Language: English

People don’t want to be helped

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The Lone Ranger (2013) - IMDb https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210819/

Sometimes, I see people asking for things.

Some common mistakes:

  • Not mentioning what steps you took to solve the problem on your own;
  • Not mentioning enough details about the matter;
  • (related to the point above) Not giving a context (why do you need it for);
  • Not giving information on the importance of the topic;
  • Not mentioning a timeframe;
  • Not taking even basic steps to solve the issue on their own;
  • Not thinking at all about how will I would do the task, not anticipating any moves.

Also, sometimes, I put a resource online. People ask me about it. It seems that it’s my job now to give details on the matter. It’s now my responsibility.

According to Nicolae Steinhardt and Andrei Pleșu, the answer to “Who is my neighbor?” is – “You make your own neighbor”. You take steps, it’s your work to make someone your neighbor, to help them.

If you want to find excuses for not helping someone, most likely, that person will give you plenty of excuses.

PS: Of course, if you give someone asking you for help the link to this article, they will likely be offended. “Who, me???”.

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People change

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I don't judge people on their worst mistakes.

Sometimes, I find things annoying.

For example, there are service provides who do something wrong.

Yet, I keep insisting, I continue to ask for their services.

And, as time passes by, they improve, they become better and better at what they do.

When Apple launched the first iPhone it was far from perfect, but as time passed, they made it better.

The first processors, cars, CD players, could be improved.

And so they did.

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MerchantPro: Despite political uncertainty, Romanian consumers maintain their appetite for online shopping

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MerchantPro: În ciuda incertitudinii politice, consumatorii români își mențin apetitul pentru shopping online

Over the past four weeks, marked by a tense political context due to the presidential and parliamentary elections and the cancellation of the first round of presidential elections, online stores operating on the MerchantPro SaaS platform have maintained an upward sales trend. The performance during the period from November 18 to December 15, surrounding the elections and the cancellation decision, indicates an 11% increase in transaction value and an 8% growth in the number of transactions compared to the same weeks in 2023.

“This growth can be attributed to the seasonal nature and gift-giving period, which naturally stimulates consumption, as well as consumers’ tendency to compensate for a perceived lack of control through current purchases. The majority of transactions involved products with an average basket value of approximately €55, while purchases of higher value were postponed until a perceived stabilization of the general context”, notes Arthur Rădulescu, CEO of MerchantPro.

The only days where a significant decline in value was observed were November 24 (-5%), the day of the first round of presidential elections, and November 25 (-10%), the day the final results of the first round were announced. The surprising ranking of candidates impacted purchasing intent and shifted public attention toward political news on those days.

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TED Panel

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Peste 1.500 de entuziaști ai inovației și creativității s-au reunit la cea de-a 13-a ediție a TEDxCluj, explorând sub tema „ALL IN” multiple perspective despre artă, știință, sănătate și tehnologie

In my opinion, there’s a reason why TED events focus on conferences, not panels.

Also, it’s quite common in the press to see “Here’s something that has been said at X conference.” It’s quite rare to hear, “In that specific Y panel, it has been said that …”

I wouldn’t say I like conference panels, and, instead, I prefer conferences. They are hard to follow from the audience (going from person A to person B is not easy), they are hard to understand (no slides, no focus, no coherence from the speeches), and sometimes they are ill-prepared (“I’ll just go to the conference and do my best to answer live, no matter the quality of what I said”).

Differences between a panel discussion and a single speech – Blog de Olivian Breda.

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How to be better organized?

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HD - Internet

There’s just one solution to become better organized – do more things.

If you have 100 files to organize, you might do this task or not. Even if they are not organized, they are just 100 files. You can browse through 100 files.

But if you have 10,000 files to organize, there’s just one option – be organized. You can’t browse through them, you need a system.

If you have 5 meetings, you might remember them. If you have 50 meetings, you need to an organizational solution.

You can’t remember 50 meetings, thus you need to become organized.

Of course, you can become organized with 5 meetings and 100 files, but there’s less external pressure to do so.

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How to respond to a WhatsApp or SMS message when you are on the go?

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Björn - Typewriter

If I’m not at home and someone sends me an important message on WhatsApp / SMS/text message, there is an issue: if I open the message, I will not see it as unread at home.

The solution is simple: copy & paste the message to a notes app, and, also, always reply to the message with a question, asking for a reply.

Thus, when you get the second message, you will have an unread message at home.

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Critical thinking vs. Thinking

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Bob May - localisation of function - bottom

I know people who are against a lot of things. They don’t like this, they don’t like that.

I think there’s a secret (conspiracies, look out) ingredient to add to critical thinking – thinking.

If you’re always negativistic and critical, but don’t balance this with “normal” thinking, I don’t think this is a good route.

Also, if I were to choose between what’s more realistic – too much critical thinking vs. too much optimism, it’s obvious that optimism wins.

On the other hand, optimistic persons start projects, make things happen, and are eager to start things moving.

The best solution? Critical thinking and optimism – a combination. Add to this some intelligence, and, when you need to pick between fear and courage, choose optimism.

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Helping by giving goods

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Angela Sevin - The Borneo office

Sometimes, I see people helping others by giving goods, not money.

While it’s 100% true that people eating bread can’t drink alcohol for the money from the bread, this thing happens – they have more money for alcohol.

So, the logic is simple – if a person who spends $1 on bread and $1 on vodka is given one free bread, they will have $2 for vodka.

Also, people have attachments to things they are involved with. If they receive a certain bread, perhaps they would prefer buying something else with that money.

For this reason, if you want to help someone, it’s safe to give them money (of course, there are exceptions).

And if you give someone who drinks alcohol a piece of bread, they will have more money for alcohol.

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My pen is blue!

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Don Harder - Free

(title via Miami Bici – 2020)

Sometimes, at conferences, companies give participants goodies.

My tip for them: give very quality items if you sponsor multiple events.

For example, the pencils from Fan Courier are in a class of their own. They’re top quality, and it’s hard to find better pens.

Whenever I go to a conference, I pretty much know that if Fan Courier is a sponsor, they’ll give away some quality products.

So, what to do?

  • Give quality items if you participate in multiple events;
  • Keep the quality consistent; you can increase the quality level, never decrease it; if you give a good pen today, keep the quality for the future;
  • Think of products that your audience will use; for example, it’s rather unlikely people will use a keychain with a large logo of a brand.

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