in my life is that I've finally worked out a good drum practice routine that hits my needs :) I'm seeing improvements and let me just say, I'm finally understanding the concept of "technique" vs "brute force". Let's take my double pedaling as an example. I used to think that it was my muscles that weren't developed enough to keep up with the speeds, but the more I practice now, the more I realize it has a lot to do with technique rather than just muscle power! I've changed my technique a bit to follow a suggestion by (and my idol) Jo Jo Mayer and may I just remind you all that this guy is a God to me :P I admire his drumming like businessmen admire Warren Buffet's style. This technique vs brute force concept has really made me come to think about a lot in life. Someone had told me before "have you ever stopped to wonder why you're always finding yourself drowning in your work?". In many ways, I have, in many ways, I haven't completely. I pride myself in knowing that I'm actually already quite organized. Just to keep you updated, I'm a big GTD user. However, I was reading an article on lifehack.org recently and it talked about how very often we find ourselves always trying to improve that we shift our mentality of "happiness" to the future and never stop to appreciate what we have now. This was like a good refresher's course to me! I've been so tied up about how I can keep striving for more that I never stopped to realize what I already have achieved now! My technique of life is actually quite good (at least to me!). I'm able to keep up with a lot of things! I just remembered when I used to have a full time job, it was like all I could do was have one extra hobby in life because that's all that the time I had permitted me to do. Today, I'm able to juggle a lot of my personal passions all at the same time!
I guess with everything, improvement is always possible and so going back to technique vs. brute force. The thing I try to do is to maximize whatever I can get out of every minute of my life. Like last night, I wanted to eat a slice of pizza, but also I needed a shower. So the question was, do I heat the pizza, then go for a shower, then come out and eat the pizza? Or do I go for a shower, come out, heat the pizza, wait, then eat the pizza slice? For all of you who know me well, I detest pointless waiting. However, here's the catch in the situation, the slice of pizza only needs like 3 - 4 minutes to get warmed up, could I shower, dry off and be ready to eat in 3 - 4 minutes? No. So what I'd end up with is a warmed up, but cooled down slice of pizza! No No! I deserve better! So here I was, thinking about how the hell I was going to best use my time, and then I realized, so I needed something that takes me 3 - 4 minutes to do, and I got it, it probably takes me that much time to pick out my clothes, change into them, and get a plate, napkin and everything else in preparation of eating the pizza. Ah, perfect. So shower it was, come out in my boxers, get the slice of pizza, start warming it up, go get clothes, get changed, get plate, get everthing, pizza's ready and I was eating it :)
Now you may be saying "dude, that was really overkill of thinking just to save like 1 - 2 minutes". But it's like telling a person they're crazy for trying to save every cent. These are like the building blocks of everything to me. Once I get into the right state of mind, I'll get used to the habit of trying to maximize my output with minimum waste. Which really is what good technique is all about! To do something that achieves the result you want, with the least amount of cost/damage/waste or in other words, the highest efficiency.
So here I am, I know what I need, basically, I need to work on my techniques of tackling everything in life. With good technique, I don't rely on brute force which, much like fitness, requires you to take a lot of rests. With good technique, you can still achieve the same output, but reduce the amount of input involved. Yes I'm talking to myself. I'm not crazy. :)
Labels: day 10
posted by Vivek Mahbubani at
4:26 PM
2 Comments:
dude, you can't keep dodging but write long piece of craps like this. think imma gonna see your next show, have to get a date however. there's something urgent i needa find you, either go online or call me, because i don't have ur number biach. ciao.
Ahahaha, yes ma'am! :P
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