Personal Development

Unrealized Projects

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We all have that idea (or ideas) that want to make happen, but don’t have the time or would get started on it as soon as we finish this current task, or that this time of the year is not the best time because all the stars are not aligned the way they should… If you have just the smallest bit of ambition you would probably know what I am talking about. (otherwise you suck!!)

Well I came upon this post by Seth Godin talking about how Tim Burton had a poster of all the failed projects that he was part of.

This is a guy that is behind some of the greatest movies of all time like Batman, Edward Scissorhands, you can check the whole list here http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/ but just because he does fail sometimes he should stop. NO!!

The reasoning behind this is stop postponing whatever you wanna do and do it now and stop being afraid of failure. it’s inevitable you would fail most times than not but eventually the satisfaction and the rewards from that single win would out weight all those failures.

One key element of a successful artist: ship. Get it out the door. Make things happen.

The other: fail. Fail often. Dream big and don’t make it. Not every time, anyway.

Tim got his ideas out the door, to the people who decided what to do with them. And more often than not, they shot down his ideas. That’s okay. He shipped.

So do it and move on!

Hope this was helpful.

Hatim

Predictably Irrational – The hidden forces that shape our decisions

I have just finished reading this excellent book by Dan Ariely. This book talks about how people tend to behave irrationally in a predictable fashion.

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

My favorite part was about the anchor price. The example was a subscription to a newspaper where there was 3 choices, a paper only subscription, an online subscription and a paper and online subscription.

The paper only subscription was way overpriced but we used to set a reference price for what the subscription would cost so the next choice seems reasonable. it’s irrational but predictable

Some of the questions this books answers:

Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?

Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn’t possibly be caught?

Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are already full?

And how did we ever start spending $4.15 on a cup of coffee when, just a few years ago, we used to pay less than a dollar?