Tweet This Post

I’d go out everyday and see them, pick them up and play.

One day, one of them stayed in the corner.  Just hunkered down and tucked his head in. The other would jump and play and stand on his little feet sniffing the air when I came over saying..”play with me! play with me!”.

I tried to engage the other one, but he just looked up at me in an I’m busy yet sad type of way, like he was left out of the fun and no one wanted to play with him.

I’d see him eat occasionally so I knew he wasn’t sick, but he’d just go back to his sad little corner and bury himself and his head back down into the cedar chips and kinda shiver.

Everytime I’d go to scoop him up, the other would rush over and jump on my hand, and snuggle in, and wanted all the attention, so I’d play with him.  I felt so sorry for the other little guy.

Then one day I come home and go into the garage, and they are gone.
No one was home and there were no cats around and I could not figure out what happened.

I fished around and it turned out that little frail scared hamster was digging a hole in the box while the other kept me busy.  The fuckers.

Moral: Just keep working even if you feel like a caged dying animal, for that’s the way out.

Tweet This Post

So when I asked myself exactly what it is I wanted to do, I decided to rid myself of all distractions, hunker down, and focus on the one thing that would allow all my other goals to follow. For me, it was starting a business. And eventually not being dependent on a paycheck, which is a catalyst for most of the other things I’d love to do.

Starting a business is the one thing that I’ve chosen to focus on right now. There are tons of other things I would love to be learning and doing right now, but I’ve found that most of them are simply distractions and slow me down. Because multitasking is the art of screwing up several things at once. Multitasking isn’t just about putting the email away, it’s about learning how not to be overwhelmed and knowing where to start.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my social life and its current non-existence lately. Right now going out feels like a kind of multitasking to me, and that absolutely destroys productivity. It takes your focus away. When I get going on something, it’s better when I don’t stop till it’s done. I’ve never been good at “balance”. But focus is what’s more effective than balance when it comes to getting things going. Focus is what moves you forward. Balance keeps you in the same place.

Don’t get me wrong, (going out and) meeting people is very important to me. Talking to people who are important to you keeps you grounded, and meeting new people often inspires you and takes you in new directions. But if you’re not in a position to take advantage of these new opportunities, if you’re just going out boozing because you had a bad week at work as usual, then you’re not in a position to capitalize on any of this. You’re not in the right place. There’s a time for everything.

And hey, I’m not saying you shouldn’t talk to people. Teamwork is essential. It allows you to blame someone else when something goes wrong…

Tweet This Post

The world’s a different place than when Richard Branson first started selling records out of the back of his car, and the internet is a large part of that. But when it comes down to it, you still need people to help you get where you want to go. I tried for a year to get my photography website up, sitting there trying to learn html like some OCD-addled idiot, and not getting anywhere. Then I met mike and he cranked out my website in 3 days. We sat next to each other passing ideas back and forth and somehow it always ended up being 5 am when we were at our creative best.

We had fun, most of all. And those are the kind of connections you need. That’s the networking that’s important to me: finding someone to work with who brings out the humor, the fun, and the daring in you. I’m talking about those people you can talk to and get excited with, about ideas and more. They just make you feel right. Mike is passionate and raw (loud and blunt, most people would say). He’s emotional and can infect you with his energy. Combining our strengths, we get stuff done. And it feels good to be working on stuff that you’re excited about.

Sometimes it’s hard to connect with people. Maybe it’s the culture, that coffee shop, your mood. But sometimes there are those that just draw you to them, they have that energy that leaves some left over for you. The Economist article goes on to mention that the mba today is teaching people how to harness the innovative resources that should be present in every thriving business. That means “creating an environment which encourages new ideas and approaches“. Right now, for me, that means meeting and connecting and creating with as many interesting people as I can find.

Problem is, most encounters leave me frustrated. Most people disappoint when you take a closer look. They’re only healthy in small doses. They’re all fire and color when they pass you at 50 mph but then when you chase them down, question them, try to dig deeper, there seems to be nothing there. They laugh and take swipes at those who put their heart out there and really push themselves by not being afraid to question and make fools of themselves.

Tweet This Post