Interesting quotes

"Without conscious and deliberate effort, inertia always wins"

"The context gives meaning to the specific work that people do, aligns interests, enables decision making, and provides motivation."

"I tell my kids, what is the difference between a hero and a coward? What is the difference between being yellow and being brave? No difference. Only what you do. They both feel the same. They both fear dying and getting hurt. The man who is yellow refuses to face up to what he’s got to face. The hero is more disciplined and he fights those feelings off and he does what he has to do. But they both feel the same, the hero and the coward. People who watch you judge you on what you do, not how you feel."

"I should add that at no time does fear disappear. It’s just as bad in the hundredth fight as it was in the first, except by the time he reaches a hundred fights or long before that he’s developed enough discipline where he can learn to live with it, which is the object, to learn to live with it."

Lekcije iz istorije

Danas, dok sam na godisnjem u Puli, sam razmisljao (i video) kako je Austro-Ugarska monarhija imala jak uticaj ovde. Toliko su puno gradili (i napravili) da je danas to sve tesko odrzavati, tako da u samom centru grada ima dosta ruiniranih fasada. Takodje, ima dosta elemenata Narodno Oslobodilacke Borbe.
I onda mi se otvorilo pitanje da narodi (i drzave) koji ne izvuku lekcije iz svoje istorije, a cini mi se da bi trebalo da izvlace i pouke iz istorija drugih naroda i drzava, otvaraju mogucnost da opet naprave iste greske. Tako da narodi i drzave ne bi trebalo da relativizuju i guraju pod tepih istorijske dogadjaje i cinjenice.
Pozitivan primer je Nemacka, kada sam bio u Drezdenu, gde je na vrhu neke crkve napisano da je ona bila srusena tokom bombardovanja saveznika, ali da je to ucinjeno zato sto je Nemacka uradilo to i to, sve pobrojano, da se zna, da se ne zaboravi i da se opet na napravi ista greska.
Drzava u kojoj ja zivim, Srbija, imas bas suprotnu tendenciju, da zamazuje, iskrivljuje, ne bori se, za istorijsku istinu. Rade to i druge drzave, ali je ovo drzava u kojoj ja zivim i cija me sudbina, iz sebicnih ne iz nacionalnih interesa, najvise i zanima.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana

How to become Novak Djokovic?

I've been watching Wimbledon game between Novak Djokovic and Federer, and asked myself, what would happened with this poor country(Serbia) if we all become like Novak Djokovic?? And next question, what is needed for someone to become Novak Djokovic? When I am talking about Novak Djokovic, I am not thinking about him personally, but about the set of personality traits, which he posses.

How we should behave and what to do, and how to do it, in order to achieve these set of attributes.

I presume that one of the reason is that we did not ask ourselves these questions.

Next thing when we ask ourseleves these questions, we need to ask do we want to become like him, but not in a matter of fame and glory, but to become a person like him, and then to start achieving results. Why we should want to become like Novak Djokovic?

What are the obstacles which keep us from that goal, and how we should overcome (or solve) them.

I am sure that it is not easy task, but I think that some plan could be created and that some can follow that plan.

This is only draft of the problem and questions, but more research in the problem field should be done, and then go to solution field :-)

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Čitajući knjigu "The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers" Bena Horowitza, naišao sam na sledeću rečenicu:"...figuring out the right product is the innovator’s job, not the customer’s job"

“We take care of the people, the products, and the profits—in that order.” It’s a simple saying, but it’s deep. “Taking care of the people” is the most difficult of the three by far and if you don’t do it, the other two won’t matter. Taking care of the people means that your company is a good place to work. Most workplaces are far from good. As organizations grow large, important work can go unnoticed, the hardest workers can get passed over by the best politicians, and bureaucratic processes can choke out the creativity and remove all the joy.

More happiness with experience comparing to material goods

"Research shows experience provide more happiness then material gods in part because experience are more likely to make us feel connected to others," Dunn and Norton write. "Understanding why experience provide more happiness than material goods can also help us to choose the most satisfying kinds of experience."

1. Does this bring me together with other people?
2. Will this make a memorable story that I will tell for years to come?
3. Is this experience in line with who I am or who I'd like to become?
4. Is this a unique opportunity and something I can't compare to things I've done before? 

Sistem, virtuelnost, otuđenje

Nešto pisano na aerodromu u Minhenu, pred let u Ameriku, dakle u specifičnom raspoloženju, 25.3.2013.
Ljudi se sve više angažuju u simuliranju stvarnosti(za druge, a drugi za njih), da polako prelazimo u virtuelni svet, gde nestaju ljudske crte. Npr. u avionu su novine generičkog, opšteg sadržaja koje pišu svakome i nikome. Mafini pravljeni za masovnu upotrebu.
Postavlja se pitanje - koji je odgovor svesnog čoveka na savremene izazove? Lagani, mlaki, matriks, borba protiv njega, ili svoj svet? Pošto borba protiv nečega(u opštem slučaju) nije toliko dobra za čoveka koliko njegova afirmacija(da bi se nešto smanjilo, drugo treba da se poveća), ostaje kao rešenje svoj svet. Virtuelni, generalizovani, opšti, mašinski svet ne znači ništa čoveku(kao prirodnom, društvenom biću). A zašto nastaje takav svet? Zbog potrebe omasovljenja, tržišta, pristupa većem broju ljudi. Rekao bih na sreću, Srbija ima puno individualizma(voluntarizma) => manjak sistema, ali bolje i to nego sistem + virtuelnost + otuđenje. Na mom primeru bih rekao da mene zaintrigiraju specifične crte neke osobe, a ne opšta mesta.