Tis the day.

No, I used to hate christmas, or rather was not a fan, I actually have been looking forward to it now. Now I realise how mean that was but I had my reasons. The way I saw it was that people were just disproportionately happy, unconditionally giving, striving to do the same routines they have always done , sing the same carols with the same people year in, year out. Well, now I know better and its the reason why I'm celebrating it(which is why I'll make this article as short as possible).

Here is what Christmas truly is, (at least accoding to Chrsitians), It is the day that marks the birth of Jesus Christ. There has been a debate about whether he was born on the 25th December, but who cares, he was born at some point and if we choose this date to celebrate his birthday today, there is nothing wrong with that. This basically marks the birth of hope and faith in humanity.(No wonder everyone is being so nice). Again, its weird that on his birthday we get presents (humaniy++). Now others will tell of a different story that involves gods or Santa Claus or elves but the theme is always the same; celebration, merry making.

Oh, and if we use the Julian calendar Isaac Newton was born on the Christmas of 1642 (explains his genius).

People may appear disproportionately happy but isn't that what we ultimately want. Unless you are a masochist, of course, but everything you do at work, at home , at school , in your community is to make it better whether for yourself or for others. So Christmas is that ideal world we strive to attain but we too soon forget it to face the 'real' world.
Chrsitmas is a time to reflect, you know a week to put things in perspective and make thoughtful new year's resolutions. strategically, a week before the  new year (speaking of perfect timing).
If that's not enough reason to celebrate then I don't know what is, so, have a merry christmas and all the very best with your new year's resoulutions.

How Newton really discovered gravity.

Legend has it that Newton discovered gravity when he was sitting under a tree. He saw a falling apple while he was thinking of the forces of nature. I also know of a slightly more interesting version of this story. An apple fell on his head which got him thinking of gravity. In other words, Newton's law of universal gravitation is revenge to the universe for the excruciating pain he felt as the apple landed on his head. It sounds crazy but its probably true. Contrary to what we think, it is pain not imagination that is the root of innovation. Okay maybe imagination is  important but we can't underestimate the power of pain.

We need the time, imagination and resources to move forward but the real push to innovate is deeply rooted in pain, failure and all those things we never want to talk about. On and on again we see it happening, Stephen Hawking was motivated to dive into the 'hard' questions after being diagnosed with the motor neurone disease. Michael Faraday discovered electricity not despite of poverty but because of poverty, William Kamkwamba harnessed the wind because of the hardships he experienced from lack of electricity, Eden Full made the sunsaluter after seeing how Kenyan people suffer from lack of pure water and electricity. Taylor Swift writes beautiful songs as a result of, as you  might guess, heartbreaks.

The list goes on and on. Show me a history maker and I'll give you their  motivation. We all experience pain, only some of us are courageous enough to face it. Almost always we try our best to avoid it, and when it does befall us we ignore it. Why not embrace it? Let it motivate you not to make the same mistakes or even better to create solutions. All inventions can be traced back to one source: discomfort/ agony/pain.

Life is amazing, but its not easy. Actually it is hard not a walk in the park ( yes I said that). We are faced with struggles everyday, and in most cases we think they are hindrances to moving forward. Well, sometimes they are the opposite, perhaps the next big thing lies in those struggles. Have an amazing week ahead.

What are your factors?

Some things are crystal clear, like the fact that 4 is an even number and 59 is odd number, 2+3i is a complex one and pi is irrational. We do know the exact factors of these numbers , they are transparent. But what of 29347? Is it prime? Divisible by 3? perhaps 7? It takes a while to know that, even the program I've written to work that out takes a while. A fact, which brings to one conclusion, we are numbers, or at least just like numbers.

Life is so much easier when you think mathematically(literally). Think of humans as really huge numbers and our mission is to identify their prime factors. Some, like 1,000,000 are easily factorised with 2 and 5, others like 5934760 have obvious factors of 2 and 5 plus some other factors which require some effort to pull, others like 2934749 require a lot more effort to get to their root factors (which in this case is just 1 and 2934749 ). Some are just plain right complex and others require a little effort to realise they are irrational. Just like numbers, we humans are infinitely many and different too.

Some call them talents, I call them factors , I believe our life mission is to find those factors and use them for the benefit of humanity. Some tasks require 7's , some require 2's, some require 53's. Some people like have more factors than others, some have less. Leonardo da Vinci was a  polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer,inventor,anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He managed to realise his prime factors and used them, its safe to say he lived a life of purpose. 

So, what are your prime factors? Still don't know them yet? Don't despair, keep moving, one day they will be crystal clear and you will recite them like the alphabet. In the mean time, live an amazing life because , well, what's the alternative?

You might be wondering how exactly do we realise these factors, well, its simple, by living, that's it. Pursue your passion, try out bizarre things you have never thought of doing, help others, make friends, make mistakes, travel. In no time, you will figure out  those talents without even trying.  

Heisenberg was right

Lets talk quantum. I have never across a physics arena so vague and interesting as quantum mechanics yet it is the only theory that can explain our universe so perfectly. Lets talk about Werner Heisenberg who stated that 'It is impossible to determine the position and velocity of a particle simultaneously with certainity'. You will have to sacrifice one for the other but not both. In other words 'It is impossible to be completely certain'. No doubt, restating the theory makes it seem less like physics and more like reality because it is.

You start a project, you have to deal with the uncertainty of whether it will deliver or not, we go through tests unsure of whether or not we'll pass, most important of all we are faced with the uncertainity of whether or not we'll live to face the next day. No matter who we are, we cant help but deal with uncertainity. Sometimes it comes in the form of impostor syndrome, sometimes in the form of fear, sometimes it is simply not coated at all.

You think you are alone in this but you are not. Not even Albert Einstein was sure he would change the world. For 2 good years he had to deal with the uncertainty

of whether or not he would get a job. The founders of Google Larry Page and Segrey Brin admit that they didn't have a mega company in mind when they started. Stephen Hawking has been dealing with uncertainity of living ever since he was diagnosed with the motor neurone disease in 1963. Uncertainity is almost part of human nature.

Richard Feynman, who by the way  came up with some quantum theories,  once wrote, "I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics" .He was wrong, well, sort of. Quantum mechanics is just the reality we choose to ignore because a lot of noise comes disguised as reality. Uncertainity shows up the moment we enter planet earth, is it a reason to stop us  from reaching our potential? No, it is actually a reason to strive on since that's how life becomes amazing. In short, whatever you do, you will either pass or fail but do it anyway.

The big secret.

So, I went hiking last week, which I normally do but this time I would like to share this experience because I learnt some lessons that just reminded me as you might guess, that life is amazing. So  there is this building on top of the Rhodes memorial, Table Mountain national park very high up called the King's blockhouse , I've always wanted to reach there since I see it everyday from school , plus it sounded like a challenge. So I grabbed me, some sneakers,  a bottle of water and off I went. After a couple of hours, I was back to planet earth with a couple of lessons.


It all starts with that first step.
Just like everything in life, considering we were all born knowing nothing. I didn't how to get to the top, I just knew that I had to go up that was all I needed. To accomplish anything all you need is the commitment to do it and to take that first step.

Never give up, ever.
Life isn't perfect, nobody is perfect. That should be enough reason not to give up. Once you have a clearly defined goal, you will be tested as to how badly you need it. But that is no reason to give up. As long as you are still alive there is something for you,so hang in there.

Enjoy the journey.
You can't really tolerate the hard blowing wind against your face or the fatigue and muscle soreness that comes from hiking unless you really enjoy it. You wont live through the disappointments and failures in your way unless you enjoy what you do. So yeah, enjoy what you do, it might be the only string keeping you alive.

Take risks.
Who knows what will unfold from it? The world not to mention the universe is too big to stay comfortable. As Nelson Mandela, put it, "It always seems impossible until it is done."

That's it folks, I just uncovered the secrets of the universe from 3 hours of hiking. Definitely worth it. Maybe you should try it too!Go make life more amazing.

Hey ,what you do matters!

   

Newton was a genius, but he had no social life. He did good for humanity but he couldn't make a family. She's good but she isn't charming enough. He's smart but he can't do this or that.  Sounds familiar? Welcome to the real world, a world where people are constantly looking for the 'buts'. It could be for the right reasons or just for conversation starters, but truth is we don't want to be reminded of these buts especially if we already know about them. We all have them , the buts , they are called weaknesses, and when you get so good at something, people will go looking for them. I'm here to tell you something else. What you do matters.It doesn't matter whether you can't you can't do tight jump or you make coffee for a living. Whatever it is that you do for the better, it matters , even when no one appreciates it.

      If you don't know who Carl Sagan is, I'm gonna fill you in. He was a research scientist in the field of astronomy and he wrote one of my favourite books, The Pale Blue Dot. His mission was to show  how astronomy can make us better people by considering how small we are in the universe. He knew best how to explain physics in layman's terms. Carl Sagan was actually dubbed  the world’s best known scientist in the late 20th century.  With every great introduction, comes a 'but', so here it is. The pursuit of his intellectual interests left him no time for other activities, you know the things normal people do, Sports, Photography, Musical instruments, movies, family, none of it. He got that pre-occupied with research that nothing else mattered.  Some would say he had so much ego, some would say he lacked discipline, but I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Ambition is good, afterall ,we all want to leave a mark on this world.

     We all know the story of Sonya Carson, the woman who raised the world's best neurosurgeon ( Ben Carson)and one of the best mechanical engineers (Curtis Carson) as a divorcee and housekeeper. Well, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to make a difference. Maybe you'll need resources , the brain and all, but these things come naturally after you make it clear to the universe that you have a mission. Like I always say, the Universe responds to that.


The 'buts' we hear from all around us, makes us feel small. So we  start concentrating on what we are not than what we are. Well here is the moral of my story, you don't have to be superhuman to do great things, and extra ordinary things come from ordinary people who make extraordinary decisions. You just have to be good at what you love and apply it to the fullest potential. Stop worrying about what people will say. We have a tendency to think that the next achievement will somehow erase the 'buts'. Sorry to say this but it won't. As long as you are still alive, there will always be challenges and with life comes opportunities to improve. So whatever you do, just do it for you and humanity. You know why? Because what you do matters. Keep making life amazing.

Hold on..

This is probably shortest post I have ever written. It is short not because I have nothing to say but because what I have to say today is better said in fewer words. It is simple, hold on. Life isn't always turn out what you want it to be. Sometimes it gives you what you want, sometimes it just shows you alternatives. Either way it is amazing. Hold on because it is your right. You have the right to live, the right to access to resources, the right to speak among many others. Underneath all this is simply the right to optimism; the right to hope. If you have ever missed a deadline then you know what its like to be denied that right. We all need hope , it is what moves us forward. Take risks, make mistakes, fail, start afresh because that is what living means. Pay attention but listen to no one , no one escaped failure, not even Isaac Newton, Socrates or Nelson Mandela. Hang in there, somewhere amidst the confusion lies answers.That being said have a amazing week ahead.

Hello human..

As naive as this may sound, I believe no one is evil. Yes, there is wars, deceit, manipulation, malice, ulterior motives, malice but I still believe all humans are good people, for no other reason but the fact that I'm human too. Even the world's most evil people were good people, they had good intentions , they just made decisions that had detrimental effects.

We all know that Albert Einstein played a huge role in the making of the nuclear bomb. What he did was  wrong by all standards. He used his authority to invoke the president of the United States to initiate the Manhattan project. Wrong decision but in his defence he did this because he thought the Germans had started on the project already. Even with good intentions this decision led to the death of so many innocent souls in Japan. He also admitted that that was this was the  greatest mistake in his life.

Same goes for the Robert J . Oppenheimer who was the actual  demon behind the Manhattan project. He used his abilities(of which he had plenty) for the security of his country.  If you read history you'll find that even Hitler good intentions when he put Jews in concentration camps, had it not been for the war, these camps would have been in much better conditions.

Point is , we all decide to make our lives better, whether it is to help ourselves or help others. Every decision we make is justified by a cause, or by some experience. No one is completely evil, afterall we all started as the innocent little babies once upon a time. People also like challenges. If people don't agree with you,it doesn't mean that you are a failure, it just means that you have different interests, or rather are challenged by different things, as we all know everyone likes a challenge. If people do stuff to hurt others, it doesn't mean they intend to, they are probably making decisions under stress or pressure. Remove stress, remove pressure and what you get good people. People who want the best for our planet. At least that what I believe.

We all have a common goal,we just speak it in different languages. Someone said the world's biggest problems are solvable by a 10  minute conversation. That is true and is definitely a reason to believe that life is amazing.  Now, before putting a label on people, or shutting them out or hesitating to approach them, keep that in mind. Because the way, if you carefully examine yourself you'll realise that you are just the same. With that in mind I wish you an amazing week ahead.

PS: I'm not a world peace activist, I'm just an introvert human with good intentions.

A maze...

Take this route,
Take the corner,
As you step foot to foot,
Remember tts a maze with no end,

With every corner is a new path,
A new challenge arises,
It can sometimes fill you with wrath,
For there is just no end,

Just when the storm is over,
New clouds hover,
A bigger distance to cover,
Where exactly is the end,

When its overwhelming seek out a helping hand,
Cause that's how you set the success trend,
So don't give up dear friend,
For life is a maze with no end,

You are gonna die.. soon..

You'll wake up tomorrow morning, accomplish what you planned, probably more, probably less. you'll probably give up at some point, or succeed beyond your expectations. Oh yes and you'll definitely die, somewhere in your well planned future. Yes, as harsh and far fetched as it may sound, its the truth. No one lives forever. So,whats the point? Why hold on? It doesn't matter how hard we work, how much we give, we'll all decompose to some resourceful organic matter which won't have your name on it.

Everybody dies, not even Isaac Newton , or Albert Einstein or Michael Faraday or Steve Jobs or Nelson Mandela could escape such fate. But there is something different about these individuals, their names are immortal. Its like they never died because we feel their presence in every aspect of our lives. Perhaps that's the kind of death we should strive for. Perhaps that's what will make death a little less terrifying, perhaps nothing ever goes in vain, perhaps...

We wont all be as famous or as innovative as the above names and that's the point, we are all unique. We have the opportunity to make each other's lives better. Whether that means saving lives, teaching them, engineering useful machines, or simply putting a smile on someone's face. In some way your name becomes immortal to that and perhaps that is the point, perhaps that is what really matters.

As you go through life, people will tell you not to be ambitious, perhaps because they care that you will get
hurt when you loose, perhaps because they are actually bad people and do not want you to succeed. Either way, you should realise you are stronger than what they think. You are capable of so much more than you know.

Before you reject that project or pass that opportunity or even give in to procrastination, remember that you will die, pretty soon actually,  the legacy you leave behind is literally the decisions you make and literally what you do next. So rule of thumb, do your best,and do no evil (credits to Google's motto). You probably wont be the next Mark Zucherberg, or Thomas Edison, but perhaps that's what really matters, after all ...

Everybody lies...

We have a tendency to admire successful people. They are smart, hardworking, all-rounded , all the qualities we want for ourselves. Here's one thing you don't know about them, they are liars. They lie so much that it has become part of their subconscious. Of Course, they don't lie to the world, they lie to themselves.

Lying is not good, not by any standards and I don't advocate it at all. There is a different kind of lying, lying to yourself about yourself, its totally legal and its actually encouraged. You have a bad day lie to your subconscious that its a very good day that you don't want it to end. You are feeling incapable? Lie to yourself that you are so smart that worldly standards don't have a category for you.  This t
technique has worked for so many people.

Richard Feynman was a theoretical physicist who has been named among the top ten most influential physicists of all time; his name is mentioned of the likes of Einstein and Newton. But he had an average IQ of  126 (In comparison, Albert Einstein had an IQ of 160). The interesting part is that he knew about it, he took the IQ test while in high school. But he knew better than that, that he was smarter than any test could ever reveal. He went on to excel in Physics and Mathematics, producing theories people of 130 IQ would never dream of.

Its actually a trend in the scientific community. James Watson , the co discoverer of the human DNA had an IQ of mere 124. He failed to make 130 twice. E.O Wilson, the father of sociology has an IQ of 123. At this point, am starting to think if Newton took the test, we shouldn't something abnormally high.

So what's the missing link  between low IQ's and world class research? Between success and mediocrity? A little habit called lying aliased as faking. The IQ test reads low, lie that you have a higher IQ. You have only been shortlisted, lie that you actually got the job. Everything is going downhill, lie that life is so amazing that you have never been better. What have you to loose anyway?

Fake it till you make it. The adage never gets old. Some call it believing, some call it faking, some call it lying, whatever it is that you do to counter the negative self talk. Do it, the universe responds to that, that's simply the law of attraction. On that note, I too have a confession too! Life is not always amazing but I fake it until it is, after all everybody lies. Have an amazing week (or at least lie about it).

There will be tears

Life is good, life is always good. When there is nothing to stress about, life as I said , will be good. There is a name for this situation, it is called the comfort zone. Something subtle happens when you make a commitment, the world will simply be a different place which is perhaps the reason why we fear the big C.Expect a lot when you finally make that decision, I will just mention a few.

There will be questions. People will ask questions as to why you do what you do. If thats not enough, many a times you'll find yourself questioning yourself. Whether it is necessary or not, whether it is worth it or not. Brace yourself , prepare those answers, because the answers to these questions will determine whether you quit or survive.

There will be tears, maybe literally speaking or  perhaps even real tears. The universe will try to test you if you are really serious about whatever it is that you want. You will fail a couple of times and you will feel like giving up. Well, when this happens, remember Thomas Edison had to make 1000 mistakes to make that tiny light bulb. Was this reasonable? Nope not in this fast paced world, was it worth it? Of course it was.

But there will also be rewards. The one that will always seem far fetched is the rewards. Your journey is like hiking. Walking up is not the most luxurious activity you'll want to do, you will get tired along the way, but the the view at the top simply makes you forget all the pain. In short, the future you will thank you for the tiny steps you made along the way.
There is a reason why we fear commitments; because we commit to the road less traveled. We just have a vague idea of the end result but we are never sure of what will happen next. That's a bit scary but you know what? The rewards up there are simply worth the pain. Life will not just be good, it will be amazing. So have a 'tearful' week ahead.

A healthy disregard for the impossible.

Today I wont write about Newton or Einstein or Steve Jobs or any of the other legends who been my inspiration for this blog. Today I'll write about an event that has inspired me even more, the Google Student Ambassador Summit in sub-saharan Africa that took place last week in Accra, Ghana.

There is a word for the atmosphere when 130 young and talented students meet from all over Africa, energy, anything but boring. There is a reason #gsassa has been trending for the past week. Every moment was a picture moment. The training spanned all the way from presentations to the wabble dance, factorial claps, all the way to the final competition where each group had to simulate a campus event. Presentations from Googlers and star GSA alumni were inspiring and informative. 10 factorial claps to +Aída Martínez , +Check Nyah , +Aneke Chimdindu , +Emmanuel A. Gamor , +Ryan Michael , +Freek Vermeer , +Estelle Akofio-Sowah , +Jeminatu Alabi-Isama , +Noha Salem and the other speakers I havent been able to tag, you sent the message across. It was interessting to learn Larry Page's slogan "Have a healthy disregard for the impossible".It is definitely how Google developed from a garage project. Did I mention that we got to watch the movie Guardians of the Galaxy and the whole theatre was booked just for us ? Yes, something only google would do. And finally the cultural night 

I met intersting people , really interesting from the rooms, to the dining room, to the selfie moments. I was  lucky to be the roommate +Sithe Ncube  ,the star of the day who amazed everyone with her video making skills, I got a cultural partner (who actually got me a present) +Temitope I Olorund thanx to +Joshua Josh and +June Tessy  for taking the initiative, +Awa Mbengue 's musical talents just amazed me.
Being Tanzanian myself I easily connected with GSAs from Kenya and Uganda ,  +johnstone vusena , +Jarau Moses , +DENNIS THUNGU , +Jarau Moses , +vivian omondi , +kweli mukeli , +Miss Chelle, +Tushabire Adah , +Kagimu Brian  , +Latifa Mbarak ,, +kweli mukeli , +Victoria Mbabazi  to name a few . Fellow GSA's from SouthAfrica  are loud(at least that's the impression we made),Its really hard to forget people like +Amukelani Hlabano , +Lucretia Ringane , +Alwande Tshabalala , +Avile Maja , +CHRISTELLE ATIBIA EMEBIGWINE , +Tubatsi Moloi , +Alan Kow , +Eduan Cronjé , +Dévan Coetzee , +Stan Sibiya, +Carla Wilby , +Asongtia Guilian A , +diane DIOBE . It really is hard.
The GSA's from Ghana were actually very good hosts, +Abraham Ametepey , +INSAH HAKI, +Quarshie Timothy , +Suhaib Ahmed , +irene sogli +Desmond Nketia Sarpong  , you did a good job.   (I hope I've mentioned everyone).All in all,a 2 minutes conversation with any of the GSA's is enough to prove that Africa has lots of potential.

So I am now the official Google student ambassador for the University of Capetown. Oh yes and I dont have Ebola .:).
Thank you +Jeminatu Alabi-Isama , +Olalekan Samuel , +Aída Martínez , +Noha Salem +Victor(couldn't get his G+ profile).This summit has taught me to build a healthy disregard for the impossible. Together with +Carla Wilby  I hope to do cool things that actually matter at UCT.

Whats a good summit without good food?

Alisa hotels gave us a warm 'Akwaaba' (welcome)

SSA GSA's with our "Google glasses"

Fun times.

Serious things done at the conference

GSA's at UCT

Even the cake had to be Google.

Even the bottle is googly ... :)

South Africa culture at the cultural night.

Google everywhere

I got cool sandals from my cultural partner +Temitope I Olorunda 

With +Sithe Ncube  and +Philip Onyia 

#gsassa, #gsummit2014

What you see is NOT what you get.

     

Have you ever a bad feeling about something,  in the end it turned out to be good? Well, isnt that how we always feel about anything new? In fact most good things started out as bad ideas. Here are proofs that ideas plus a little faith in them produces good results.

All publishers (except Bloomsbury) had a bad feeling about JK Rowling's novels, simply because they were new. "No one would be interested in a wizardry piece of fiction. Well, Rowling's revenue at present proves that the bad idea was not to give it a try.

You know what else was a bad idea? Or at least wasn't a good idea at first? Electricity, Science, the Macintosh, you name it. Lots of inventions we have today started out as impossible's. With a little faith and risk taking there were turned into realities.

Point is, many things in life will seem like bad  ideas. Waking up at 6 perhaps, quitting your job, starting a project in the middle of the year or even  taking a break. It may appear as though doing such won't make anything better. Well, it won't, until you do it. Truth is, the future is completely blank and it is made by grabbing opportunities which are sometimes disguised as failures and risks.So the next time you are stuck on whether you should do it or not, just do it. The future you will thank you for it.

Life is not fair,.. (is it?)

Do you sometimes feel like the world's biggest problems are being dumped at you, all the time? The world doesn't seem, to care about what happens to you, no matter how much you try, you will always be back to square one. Well, the good news you are not alone.

At 21 Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with the motor neurone disease. Doctors gave him 2 years to live.Not only were his limbs getting weaker, but also his speech, In short, his life would never be the same again.  Not every 21 year olds would make such a transition gracefully, but up to this day Hawking is living proof nothing is too hard to conquer.

Often our first reaction to negative change is complains. What happened to the good life you had before? Life is not fair, why me? It is comforting to have that culprit to blame, and to know that it isn't our fault. But that's not enough. Life is amazing, but it isn't fair, at least not by the standards with which we measure its fairness. We are all different, we have different capabilities, personalities and tenacities. It would be unfair if we all had the same level of challenges. Stronger people of course get more challenges.

"Tough times fade, but strong people last." This saying never gets old. The next time you face a challenge, a problem, remember you are strong enough for it. It may seem frustrating at first but believe somewhere in your mind, lies the answers. Have an amazing week!

People don't know what they want

What if they don't like this idea? What if no one finds good use to it? What if it won't work? What if it isn't what they want it to be? What if the Wright brothers asked themselves these questions? The answer is simple, nothing would happen. There would be no aero plane, no computers, no train, no invention basically. You can already guess why.

People don't know what they want, literally speaking. An ordinary person in the 1900's  had probably dreamed of a flying machine but never had a full picture of what it should look like, for no other reason but the fact that it seemed too impossible to materialize. The Wright brothers already had a vision and plan, it would be insane if they considered opinions of ordinary men. 


Everyone has an opinion, whether they have the knowledge or not. These opinions are mainly influenced by experiences. No two humans have the exact same experiences so don't expect everyone to agree with you. As a matter of fact, many more will be neutral or disagree, that is until you surprise them. Stop talking and start doing. I once wrote the article reasons why you should listen, but the topic never gets old, so this is me saying the same thing in a new tone.


"People don't know what they want, until you show it to them."  Original words by the infamous Steve Jobs. A principle he applied throughout all his designs and probably the reason why Apple is so reputable. The only way to impress people is to surprise them. Point is, if you have an idea, you don't need anyone's stamp to approve it,  just go for it. Life is too amazing to wait.

When the time is right.

Tomorrow, next week, next month, next year and perhaps next decade. What do they all have in common? Of course they are all in the future, and that they are always the perfect time, The perfect time to take that challenge, to accomplish that task, to try something new. We always have reasons for not doing it today and make assumptions why tomorrow is the best time. Maybe its 

There is the normal routine where one goes to college, gets a degree, graduates ,gets a job, and then perhaps a few years later is the right time to start a company. Not necessarily, a theory Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zucherberg and a lot other change makers share in common. They all quit college to start something, tomorrow wasn't an option for them. Now, am not advocating quitting college, I actually really love school, point is if you can do it then why wait?

Speaking of which, I was going to write this post tomorrow, then it just struck that this is what we constantly do. We assume that tomorrow we'll have more time, more money, less obstacles; what we don't factor in is the fact that tomorrow is just like today and it has problems just like today, probably more.


Pablo Picasso once wrote, "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone". Couldn't agree more, life is too short to leave stones unturned.If you truly believe in what you want ,there is never a right time.Don't wait for tomorrow to do what you can do today, life is amazing now,so live it like its your last day.

Speaking of plans...

           

 What do you want to be when you grow up? Remember that time when grownups asked you that question and you got all excited to reply? You didn't analyze your talents or compare yourself with anyone else, you just mentioned the career that fascinated you the most. I vividly remember those moments and my reply varied each year, from doctor to politician to teacher to nun, none of which am currently pursuing.

            We look around and everyone seems to have it figured out. What they want to be, how they’ll get there, how they are working to achieving it. Steve Jobs showed a knack for computers and entrepreneurship way before elementary school and got really bored at school.  Isaac Newton invented calculus in his university vacation. Albert Einstein showed passion for physics way before he got his first Physics teacher. This trend makes you think that great people are born not made, right?

            Not necessarily.  Leonardo da Vinci started out life as a painter; he ended being a mathematician, engineer, anatomist, geologist and all the occupations you can think of. Elon Musk’s first degree was in Economics, amazing how that turned him to an engineer/entrepreneur. These legends and a lot others keep showing us great people are actually made. Life is too dynamic to stick with a childhood plan.

             In a world that is always after definitive answers, we can’t always afford to be non-affirmative. But sometimes we just don’t need to be affirmative. What you can make of yourself is a combination of your talents, skills, beliefs and most importantly your experiences. In mathematical language I would say it is an integral of constants and time considering experiences are a function of time.  Maybe we can plan for a year ahead or two years, but it is okay to leave a 10 years plan blank, as the wise say, “Time will tell”.

            I don't know; that’s my answer. My answer to what I want to be in the future. It’s not because I'm too lazy to sort out and plan my life now, but because life is too amazing to live it as a written script. I think a goal is enough to get you through life. As Allen Saunders once put, Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans. 

Have you met you?

Who are you?
Pretty easy huh? You are a student at X school/ university or a worker at Y company or a retiree, enterprenuerer or whatever titles we choose to define us these days. Like most people you might answer the question with the long list of skills and accomplishments listed on your resume; smart, hardworking, teamplayer and the list goes on. But are you really? No, that's what the world thinks you are, who you are goes way deeper than that.

You build these titles for a purpose, for self confidence, for money, for impression and that's a good thing. What's life without a little motivation?  Put these aside and that's the real you. Defining your identity is not as easy as it sounds, It is how you treat others when you don't need a thing from them, what you do when life isn't as amazing, what you do when your to-do list is empty. You might not like the idea of it but one day you'll wake up just you, no titles, no certificates, no fancy adjective, just you.If your identity is attached to these things then you are gonna have a bad time.

Isaac Newton always thought he was the smartest thing alive which he met until he met Leibniz. Someone else had discovered Calculus and that did not sit very well with Newton. As a result the world had to suffer through the energy consuming calculus controversy. Tycho Brahe, lost his nose in a similar fashion. Point is, catastrophe does happen when your identity is made with the wrong definitions.

 Look in the mirror, if you can happily describe that person then nothing will ever stop you from whatever you commit yourself to, you have a home to bounce back from.
The amazing part is you don't have sit hours just figuring that out. It comes naturally. So,  find that person, get comfortable with that person and you are sure to have an amazing life indeed.

You are not special ... until you believe you are...

So, being the only planet that harbors  life, Earth has to be really special. That's what I thought, in fact, before Copernicus formulated the heliocentric model, humanity believed we were so special that everything else should revolve us. Astronomy now reveals there is nothing special about Earth, it revolves around the Sun which is just another mediocre star in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Sun, an ordinary star, is in no special place in the Galaxy, neither at the center, nor at some influential periphery. To top that up, Our Galaxy is just another spiral galaxy in the universe, . Yet we still believe we are special ... actually we should!.

Our earth has had to take care of a lot to make sure we are breathing. It had to have oxygen, liquid water, the right temperature, the right atmosphere, the right magnetic field, the right distance from the sun, everything is just about right for you to calmly read this article.That is nowhere near ordinary, it is the definition of special.Whatever it is that makes us unique, is reason enough to believe we are special. It doesn't really matter whether there are other planets with life or if there are aliens that are more intelligent than us. The fact is we are here is enough to prove the point.
  Many a times, people succeed not because they are smarter or predestined to succeed. They made history because they believed, they believed in their work, their families believed in them and that was enough to make history. What did Dr. James Watson, Francis Crick, Richard Feynman have in common? Well, in addition to being mad scientists and winning Nobel prizes, their IQ's wouldn't classify them as geniuses. They had IQ's of ordinary men, probably less, but they did tremendous work for humanity, . They believed in what they were doing and stayed committed to it.
   I can paraphrase this post in 3 words; You are special.You are indeed special, if no one believes it then prove it! Your idea is special, if no else thinks so then convince them. Truth is, nothing is ever intrinsically special. Only after enough faith and commitment is invested does the candle begin to glow. You might not be the next Zuckerberg, or Bill Gates but you hold a combination that is priceless. Your talent, skills, mistakes, experiences are recipes of a potentially great person Sound too good to be true? Not really, you are indeed special, its time you believed that.

Map out your future, but do it in pencil

Some wise person once said nothing is achievable without commitment, that without concentration of efforts  no results can be expected.  Of course he/she is right, diamonds only appear after carbon undergoes intense compression. But in a world full of uncertainties, it isn't guaranteed that diamond will be the final outcome or whether the outcome will be the diamonds we want. Which is perhaps why Don Bon Jovi said the words , "Map your future, but do it n pencil".

In other terms, make commitments but don't be as committed. Some of us can live with partial commitment but if you are like me you might find this a bit confusing. Isn't success simply a cumulative function of pure efforts. Shouldn't it be a simple mapping of hard work to results? Well, it is, but as these stories reveal , there is another factor involved, one that defies the laws of perfectionism and order.

Alexander Fleming for example was determined to make the 'wonder drug' that would kill all bacteria. So he collected samples of all sorts of bacteria in petri dishes, trying out every drug. After spurious attempts he finally resorted to discarding the experiment. In this process he noticed something rather odd, in one of the petri dishes where mold had accidentally grown, turns out the mold had the magic drug.  That my friend is how we got the antibiotic penicillin; by accident. The X-rays that are so extensively used today; they were discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen who accidentally discovered them as he was doing research on electrons. It is worth knowing that the Microwave oven was also invented by accident. The scientist Percy Spencer was busy researching on radar until he noticed that the chocolate bar in his pockets was melting. A couple of years later we now have the magic heating box.

So yes, there is an element of chance and luck in the equation of success.  No matter how convinced we are, we will always have those doubts; no matter how focused we are we'll always make mistakes. And there is nothing wrong with that. The formula, the commitment makes a good headline but the real story is in the doubts and mistakes.

Bon Jovi had it right, 'map out your future in pencil'. It doesn't mean you should stop planning at all, it just means the plan will constantly change. As much important as it is to have a defined structure and life,we are not robots. So, yeah,  go ahead scribble that plan in pencil, make mistakes, erase a few bits, modify a few bits, show your human side,  A beautiful painting could come out in the end, who knows?

Hello overachiever...

Its May, and you are starring at a project that was to be accomplished by last year. You had a mission, you have a goal , a defined routine; a sense of purpose. Everything was in tune,
until when life got really messy and you started living to survive, from one deadline to the next. In between these you lost track of the mission in the first place. Well, I say welcome to reality , a land where randomness is the norm and laws of physics stop to hold.

If you are an overachiever, then I know at these times you just want to punish yourself for not meeting that goal in time. You probably want to give up already; looking back at the original plan just makes you realize how immature and silly you were. Guess what? You are not alone. Plan A almost always never works. Besides, you'll learn a lot more as you improvise.

We all fall off our commitments sometimes, either due to failed attempts or just the fact that we are human. The worst thing you can do at that point is give up. It may be just one task, and failing it isn't a big deal but as you already know misery loves company. The psychological impact of that action to your brain is way greater than the action itself. Many of us underestimate that impact, but quitting may sound practical, sets up a ripple effect on subsequent aspects of our lives.

We strive for perfection and excellence. But we are too human to simply use mathematical models to give us results. If every task worked as planned, there would no point on planning in the first place. If it helps, Da Vinci's model of an aeroplane has only been realized 5 centuries latter. Point is, Its never too late to start over.
The next time you are at the quitting point, I say, Congratulations you are officially a fully fledged human, Those plans you had, they couldn't last a second in the world.  Life is amazing, it offers a plan B, and the plan is "Dust yourself up and beat the odds". Have a great week!