The great picture of our lives

[Dave A]

Blurock (post 7), you and I are very much on the same page. That's exactly what I was thinking when I made the statement.

I was comparing two lives over the last ten years.
Same starting point. Same goals. Very different outcomes.
And the main difference I could see was in the minutae of the daily diciplines.

What I was struggling to wrap my mind around was how could this be possible when so much importance (and thought) is attached to the "big" decisions, so little is said about the overall cumulative significance of all the little decisions along the way that we don't give much thought to - that we often leave to habit to decide for us.

I think Adrian (post 10 in particular) is onto something as to why - the size of the decision (as perceived in advance) does not necessarily correlate with the significance of the outcome.

Jim Collins in Great By Choice concludes that luck (both good and bad) comes to everyone. What differs is what we make of it - our return on luck. If you're doing the right things, when good luck comes along, you get a great return. When you're not doing the right things, you don't get the same return.

At tec0 - With roulette the house has a 2 in 37 point advantage over the gambler when it comes to picking a number. The house has a 1 in 37 advantage over the gambler when you play black or red. Which game should you be playing?

However, I suggest you're focusing on the wrong decision to make (and perhaps that's why you keep losing the game). The line between winning and losing over the long haul is a lot thinner than most people think, but the difference in results between being on the wrong or right side of that line is huge.

If we stick to your analogy of roulette, I suggest the choice options in life is not just which number or colour to pick; you first should choose whether you're going to be the gambler or the house.

Get the odds stacked on your side.
Good habits.
Good discipline.

It looks like it's a lot more important than most people give credit for.

[adrianh]

The real issue is this: It is believed that one can influence the quality of the cards that you are dealt by your outlook on life. It is said that if one has a negative outlook then you are dealt negative cards and if you have positive outlook then the cards will be good. Is this possible or are we simply colouring our own perceptions. A man may become paralized and be eternally grateful for the event which changed his life or a person may win R10million and be unhappy because it ruined his life.

So where does this leave us. We live our lives on the balance of probabilities, maybe you get hit by a car and maybe you don't, maybe you live till you're 80 or maybe you don't...what is the answer... To me the answer is actually quite simple, you make certain that you value every moment of every day.

...or as Robert Heinlein's "Valentine Michael Smith" in Stranger From a Strange Land would say: "You Grok it"...

[Justloadit]

The real issue is this: It is believed that one can influence the quality of the cards that you are dealt by your outlook on life. It is said that if one has a negative outlook then you are dealt negative cards and if you have positive outlook then the cards will be good. Is this possible or are we simply colouring our own perceptions.

I think your current frame of mind/attitude is what governs the decision you are going to take.
If you are in a negative mode, there is no ways that you will be able to identify an opportunity, you will only look and see any negative cards presented to you an thus you will continue on the negative path, however, as soon as you change and start getting a positive attitude, you then there seems to be a opportunity at every turn, and you appear to make better decisions.

Have you not noticed how negative people seem to attract 'bad luck', and positive people seem to always be 'lucky', it is based on the persons attitude and what opportunities are followed.

[tec0]

Consider life as a game. Then consider that everything you are and do comes down to timing. Both habits and discipline comes down to finishing on time, being on time and to study to be prepared on time. Being able to calculate risk and reward within the right moment to insure success and or avoid failure.

Every situation is a simple variable “I will work hard to impress my boss” and “I will slack off to spite my boss.” But then there is always an uncontrollable factor “my boss don’t like me even if I do 200% than what is expected of me” options; accept it and ignore it till such a time where you no longer can ignore it. Perhaps the time is right to start your own thing?

What changed? Mathematically the odds are against us from the start. It always was as the rule of a monitory system someone must lose for someone to win. The allocation of wealth is directly link to an ability within a time frame. Example; America was large once now the east will soon be a supper power if not already. What changed?

Outsourcing, poor stock performance and general cost... Timing.... You can actually see the gears rotate. Now your habits and discipline will help you identify opportunities better yes there is no denying this. That said timing is everything, when do you invest, start a business when do you sell your investments close your business?

Simple answer when the maximum wealth was accumulated you always cut your losses. If you don't then things starts to resemble a Roulette wheel then it is only a matter of time before you lose.

So be ready and always think it over... But never waste time, for every minute wasted is an opportunity lost.

[Citizen X]

Choice... No matter it size and or impact, regardless of the alternative there is no such thing as choice. The illusion is real enough but the outcome will always be the same. Take a roulette wheel for example.


We are just gears running in a machine called life.

I recently visited a friend. I'm extremely courteous and respectful to all who are in that home. Even the dogs like me1 In fact, this friend’s dog, ‘Rexy,’ actually starts barking and moaning before I even reach the door. Their domestic employee Mariam had the following to say, ‘Vanash, I earn R1200 per month, my first born is in grade 12, she wants to go to university, I don’t have the money, I don’t know what to do, My husband is dead. My second born is in grade 8, my 3^rd born is in grade 6 and my first born is in grade 4. What must I tell my child when she asks me about University?”
I honestly didn’t know how to respond to her! I realized that a great many of our fellow South Africans hold positions such as domestic employee and farm assistant not by choice but rather because they have no choice. I don’t think any kid says, one day I want to be a domestic employee!
Money plays a big role in the choices we make!
But, we all start the race together. We won’t all finish the race together. There was a recent article about a prisoner who obtained his LLB in prison and obtained more than 10 distinctions..

[adrianh]

@JustloadIt - If nothig changes except your attitute then it means that one can in essence create your own good luck if you are open to accepting oppertunities that come your way.

Mathematically the odds are against us from the start.

@tec0 - your cup is always half empty because you expect the universe to fill it for you. My cup is always at least half full because I fill it myself through the descisions I make. Sometimes I win and sometimes I lose, but I am ultimately responsible for the way i perceive and react to the card that I dealt.

[Justloadit]

@JustloadIt - If nothig changes except your attitute then it means that one can in essence create your own good luck if you are open to accepting oppertunities that come your way.

Adrian,

Absolutely, I have noticed this myself. There some days which are crappy, and it just seems everything you touch turns to sh!t, and simply put, it feels as this, simply because you focus on the things that go wrong, and then use the negative evaluation " You see, everything is going wrong!", but in essence, it is that for that particular day, week, month, year, decade, you simply are highlighting the negative. The moment you can turn your attitude around, and look at the positive things, by focusing on the positive things, it seems that all is going well. Just thin about it, the fact you woke up and your loved one is lying next to you is a good thing, the fact you got out of bed is a good thing, the fact that you enjoyed your first cuppa in the morning is a good thing, the fact the sun is shinning outside is a good thing, the fact i can year the birds singing outside is a good thing, the fact i jumped into my car and started is a good thing, and so on. There are so many positive things happening i our lives that we tend to forget that they even happen.

Once you start accepting all the little positives, you then have the right frame of mind to tackle the world, and all of a sudden, every call, every encounter becomes an opportunity. One must be cautious off course and not simply dive in now, but evaluate the situations.

[Blurock]

Jim Collins in Great By Choice concludes that luck (both good and bad) comes to everyone. What differs is what we make of it - our return on luck. If you're doing the right things, when good luck comes along, you get a great return. When you're not doing the right things, you don't get the same return.

Get the odds stacked on your side.
Good habits.
Good discipline.

It looks like it's a lot more important than most people give credit for.

I fully agree. I have also seen another formula; Focus X Knowledge X Behaviour = Success.

The more disciplined people are the more successful ones. Gary player once replied to a comment on how lucky he was in golf. He said that the more he practised, the luckier he became. It takes habit forming discipline and determination to keep on practising while your mates go for a beer.

It seems as if some of us are still struggling with the term "decisions". Lets use the word choices then. To go and have a coffee at a coffee shop is not a life changing decision or choice. It is not the coffee that causes the accident. That could have been caused by not being observant, not having your brakes checked, not maintaining a safe following distance or a multiple other causes.

I think what Dave refers to here is the life choices we make. We make big choices in which direction we want our lives to go, but then we do not support those big choices with good discipline and habits.

You will never to cross the ocean if you do not plug the holes in your boat.

[Citizen X]

I fully agree. I have also seen another formula; Focus X Knowledge X Behaviour = Success.

You will never to cross the ocean if you do not plug the holes in your boat.

The only place you'll find success before work is in the English dictionary! Nothing X Nothing is still nothing 0 X 0 = 0

[adrianh]

@vanash

The only place you'll find success before work is in the English dictionary! Nothing X Nothing is still nothing 0 X 0 = 0

You are wrong. Given probability theory some will have lots of good luck and be successful without working hard, some will have terrible luck and get nowhere.

We have to accept that some people simply seem to be luckier than others. (pure probability) This does not mean that one shouldn't work hard at your own destiny, it means that you cannot use the destinies of other to measure your own. If Johnny casts a die 6 times and get 6 in a row, what are the chances of you getting a 6 on the next throw...1 out of 6 which means that your luck is not affected by what went before.

@justloadit - its all in your frame of mind. That's the good thing about working for yourself, especially from home, if I'm in a bad frame of mind I can choose not to answer the phone and do whatever it takes to change that mindset. But when you are an employee you have to suck it up and deal not only with your own frame of mind but those of others too. My frame of mind can swing dramatically and extremely fast...maybe that is why I never fitted into the...chug along like a robot mindless mindsets within the corporate world. Corporates don't like people who swing too far too quickly because we are too unpredictable.

[Blurock]

The only place you'll find success before work is in the English dictionary! Nothing X Nothing is still nothing 0 X 0 = 0

Yes, input determines output. There are people who win the lotto etc, but that is not sustainable. It is a once off and easy come, easy go. Same applies to inheritance. I've seen many of those.

[Citizen X]

Yes, input determines output. There are people who win the lotto etc, but that is not sustainable. It is a once off and easy come, easy go. Same applies to inheritance. I've seen many of those.

Sustainable transformation..I conceed!

[Blurock]

How often do we start our daily activities, but never achieve our daily goals because we get sidelined by trivial matters.

The following attachment illustrates how we can allow trivial things to negatively impact our lives. I hope I am not infringing on any copy rights, but it was too good not to pass on.

Garbage.doc

[ians]

Good one Blurock, i agree and guilty of carrying garbage, getting better at it as i get older, learning slowly not to allow silly things to spoil my day.

Watching a young lady being beaten continuously while driving along the N3 could have affected my day on Saturday, do i pull the vehicle over and stop the Ahole, or do i just mind my own bussiness and look the other way, i chose to look the other way, if she didnt like what he was doing she must report him for assault. Some people will say i should have done something about it, some women would say it is better i just leave them, other wise i make it worse for her because once i leave, he hits her even harder. From experience, i did the right thing, you beat the living daylights out of the boyfriend and the women starts beating you because you are interfering, or you beat the living dailights out of the 2 guys hitting a women you find out later she is a women of pleasure and get arrested because they are plain clothes police officers. Bye the way it is very unpleasant sitting in a police cell and wasting time in court.

People talk about the little things and big things which alter our path in life, all of them affect our lives in one way or another bussiness or pleasure. Do i get up in the morning and go for a walk? Do i eat fruit for breakfast or coffe, in same way or another it is going to affect the outcome of your life. Not just the R2 million contract you sign. One thing i have learnt about life is no matter how good you are at something, be it bussiness or pleasure, if you are not a peoples person, you will not succeed as well as a person who is a peoples person, especially if you require sponsorship or trying to sign a deal or a contract. You may say bulldust, i see it everyday.

Some people might think the little things they do in their personal life do affect the outcome of their bussiness, think again.

Just to add, i have woken up one morning and thought, today is going to be a great day, walked though the kitchen to my office, caught the corner of the top cupboard which was left slightly open just above the my eye, it knocked me to the floor and i couldnt stop the bleeding, that was just the start to the day, it got a whole lot worse as the day progressed.

I had dreams of going and living in the USA, made enough money to keep me going for a while, was going to stop in the UK for a year or 2, i was about to leave had a few thing to finalise here in SA, while finalising those few things had a motor vehicle accidents which changed my entire life, i lost everything, savings, dignity, motor vehicles you name it, ended up with 9 judgements and out on the street phiysically disable. That small silly little decision that day to race with the porsche could have been one of the worse i have ever made, at the time it just felt so good.

[adrianh]

That small silly little decision that day to race with the porsche could have been one of the worse i have ever made, at the time it just felt so good.

Yes, but you could also have been hit by somebody else racing that day. The point is this: Don't beat yourself up, $h1t happens, the important thing is how we deal with it.