Firm and tough

Ashok Boghani - Tough climb (A tree bark composite)

If you’re firm and tough, and strong, there’s an excuse for your behavior – If you have a good reason, you may be right to be upset.

I’ve seen people getting upset. If they had a reason for it, I tried to understand their reactions.

Generally, I don’t like verbal aggressiveness. But I can try and understand it. And, in the end, tolerate it.

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Admiration for journalists

K.H.Reichert [ ... ] - Federal press conference building | Bundespressekonferenz - Kronprinzenbrücke| Berlin - Germany

In the past, I used to look at journalists with admiration.

CHIP magazine, game magazines, 22 magazine.

Even today I do so but to a much lesser degree.

I feel that, at the same time, I grew wiser and the press, in general, decreased its quality.

I’m not the person I was 10-20 years ago, the press, again, is not the same.

And, with the Internet there are so many opportunities to know, read, view, interact with.

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Sectarians vs. Orthodox people

Follow-up: Pelerinaj la Mănăstirile Frăsinei (Vâlcea) și Bascovele (Argeș) cu teolog dr. Stelian Gomboș (2021.11.19-20)

Sectarians vs. Orthodox people are like people doing SEO to each other.

If the sectarians believed in the Holy Tradition, in the Saints, they would have a basis for discussion with the Orthodox.

In vain do I say, “This is what Holy Tradition says,” if it means nothing to them.

Likewise, SEO discussion. If I say “That’s what Moz.com says,” if it means nothing to X, that he knows better, we have no way of talking.

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Comparing with competitors

Ed - 1938 Darl'mat Peugeot 402 Roadster (Reflections On)(Enlarge)

Why isn’t good to compare yourself with many small competitors, and it’s good to look at the big ones?

The big ones are testing.

If Amazon puts something in black and white, it’s clear that you need to do something similar.

They make the best decisions because it costs them a lot to be wrong, so they spend time on each issue.

5 of your small competitors don’t do that.

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Making decisions as a poor person

Adam Y Zhang - Decision Time

If you are poor, you make the wrong financial decisions. It’s not easy to make the right decisions.

“The core demographic of dollar stores—lower-income families who earn less than $40K per year—are often living paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford to buy in larger quantities, even if it means getting a better deal,” Crockett explains.
Desperation breeds profit for these dollar stores, and it’s a business model that has, perhaps unsurprisingly, proven extremely successful—there are more of these stores than all the Walmarts, CVS, Walgreens, and Targets combined. So yeah, you might wanna consider buying your pool floaties and Chef Boyardee Spaghettios somewhere more ethical like… well… um… damn.

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Show you are an expert in the field

Thomas Hawk - Trust

It might be a bit counterintuitive is to write blog posts describing some secrets in your industry – for example, if I’m an SEO teaching people how to do SEO.

These kinds of things might look will leave you without clients.

The advantage? They have a tendency to position you as an expert.

Trust is a powerful thing to be able to gain:

Simon Sinek Performance vs Trust – YouTube.

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Balance between negative and positive

chachasarra - Balance-Austria

When you write a blog post, a page, or any other type of content, consider this: try to look for a balance between positive (promise, future, hope) and negative (past, analysis, criticism, fear, fear suggestion) in most texts. For example, you can be negative in describing a problem or potential problem and positive in expressing a solution.

You can even use these two in the same phrase:

“Reading blog posts can harm your eyes, on the other hand, it can give you fresh new ideas”.

“Our products avoid issues with ecology, and are also child-friendly”.

Or, write two phrases:

“I love this new pair of shoes. They help me avoid knee issues”.

“I really enjoy the glasses. They are lightweight and also help me with costs”.

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Group efficiency

Dmitry Ryzhkov - DRD160813_0082

I once attended a workshop with Jim Bagnola.

He asked us some complicated questions and told us – “You are free to do as you please, at the end the person who can tell me the most answers wins 5$” (very approximate quote).

The game was before the heavy use of smartphones, so we had to pick our brains.

And while some people, me included, focused on answering the questions by ourselves, some people formed groups.

The winner of the game stood in the back, listened to people’s answers, and wrote them on a piece of paper.

What’s the lesson, here?

It’s very hard for an individual to know everything on a topic. Use the group’s knowledge and create a powerful team for answering questions.

Note – this does not refer to cheating at exams and tests in school.

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On choices and limits

Alfred Grupstra - I Wish You A Lot Of Choices In 2019

Barry Schwartz, Dorwin Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action at Swarthmore College:

He thinks too much choice overwhelms us and makes us unhappy—a phenomenon he calls the paradox of choice. Endless choices, Schwartz says, are more stultifying than gratifying. In one canonical experiment dubbed “the jam study,” grocery-store shoppers scanning 24 different gourmet jams were less likely to make a purchase than shoppers who looked at only six jams. The shoppers choosing from a wider selection were also unhappier with the jam they’d bought.

I think it’s good to have some limits. If I want to buy a PC, I won’t start reading about every processor out there, I’ll only focus on a few choices.

If I want to pick a PC format, I’ll choose between a few options.

What about RAM? I’ll focus either on speed, price, or performance/price.

What about SSDs? There are so many options. Yes, but I can filter by a few criteria.

So, if your dating criteria is “it’s a man/woman”, you’ll have a lot of options, and you might think you could have gotten a better option.

But if you have limiting criteria, there are far fewer options.

I tend not to like artificial limits.

“You should spend 2x your monthly salary for a car. You should save 10% of your income, donate 10% and invest 10%. Buy recycled. Walk instead of taking the bus.”

If I set the criteria for myself, I’ll enjoy it. If I feel the criteria is imposed, I won’t like it as much.

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I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed

Alexander Ess - Cambodia - Siem Reap

24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. (Matthew 25:24-27 ESV – He also who had received the one talent – Bible Gateway)

Some people might say – “Because you’re a severe person, I fear you, thus I don’t communicate with you”. And the answer comes, paradoxically – “Because I’m a severe person, for this reason alone you should communicate with me”.

I once had a teacher in primary school. He was considered and rumored to be severe.

One time, he came a bit unexpectedly to the classroom.

One colleague, trying to warn us, came yelling – “Mr. X!!!” (referring that Mr. X was coming).

The teacher came to the classroom and asked us who was yelling. He was told – “our colleague Y”.

“Listen, girl, he said, you’ll have a lot of problems with me. What sort of a person do you think I am, that you need to tell others that I am coming?”.

So, he was actually doing the thing he was feared for – he was aggressive to a person.

I’ve seen the behavior from time to time. Aggressive persons yelling at you – “Why are you scared of me?”.

Well, you can see why.

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