Post February W3

I highlight something that I found helpful during the week. Something I learned or experienced that made me pause is worth sharing. And I have a target to

Have a tribe

People who have your back and know they can always turn to you for help, no matter what.
They are rare, but so are you.
Most people don't have this.
You should.
It takes time to build that. Think about which groups or individuals have this potential and focus more time on conversations and actions, teaching them what you think will help. Take away time from groups that will never evolve into a tribe.
On Zoom, in your area, through tapping into the life force of the universe….
And be grateful.

Once you see through brand manipulation, you make better choices
Don't feel guilty for liking something that isn't a status symbol. And feel good by using the things that work, perform, and provide the utility and value you appreciate and respect.
You can only see through the facade once you know who you are and what you respect and cherish. But once you know who you are, who you want to become, and what potential you wish to fulfill, you will care less about popular opinion and more about the utility that helps you achieve excellence and help others.
Here's an example. The Lexus ES is a great car. Perfectly built, nothing rattles, very precise, and most of all, it looks and feels like a car, not like an SUV, crossover, or any other fake term that tries to generate FOMO. It's powerful enough, comfortable, a good travel car. And it costs like a car.

(Photos by LEXUS)

HOWEVER….it doesn't have 20-inch screens, strange LED lights and sounds, and other things that have nothing to do with driving. Like a Rolls Royce, it has buttons. It's not designed to be thrown away after 3 years. The people who built it gave a lot of thought to ergonomics, quality, and customer experience. It just works well. The BMW 5 Series used to be like that: performance first. Now it's heavy and spongy to drive, and you look at a chopped-up tablet instead of dials. Thank God for Lexus, Subaru, Mazda, Rolls Royce, and many other manufacturers you never heard of, but get it right.

Make plans you can execute and execute the plans you make
Time is scarce, and wasting it on elaborate planning is foolish.
Not executing good plans is equally useless.
Fix the little things fast and ensure significant endeavors progress constantly, step by step, daily.
Perfection is an illusion; continuous evolution coupled with consistency and focus is the way.

Don't complain about the petty shit
This is easy to do, but it doesn't contribute to anything and wastes your time and energy.
Just let go and move on. Don't let it into your head and feed it your energy.
I know, sometimes you can't help it. But try telling yourself that that's not you, not who you are.

Flickr is great
There were other things, trying to reinvent the wheel. Add a marketplace for photos and a more social media-type experience.
But some things don't need to be improved just for the sake of improvement and popular opinion. Utility and performance is always better than popularity.
That's why I like using markup writers,

That which constantly changes isn't real.
I heard that's an answer from a wise Indian teacher when asked what is real.
Think about who you're dealing with and if they are consistent in what they're telling you or if the only consistent factor is that their story and plan continuously change. If so….they're most likely selling you no something that fails the definition of being real.

The Napoleon film makes him out to be the bad guy
They say he killed 3 million people. Which is bad.
But they make it look like he did it on his own. There was the other side.
And they didn't like him, thought it's worth removing him.
Anyway, 10 minutes of the movie was worth the $16, the rest was just propaganda.

Marcus Aurelius Book 1
I like reading it every day. You can access it here https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.1.one.html

For example a quote about Maximus (image by Chat):

From Maximus I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness; and a just admixture in the moral character of sweetness and dignity, and to do what was set before me without complaining. I observed that everybody believed that he thought as he spoke, and that in all that he did he never had any bad intention; and he never showed amazement and surprise, and was never in a hurry, and never put off doing a thing, nor was perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever laugh to disguise his vexation, nor, on the other hand, was he ever passionate or suspicious. He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to forgive, and was free from all falsehood; and he presented the appearance of a man who could not be diverted from right rather than of a man who had been improved. I observed, too, that no man could ever think that he was despised by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself a better man. He had also the art of being humorous in an agreeable way.

People who ask for things without returning the value are not suitable for you
This is a no-brainer. Doesn't happen a lot. But it does sometimes.
There's a difference between creating some initial value and seeing if it can be achieved when working together.
So you don't waste time on some big project that will fall apart because you have different values or expectations.
However many people will try to take away your time and focus for their own gain.
Like Doctor Robotnik says in Sonic cartoons, “The thought of unpaid labor makes me all warm and fuzzy inside”.
Quickly shut down Robotniks who try to charm their way onto your calendar.

Have a pause day every few days
Once per week, or after an extensive, challenging set of days, a harder sting that needed extra effort.
Just take the time to recharge, reflect, meditate, and connect with strength.
Remember, you are out to deliver value, impact, performance, fast, precise, swift, and efficient. Not to sit around and waste time. When recharged, you will be faster better, and stronger. That's when you can deliver impact.

Cake
Was on the menu a lot. Birthday season.