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I was so caught up with work recently, I completely overlooked a small, but meaningful milestone:
Archive for the 'Personal' Category
"The greatest achievements were at first and for a time dreams." - James Allen
Last night was a truly historic evening.
Most of us were overcome with so much emotion, it was and still is difficult to express our sentiments with words.
I recently discussed what Barack Obama represents for many of us; that he provides proof of the idea that we can do anything.
Although my post was quite brief, it inspired some great conversations with some friends, so I thought I’d delve a little further into the topic.
This has nothing to do with politics.
This is about having dreams, keeping faith and accomplishing goals.
I just wanted to drop a quick post to let you guys know that I finally got my MacBook Pro back!
I got it back last week actually; 11 days after it decided to die. I wanted to post sooner, but since it was my hard drive that crashed, I’ve spent the past week just catching up on projects and re-creating files from scratch.
Not fun.
Needless to say, I definitely made it a point to pick up an external hard drive to keep a full system backup of everything in my laptop.
I wasn’t sure what brand or model to go with, so I posed the question on Twitter and everybody led me toward the trio of Western Digital, Maxtor and LaCie.
After some consideration at the store, I decided to go with a 750GB LaCie hard disk. The box says it was designed by industrial designer, Neil Poulton.
His design?
A shiny black box.
To be honest, even though it’s just a shiny black box; it’s still pretty nice.
Sorry for the quality & reflection of the pic. My desk has a glass top an the LaCie hard disk is reflective so it was a little difficult to take a picture without crazy flash. You can actually see me taking the picture through the reflection of the hard disk.
Anyhow, it serves me right to experience this situation. If you take your business seriously, invest in it appropriately and make sure you’re well covered in case of ANY emergency or disaster.
Whenever you implement any new tool or piece of equipment into your business, make sure to have a way of still functioning in case it malfunctions or gets stolen.
Luckily, I have my business email hosted through Google Apps, so all email that goes through my email or the email of anybody else on my team, is backed up online - free.
We can even share documents and edit them collectively, in real time, as opposed to emailing a document to each team member and having 5 different edits.
If you’re running a small business, or consider yourself a business (even if it’s just you), I highly suggest checking out Google Apps. It’s free and it’s a lifesaver.
Today is Day 6 without my MacBook Pro.
And it hurts!
For the past 6 days, I’ve MacGuyver’ed my way around this major inconvenience by juggling between my Blackberry, internet cafés and others’ computers.
I also got my old temperamental PC working a little again. It feels like going back to an ex with shame and admitting that your new situation didn’t work out as well as you hoped.
But at least there’s some good news. The Apple Store just called saying they’ve received the parts needed to repair the centerpiece of my connected life.
Hopefully, I can get it back by the weekend - although I highly doubt it.
I’m off to drop it off at the Apple Store now. I think it’s time I finally go ahead and buy an external hard drive to keep my system backed up at all times and prevent losing ALL my files again.
Yeah.. it’s that bad.
I was running around doing some errands yesterday, and while walking towards the cash of an electronics store, I noticed a bin of DVDs for sale.
At the very top, as if just placed there perfectly for me, was Gattaca.
This movie right here, is one of my favourite movies period.
It’s a little old now (came out in 1997) and it’s a bit slow-paced, but the concept and message in this movie are incredible.
Without giving away any spoilers, Gattaca is about a society that lives in a “perfect” world. Parents choose how they want their babies; everything from what gender the child will be, to the colour of their eyes.
Basically, they order their kids as if they were ordering furniture.
Anyways, in this perfect world, there are a few “un-perfect” humans or “defects” who end up trapped in a life without any opportunities or any possibilities of success.
The main character is a “defect” who ends up finding a way of sneaking into the superior class of society and completely defies his life plan.
He’s one of the best at what he does and nobody has a clue that he’s actually a defect.
It’s an incredible movie that really points out the fact that no matter who you are or who others think you are, you can do ANYTHING.
NOTHING is impossible and regardless of your past or present; the ONLY THING getting in the way of having EVERYTHING you have EVER wanted and everything that you have ever dreamed of, is YOUR OWN BELIEF.
Ignore everybody that says otherwise.
EVERYBODY.
Sometimes that has to include loved ones. Your family and friends will always say they support you and believe in you, but truth is, there are usually limits to their belief.
Plus, if they don’t fully believe in themselves, how can they fully believe in you?
It’s a bold statement, but it’s true.
People will always remind you of “who you are”, but the reality is that’s only the perception of who you are. You can be anybody and anything you want to be. Not to sound corny, but it’s true.
It really hit me when I first moved to a different city. I had never been there before in my life and didn’t really know anybody there. I decided to use this to my advantage and become a new me. Shed all my bad habits and develop new ones. I was a stranger to everybody so nobody would be able to say “that’s not you”.
I became a completely new person.
I gained a whole new sense of self-confidence. And that self-confidence allowed me to realize that I was FAR more capable than I ever realized before.
Even if you aren’t moving to a new city and you’re always around people who know your habits and your “abilities”; you can still become a “new you”.
What’s the worst that will happen? People will comment? Some might crack jokes and try to ridicule you?
So?
Let them be negative. That’s not your issue; it’s theirs.
They don’t have enough confidence or belief to be the best version of themselves, so they’re going to try and keep you down as well. Misery likes company, right?
If you allow that to affect you, it’s not them holding you back; it’s you. You have to make sure that NOTHING stops you.
This movie is an incredible visualization of that. And it doesn’t just have to be a movie or a story. It can be reality, and it is reality, but it’s just up to you to let it be.
One of my favourite lines (there are many great quotables in the movie) is during a scene where the main character (”the defect”), is swimming in a race against a “perfect specimen” and is winning. The perfect specimen asks the defect how he’s able to continue swimming for so long and with such stamina. The defect replies “I never saved anything for the way back”.
I love that line.
And it’s true. Most of us do that. We create this “exit strategy” in our minds whenever we approach a new task. A “Plan B.”
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a Plan B. That’s okay, but 9 times out of 10, people only have a Plan B because they don’t truly believe in their Plan A. They’re preparing themselves for failure.
Why?!
Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t prepare myself for failure.
Anybody who knows me knows how intense I can get. For me, it’s all or nothing.
I’m either going to die successful or die still working on it. But no matter what, when I die, nobody will ever be able to say I didn’t give it my all.
The main character in this movie said “I Never Saved Anything For The Way Back”.
Kurt Cobain said “It’s Better To Burn Out Than Fade Away”.
Malcolm X said “By Any Means Necessary”.
Tupac said “Against All Odds”.
Hell, even Nike’s motto is “Just Do It”.
There’s so many of these quotes, but they all have the same message, “GO FOR IT!”
Whatever motivates you, whatever gets you going, whatever pushes you to go that extra mile; just find it and use it every single chance you get, because there is NOTHING that is holding you back from defying all odds and acheiving all your dreams.
Believe in yourself and anything is possible.
ANYTHING.
The other day, my retarded PC (which I’m positive came from hell) decided to take it’s best shot at vexxing me, by completely refusing to turn on.
Press the power button.
Tower beeps.
Black screen with a whole bunch of gibberish shows up.
Little Windows screen shows up with the blue progress bar underneath.
Wait a bit.
Same screen.
Wait a bit more.
Same screen.
I got impatient so I decide to go get a massive salad bowl full of watermelon to munch on. I come back hoping to see Windows fully booted and ready for me to do some work and catch up on the tons of email killing my inbox.
What? Same screen?
Long story short, this scene repeated itself for about an hour and a half.
I got too frustrated to deal with it so I decided to step out and go for a quick jog to re-energize myself and clear my mind.
When I got back, the computer still wouldn’t load! I decided to change real quick and head on over to the mall. After about 45 minutes of being lost in this massive maze of a mall, I found this big shiny store that looked so welcoming, I had to walk in.
Inside this very clean, organized and symmetrical store, a lineup of staff members wearing blue and orange shirts, stood along the main isle staring at me with smiles that could cut the sides of their faces.
Creepy, yes; but half of them were pretty cute girls so I was smiling and staring right back at them without any concern of walking into something… or someone.
I was approached by a girl in an orange shirt. “How can I help you?”, she asked me cheerfully.
Trying to keep focus on her eyes, I reply, “I’m not sure. Just thought I’d look around.”
“Sure, no problem! Just let me know if you need anything. Whatever you need, we can help.”, she tells me while returning to that face cutting smile.
I look around for a little bit and begin to ask myself if I really need anything from them or if I should just leave before I make an impulse purchase that I’ll regret later on.
Not even a minute later, I’m ambushed into a corner by the same girl. I smile for a second, but then see she brought along a friend - one of those guys in the blue shirts.
“Huh? Why is he here? I don’t want to talk to you man. I want to talk to her. Alone. Please leave.”, I think to myself.
The guy tells me that he is there to help and that he can answer any questions I may have.
I explain to him that I don’t even know why I’m there in the first place and that I just walked in to see what was inside.
“Are you happy with your current ’situation’?” he asks. “If not, or if you feel like you just need something more, we can show you the answers. Believe in us. Follow us.”
This whole scenario seems really creepy to me. I begin to sweat a little and ask myself a ton of questions, “What did I just walk into? What did that sign outside say? Is this guy trying to convert me to a different religion? What is going on??”
He asks me again, “What are you looking for? What is it that you want?”
I don’t know what came over me, but within the matter of 5 seconds, I broke down and started telling him all my problems. I told him what’s happened to me in the past, what’s happening to me right now and what I ultimately want in the future.
He looks over at the girl, who’s still standing beside him, and they both smile perfectly in sync.
“Don’t worry. We have the solution for you. Everything will be fine. Trust me.”, he promises me with a mellow voice and creepy smile.
At this point, I’m completely spellbound, so I followed them over to the other side of the room where they begin to ask me for my personal information. I answer all their questions and eagerly await to feel like part of the family. Like I belong to something great!
I finish answering all their questions and I turn around to make my way out and enter the world as a new man with a new faith.
The guy calls me back and says we’re not done yet.
“Sorry Moe, but before you leave, there’s still the issue of payment”, he tells me.
Without even thinking, I just reached into my pocket to pull out my wallet. As I look for my card, I remember that I accidentally de-magnetized my card a few days ago and had to take out extra cash from the bank until my new card comes in the mail.
In a Frank Lucas moment, I pull out a fold of bills larger than I’m used to carrying and hand it over to them. They look up at me suspiciously and begin to whisper to one another as they run each bill past a counterfeit detector. Once the total amount clears, they change their facial expressions and look back at me with those creepy face-cutting smiles.
I walk out with this large box they just handed me and begin finding my way back outside of this mall. People are staring at me as if they could tell something just happened, and I start to think how I’m going to break the news to people.
Once I get back home, I see my broken computer just sitting there. I look at it with an evil eye but then remember where I just came from. I disconnect my old, broken computer and place the big box on its side, while emptying the contents onto my desk.
Now, I sit down at my desk, feeling calm and at ease; as part of a new family… with my shiny, new MacBook Pro.
I’m now officially part of the cult that is Apple.
And they were right - this was the solution to all my problems.
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