c-state versus f-state

In his book “driven to distraction at work”, the author talks about c-state versus f-state.

C-state

Cool
Calm
Collected
Careful
Curious
Courteous
Caring
Consistent
Concentrated

F-state

Fearful
Fatigued
Feeble
Frantic
Forgetful
Feckless
Flakey
Fucked up

He gives his advice to achieve C-state, acquiring f-state is natural behaviour of ours.

1. Having healthy snacks.
2. A quick burst of exercise( for brain break)
3. Meditate or power nap
4. Vitamin connect(connecting with dear ones, talking with them)
5. Humor(Indulging in watching some shows)
6. Medication(If it is really necessary)
7. Experiment

I believe in some of these mentioned points. What about you?

Nope

Nobody likes No for a request. Ego fuels anger and animosity.
The ones who enjoy an upper hand will eventually force the minuscule fellow to do as directed.

Why can’t we take no?

Why can’t we be rational and listen to the other side of the story?

Why do we have to burn ourselves and run around like a headless chicken?

Power

The problem of power is not new. Many rulers were killed and the era of empires fell.
 
We, humans, crave for power. The craving for power is no less than consuming narcotics or drugs.
 
Some get lucky while others toil for power.
 
Alexander, Nero or Hitler: power dominated above everything for them all.
 
In a modern environment, power does more harm than good. The success will depend on team collective, not one person’s veto.

Respect

People forget these days that authority does not guarantee respect. It requires empathy and degree of commitment.

If you are kind, impartial and treat everyone without any bias people will respect you.

If you are in the sales role, you would be facing this daily. Every purchaser expects you to listen to them. They would like to be the supreme authority. It turns more of shoving their ego instead of rational conversation.

With great power comes great responsibility.
Benjamin “Ben” Parker(Spider-man)

You cannot threaten or scare your peers on account of superiority for respect.

One has to earn respect by respecting others.

Success factors

I was reading Charlie Munger: complete investor and liked this section where the author talks about Berkshire Hathaway success factors.

These are some of them:

1. Patient
2. Discipline
3. Clam but courageous and decisive
4. Honesty
5. Confidence and non-ideological
6. Long-term oriented
7. Passionate
8. Studious
9. Sound temperament
10. Frugal
11. Risk-averse
12. Reasonably intelligent and not misled by high IQ.
13. Collegial

I am sure these are the few of their success recipe. But these 13 factors can be implemented in every realm of our life.

Signal

It is so easy for successful people to give all sorts of advice. Not that because they may listen to them.

Actors, environmentalists, social reformers will cite hazards of firecrackers. They will burn it all during their wedding.

A celebrity will talk about empathy on an idiot box, fans will cheer and celebrate. A few days later he will be all over the news for a drunken brawl.

A politician will talk about growth and countries development before coming to power. Once in power will involve in all sorts of corruptions.

A wife-killer, the religious guru will talk about world peace and good health.

An investor will give all sorts of advice on the bull market or alternative currency. Not because he is an expert but because he has lots on the stake if the system fails.

A feminist icon will teach the world about women empowerment. Yet, she will be selling all our personal data for wall street numbers.

The more I spend my time on social media or news sites, it appears more signaling am falling for.

Are we humans so stupid to believe in anything or everything other than true nature of ours?

November readings

These are some books I read in November 2018

1. From Impossible to Inevitable by Jason Lemkin and Aaron Ross. The book has some good advice if you are new to the startup ecosystem. It also talks about sales, most of which has been written and re-written everywhere.
Bonus: Jason Lemkin shares his secret about pitching him and companies he invests in.

2. Driven to Distraction at Work by Edward M. Hallowell. I liked the book and story of 6 unique individuals with there ADHD problems. The author shares many titbits and tricks to live a healthy and meaningful life. In the end, it is on us to implement it.

3. Unthink by Chris Paley. The author talks about human consciousness and how we act, behave. I had high hopes from the book, but it was like a simple abstract of some 100 research papers.

4. The Truthful Art by Alberto Cairo. I picked this book to learn the art and science of data visualization. After going through few chapters I realized I am too novice for it. I was able to pick little wisdom indeed.

Managing personal psychology

In his book “Driven to distraction at work” the author mentions personal psychology. What he means is that how can we live happy, meaningful life.

These are some points he mentions:

1. Work with emotional grain. It can be working alone or in a team. It can be at a coffee shop or a cubical. You have to find out.

2. Try to identify your hot buttons. What annoys you? It can be people, situation. Be aware of it.

3. Play armchair psychologist. Try to understand your bias, prejudice and past incident. Are they affecting in your decision-making process or dealing with a situation.

4. What keeps you going. Is it a glass of coffee or Mozart’s music. What you love doing. Once you will find it, every single day of your life will become more meaningful.

5. Seek and accept help. Understand your limits and reality. You are living in a community with more people around. Some of them have domain expertise, seek their advice and help when needed.

I find this impossible, our mind is a fickle mind. How can we be equanimous in every situation?

What would be your advice?

The sensational six

In his book “driven to distraction at work”, the author talks about 6 ingredients to our well being.

* Sleep
* Nutrition
* Exercise
* Meditation
* Stimulation (Engaging in learning something unique: a language, an art)
* Connection (Meeting loved ones, friends regularly.)

Many books are already written on the same subject. We have been taught about all these since we were toddlers.

In the end, it comes down to building a system to have it added to our daily ritual. The happy and successful ones have these added in their daily virtues.