Today this little gem of knowledge made its way into my mind.
Things are only bad when you stop long enough to lament.
Not sure if it completely makes sense to you, but to me it makes sense. For the short term overthinking is counterproductive.
This entry was written by , posted on June 28, 2009 at 12:47 am, filed under Musings. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I don’t have a problem with Gordon Ramsay, I don’t understand all the fuss over the swearing and all. If you watch it in context he mainly uses the colourful language and name calling to motivate / see what someone is really made of. Might not be the most correct way and used on the wrong person could completely break them but hey it is TV.. Entertaining TV.. And somewhat motivating.
So I am currently attempting to channel my inner Gordon, sometimes I think it would really be useful having someone screaming in my ear, asking me how much I really want things and how hard I am willing to fight for it. I probably don’t need to be called a fat donkey but the point is he wants people to dig deep to meet their potential.
If you are merely a passenger of life you can really get into deep funks where you are simply going through the motions. I always had an idea of what I wanted to do etc but the drive was somewhat lacking at times. The point is not to beat yourself to a pulp over it but to just do what you need to do.
It would have been so much better if I had an angry celebrity chef screaming it at me but such is life.
This entry was written by , posted on April 22, 2009 at 12:12 am, filed under Musings. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
“God chooses the weirdest ways to reach out to us” says my friend. The most Christian friend that I have, on a scale of 1-10 she would be 11.
This was almost a week ago, I didn’t really take any notice of that statement until today. So what happened a week ago?
The funny thing is on this night we were meant to have dinner. Because I was on a family trip I was running late and because I was a bit lazy I didn’t book. Who knew that on a Saturday night on a long weekend it would be that hard to get a booking at a restaurant?
So I called about 7 restaurants, which is plenty and still couldn’t get a booking. I left home to pick her up not really knowing what to do.
I turn up at her friends house, just as I call she was preparing to bite into a burger. Turns out she didn’t want dinner at all anymore. I also happened to be rather full from a massive lunch.
So we had a drink instead.
If I really wanted to extrapolate some meaning from all this, maybe there is a higher power out there, that knew that I wouldn’t be able to find a restaurant which then made her accept that burger.
Or maybe it really just was an exceptional series of circumstances.
This entry was written by , posted on April 18, 2009 at 12:29 am, filed under Musings. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Setting goals for anything is deceptively difficult. Firing off a list of things that you want is not really that difficult but making them into goals is.
In my info sys classes in uni we were taught a methodology in goal setting known as S.M.A.R.T which stands for.
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Timely
For the most part whenever I make goals I subconsciously followed that same methodology.
The question is though, do goals really have to be attainable? Cause you aren’t really pushing yourself with an attainable goal. Sort of like watching sports on TV even though you have read the results in the paper.
This entry was written by , posted on March 29, 2009 at 10:35 pm, filed under Musings. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
One of the things I like to do when I am bored is to find new things to buy. On my cost to guilty feeling ratio computers are usually quite low, simply cause I use them everyday and my work machine is always a pretty safe bet to upgrade.. after all a faster machine = more productivity right?
Not really.
If there is one thing I notice about upgrading, it is the fact that it simply makes me lazier as a person. Most of the time the rapid slowdown of any machine that I own is due to the excessive amounts of junk on it. Do I really need that pricelist from 2006? No.. not really. Yet I am worried that if I delete it.. I will need it.
So it means my machine has turned into the modern equivalent of the Kennards Self Storage locker. All files are spared and it grinds my machine down to a halt. Buying a new machine simply offsets this for another 6 months.. while the clutter builds up again.
Sure, there will be a day when the software you run overwhelms the machine but this is not the case for a 10 month old machine. All it really needed was a bit of TLC and an external hard drive to chuck all files into. Now the machine is back to its speedy state when I first picked it up.
It still amazes me how disposable computers seem to have become in the past few years.
It amazes me just as much how easily I managed to get caught up in it all.
This entry was written by , posted on March 3, 2009 at 10:06 pm, filed under Technology. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Being the classy man that I am, today the topic of picking up was discussed during high tea with Vivien.
My first thought was that I detested the whole pick up coaching thing but I do think that if it is taught properly then it really does have the power to change a persons life.
There are two ways to really look at it.
One is the “here are 10 things you need to say/do and you will turn into Casanova”. This is the method that I don’t really like. In some ways it is like reverse engineering confidence (or if you like the “fake it till you make it” approach). Sure the material works and you will be successful but the sticking point with this method is what happens afterwards.
That method gives you short term gains but kills long term goals. Yes it can work for some people, mainly the ones who have their stuff together and just needed a confidence boost to take them over the edge but for the most part you aren’t really advancing the person you are.
The other way to see things, which in my mind is the best way is to see things from a much wider perspective. This is the approach that really does changes lives for the better.
Essentially it is the “build it and they will come” approach. Get your life together, do the things you have always wanted to do, be passionate about something other than women and things will start to work out. Yes it takes a long time and yes the results aren’t always immediate. But once you get there everything falls into place. There is a difference between genuinely feeling good about yourself because of your achievements in all facets of life than just to have a few women dig you cause you pulled some choice words from a manual. You might not notice it initially because of the high you get from success with women but it hits you eventually.
Women too will notice this. Bonus.
So to part.. some wise words courtesy of Stacie Orrico.
“There’s gotta be more to life, than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me”.
This entry was written by , posted on February 22, 2009 at 11:09 pm, filed under Social. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
So it all started with a realisation one morning that maybe deep down inside I didn’t really want to go to Europe that much.
Then came the fact that if I stopped travelling completely that I could pay out my mortgage in under 10 years.
The fact that it would also seem quite normal not to travel once I got used to sticking around in one country tagged along too.
A snap decision was made, travel is to stop.
So while I feel somewhat mature for the decision that was made, I can’t help to feel that a chunk of me is missing.
It annoys me when common sense prevails sometimes.
This entry was written by , posted on February 19, 2009 at 6:52 am, filed under Musings. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Every Feb for as long as I remember I am faced with the same decision when it comes to the 14th. Do something nice or do nothing at all.
I don’t really know why I bother with the process at all, unless it is painfully obvious that somebody needs cheering up or in the rare occasion that I am in a relationship. I view it a bit like a charity, you give to make both you and others feel good at the same time.
This year I cut it down into 3 simple points.
I am not telling people to dress up in giant hearts, serenade people and give out 100 roses but at least do one of the following:
- Take some time to think about the things you love in life, it doesn’t have to be a person nor does it have to be serious. But at least have that warm fuzzy feeling of something for a day.
- If there is someone you feel needs something to perk them up then do it. Yes it may cost some money but what were you going to spend it on anyway? Or make a donation somewhere even.
- Take a chance. Doesn’t really need explaining does it?
There you have it. I am going to try and do at least 2 of the 3 things above.
Please note that my attitude to Valentines Day in general is indifferent, simply put.. It is a day created to fleece well-intending men of their hard earned money but sometimes any excuse will do. :)
This entry was written by , posted on February 10, 2009 at 10:57 pm, filed under Musings. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Do you ever say things to yourself and then find upon closer scrutiny that it does not really make any sense at all?
Well it happened to me today as I was walking down the street, I said to myself that I didn’t want to be “that guy”. But when I tried to work out what “that guy” meant I didn’t really know at all. It could be anything, it could be good, bad or heaven forbid.. neutral.
In a 5 minute walk I came up with about 10 different definitions of what “that guy” could mean.
And I wonder why I am so complicated sometimes.
I am a genius. Pure genius.
This entry was written by , posted on January 23, 2009 at 1:03 am, filed under Musings. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
At the end of every year I (like most people on the planet I think) sit down and have a think about the year. Naturally part of the process includes thinking about how to make the 09 Derek better than the 08 one.
Despite vowing not to be hung up in the small trivial things in life, I still find myself occasionally having to talk myself out of doing some complicated mental gymnastics. Also I am hoping that this trivial mental anguish will work constructively and produce a killer self-help book (one of those things I want to do in life).
Honestly though, 08 produced so many highs that I really had no choice but to get caught up in the lows a bit. But lets start with the highs.
Europe: A very last minute decision to go to Europe turned out to be a good one. I can’t really remember a trip where I had so much fun, great company, great food and a great journey. No complaints at all, well.. I stuffed up monumentally at working while on the trip. That was bad and I landed back into Sydney in a massive thud. The reason? To the next high..
Apple Store Sydney: It literally took years for this to appear. So much planning and effort put into one store. I literally could not wait until that store appeared, I don’t really get excited about many things in this world but for the fortnight prior to opening I didn’t really sleep much.
My Niece: Another long awaited event, I cancelled a July Tokyo trip and changed it to a March Europe trip because of the ETA of my niece. My ‘rents and Grandma sometimes wonder why I am so happy to see her, I wonder as well but there is nothing wrong with being excited for your own sisters first child I guess.
F1: Yet another long awaited event, despite being an avid F1 fan I have never been to a race before. So I decided to go this year, not to any old race.. but the first night race in Singapore. Even though the race was painful to watch as a Ferrari fan I am glad that I made it.
Moving Out: A very last minute decision, but I am glad that I did.. The simple pleasures of working a washing machine or cleaning a kitchen are sort of cool. Couple that with some great roomies, random gatherings, no computer and I had quite a sanctuary going on. It completely threw my finances out the window and I drank a heck of a lot more so I might need to reconsider my options in 09.
Event-wise I don’t think I would be able to top 08 in 09 but I feel that personally I have not moved forwards as a person as much as I should have. So in 09 I would like to focus on myself a bit more and get my house in order.. No doubt this will be assisted by our supposedly tanking economy.
Coming up next.. plans for the 09 model.
This entry was written by , posted on December 29, 2008 at 1:13 am, filed under Musings. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
