A professor asked the following question: “How would you measure the height of a house using a barometer?” He wanted his students to say that you measure the air pressure on the ground and then the air pressure at the top of the house. Then, by using the formula, you can work out the height.
One student thought this is too simple, so he answered:
“I would tie the barometer to the end of a piece of string, lower the barometer from the top of the building and then measure the length of the string and barometer once the barometer touches the ground.” The professor marked this answer as wrong.
Have you ever felt trapped in the same routine? Day in, day out, same things happening? Going to work, going out and chating with the same friends, watching TV, having coffee at the same coffee shop, etc. Just like a cuckoo clock: singing sharp on time. Not a second late. Not a second early. Every day. Over and over again.
I know I have felt like that quite some times. Just to give you an idea of how bad it was, I used to go home and sleep at 7pm (until the next day in the morning)! Because I simply believed I had nothing better to do. It was that bad.
Since quite a lot of people wanted another challenge, following the FUN we had with the Paper Clip trading…
Today we start the “Red Nose” week!
The way it goes:
1. Buy a red clown nose. FAST! (you can find one at around one dollar)
2. Put it on for at least 5 minutes, every day, in a different place. For example, while going shopping, in the office, in the taxi, etc (just let your imagination GO WILD!)
3. Post comments to share your experience! (this way you share the fun!)
In case you may think this is foolish, or children’s play, the answer is: Yes, it is. But what is wrong in being a child every once and a while?
And the best part is you will make a LOT of people SMILE. And change their mood to a happier, more cheerful one.
Last night for example, we put on our noses at the Biggest Fountain in the World. And apart from all the people that were wondering what was going on…while smiling and laughing at our red nose faces …there was a girl from Korea, who liked the idea of wearing a nose and making people smile so much, she said she would start it in her own country!
There will be people joining the challenge internationally!
Some people are very good at convincing anybody of pretty much anything. During the process, they may be very creative in coming up with made up reasons or excuses. There are also times when many of us use socially acceptable arguments for our actions or demands, even without stopping to ask ourselves “And what if I just tell the truth about it?“.
A few months after I started my current job, I was ill for a few days. While recovering after the illness, it was quite hard for me to wake up in the morning as early as I had done before. So I asked my boss if I could come to work a bit later (around 10-11 AM instead of the usual 9). I was familiar enough with our company’s activity and my role in it, so I knew this would not have any negative effect on our work. When he asked about my reasons for this request, I simply said “because I want to sleep a little later”. Not only didn’t he mind my answer, but months later he told me that this was the moment when he knew he could trust my honesty. “You could have given me any nicely tailored lie”, he said, “yet you chose to be frank about your needs. I appreciate that.”
Now I know that there are situations when it seems impossible to be honest without being kicked in the butt for it. Then again, if this happens rather often, perhaps we’re not choosing our life path according to our true needs. Why would I choose you to be a constant part of my life (as my friend, lover, employer or anything else) if I repeatedly have to hide my real self from you?
So the next time you’re about to say a (maybe innocent) lie, why not start by asking yourself what other solutions you can find for the situation you’re facing?
“A Complaint Free World“, said the title of the book lying on my desk. Needless to say, it made me really curious. So I started reading it.
The idea behind
Stop complaining and your life is going to be much more fulfilled.
To help you do that, the reader is given a challenge: stop complaining for 21 days CONTINUOUSLY! (to remember the challenge you would have to wear a bracelet- each time you complained, the bracelet would be moved from one wrist to the other. If you complained on your 10th day, you would have to start all over again, until you got to 21 days continuously)
Now, since trying out new things is one of my favorite hobby, I thought this challenge is worth giving a shot. Though, quite frankly, I didn’t think it would be too hard to accomplish (i truly thought about myself that I do not complain too much)
But before starting, I clearly defined what a complaint is: expressing a negative opinion/criticism/rumour about something/someone WITHOUT taking any action to improve things. (so I am still very much PRO negative feedback and even criticism- as long as it involves some kind of action to make things better)
I always believed that the metro was kind of good metaphor for life. There are people who come and leave, some who sing, others who beg, others who read, others who sleep, others who wait, others who stare….You can find all kinds of typologies of human beings. Sometimes it’s so crowded that you have to wait for the next metro. Sometimes you realize you are totally lost finding the good line.
I use the metro every day. I have to change about 3 times to get to my internship and it takes about 45 minutes. So, my favorite activity is reading or thinking about all kind of stuff. That’s why, it’s more than once that I found myself gazing at the name of the station, realizing that I really had to get out NOW to change the line. Got off just in time, the doors closed behind me and the metro continued its journey. I was smiling like a survivor, happy that I managed to make it on time, but also thinking how totally distracted I’ve just been
Another time, I was too lazy to get off the train and change too many times. So I decided I will change the line a bit later. I wanted to change only once, hoping to get home a bit earlier. Well, actually the train took me quite far away and I got home later
Life is always like that: you have a lifestyle, habit, routine and at some point you’re so distracted or too comfortable in your present state that you don’t SEE it. You don’t see the opportunity that has just passed by, you don’t realize that what you do doesn’t give you any satisfaction, you’re too stuck in your current state and don’t see that you should improve something. Or you do rationally know but you use the self assuring Gone with the wind phrase “Tomorrow is another day”. Time passes and at some point of your journey in this life you might find yourself quite far from what your life was supposed to be.
Probably we all have temporary deviations. Nobody is perfect. But the worst it can happen is that you reach the end and realize you lived a fake life.
To conclude, I believe all the metro stuff made me think that it’s so important to stay focused.
3 more hours until my training. In front of 20 people.
For the past three days I had not done any preparation work. I had left it all until the very last moment.
My mind went:
“What if I really make a fool of myself?”
“They will for sure think I am boring”
“They will compare me with the rest of the speakers and think low of me”
“I will fail to make a good impression!”
And strangely enough, my head litteraly started hurting.
The FEAR of failure was that BIG that my mind was transforming it in pysichal sensations.
As the pain increased, the thought came: “call them to cancel. The headache is a good excuse!”
And I DID! I called in and told the organizers I was sick and could not make it.
Ever since I was a child, my biggest dream was to become the sort of person who helps others grow. Therefore, I became an engineer, working as a programmer.
Wait! Anything wrong with what I’ve just said? Yes, there was. People have always recognized my abilities with maths. Not so much my abilities in relating to others. Probably because I myself didn’t trust this part of me enough. The result was that, when choosing my faculty, I made the “safe” choice: computer science. Although my heart was crying “I want to be a psychologist!”, even the thought of saying this aloud seemed ridiculous - I could just imagine everyone laughing at me and my dream.
My first reaction was whats the catch? My friend Moe explained it was part of the Annual Business Plan Competition, and that writing a plan was so easy. I had travelled to Ghana, Kenya and Estonia the year before and spent all the money I had been saving, so I thought why not? Would be great travel some more, along the way Moe got filtered out and my best friend Nehal became my partner.
Three and half weeks before the contest just before the prelimary round of elimination that we had our first heated discussion, and it was damn exciting and of course winning 20,000 was pretty cool.
Matt dances. In places all over the world! With people all over the world!
Matt didn’t think: “I can’t possibly travel around the world!”.He didn’t think he can’t afford it.
Neither did he think: “What will happen to my career?”
Instead, what he DID was
First trip- took a 6 month travel through 39 countries, on all 7 continents
Second trip
Third Trip- 14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands.
PS. Some more things about Matt:
“Matt lives in Seattle, Washington with his girlfriend, Melissa, and dog, Sydney. He hasn’t had a real job since Stride called him up. Matt doesn’t mind working, but he doesn’t much care for having to show up at the same place every day.
Matt is not rich. Matt also doesn’t have some magical secret for traveling cheaply. He does it pretty much the same way everybody else does.
Matt was a very poor student and never went to college. When he got older, he was pleased to discover that no one actually cares. Matt doesn’t want to imply that college is bad or anything. He’s just saying is all. There’s other ways to fill your head.”
It was 4 pm.
Popular stories