Non-practice

Once, a friend told me right after I bragged for being admitted at one of the most prestigious Colleges in Romania: „OK, that’s fine, you got in. Let’s see which of us, you or me, will get a job faster after graduation”.

He did a College on travelling the world as a working person on a ship. The job can be boring at times, but you work for international companies + it’s considered a difficult job + you are qualified for this position. All three criteria make the job well paid.

He continued with his career in the field, and got to a good level of job satisfaction.

I once heard the story, at a conference, about an entrepreneur who started in the advertising industry, but it was a very crowded market, so he thought he would launch in the car rental business, a more profitable business.

Great success!

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. – Soren Kierkegaard

Looking backward, I like my life, I did some things.

Financially speaking, I know some people who had fewer talents with school, but worked hard, got to combos similar to my friend, above, and are much better than I am.

I remember a time in school, when one teacher came to the class, just for one hour, and that’s it (it was a substitute teacher, filling in for a colleague), and told us – „I think persons A, B, C, from the three areas in which the benches are split in your classroom, will succeed”.

All three colleagues have made it with a good career, and are much better professionally than I am.

I was one of the best kids in my classroom, and this wasn’t enough. It’s not enough to know some Math, and Literature, to succeed in life it takes more things.

I’m amazed by that teacher’s prediction, looking backwards.

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I gave a link to someone at some point.

I was criticized for not explaining what the link was about.

About this question: Should Artists Have to Talk About Their Work? – I think the answer is „No, you don’t need to explain your work”.

If I give a link to you, you should try and wonder why did I gave the link to you.

If you don’t find an answer, ask me.

But I don’t start with the assumption that each time I give a link I have to comment on it, just to make sure the person gets the message.

Sometimes, a bit of obscurity is fine.

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• Some people want next-day delivery. To me, this is questionable. Yes, I do prefer a product is delivered as quickly as possible, yes I do worry about the state of the product, yes I do worry that the order might actually never reach me, but it’s not that problematic.
• Some social networks and online platforms are more popular in some countries than others.
• Although I don’t like them that much, I see that:
  • WhatsApp, as a communication platform, is really a thing. To me, the fact that it’s rather difficult to copy & paste a chat makes the communication rather unpleasant.
  • Facebook Groups have a good audience. It’s always a question to me – why do people prefer it to blogs, where you can search old messages much easier?
  • On Instagram a lot of posts seem perishable. You post something, and if you have a good activity in there, after a few months it’s gone. In two years, it’s almost for sure disappeared.
• I don’t like bureaucracy, at all.
• Some people feel they are entitled.
• It’s difficult to prove someone wrong if they won’t accept a mistake.
• I think that there aren’t enough procedures in a lot of systems I meet, from school, to private organizations. Even if bureaucracy is not to be wished, procedures actually might help reduce it.
• It’s better to plan something, solve it, then it is to leave it up until the last moment.
• If you do postpone things until the last moment, don’t do them in a hurry. Take your time.
• I see some organizations where people aren’t motivated to work unless carefully supervised.
• At times, I see people caring about the close circle of acquaintances around them/family, but not about the society, as a whole.
• It’s so easy and nice to be lazy. One of the most pleasant things.
• If you get bored, it’s better for the productivity to just „lose” one minute or two not doing anything than to „gain” time on social networks for 3 minutes.
• Ice cream and chemical compounds. I see some people worrying that their ice cream contains additives. While, surely, a natural ice cream is better than a chemical one, it’s still a product with lots of sugar.
• I’ve met some people loving their work. Not because they are paid a lot, but because they love their job. This happened quite a lot in London.

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On the holiday season, most people prefer to relax, spend time with their families, enjoy life.

For some strange reason, on other times of the year, I just add tasks to myself.

That’s a poor habit, because on the Holidays things add up, and there’s a lot of work to be done.

If you want to eat an elephant, a good idea is to eat a small piece daily, rather than waiting for them to get bigger and bigger.

Christmas is for fun. You can schedule some tasks, but don’t leave it all until the last moment.

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I know persons who think that by addressing a kind word to someone, you’re entitled to rewards.

They seem to actually consider that people need to pay you back, since you told them something nice.

To me, at least partially, this looks like manipulation, and I try to avoid this.

Sure, go for it, say something enjoyable, treat people nicely, avoid ugly words behind their backs, initiate polite conversations.

But don’t do this expecting something in return, that’s just mean.

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