My nose has been running since yesterday morning, a common consequence of being “almost sick”. A combination of Chinese New Year, eating food I shouldn’t have, work and various other extra activities this week had my body calling for a time-out. I didn’t get sick but I did feel exhausted and my throat got a bit sore, a clear sign that I needed to slow things down for a spell.
Author: Joshua Lim
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Respect my Privacy, please: When Apps are Crapp
A few years ago I downloaded a free calculator App that requested access to the Location Services (i.e. the GPS functionality on my phone). I╬ô├ç├ûm paranoid around my privacy so I thought that was really strange. But it doesn’t compare to how some apps are trying to invade my privacy by offering services they were not advertised or designed for.
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Featured Podcast: The RobCast
There is probably no figure more controversial in Christian circles today than Rob Bell. Here was a church pastor who had to step down from the church he founded because of a book he wrote. Some say he has turned his back on the faith but heΓÇÖd probably claim he embraced it to even greater depths.
In my opinion, Bell sees a side of life that his Evangelical background either is blind to, plays down or outright ignores. He is asking the tough questions that, although aren’t new, must be embraced and worked-out by a new generation of Christians (or perhaps by every generation of Christians). He won’t accept poor substitutes for answers and encourages his audience not to either. He’s a great communicator and leader tempered by fire. Where he is leading people to is left for you to decide.
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Life is more than work
It╬ô├ç├ûs Sunday and the end of the first week of 2017. Already my inbox is full. Just another day 🙂
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Stop punching that wall
There are things in my life that have made me angry. Like, really angry. And I want justice. I want to see the wrong-doer pay for their crimes. I want reparations.
Unfortunately that doesnΓÇÖt always happen in Life. But holding on to this sense of righteous indignation is like punching a wall of solid rock. I keep going at it hoping that it will finally crumble under my efforts but mostly whatΓÇÖs happening is that IΓÇÖm getting really tired.
Is this how I want to spend my energy?
I’m beginning to get tired of punching that wall. It has taken a while but I’m realizing that all this energy I’m expending could be put to better use. More than that, I realize there have always been other (more effective) ways to see justice done but I was just too chicken to go through with it. Deep down I know that had I gone down that road, it would have just been more energy spent towards something that doesn’t build the life I want for myself.
I suppose this is what they mean by ΓÇ£letting goΓÇ¥.
No doubt that moving forward from this, there will be some latent anger resurging every now and again. I will need to put in some energy to manage that. But I want most of my energy to go towards getting what I want in Life.
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Perfectionism and the scourge of ΓÇ£Not Doing EnoughΓÇ¥
My head was in a much better place today and I managed to exercise for about half-and-hour. Instead of my usual routine I opted to cut it in half because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to go all the way. No guilt on my part… kind of.
Okay, maybe a little bit of guilt.
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Noticing my Anxiety reactions
Today wasnΓÇÖt the best of days for me. Anxiety triggered last night and I still felt the effects for most of the day. But I did get a good nightΓÇÖs sleep last night so thatΓÇÖs good.
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Jumping back into Jump Rope
Exercising is such a cliché New Year’s Resolution that it may be hard to believe that it isn’t among mine for 2017. If anything, exercise was my 2015 New Year’s Resolution which, if you’ll allow a humble-brag, has gone quite well. Sure I’ve hit bumps and fallen into slumps but have (so far) been able to get back on the proverbial horse and expand my exercise regime with each passing year.
At 2016’s twilight, YouTube suggested a jump rope video. Jump rope. Now there’s something I haven’t done in a while.
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Why disorder, mess and chaos may be good for you
“In Praise Of Mess: Why Disorder May Be Good For Us” is Hidden Brain’s latest episode. I’m very far behind on my podcasts but I’m glad I caught this episode. In it, Shanker interviews Tim Harford about the subject of his latest book is entitled “Messy: How to be creative and resilient in a tidy-minded world”.
And here are my take-aways:
Creativity sparked by random shocks
Creative solutions can emerge from unexpected, undesirable provocations. Tim gave a few examples of this:
- Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett had to improvise a concert on a piano that was in such poor condition that some of the keys and pedals did not work properly. This recording eventually become The Köln concert.
- Algorithms designed to make incremental improvements with the goal of getting the optimal solution would inevitably get stuck. To get it un-stuck, scientists would introduce random shocks into the system.
- A transportation strike forced British commuters to find alternative routes to their work place. After the strike about 5% of commuters stuck with their new routes.
Very often we don’t have any reason to look for a better solution than the one we’re familiar with. Random shocks force us to improve on the current solution or seek out completely new ones.
Skill & preparation help take advantage of random shocks
Shanker points out, rightly so, that had he been faced with a broken piano he would not be able to re-create anything similar to The Köln concert because he lacks any musical training. And indeed having practiced skill and preparation allows us to benefit from random shocks.
Besides Keith Jarrett, the famous “I have a dream…” speech from Martin Luther King Jr. was also improvised but not without prior preparation. King had written his speech before hand which he recited to the people. But starting from that famous line “I have a dream…” King had gone off-script and spoke from the heart. And that’s the part that we remember to this day.
Photo by lundgrenphotography
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How to Succeed by Failing ΓÇÿFerrari FastΓÇÖ: Stanford Innovation Lab interviews Alberto Savoia
More podcast goodness. This time Tina Seelig of the Stanford Innovation Lab interviews Alberto Savoia about “How to Succeed by Failing ‘Ferrari Fast’”. The discussion takes place within the context of entrepreneurship and start-ups but the insights and lessons on failure can be applied anywhere in life. It’s a 30-minute podcast and very easy to listen to. There’s little to no jargon here.