Dsanka’s Pensieve

Its been a while since i blogged. I have just been busy with graduation and getting adjusted to working full time. But that is done now and i am back for good. I will definitely be more regular with my blogging.

College was a great ride. By far the best 4 years of my life and not just because of the excessive partying or drinking (that was definitely fun) but because of how it changed me in almost every aspect as a person. I walk out feeling equipped to take on the challenges that will come my way.

That being said i am now ready to step out of college mode and start taking on responsibilities. I really want to get my shit together because there are problems to be solved, work to be done and a world to be changed.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines success as favorable or desired outcome ; also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence. But recently i found a much better definition of success. I found it in a TED talk by legendary UCLA basketball head coach John Wooden (I highly recommend watching that talk). He says “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming. “. This definition resonates well with me.

It has also made me realize that i am not trying as hard as i should be. I need to hustle a lot more since i have ways to go. But it has also provided me with a new way to measure my progress. I was too caught up in defining success the wrong way (in terms of wealth, fame etc). This definition has helped me focus and has helped remove the distractions of trying to acquire fame or wealth. What i need to do is simple. I have to spend every single day working towards being the best i can be. I need to hustle more there is a lot of work left to be done.

Yesterday in our Mobile Applications development lecture, our professor (Eliot Soloway) brought up the topic about what the difference is between people like Michael Jordan, Tiger woods and us. (Keep in mind professor Soloway is a motivational professor and he is all about pushing his students to be the best they can be). He brought up the point that these are the people who don’t play by the rules. They aren’t the ones to take the safe path in life.

This got me thinking about breaking the rules. Before i start we should keep in mind that just breaking the rules or straying away from the safe path is not enough. These people have heart, determination, laser focus and a never say die attitude. But these are all points worth blog posts of their own. For now i am gonna keep my focus on the rule breaking part.

I personally believe rules are put in place to hold us back and to test if we have the guts to break them. We go through 12 years of school 4 years of college and 2-5 years of grad school for a select few of us. Over these 16-21 years we are systemized. We are told what we are supposed to learn, what HW/projects to do and when to take our exams. The system doesn’t in most cases leave any room for us to discover our true potential. I have seen a lot of my friends consumed by the system. All of this annoys me to say the least. I have had enough of this and i can’t wait to get the fuck out of this.

I am a month away from graduation and i have promised myself that from now on i am going to live on my terms and do what i want to do. If i don’t feel passionate about something i will not be involved in it. I am tired of half-assing stuff and just doing it for no concrete rhyme or reason. A simple guideline i am setting for myself: Don’t stick with the rules/system unless the rules/system are in place to bring the best out of you. If you ever have an inkling of a feeling that these rules/system are holding you back break out of it. It’s not worth the while to stick with them.

I recently finished reading a book called The Dip by Seth Godin (author and marketing expert).

Its a really short book with a very simple premise. The book talks about one of the basic tenets of success (something we seem to forget all too often) – Focusing on what matters. When we try to do too many things at once all it ends up doing is diluting our talent, motivation & energy which leads to results well below our true potential. Bottom line we can’t win every battle but what we can do is to pick the ones that matter the most to us and to our goals.

This book has re-affirmed my decision of dropping grad school and moving on to being an entrepreneur full time. I have been telling myself over the last year or so that i can manage both school and a startup but in all honesty i am doing justice to neither of them. Which is why at this point i have decided on picking what matters most to me and sticking with it.

That’s my side of the story. Any thoughts/comments?