Occupy Yourself

Don't worry, this blog is not about politics. If you want to talk about why I believe what I believe, feel free to e-mail me. If you want to argue, feel free to e-mail yourself. But the occupy protests have me thinking. What will be the America I come home to be like? What will it be like in 10 years? For my kids?

My democratic friends will say it will be bad because of the republicans. My republican friends (yes, I do have a few) will say it will be bad because of the democrats. But they are both wrong. It is already bad.

I can talk for hours on what I think on politics (and have many times before.) But politics isn't why America is in bad shape. And it isn't what is going to fix it. We are in a crisis because of us, and we are the only ones that can fix it.


You see the crisis is not political. It wasn't created in Washington, and it not anything new. It has been a long time coming. Washington simply is a focal point for us to watch it play out. But it is easier to blame Washington than it is to blame ourselves. But what people don't realize, it is easy to fix. I truly think it breaks down into two simple things. So what are these simple things?

The first is a desire to learn. In other posts, I have talked about not being afraid to fail, and to try to continue to better yourselves. That means actually taking the time to learn something new. But I don't think most people do that. Now, I will admit, watching the train wreck cast of the Jersey shore may be more entertaining than learning about federal monetary policy. But one of them is being manipulated (by both parties) in order to gain your vote. I'll let you guess which one.

The thing is learning is so simple. We have endless resources out there. The internet has put everything at our fingertips. But it has also put games, videos, porn, chat room, sports and basically everything else at our fingertips too. Guess what, you don't have to give those other things up. Since learning is a never ending activity (I plan to stop learning the day I die), a little bit of time each week adds up! Anyone can do it. I am living proof.

Studying text books and searching the internet is a great tool for learning, but sometimes can be daunting. Don't worry, there is an easier way. You just have to ask somebody. And that takes me to my second point.

Learn to learn from your fellow man. And hopefully, in turn, they learn to learn from you. Basically, this is all about the golden rule. We all know it, but we don't all practice it. How can we expect congress to behave and function when we barely can as a society. Think for a minute. When is the last time you saw someone treat another person negatively. A day? A week? I would be surprised if the answer is more than that. When is the last time you have treated someone negatively?

We have to break down these walls with each other. Just because someone is a Democrat does not mean they are a lazy hippy wanting a free ride. Just because someone is a Republican does not mean they are soulless and greedy. Yet, during political times, more often than not, these labels are used on people with different views. I have done it.

Have you ever asked someone why the believe what they believe instead of telling them they are wrong?

We are so quick to discredit our fellow man, so quick to discard their thoughts. But all we need to do is take a step back, RESPECT THEM, and start a dialog. Start talking about what makes us common, not what makes us different. Start talking about ways we can both succeed together, not ways we can't. Go out of your way to be nice, help someone else. Ask them why instead of telling them no. Maybe little kids have had it right all along.

I have brought up politics several times, but our problems are so much greater than that. Politics just simply takes our problems and shines a big spot light right on them. And the keys to fixing them are not very hard.

So I am putting a challenge out there to anyone that is reading this.

1. Commit to learning about something new every week. Take a topic outside of your current job, current life. There are so many resources out there that make it fun. Ted.com, thersa.org, the Kahn Academy. Or talk to a friend, or a stranger. Just make sure to ask why.

2. Commit to improving someones day every week. Go out of your way, talk to them, help a friend, help a stranger, don't yell at a service rep. What ever it is, take out one negative interaction with somebody, and replace it with one positive.

And when you master doing that once a week, try for twice, then three times, and so on.

If you think this is a good idea, please share it with someone else. Share my blog, make a Facebook post, challenge your friends to do better and be better, just do something. 

Ultimately, change doesn't start in Washington. There is no point in occupying Wall Street. It is time to occupy ourselves. Start the change within.

(Note: While this is was written with context going towards my American friends, the ideas are universal, and the challenge is global. Lets start to make this world a better place.)

9 Oct 2011

The hardest thing I have ever tried The hardest thing I have ever done:

Over the summer, I was talking to a colleague, Andre, about running a marathon. After finding the Manchester Marathon in Nov, and realizing it was in New Hampshire, not my new home, I was able to find plenty of excuses to not sign up for another one. Then one day I got an e-mail from another colleague, Maanas. He informed me that he and Andre were signed up to run the Liverpool Marathon. The date, 9 Oct, 2011. The registration deadline? The next day. I didn't have much time to think about it. I have always wanted to run a marathon, but always had an excuse. I would get fit first, then I would sign up. Funny thing, that never seemed to work out. So here was my chance to jump into the deep end and just sign up for the race. I would start training right away (so I thought.) Not only did I sign up, I talked a 4th colleague into doing the same. And just like that, Rafael and I were running our 1st marathons, in order to join the exclusive club Maanas and Andre were already members(2 and 3 I believe.)

There is an old cliche, that is used all the time. I imagine most people have heard the phrase 'it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.' I don't know where that came from, but even I have said it before. Hell, I can't count how many times it has been said about the MBA! But what does that really mean? Well, if you have ever wondered that, you are in luck, because yesterday, I had quite a bit of time to think about the answer to that.

1. It's all about the training: When I signed up for Liverpool, I had three months to train. I had been running much of the spring, so I was in a good position. But then I stopped. It was my last summer home, running was the last thing on my mind. So my training started just 8 weeks before my race. Most training programs look for 13-18 weeks to get your body ready. My procrastination only left me 8. But I still was able to train. And, if you think about it, all my MBA colleagues have been training for our 'marathon' of school. We have done this through undergrad programs, the GMAT, and most importantly, our work experience. That is why I chose MBS, the value they put on work experience. If I didn't have the early summer training, I would not have been able to be ready in 8 weeks. If I didn't have 5 years experience working at my last job, I would not have been ready for school. Never over look training.

2. Set some goals: I have never been much of a goal setter, at least not in the old fashion sense. I always would strive to get better, but never put them down on paper. Never put tangible numbers to things. It was always more open and vague, like never stop learning. But to some extent, I do have some goals. Things to accomplish during my time here at MBS. Things to work on, ways to be better. Just like I had in Liverpool. I knew my pace to run, I knew where my splits should be. And I had a goal of running 26.2 miles in 4 hours and 30 mins. I, for the first time, was a proper goal setter (more on this later.)

3. Run your race: There is a tendency in life to compare yourself to other people. When you do that, I think you loose sight of what your true goals are in life. You are living for them, not for you. This is true in a marathon, as well as an MBA. It may or may not surprise you how many 70 year old ladies could beat you in a foot race. First instinct is always that you should be faster then them, so you speed up. Then you realize you are out of your race, running a pace you can't keep. And when you slow down, guess you goes right on past? And the hardest time to control your race? The start. It is a great way to make the next 25 miles more difficult. At MBS, knowing why you are here is key. That means doing the things you are passionate about, not things other people are passionate about. It is easy to get pulled into a club you have no interested into because it sounded like a cool idea when 2012 described it. With so much activities, and so much excitement about starting my MBA, I have already had to step back and think about everything I am doing. Why am I doing this, will it help me? You know, those difficult questions only you, not other people, really know the answer too.

4. Expect the unexpected: Liverpool tried to throw every obstacle in our way. The race started 50 minutes late. There was lots of wind. As a runner, it always seems the wind is in your face, and never at your back. And always on a uphill! And of course there was rain. What would a English marathon be without a little bit of rain. But the biggest challenge was the course. We looked at the course and elevation map. But what none of us saw was the hill we would have to run up. For about 5 kms, we were climbing. Now any runner knows, even a slight incline is a challange. I wish I could say this was slight. Or short. We were not expecting it. The MBA is going to throw many challenges at everyone over the next 18 months. Last minute meetings, balance sheets, cash flows, marketing projects, demanding clients, etc. There is always something to do. And if there is not, wait 10 minutes, that will change. You just have to expect that something will come, the unexpected.

5. Always move forward: I'll admit it. I had to walk. After the hill, my legs were shot. My pace was where I wanted to be, but my hill training was not. It was a bad time for my body. But not my mind. I never stopped moving forward. I had the goal in sight (well, not quite insight, but about 12 miles away!) I had committed to finishing my marathon. I threw my time out the window. All I could think about was finishing. And how I would train for my next marathon better. And this blog. But mostly finishing. This correlation to the MBA is the easiest. We will have classes we don't like, groups we hate, things we don't get, and meetings we don't want to go to. Every challenge will be there, on good days and more on bad. But the key is to always keep moving forward. Think about where you are going more than where you came from.

6. Even in failure, there is still success: Thomas Edison was asked how it felt to fail at inventing the light bulb 10000 times, before his eventual success. His response?  " I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work." You can't be afraid in failure, as 'failure' teaches us the best lessons. And as long as you can learn, you didn't fail. You had a great chance to practice again. I was inspired by another MBA blogger, talking about this same subject. He failed a class, went back, studied harder, and came back and passed it some 9 months later. The most inspiring thing about something like that? Not the failure, no one will remember that. But the completion and the resolve to get it done. I ran my marathon in 4:51:03. You could say I failed by 21:03. I will correct you. I succeeded by 26.2 miles.

7. A group is stronger than one: I had so much support on my marathon. I couldn't have done it without them. From Andre and Maanas to convincing my to sign up, to training runs with Rafael. Vassil, who was running another marathon yesterday, was always seeing how I was doing with my training. I had a team, we were accountable for each other. But more than that, everyone in class was supportive. So was everyone back home. This blog would go on for days if I tried to list them all, but thank you to all! I drew energy from the support (A extra special shout to Sana and Joao for making the trip out to Liverpool on race day!) There were over 600 volunteers on race day, handing out water, guiding us on the route. And thousands and thousands of more fans, cheering on complete strangers. Who knows how it would have been without them. I am here at MBS, not to compete with my colleagues, but to succeed with them. Not to compare, but to learn. I won't be a better business man without their help. I won't be a better person. 

And this list can keep going. There are so many correlations you can get from running a marathon to grad school. Both are time consuming. Most people wouldn't consider either. If you do it for the right reasons, and do it for yourself, you will become a better person for it. It will challenge you more than anything ever has before in your life. In 18 months, I will be looking back at my accomplishments. Graduation day. And I hope I am thinking to myself, I just completed one of the hardest things I have ever done. For as they say, It's not a sprint, It's a marathon.

Rhythm and Flow

Don't worry, even though the title is Rhythm and Flow, I am not going to turn into a white rapper. We all know that would end bad. I'll leave that job to Eminem. But I do want to talk about Rhythm and Flow. It isn't a new topic by any means. I did not have an epiphany. If anything you know as much about it as I do, or the next guy.

I read a book earlier this year (and yes, it wasn't just pictures!) by Daniel Pink called Drive. The book is about what motivates people. It is a fascinating look into why the old carrot and stick method is not good for any hire level job - one that involved thinking. More so people are driven to be better, work harder, and be smarter. You don't have to pay them more, you just, a lot of times, have to get out of their way. If you are interested in human behavior, or management, I suggest reading this book. If you are not, at a minimum, click on the attached link, with a great (and entertainingly done) summary. http://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc

While Daniel Pink called this concept in his book Rhythm or Flow (he used them a bit interchangeable), it is a well known concept. Stella called it her groove, and spent two hours trying to get it back. Austin Powers went on a time traveling search for his mojo. NBA Jams (yea, I just went back to 1992) players 'caught on fire.' There are so many examples, of this essence, this mood, this attitude. Have you ever woken up and just had a bad day? I bet you didn't feel like you had your rhythm and flow.

Which brings us to the question, why am I talking about this? Because, to me, this is a huge factor for success. It is all about finding a comfort in your life. Not living a comfortable life, but finding a comfort. I don't mean having a lot of money, or having a big house. I mean loving what you do. Having comfort in your actions, your being, your purpose.

I have been gainfully unemployed for 2 months now, and spent over half that time sitting back into the classroom. Most days I head to school at 9, am there until 7 or 8, then have more studies and reading to do at home. I am still trying to figure out the path to success in my MBA (not survive, but succeed), and I have a good start. And that is to develop my rhythm and flow. And yes, it can be developed. It can be changed, It is simply a mental state. It is about not only accepting the task in front of you, but being excited about the learning opportunity and the challenges presented. It is about managing your work load, budgeting your time, and finding that balance in your life.

I am using the same thoughts to run my marathon. Finding the time to run, finding the motivation to keep going after 20km, and just pushing through it. You know when you are out of your rhythm and flow. When you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. People have their bad days and good. The key is to maximize the good days, by controlling your rhythm and flow.

On a side note, my computer was in the repair shop for the last month getting a new screen, which unsurprisingly disrupted my Rhythm and Flow (and gave me some time to think about the concept and adapt to a new one.) But now that I have it back, I hope to get back to writing my updates weekly/biweekly. As always, thank you for reading, feed back is appreciated, and let me know if there is anything you want to hear about specifically!