In 12 months time what would you like to achieve?

 

In 12 months time what would you like to achieve, that is by the year 2026?

Many, many people and an equal number of articles are written every year in January regarding New Year's Eve resolutions, but have you ever thought of sitting a goal and a timeline to assist in achieving the objective? As well as a backup plan should something get in your way.

I learned many years ago that when something is difficult it is actually a good sign because it means that transformation of one sort or another is being achieved. Human beings I absolutely hate changing preferring to stay in their default mode no matter what it is. Even if that default situation is very unpleasant for them. So as you progress through 2025, if you find things uncomfortable recognize that there may be something from the event. Modify your plans as needed but do not give up, and if you have to put something on hold, then do that but do not see it as a defeat. Simply make a promise to yourself to revisit it when you can.

For myself I just started an introductory computer science course and my ongoing goal is to slowly learn a variety of languages. I am not holding myself to a strict schedule but deliberately keeping things very pliable only promising to myself that I will return to the course as many times as necessary in order to achieve success. Because as I have learned in the last few years and overly strict schedule simply does not work when one's life is complicated and very susceptible to interruptions. Therefore my approach is to literally say "The interruptions are not a negative. They simply need to be where they're occurring. I have a commitment to myself to move on when ever possible." I shall alter whatever needs to be altered in order to achieve this goal.

I think a great deal of life can be approached in a similar fashion and by that I mean, not to overly critique your self in pursuit of the goal. But do keep a timeline and a commitment adjusting things as necessary.

That's it for this very short post. It's the first one of 2025. Many more articles and ideas to come in the upcoming days. Stay tuned in 2025 and make your own adventurers be fruitful.

Patrick

You Don't Know What "Democracy" Is, Because You've Never Lived In A Country Without It.

My views on politics and life in general are pretty simple: "Everyone has the right to govern their own lives and are also responsible for what they do." Of course this is an extremely oversimplified statement, but at the heart of my thinking, that is it. The individual is free to do what they want and they must owner what they do. But It seems that today people are yearning for the exact opposite, rather than freedom, they want more "guidelines". There are now more socially implied  rules and it is much easier, at least from my perspective, to step over some politically correct boundary. What is going on here? Globally, societies seem to be throwing away the idea of democracy. They may call it something else in the media but I think that's what it boils down to. You just need to look at what is going on in the United States right now to see how polarized the liberal and conservative camps are becoming. It doesn't matter the topic either. There is less true debate and more justification of why any particular viewpoint is correct. It is almost as though every idea is being approached as though it were a sales pitch, literally a commercial. Rather than discussing a viewpoint or position, individuals are selling their point of view. There is no discussion and interaction involved.

Don't take democracy for granted. The "Good Old Days" were not as good as you remember.

Democracy and the responsibilities that brings with it are being thrown away bit by bit. My concern is that the people doing the "throwing away" don't know what their giving up because they've always had it. Some of you reading this paragraph may say "Patrick, don't be ridiculous. It will never get that far." My response to them would be "Look at the world. Look at how polarized people have become in their viewpoints." There seems to be far less a willingness to discuss and debate any issue now days we seem to go straight for the extreme.

On 11 February 1990 Nelson Mandela made
his first public speech, after 27 years in jail.
Source: South Africa Gateway.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Is this because modern communication systems have taken face-to-face meetings and interactions out of discourse? Instead of dealing with a real person in a group, the debate is happening over a video chat? Which takes out that small but very important responsibility involved with dealing with someone personally, physically in the same space. They used to  call this  video chat side effect "The Ivory Tower"; it meant that the person was out of touch with the topic and not seeing the broader picture. I think this might be what is happening today with society. Therefore it becomes easy to complain about democracy or any other concept because people are seeing it only from their own ivory tower. It is very much like dealing with someone over the phone rather than a person. When you are right there with the individual there are many more subtle cues and motivations. The two people may understand the issue much more thoroughly, because meeting in person brings the topic alive for them. They still may not agree, but there is much more understanding and I bet her list of the tendency to become polarized on the issue at hand.

The bottom line is: People need to gather in person more. To rebuild those connections that originally brought societies together and allowed sincere debates to occur without the dangers involved in thinking in extremism terms. It's a slower process absolutely. But everyone wins no matter what the outcome because dealing with people face-to-face makes you acknowledge the humanity and the complexity. People are stronger emotionally and I believe intellectual as well.

Whereas with the Internet and other communication media it is far easier to write your comment, click the submit button and off you go to somewhere else. You can't do that in real life. You have to deal with whatever the issue is, with the people right there with their comments and rebuttals. Everybody comes out of this real-life experience with them far richer understanding.

As far as democracy goes, debated with someone in real life. Meet with them over time. Go through the pros and cons of not only democracy but any other system you can think of. Then you will know what it is like to live without it or at least have some depth on the topic.

Take care Patrick.

Combating Your Negative Bias

 This morning I read a quote from Dostoyevsky which fits in very nicely with this topic:

"To be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart — that’s what life is all about, that’s its task."

Believe it or not everyone has a built in evolutionary based "Cognitive Negative Bias". That is, your mind, if left to its own behaviours always assumes the worst. This was right for the early human species as it saved them from becoming a predator's midday snack. However this negative bias over time became generalized and now in the modern world, it not only does it not serve us well, it actually gets in the way of physiological growth.

 It is not necessary to go into examples of negative bias, they are all too prevalent. Rather this article is meant to give you some of my own personal tools to encourage seeing a "Positive Bias" whenever possible. These are things I have learned throughout my life.

To sum them up, they are:

1.  Personal Awareness
2.  Recognizing Habitual Behaviour
3. Enjoying Effort (literally relishing in the fact that something might be hard to do.)

Every time engage in one of these behaviors, you always learn something.

 1. Most of us, including myself, spend a good chunk of our days somewhere between autopilot and grounded awareness. This is the modern survival skill, because frequently you are moving at a rapid pace juggling many things. The problem is that, it has become, for many people, a natural default state; they are slowly lose touch with themselves. In some situations even with their very character. Who they may become over time it's not quite the personality they assume. Everything can change and that includes the very essence of you.

Getting to know various aspects of yourself is critical, because it is the bedrock upon which everything else is built. No one can know everything about themselves because we are always changing, but we can definitely alter the larger and more profound aspects. So, the next time you turn on the TV, YouTube, or other entertainment media especially if it's something you do often, ask yourself to just pay attention to you to the situation you are in. What are you looking forward to? If it is a routine ask yourself what you get out of the routine? Start to take apart the situation in whatever way you want and notice the different aspects. There is so much to discover in personal awareness and it is in these moments that you can find a great many surprises. Encourage yourself to be curious. You are psychologically getting something out of every situation. Start to explore what that might be. Even negative things. What you might call a bad habit has a payoff for some part of your psychology.

2. This leads right into the next item on the list, recognizing habitual behaviours. Again you are getting something out of it. Often can be a way to avoid being aware of yourself. The problem is that habitual behaviours that don't do you any good and can waste a great deal of time getting you nowhere. So you don't benefit from the experience either positively or negatively. --- In sort they keep you stuck. So next time you're eating that big bag of potato chips and you're chewing through them at breakneck speed. Ask yourself what's going on. 

3. Just today I was working with someone who was terrified of effort. That is to say, the minute something got difficult for them, he immediately put up mental roadblocks, essentially guaranteeing that they would fail. I have seen this several times now in various people who will always say they want to learn and succeed. My belief is that it is the fear of change ultimately that is stopping them. Everything you've ever done in your life even the most automatic and unconscious things was at the very beginning, difficult. You had to learn how to gain a new skill. But somewhere along the way these people learned or told themselves that everything must conform to their way of existence or seeing the world if you prefer. If it didn't fit their model then it was by definitions "difficult" and doomed to failure. To guarantee this outcome they began to build up all sorts of behaviours to distract themselves while at the same time frustrating themselves. A guarantee the way not to benefit from learning.

Well, in order to learn you must be prepared to change and what you need to learn is that change is a good thing in this context and if something is difficult that is also a good thing. It means you're being stretched and exercised and ultimately growing. So learn to accept difficulty as a positive indicator. If the "wall" is too high, take your time and appreciate the small steps. If you are observant of your accomplishments and your setbacks you will reach the top. You will however not be quite the same person you are at the beginning of the undertaking. It is necessary to let go of the "you" you knew. It may be a very difficult thing at first and it may remain difficult. That is okay. Take the time to understand why. If it is not in your power to see why it is difficult then see if you can come to terms with the difficulty. It will be up to you whether to proceed and integrate it into the situation or to go down another route.

Don't Resist Change, Embrace It.

There seems to be a tendency for people now to insist on having the world presented to them in a way they are already comfortable with and that can lead to a lot of the above difficulty. You may have to change your behaviour. If you really want to achieve a specific goal. That means taking a look at your negative bias and indeed taking a look at the individual you have knowen for all these years who just happens to be your self.

A practical example of people resisting change while insisting they want the benefits of change without the work involved would be the following:

This happened several times every year. Either in my volunteer work or when assisting someone in my building with new equipment or purchases. They get the latest phone with all the bells and whistles. After they've had it for a few days they come to me and they ask can you make this do what I saw in the commercial? It doesn't matter what the undertaking is what the person is often really asking is "You do the work so I can have all the benefits without having to think about it.". And of course things never really work out for them because they do not understand the very future they are attracted to. Even if everything does work after it is been set up they are still somewhat frustrated because they intuitively know that they don't know what's going on. And in order to benefit from an experience you have to understand that experience. Just buying a good camera will not make you a good photographer. You must undertake learning how it works. There is no getting around this if you really want to grow.

So there we have it. The key points of my philosophy in regards to negative bias. My advice throw the negative out and do the work to get the positive in.

I have made a companion video for this article. It covers the same points and also addresses a few other aspects. If you are more comfortable learning it through multimedia then this is for you. It is about 10 minutes long.

Take care Patrick

The Smart Phone Market Is the Definition of Insanity

It's the 21st century and people are beginning to take recycling and conservation very seriously. So why do we allow and indeed participate in the throwaway mentality of current smart phones?

They should be built to last not expire in two or three years. People behave like they're involved in an arms race; constantly upgrading for the latest and best technology. Think about the number of resources that go into the short life cycle of a phone. Rare materials many of which are toxic and some almost impossible to recycle.

So what's going on here and why are people buying into this? My phone is barely 3 years old and has begun to fall apart. I investigated and found that the entire phone is glued together. I don't think there's a screw or a clip in the whole thing. $600 is what it cost me when it was new because I bought it out right, wanting to avoid getting locked into a plan because one never knows what my income is going to be in the years moving forward. In other words I was looking to keep my life simple.

My needs in regards to this technology are very straightforward:

1. A clean un-bloated operating system android like operating system.
2. I'm willing to pay extra for good hardware as I do use quite a few apps for work.
3. I couldn't care less about the camera as long as it is sufficient to grab the occasional QR code.

Sounds like a pretty simple shopping list doesn't? Yet the way phones are marketed makes finding out that information rather challenging. As a matter of fact the last online at will I checked out for a phone spoke about everything except those basic points. The entire 10 page manual was more of an advertisement and the last thing we talked about was the actual phone functionality. In other words it was a camera first and the phone was almost an afterthought.

The other issue that really gets me going is updates to the software, or lack thereof, two years in and you're pretty much out of luck as far as patches go from some suppliers. Can we at least begin to turn this around by insisting that the batteries are replaceable and recyclable?

TVs are now beginning to go this way as well. My first Smart TV it took two years to get all the bugs out of the OS and then the manufacturer started shutting features down. Boy I was not impressed.

The thinking should be the other way around and go something like this:

1. If the hardware and software are capable of keeping the device secure and safe, then in order to maximize its useful life manufacturers must maintain it. They can offer new products but the consumer must be able to use their device to the fullest extent. This keeps things out of the recycling and saves the new amount in energy and resources.
   
   
2. The idea of building something to last is a concept that I think many people would welcome back. True there would be a reeducation going on because many people have never thought in that way.
   
   
3. This would have the effect of freeing people up to choose when to upgrade.
   
   
4. If the consumer new that the device was created to last and be serviceable in its lifetime then it is likely they would see the price as an investment. This would build loyalty which is something that every manufacturer needs.

Okay gang that's the end of my rant. What do you think. Let me know in the comments or by sending a note.

Take care Patrick

Overextension of oneself

 

I have to laugh at myself on this occasion… I originally came up with the idea for this article on March 24, 2023, and here it is slightly over a month later and I am just getting to this particular piece. Why?… Because I did exactly what the title says I overextended myself. It was a perfect storm and then I added to it with my own special secret ingredient, I increased the scope of my video article on the basics of Windows 10 part one. It grew into a monster over an hour and 1/2.

Then I added to this dessert of mayhem a generous sprinkling of committee meetings and evening nonprofit organizational meetings. I'm not kidding the last month vaporized inactivity. I kept thinking about the blog and my brain was just saturated with everything else. I must've seen the writing on the wall subconsciously when the idea for this article popped into my head.

I can therefore attest that everyone reading this must give themselves a break. Start small if you like just stop whatever you're doing and let go. If you have to put that smart watch under a pillow :-). To remind myself to slow down and appreciate more, because let's face it, everything in life only occurs once, I bought myself a Tiffany lamp. By racing through the day you are literally missing the whole point of being alive and that is to acknowledge the very experience and take value from it. The lamp reminds me of the time it took the artisans to make it. They invested part of their life in it.

When one is younger there is a subconscious belief that the flow of life is infinite. Therefore one wastes a great deal of time in those early days by not being present in the moment. Man, one does not do that when one is in their 60s and yet I was talking to a friend of mine over the weekend who said "You're still a youngster, I am 89." That put it into perspective for me. I remember in elementary school when I thought 30 was over the hill. And when I was even younger, a year felt like forever, especially just after Christmas. Not that I'm materialistic, but I do remember clearly thinking that it would be an entire year before I can start my campaign of nagging my parents for whatever new Mattel propaganda was being produced.

So take a break right now if you can. Don't fill the space immediately with other activities. Let your self gear down a bit and check-in with your body and self. If they say "you're doing too much.". Listen to them! If you overextend yourself than the quality of everything you do will suffer along with you. Learn what speed you can go ahead and everything will improve.

Take care Patrick

Appreciating accomplishments.

Very often, when I speak the people who are going through a negative period In their life, one of the things that started the downward trip was that they stopped acknowledging their daily accomplishments.

Every single one of us accomplishes something every day. We often miss acknowledging this because in the modern fast-paced world achievements must be big and profound. Popular culture would have us all believe that we must launch a rocket to Mars, or something effectively preposterous every day, otherwise somehow it is not worth acknowledging. I had a personal example of this just the other day.

I had just uploaded my very first long format video (Article and Video Windows 10 basics part one) to YouTube and I instantly began to judge it against out plethora of professional and pseudo-professional offerings. For a while I felt like I had wasted almost 2 weeks worth of free time on this first project. Then I thought: "Wait a Minute!… I am learning as I go and in making pretty darn good use of the resources I have. It's not meant to be perfect… It was more important to get this first instalment posted." Indeed I am lucky because I realized to appreciate my achievement.

We are all learning as we go along in life and it is so critical for one's self-esteem to see and appreciate that in various forms. I watch a video the other day of a professor describing how to make the substance Graphene and was really struck by the time and patience he took in testing the substance he made. In doing so he got the maximum enjoyment out of the experience, not to mention the tremendous insights. Someone else might watch part of this video and get bored because at the point where he is verifying the results it's by slow repetitive measurements. But I think that's where he had the most fun, truly demonstrating that he created the substance and that it was tremendously strong. So by acknowledging the small achievements in this hour-long video he gained a tremendous boost emotionally and intellectually. All because what is important is acknowledging the small steps.

When you think about it we are all "Getting There" one step at a time. Take a moment to acknowledge those achievements.

Take care Patrick

Entitlement: The Darkest Sin.

 

 I have met many people throughout my life thus far and a fair number are truly astounding individuals. They not only get a great deal out of life but add tremendous amounts back in creativity, effort, and sheer inspiration. These people are most often tremendously happy. They understand that it takes effort and engagement to truly benefit from all life has to offer and they don't shy away from a challenge.

Recently I have been in contact with another segment of humanity however, those that feel the world owes them something. They feel they are "entitled" to something. It doesn't matter what they feel they should get for free, and I use the word Free deliberately because the same people also insist on not putting in any effort. Never mind changing any aspect about themselves. They seem to be continually seeking to get more, and for their efforts they get only frustration. It is because they are not willing to be involved in humanity itself. They want to have all the benefits and not change any aspect of themselves. They just keep going and going and going... And are astonished when I or someone else tells them that the reason they are not getting what they want is because they are not willing to accept responsibility for whatever it is. To clarify this I'll give you an example:

Someone in my building wanted to get a dog actually became almost a demand because they were in a wheelchair. I got curious at this point because they already have a pet cat. I asked him how they were going to walk the dog several times a day and their response was "Oh, I will get the staff to do all that." Pursuing this I then asked "Most dogs need a fair bit of attention, they are very social, are you aware of this?" The response was "I will treat them just like my cat." At this point I became a little concerned because dogs and cats are very different animals. Cats are independent and don't really need connection or to be social. Dogs on the other hand might go a little crazy treat them like a cat. As we talked it became clear to me that what this person wanted was an imaginary image of what they thought taking care of a dog was. Not at all the real thing. Personally I be worried about the poor dogs mental health. Not to mention I think it would be a disastrous situation in the long run because this person doesn't think things through. They just desire the image of something. Most importantly, the desire to have something but they don't plan on changing anything about themselves.

To give you another example I recently met someone who demanded that they can do whatever they want whenever they want. This would be relatively okay if they were able-bodied and could take care of any situation they found themselves in. But there was an expectation in their demand that someone else would be there to clean up or deal with any unforeseen issues. Not to mention my place is an assisted living building which means that the staff take care of the core health needs. They are not butlers, and frankly even if they were there are limits for even a butler. Again this person's perception were very one-sided and the entitlement was very much obvious. They felt that the world really old them something big because they had become disabled. That kind of attitude never works and frankly gets me pretty riled up.

Indeed I suspect people like this with this overriding entitlement and the perception that they have all the fun and there none of the responsibility is probably what at least partially led them to their current health concerns. You cannot drink 15 cans of Coke a day and not expect your body to absorb it without any incident. This is not hyperbole I have met people that do this and expect their life to just go on and on fine. Then they bitterly complain that someone should have fixed things when it does not and that "someone is never them".

I wonder what it takes to wake these people up. Their attitudes are of course their own choice but that is why I called this article "Entitlement: The Darkest Sin" because it really is their choice and in my perception they are making the worst choice possible, one that has negative repercussions for all those around them.

It reminds me of the Star Wars movies in some respect. You have the Dark Force, which appears to be easy but carries with it a tremendous cost personally. Then there is the Light Force which offers effort on the part of the person but will end up benefiting many. Life I think is very much like that, you get out what you put in.

When I look at all the great wonderful people I have known, and have yet to meet. It is obvious they have made a commitment to society and the greatest sense. They also have great understanding which has been achieved by effort and labour. I really do believe there is no easy way to kind of fly through life. That is how it should be, because we learn the best when we put effort into the task. At the end of the day I have had a great life, and continue to have a great life. I have absolutely no regrets. :-).

Those that feel entitled however are miserable and often confused. They see individuals like myself as receiving special treatment magically. Again they are not looking deeper. I collaborate with people and work out ways to achieve things which benefits everyone involved. I want the world and humanity to grow and achieve its own goals. It takes some time and indeed effort. There is simply no getting around that. I will forever be grateful for the ongoing engagement and super creativity of everyone in the world who is undertaking similar tasks.

So if you know anyone who is "Entitled" trying to get them to change because effort is needed if anyone is going to alter their path. Every one of us if we are successful will not be the person down the road we are today. Life is dynamic and fluid and human beings are part of that. To be in the entitled state is to be stagnant and still it which is guaranteed to create conflict and incompatibility down the road.

The best skill they can learn is to embrace change and to learn how to let go of perceived power. Power after all is not the dominance over something, it is in truth learning about that very something and growing with it so at the end, All sides benefit.

Take care everyone. Once again have a great day. I have a couple of videos in the works and I think I'm going to add this one to them. Yes it looks like I'm going to have a busy weekend. So check back next week on this article to see if I've added a video. I will do my best. And as always learning in the process.

Patrick

Presence of Mind

 

One important skill that is all too frequently overlooked in our busy day to day lives is "The Presence of Mind" I've written a related article, about this several years ago but I think it is now more important than ever so here is a refresher.

First, it is important to understand why you need to be aware of the moment, or to put it another way, not on autopilot. Autopilot and routines can be useful especially if you're involved in something which must progress very efficiently. But they also will remove you from reality and since you only have one life to live, as far as you know at this moment, and really you don't want to miss anything. Because mother nature does not believe in the concept of reruns.

The steps are for putting yourself in the present are straightforward:

1. If you are multitasking while you are reading this short article, stop and pay attention to what you are reading now. Become focused on just this one task. If only for a few minutes, but make those few minutes count.. Be prepared to put a little effort into this if your mind wanders off after a few seconds. This is especially true if you spent a lot of time in autopilot. The brain does not like a change in routine.
   
   
2. Take stock of your environment. Look around, not swiftly, but deliberately. Take note of any emotions or thoughts which occur. If you have an urge to write them down or otherwise record them do so.
   
   
3. Check in with your feelings. Are there any stressors or other emotional aspects you weren't aware of before you put the brakes on the autopilot? If so pay attention to them and make note of any actions you would like to take.
   
   
4. You should do this short routine three times a day. It will help put you in the centre of control and is usually quite eye-opening after being done for a few days.

The reason that the presence of mind steps can be so "eye-opening" is because when we are spending large parts of our lives and in automatic mode we frequently don't notice the issues affecting us on various levels and therefore don't pay the necessary amount of attention to them they require. By being aware of yourself and surroundings including emotions you can frequently deal with issues while there are still small and save yourself a lot of grief down the road.

Personally I am convinced especially now that I have lived in assisted living for four years that is in some measure determined by how much listen to your surroundings. There are quite a number of people in my building who are constantly distracted and very reactive. The trouble is they don't know what they are on ultimate autopilot and I frequently find myself thinking "No wonder, they are in poor health. Things have probably been going wrong for them physically for a long time and I haven't stopped to notice." An analogy would be, if a phone was running low on battery power and yet the owner insisted on keeping the brightness set to maximum, then it is no wonder the phone died. But if they had charged the unit up regularly not only with the phone not be running out of power, but the battery would probably last longer.

In summary then: One of the keys to improving one's life is to stop and pay attention, then take the actions necessary.

Take care Patrick

"Opportunity"- The Fastest Horse In Town

 

This article is going to expand on another I did earlier "Seize the Moment! Act on the idea". I will also do a video to go along with this article since everyone seems to like them. The video however will probably have to wait until the weekend, or at least a few days because it does take about 48 hours to do all the postproduction. The actual video takes very little time, but if you want to do it right and add something of value to YouTube, there's a fair bit to go through. Anyway let's get on with this little article.

The longer I live the more I begin to really believe one should listen to their impulses, but not be ruled by them, do pay attention though and decide which way to go. Because it seems like a fast horse opportunity appears and then, races off into the horizon. The key point is that the "initial impulse" is there to draw your attention. Make a note of it if you can quickly. Then returned to the idea when you get some time and make a commitment to do that, find that time.

Also be honest with yourself as to what it's going to take to pull that inspiration off. To make it something real. You'll know you're on the right track when you begin to understand where the idea is going and you should be okay with the fact that it probably will take a fair bit of sustained work. Opportunity may indeed be a multistage event. One in which you work on the idea but the first time things don't evolve the way you want them to. Then step back, and regroup and be fearless about trying the idea again. If you pay attention you will usually noticed that each time you gain some insight. Yup this can be the slow way of doing it that's for sure but when you do things in this manner you will ultimately will win. These insights you gain will have a tendency to benefit you everywhere.

If you have to start very small with the idea and that is what you do. Each time you add a layer take stock of what you've learned. You will be surprised. Be honest as well, some ideas do not work out so be fair but clear with yourself.

Our horse, named in this article, is of course just a fictional construct to illustrate that you should react to an opportunity immediately if possible. The task of following your opportunity can be a little like a staircase. One step up, evaluate and then and take the next step up and so forth.

Most importantly have fun in what you are doing. You must ensure that you get more back ultimately then you put out on some level. This will pretty much guarantee your success and allow you to sustain your adventure.

Have a great day everyone.
Patrick

Clarity of communication versus niche terminology...

 

...it sure is a work in progress.

I was in a meeting the other day with the group representing a particular subset of the disabled population and as the various discussions progressed I noticed a lot of niche terminology being used consistently. This group was verily big and a diverse in age as well so I found it amazing that the people using the terminology didn't check in with everyone to make sure that the definitions for the words were all clearly understood. I can't remember the exact phrase which really stood out to me, and I wish I could right now, because I would write the presenter of the meeting a letter asking "What the heck were you talking about?" Again it was in a very trendy context. Sometimes I do wish that people would speak directly especially when dealing with the larger public. If they are in a group of professionals that I can understand because specialized terminology can make things more efficient when you know your audience. It was even more surprising therefore when no one in the crowd asked for definitions or clarification. We all sat there rather quietly, not wanting to show our ignorance. But I'm telling you that is not a good thing to do. I'm a little mad at myself upon reflecting on this incident. I should've stood up and articulated my thoughts.

This is obviously going to be an opinion piece. But I really do think that as a society tries on one hand to be more inclusive and understanding of their fellow human being. it is on the other neglecting clarity and true communication. I wonder then, if this is just an indication that we are attempting to hide our own biases and prejudices. We use ambiguous words and acronyms to gaslight ourselves into thinking we are more open. But I'm not supposed we are more open now days… Society seems to be on the whole easier to offend and now days that outrage gets broadcast awfully quickly,and not necessarily dealt with just reacted to. So in some cases we are not really dealing with the issues at hand. An analogy would be, scratching an itch but not considering why one is itching in the first place. While short-term relief is achieved the underlying issues just fester away and as they get buried farther and farther down the problem gets more abstract.

My goodness this all sounds rather pessimistic and that is not like me. But on the other hand this issue has bothered me for a while and it was at this meeting that it really became obvious. How to move forward is the question: How does humanity finally begin to resolve some of these behaviours which can cloud clear communication?  if it were me, I would just speak directly deliberately avoiding all trendy terminology because my goal would be to convey information and encourage communication and understanding.

My hypothesis therefore moving forward would be that an over reliance on niche terminology or other unclear language is to hide something so that the speaker doesn't have to deal with it directly. This could be almost anything from a deliberate, act to subconscious motivations. -- Who among us, really knows themselves?  --   It is at best a journey of discovery for each of us.

 Let me know what you think.  Have a great day and take care.
Patrick

Why Do People Get Bored?

 

In the place where I live there quite a number of people who always say something like "I'm bored" actually I hear quite a bit, to be clear it's not everyone but a fairly good number. Yet when I say "Why don't you do this… Or that?" They come back with "No. I don't want to do that" this dialogue goes around and around for a while and both parties get nowhere.

It has become clear to me that actually what is going on in most cases is that the individual who's doing the complaining really just wants to be entertained or to be more specific they want to offload the responsibility of fixing their boring situation on to someone else. To get out of this rut, that is to say to become "un-board" they must put some effort into it. Solutions don't just appear out of nowhere.

This could become quite a lengthy article and I think the best way to describe it is for me to do a video. You will find a brand-new one right below. It details not so much the steps in becoming "un-board" but a different way to look at things. Which can be boiled down to:

1. If there is something you cannot change, then accepted it and move on.
   
   
2. Don't seek perfection in becoming "un-bored", except an imperfect solution. It will get you farther down the road in the long run.
   
   
3. Be prepared to put some effort into changing your situation or point of view. Life is not a free ride, but if you put some work into it, boy can it be fun😀.

Below is a full 10 minute video. At this time it can only be seen on this website, until I can go through the appropriate steps to get it fully indexed properly. Like all the things even YouTube takes some practice. It will probably be discoverable on YouTube within the week depending upon how much time I have.

Until then, to get the direct link to this this particular article , click on its title and then bookmark it or send it to a friend. Or you can just come back to this website 😀. You can also search on Google of course.

Here's the video it is about 10 minutes long. If you enjoyed please let me know and I will do more as time permits.

Take care Patrick

Where does one find the time?

I don't know about you, but lately the amount of things I have to do seems to be going up and up.

To make matters more interesting the reason seems to be that we know what were doing for certain tasks and that other people are somehow missing the experience or the knack. I don't want to leave people and projects high and dry. For the last few months it seems every weekend I find myself saying "Next weekend I am taking it off." But inevitably something comes up. It may not be directly related to work but it's just enough to consume chunks of the weekend or one's free time. Right now for example I'm already thinking about tomorrow morning. There is a server that needs work, a guide needs to be written, someone else need today for a consultation. If you been reading my blog this is good news for you because that consultation has to do with another article I wrote a month or two ago about smart assistance for the disabled. I can't remember the title right off hand but I'll make sure there's a link.

Anyway this is a supershort entry and I'm going to set the blog to release it tomorrow morning at 9 AM. With a little bit of luck all find some time during the day. To add a more meaningful article or at least start one.

Take care Patrick (and of course stay tuned.)

Where does motivation come from?

 

What are the origins of motivation or the lack thereof?

These are tricky questions to answer, because of course there are so many components, but there are a few central elements.

In its most basic form, motivation is a reaction to our environment. To change from one state to another. If you're hungry you are motivated to change your situation. This type of basic action has with it however some limitations and problems.

1. It tends to be only reactionary. Focusing on the immediate situation and not necessarily good in the long run.
   
   
2. If we don't pay attention to these reactionary impulses they can become habits which may not have our best interest at heart.
   
   
3. By definition therefore, they involve little thinking or awareness. They may get you out of the way of the oncoming truck, but they don't help you deal with why you decided to walk out into the middle-of-the-road in the first place.

What you want is motivation combined with thought. The best way to start exploring that part of the topic is: The next time you are motivated to do anything especially if it's on the spur of the moment, consider what is happening in your environment. By doing that you can understand the drivers of your actions and that will help you avoid impulsive actions and at the same time answer the age-old question of "How do I stay motivated?".

The other aspect to consider about getting the best out of motivation is "Are you trying to get motivated about a activity that you are not interested in?" 

 Many people fall into that little trap especially when their undertaking a physical or mental tasks which they promised to do. It is quite it difficult thing to get excited about something you're not excited about in the first place. So stop hitting yourself over the head. Focus instead, if you are caught in a situation like this, on what it'll feel like to get that finally done. That frequently frees up a lot of mental resources because you are now addressing the situation honestly. Again this will also help you to increase your awareness of what does motivate you.

When I was in my 20s for some unfathomable reason there was a big push in the disability community for everyone to learn computerized accounting. It became almost like a mantra. I remember sitting face-to-face with an Apple II and the green phosphor screen looking at "Lotus 1-2-3" and thinking "yuck!". Fortunately in those relatively early days of computing you had to know a fair bit just to get the thing to run. So I found myself doing the work I had to do but also wondering how the heck does the spreadsheet work?  All of a sudden the spreadsheet became interesting and I was motivated to use it. Not because it was the spreadsheet but because I had inadvertently began my journey down programming. It's kind of mind blowing to think that because of something so dull a major component of my future career took off.

So it really does pay to pay attention to the details of your motivation or lack thereof. Once you do that you will answer the ultimate question of "How do I stay motivated?" better than you could ever imagine. The experience you gain by paying attention to the details of motivation instead of being just reactionary are immense. Often they will give you different avenues to go down. From there who knows what adventures await.

So stay motivated by understanding your motivations and when necessary if they are telling you to do something else pay attention to that. I have found that there is a lot more detail to life and the personality of each of us then we give ourselves credit for. :-)

Take care Patrick

Keys to a better life: inner awareness.

Inner awareness, of one's self is so important; it cannot be overstated. First comes self-awareness, then if one pays attention, they will focus on not only the outside world but also what is going on within their own psychology or psyche. They will ask questions like "Why do I feel anxious?" And ponder what is going on to produce the feeling. They are listening to the inner dialogue of their own mind and body. This is inner awareness.

It takes time however to develop this aspect of one's life. To come to terms with the person and motivations you really are and have may not be the ones you initially assumed. Yet this is very true and becomes most obvious when a person is conflicted about something in their life.

It usually occurs because they are at odds with who they think they are as opposed to their real motivations and needs. They may see themselves in this modern world as a true professional able to tackle a multitude of things at once and just keep on going. At the same time however the body is screaming "Stop! I need some rest." If this goes on unattended then it is my personal belief that a train wreck of some kind is in the making.

I have stated many times in this blog that I live in assisted living, which means a facility where attendants are available to take care of healthcare needs around-the-clock. I had a lifelong disability and formulae due to aged 63 years old things were just becoming too difficult to do so it made sense for me to move in to a building like this. For others however who were completely able-bodied they have various ailments and physical conditions which demand they get help regularly. For some it is quite severe. Most of them share one thing in common a lack of inner awareness. Their ego drives most of their personality and up until now they have plowed through life I think for the most part with blinders on. Missing the all important messages that their bodies have been saying for a long time. I can't help wondering if they had listened to that message when it first appeared if they would be in much better physical condition. I don't know if there's any evidence for this in the literature but it sure seems intuitively true.

It's Sunday today and so I'm going to listen to that little voice, and take the rest of the day off. Take a break for yourself, the world will live on, and you just might avoid any oncoming train wrecks and at the very least will be able to relax. The world does not want you to fall apart. Listening to those gentle voices.

Take care
Patrick

Political Correctness

 Okay today's entry is going to be very short initially because I am under the gun with so many things right now. But I did want to post something....

There is a problem with "political correctness" and its related phrases. That is to say the wording we use in relation to a person or group automatically. Very often I find now days that the phrase used is now more important than the meaning or the intent of the message. That means that the society tends to get sensitized to the words used and ignores the message. That's can't be a good situation.

Indeed, I prefer the exact opposite. I don't care what phrasing or terminology you use in describing myself or someone else. Rather my focus is on your message and intent. 

Clarity of communication is the bottom line. If people and society are going to rely on political correct statements then need to, understand their origins, and  their context. Choose for yourself based on the situation you are in what you would like to do and what message you would like to convey.

The focus of all communication should be to remove ambiguity and inequality. It is very simple to put together a politically correct statement which still trashes the person's dignity if someone is so negatively inclined.

So don't rely on political correctness to do your work or you, and hope it keeps everything comfortable. Rather understand the context and purpose of the statement. Most of all take responsibility for what you say and do. At the end of the day you are the master of your own ship and sometimes political correct statements don't help in defining that truth.

Take care Patrick

Owning responsibility

Holy cow! I had a phone conversation yesterday with someone who, in a nutshell, absolutely did not want to take responsibility for any of the technical issues they were calling about.

I couldn't even get the model number of their equipment beyond the brand. There was a lot of "You're supposed to know that…". When I looked up the information we did have on file, I saw that there was a previous email from them where they were asking three very vague questions. I instantly thought to myself "Okay, now I can get somewhere with this caller. I can break down each question and ask the things I need to know." The caller's response was "How am I supposed to know that?" (I felt like saying, "You bought the device, surely you know something about it." But I didn't. With these kinds of calls becoming combative in the least just causes things to spiral.) Eventually after what felt like a very long 30 minutes I mailed them some documentation and am praying that on Monday we won't hear back from them. I know that sounds rather callous but really people do have to own their own actions and decisions.

Deflecting responsibility for issues in one's life is a guaranteed way to not grow and is a roadmap to frustration for everyone concerned. The above was just an extreme example. I have worked with several individuals like this over the years and there does seem to be a few attributes they share:

1. Where there should be ownership of responsibility there is anger.
2. This can escalate into aggression and accusation.
3. They are the victim inevitably of whatever the particular situation is and that is the rationale for sidestepping responsibility.
   

It boggles my mind, because these behaviours get them nowhere and indeed cause them a great deal of grief. I'm going to guess that the only thing that keeps them reusing the above tactics are the fact that if they can keep you mashed in the situation long enough. Most people will finally give in and take over and fix everything for them. Or they will just walk away. In either case they get short term victory, but in the long term it's just a spiral downward.

But it appears the human brain was never good at looking into the future. Evolution has geared us toward only solving short-term issues in a very rudimentary way. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with whether it's good in the long term. It's as though evolution said "If you're alive at the end of the day, that's all that matters. We don't do quality of life."

For people to grow or evolve I think it will be necessary for all of society to recognize that we all have our own ivory towers. Our own perceptions which we tried to force on reality and or people. The above story is just a example of what it is like when these perceptions become extreme. Wherever your reality ends there is always something just beyond. Maybe the best way to deal with this kind of thing is for all individuals to realize that they must always go a little bit outside of their comfort zone regardless of what that zone is so that you are always in an ever-expanding bubble. That I think would go a long way toward growth and achieving goals. And lastly eliminating full calls like this one.

Have a great day Patrick

What is this notion of Power over People?...

This morning while I was talking with someone in my building, about of course one of my favourite topics, technology, it struck me that no matter how the conversation starts with them it always ends with the statement something like this: "Hmmm... I wonder if I could use that to erase someone's computer or trick them into doing it". The statement will vary, but it always has to do with "power" or control over someone or something else and usually to a negative end.

Whereas I tend to approach things from a more curious and positive perspective. I want to know why things work and how they relate the other things. I have no interest in exploiting or manipulating something or someone. This person's outlook on life is pretty bleak but it seems when I really think about it that they almost like it. When you try to sway them toward the "light side of the force" they inevitably do their best to swing back to the dark side. And again it's always to do with manipulating someone or something. I find these two aspects of this individual really puzzling.

In my way of looking at life, life ends up being exactly what you wish to perceive on many levels. You end up being the ultimate designer. Sure, there are things you can't control, but you can control your reaction and perspective of a situation. However even when you point this out to people. They continued to go and some pretty bizarre ways on their current trajectory.

In a very real way I can ask myself the same question, "What holds me on a positive trajectory?"....

Once again, my time is short this morning so I have to leave the question there for now. However if you have any insights on what holds people to certain trajectories or patterns in their life and especially in regards to what they get out of things like the perception of power over someone etc. please leave a comment.

Have a great day and take care. Patrick

The Grand Balancing Act

Photo by Colin Harris  ADE Under the
Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 The assignments for my computer science course took much longer this morning that I planned. Now it's going to be a carefully orchestrated procedure to carry out everything I need to do today, which includes helping somebody set up their home for hands-free use of voice assistance. I talk more about that in my posting on January 7 here. I will be updating that article tomorrow at some point.

Today though I have a contract to get out for a website being moved over to my volunteer organization, continued training a new volunteer this morning as well, the above-mentioned, let's just call it "the hands-free project" for now.

Yes it's going to be an interesting day. Apologies for not posting a more in-depth article today.

Why does pessimism exist?

Graphic based on image by
Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay.
Used under the Pixabay License.

 I am, by my very nature an optimist. It intuitively for me doesn't make sense to me to waste one's time on negativity, and that's not to say that life is been a breeze, sweet and easy. Far from it, as a matter of fact, the way one faces challenges indicates whether a person is either a natural optimist or pessimist.

Being an optimist is fairly straightforward and it makes complete sense, because it focuses on the benefits of a "bright" point of view, for lack of a better word. It is self reinforcing. If you see the good in that challenge, you don't feel overwhelmed, indeed one gets a sense of accomplishment and joy. In short it is "Good in One End results in Good out the Other End."

So why does pessimism exist?

I have met people who, even when positive events occur they intuitively and automatically strive to think up some negative angle.   If let's say they win $1000 they would immediately think "That's good, but gee I wish I won the $10,000 prize." This behaviour goes on with the person in the myriad of more  subtle ways as well, and in some cases it seems they are in a constant negative loop. It truly is, I believe an addiction mentally - An addiction to pessimism - the default mode of operation for their mind. Still they must be getting something out of it. There must be some larger benefit greater then the grief caused by pessimism.  It has become clear in the last while to me that these people put themselves through hell. They are anything but content. They are not even neutral, but buried in the darkest of emotions. So what is their big payoff?

One possible answer occurred to me. Their pessimistic outlook relieves them of any responsibility. Their negative situation is always due to something else. It is an eternal playing of the "victim card" - something is always being done too them - And whatever it is, it is beyond their ability to control.  In the short run this appears to greatly simplify their life. By transferring all responsibility over to someone else, in the short term, they get to sit back and enjoy the beninifts. Taken to the extreme, the person may believe themselves to be utterly incapable of doing something, and therefore the rest of the world runs in to save the day. Whoever plays the superhero will goes away initially feeling empowered. While our pessimistic friend gets the benefits of some action taken on their behalf without any of the consequences. Or at least that's how it appears at first.

This stage would be equivalent to the "high" effect of a drug. But it only lasts for a short time, because more often than not, since they didn't take any responsibility for what ever occurred, they don't appreciate the value they received. It becomes inconsequential because they know they can call on the superhero at any time. In my view the pessimist then misses out on a great deal of life. To work toward an achievement and then eventually reach the goal is a tremendous feeling. Even if you don't achieve the end result at least you are aware of what you learned along the way and that may be knowledge that you could not have of gained any other way. The person who avoids such challenges limits their opportunities to grow, and become resilient.  Every incident crushes them, because the don't know from passed experience that it is possible to bounce back.

I am so glad that as I was growing up, I met the people I did, and had marvelous creative parents who existed just a little bit outside of the normal line. My father was one of the first anesthesiologists in British Columbia Canada with Polio in the late 1950s, while mother was registered nurse, and I have Cerebral Palsy.  Yup, we were and are, outside of the "norm" and thankfully so.

As in the movie Star Wars "The Force" has both a light and a dark side. Both sides, optimism or pessimism,  regardless require some form of payment, either in effort and challenge or the loss of control over one's life.  Ingrained pessimistic behaviours send a message to everyone that this individual is "incapable" to one degree or another. Once people have made that judgement about a person, they often have to fight very hard to prove themselves as capable. It takes the very things and actions they are so conditioned against: 1) Taking a risk, and 2) Being responsible for the outcome. This for them must be a frightening situation. Yet if their life is to improve by what ever measure they choose, they must undertake it. In small steps no doubt and they must get used to failing and approaching their challenge in different ways.

As one deals with the various challenges in life, a degree of appreciation for the all too rare skill of "patience" is acquired. Knowing that true gratification comes in bits and pieces, and appreciating them as they appear. From my own perspective I find the little achievements much more gratifying, simply because I know that I have the appreciation to be aware of them. It's not the big gift, that makes life worth living, it is a little diverse ones. That if you're observant appear every day. That, I think, is one of the founding pillars of my continued optimism.

The hard part is of course getting others who are addicted to their pessimism to see that little achievements are made up of their own perceptions and their reality is really what they make of it. The key point is that they can change it. I suspect the first step in combating pessimism is disengaging the negative autopilot. And it is obvious this particular pilot is not going to want to let go of the steering wheel. Because it is used to being automatic. Putting one's outlook on life back into manual is at first incredibly difficult and inefficient because one must face a myriad of resistive ingrained to be a views. In many ways, from my point of view this resistance is actually a good sign it means that the individual is altering the very thing that needs to be altered. It is the beginning of a journey, but if one can see the steps and the progress, then one is truly on the way to improving their outlook and well-being on the whole.

If you have overcome pessimism or are dealing with this challenge please leave a comment with your story.

Take care Patrick Clark