Blahgorrhea

I explored the concept of conviction and concluded that while I do have morals, I lack conviction, because I lack the undying passion necessary for it. For instance, I believe that biking to work, thus cutting back on driving and gas usage, would be better for the world (as well as my health and proverbial pocketbook). But I am lazy enough that I have only been able to bring myself to do so a few times since actually making the decision to bike more often. If I had conviction, I would bike to work every day. Since I don’t, is there a way to create conviction in myself? [Continue reading…]

Is it a bad sign that I can write more verbosely and potentially more eloquently about things I dislike versus things I like? Maybe there is a job out there for a critic who always writes negative reviews.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins introduces the Hedgehog Concept as a key insight into taking a good company to greatness. The idea is to develop your strategy along three key dimensions and then to crystallize that into one concept that guides all efforts. The analogy to the hedgehog comes from an parable about a fox and a hedgehog in which the fox tries many different methods to catch the hedgehog. Each time the hedgehog just rolls himself into a tight ball of spikes, thwarting all the fox’s efforts. The hedgehog understands its one big thing and consistently applies it, achieving “greatness,” at least in the ongoing battle with the fox. What is interesting about this business concept is that it closely parallels individuals’ pursuits of their true calling, and thus their personal greatness. [Continue reading…]

I believe myself to be a man of values and principles. I like to think that I am upstanding and would always “do the right thing.” At the same time, I recognize that I am not so much a man of conviction. The way I see it, conviction is the constant application of beliefs over time, and while I do have beliefs, I often find that averting conflict comes before upholding my beliefs. I’m not referring to major questions of ethics, but instead I’m talking about the more banal, like deciding not to eat red meat. [Continue reading…]

I have always fancied myself to be fiercly independent, thinking I can get along without anyone else’s help or even influence. I have always liked to think that I didn’t care what others thought about me or how I ran my life as long as I felt good about it. But as I have been thinking about my decision of what to do with my life, I have noticed that I rely more and more on the reactions and opinion of my friends and family. It is important for me to get “buy-in” on a decision regarding my life. As I describe my business idea to friends, my confidence in my idea is deeply influenced by their reaction. [Continue reading…]

I have a decision to make. I have to decide for myself whether or not I want a job or don’t want a job. I don’t want a job. I already know that, but I will need a job at some point, or at least a source of income. But what I really mean is that I have to decide what I want to do with myself immediately after I finish up working at Edusoft at the end of October.

On the one had, I should take some real time off; time I will spend doing actually nothing. I will ask myself, “What is it I want to do with my free time?” and whatever it may be, I can do. That sounds great, but I fear that I will just waste my time, watching TV, writing in my blog, or doing other pointless excersises that do not contribute to my self worth. [Continue reading…]