Sticking with the status quo

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Tom

Some people don’t have the confidence they can do things they haven’t learned or that they don’t know.  They fear that the lack of proper guidance will ultimately make them fail at whatever it is they’re trying.  The result? Nothing actually happens. They stick with the status quo.

Japan, 1946, the country was crushed by allied [...]

Enthusiasm or disappointment?

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Tom

- If you knew you wouldn’t be able to deliver on time, why did you sell it?
- If you can’t make it to that meeting, why did you promise it?
- If you didn’t find the time to write the report, why did you say you would?
What do you think is a positive emotion to move [...]

Dress for the occassion

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Tom

“Don’t dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want.”
Some truth in there, but what if I worked at a convenience store putting groceries in a bag and I wanted to be a Wall Street broker?  Or if I’m a Wall Street broker but actually want a job at a scientific research [...]

Gone in 60 seconds

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Tom

‘Gone in 60 Seconds’, the 2000 Jerry Bruckheimer remake with Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie, showed how you can steal any car in under 60 seconds.  Though I’m sure it wasn’t the intention of Bruckheimer to make people think, but there’s a lot of things you can do under 60 seconds.

- Write down the synopsis of [...]

How are you wasting your time?

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Tom

I like Umberto Eco, not (only) because he’s a great writer, historian, philosopher or critic, but because he’s all of that at the same time.  He finds a way to perform hugely time-consuming tasks and have a great life at the same time and still finds time to fulfil his duties at the university.

How does he do [...]

Your private oasis

Posted on June 27, 2009 by Tom

Freelancers, small companies, start-ups,…  It’s not unusual they work over 80 hours week.  Their livelihood depends on their success, they don’t have anything else to count on.  If they don’t do it, no-one else will.  So they work, every minute of the day, 7 days a week, just to be sure they’ll be fine.

You have [...]