In London, I knew someone who used to say: “Definitely, it will happen!”
I liked that phrase so much!
What I remember is the pressure put on getting things done.
OK, you might have some personal problems, obstacles will arise, and there are difficulties and excuses.
But you’ll know for sure – “Definitely, it will happen!”
Sigmund Freud is explaining to a colleague the connection between fear and sex in human relationships. The colleague asks: “What comes between fear and sex?” Freud replies: “Fünf.” (source)
Why fear is reasonable when I cross a bridge – it mitigates risk, even though it’s unpleasant.
Looking at what’s beneath the bridge, I fear for my integrity, so I pay attention.
Fear might not be a good feeling, but it saves the day.
E o dilemă – oare BMW făceau bine când voiau să ofere anumite funcții (scaune încălzite) ca abonament opțional? Adică să ai scaunele fizic în mașină cu opțiunea de încălzire, dar să poți activa funcția doar contra cost, ca abonament. Adică ai plătit mașina, dar dacă vrei scaune încălzite, plătești un abonament.
Citisem într-un manual de economie că e mai ieftin în unele situații să produci un bun în cât mai puține variante, de exemplu e mai ieftină o tastatură pentru case de marcat cu simboluri Braille (pentru orbi), decât să facă una standard și una cu simboluri.
Nu îmi dau seama aici, dar poate e mai ieftină o mașină în mai puține variante de producție.
De asemenea, poate pentru unii clienți e simplu să zică “vreau la un moment dat, după un an, și un serviciu suplimentar, premium”, decât să zică “plătesc de la bun început toate opțiunile”.
În fine, poate sunt clienți care preferă să poată activa ușor o funcție, nu să meargă cu mașina în service o perioadă mai lungă pentru a li se pune o nouă funcție.
Planul BMW a picat, dar nu mi se pare o idee rea.
Pentru mine, între cele două extreme:
Casă la oraș vs Casă într-un sat
Mai e una, deloc de neglijat – casă într-un orășel.
Stau acum în Năvodari, care are beneficiul aerului curat, o distanță nu foarte mare de Constanța și facilitățile unui oraș.
Mi se pare un echilibru bun între viața unui oraș mare și plăcerile unui cătun mic.
I recently read somewhere that it’s a good practice that you always start with the same energy, enthusiasm, and motivation whenever you start something.
I was once asked, “Do you wish to work for us?” (it was an online agency).
I knew some negative implications of these (more effort for less money, high dependence on a single employer, lack of diversity, losing my current clients, the bureaucracy of either closing my freelancing company or juggling a dual status – employee and having a personal company at the same time).
My answer was a hesitant yes. When confronted with the question, “Hmm, are you enthusiastic about this?” I gave some possible reasons for not being enthusiastic. As you might imagine, the talk ended there.
The thing is, I still don’t know what I did wrong. I did have fears, and they were reasonable. Did I like the new job? Yes, but with implications, and considerations, and doubts.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this, and logically and rationally, I prefer a person who thinks about the consequences of their actions to an always-happy-always-joyful person who might get disappointed.
When I start something new, I think of what might go wrong and take measures against this.
When trying to foresee what could happen, I put the evil first and take action against it.
Am I constantly happy? Generally, no, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this.
I prefer success to being happy.
Do I take risks and start things? Yes.
Am I always happy? No, and I think that is fine.
I remember an HR person at a conference in college, something like 22 years ago, who talked about a potential employee. That person said in a shallow, monotone, slow, dull voice: “I’m very enthusiastic!”. I like that person’s solution more and more as time passes.
Let’s say I want to research a topic. What are some ideas for writing a document?
Generally, I would do before ChatGPT is research the topic extensively – looking for an exhaustive list.
The problem is that I’d have to read many documents, and most exhaustive lists tend to have a lot of low-quality content.
With ChatGPT, I only need to write “Give me a list of 100 …” and voilà!.
The list is imperfect, but it’s generally much easier to read than through dozens of tabs.
I still need to intervene and use my best judgment, but ChatGPT’s low points are better than I can generally find online.
I read some posts on living frugally on online forums.
Examples include:
There’s nothing wrong with trying to cut costs.
But there are some other rules than legal rules – ethical rules.
Even if you can fool a service provider with no apparent direct consequences, this doesn’t imply everything is moral and acceptable.
There are other laws than State laws.
If I can share my Netflix account, this doesn’t mean I should.
If I threaten to leave a service provider without real intention, I can definitely reduce the bills. But I’ll also decrease the value I place on personal integrity.
There are even platforms like GoSplit – you give them money to pay less than Netflix. You pay a commission for having smaller costs with Netflix. And lower integrity, of course.
Unsubscribe.
There are generally just two types of problems:
When people come to me with various issues, the latter type of problem is more common.
When I went to the market (to buy groceries; there were open markets) in Bucharest, sellers would sometimes try to cheat on me.
When I go to a market in a small place (town, village), the sellers are much more honest.
What’s the difference?
In a big market, there are many sellers and many buyers. If you can’t remember them all, build a connection, and always treat people as being “one in many,” you tend not to care if you cheat or get cheated.
If you have a personal relationship with a seller, it matters whether they are honest.
Thus, if possible, buy from small markets with few sellers who will try to build a relationship with you.
Or buy from a supermarket and have almost zero risk of being cheated.
I liked a podcast by Bishop Robert Barron: What Makes Us Happy? – YouTube.
The Bishop says that even if Nordic countries like Finland rank very high on measures of happiness, the survey people might look at the wrong KPIs when evaluating happiness.
There are a lot of arguments in the video; if you’re interested in the topic, you might want to check it out.
But it did provoke me to think – is happiness really about healthcare and a good state of being? Or is it much more, a more profound thing?