Published July 22nd, 2007
in Travel.
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Today I woke up and asked myself “what city is this?” It was a weird feeling but its something I’ve been trying to embrace for the last year. I want to be homeless.
As a consultant I was constantly on the road but I had very little choice of where and when I would go. Always at the call and beckon of the client. That made traveling a stressing experience. Which is sad because I really do like traveling. I enjoy taking in new sights and sounds for the very first time.
I’m developing a new me around the lifestyle of I want to live, this means changing the way I work. Since then traveling has become more enjoyable. When I was riding the bus through Seoul I couldn’t help but smile at the people on the street, I even waved at an old lady. I had a huge grin as I thought to myself, “this is all new to me” (even though its my second time here).
Korean tea is very interesting, yesterday I had Jujube tea while overlooking the city during the afternoon. Today I had another random tea that had seeds of some sort floating in them (I should keep a travelogue of what I eat). Korean tea doesn’t really seem like tea to me its more of a syrup or soup at times.
Last night I drank too much champaign a problem that seems to follow me around the world.
Published July 21st, 2007
in Thoughts.
My friend who came from a wealthy family told me she never doubted she would be successful because her family was well connected. All she had to do was ask someone and somehow she would get the job she wanted or a start in the career of her choice. This is a benefit of being upper middle class - wealthy. You and your family know more people of power and influence. More connections means more opportunities.
I’ve always had a problem that became clear when I understand my friends thought process. While she assumed that she only had to ask, I assumed that I needed to work hard. Its a amazing disconnect that I think is only found in blue collar families. Not that wealthy people or their children don’t work hard, but the amount of effort needed to accomplish certain tasks are vastly different because of their connections.
Whenever you want something that seems out of reach ask everyone you know if they can introduce you to someone that can help you get it. Do this always and for anything, just be willing to help others when they ask for something in return. I admit I’m not very good at asking for myself or for others and I think its because of my background. But I’m reminded everyday of the importance of it. Its amazingly effective.
Published July 17th, 2007
in Thoughts.
The worst mistake a poor man who has some measure of success can make is to believe he’s the same as the people around him. Just because you share the same space, the same office or same building doesn’t make you the same. You will always have grown up poor and experienced things that others have nightmares about. You are different.
They say blacks sometimes have a chip on their shoulders, like the world is agaisnt them. I don’t think that is wrong. But its not a black thing, its a poor thing. Its a perspective thats needed to succeed when you start with 0. You must fight to climb and the moment you stop trying is the moment you die. The moment everyone around you seems the same as you is the moment you die.
Success means being different all the time, taking a different route. Dealing with different people. It means believing that you have earned the right to be successful. It means believing that you are better than everyone else because you overcame great challenges in your past, more importantly it means proving you are better every single day you wake up. You are different, you have a chip on your shoulder and something to prove. That aint bad.
Published July 14th, 2007
in Thoughts.
For the purpose of this post lets assume failure is ending up in worse shape than you started. Despite the value of a hard earned failure no one wants to end up with less money, a lower rank in society or the butt of jokes. Think about this. On the scale from 1 to 10. 1 being the least successful in society and 10 being the most. If you start at 5 and attempt to reach 6 but end at 4, its not the end of the world. You will recover.
Growing up in poverty its difficult to fear failure because there really wasn’t much worse things could get. I Accepted where I was and believed things would only get better if I tried to make it so. Regardless of your position in life one of two things are likely to happen if you take the normal route. You will have a major failure that has nothing to do with you, instead the system fails you (common in poverty). The system will continue on its normal route and you won’t grow.
Take a chance, accept the fact that being part of a comfortable system doesn’t guard against failure, it does guarantee mediocrity. Trying to break out of the system does guarantee failure but that’s the nature of progress.
I spent my summer working for Spike Lee when I was 14 because I wasn’t afraid of being told no. I accepted the fact that walking up to a random movie set with no prior introduction meant that rejection was a potential. Once you are OK with that, its amazing the things you can accomplish. As I said before, there are only desired results and undesired results.
Published July 12th, 2007
in Thoughts.
When I was very young people very close to me made promises about taking me out on the town or spending time with me and many times would fail to keep their promises. Unfortunatly this is the side-effect of people who struggle with demons. Its difficult for them to keep their word even though they really want to.
Growing up we had a common saying “my word is my bond.” What does a stock broker in London have in common with poor people growing up in poverty? Both environments are filled with people trying to make a buck and who are often willing to destroy others to do it. So a person who gives his word and follows through in action is highly valued.
I don’t care about how much money a person has, or what family they grew up in if they fail to keep their word. If the words they speak fail to match their actions, they are bankrupt and not worth investing in. I’d prefer to work with a man rich in character and poor in cash any day.
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