staying.cool

the most obscene letter/symbol in the alphabet is the *. no f*cking way, you say ? think, damn you.

so, i’m a fan. a big fan. sue me. the man is fucking brilliant.

a pretty smart weighting of factors for success:

30% Brains (including talent)
30% Luck (being in the right place at the right time)
20% Looks (including hair, height, weight, gender and ethnicity)
20% Reputation of the school you attended

note how luck, which we attribute 10% to, is actually 30% in his scale. kinda simplifies a lot of things. obviously, the lessening of one; should be compensated by growing of another factor. looks make a difference.. hmm.. not easily acceptible. however, note that most successful people end up either looking good; or look good anyway.

I would argue that you can also maximize your luck by trying lots of different things, as opposed to grinding along forever in some endeavor that has no upside potential. In other words, you trade risk and comfort for luck. Optimism also influences what appears to be luck because it increases your field of perception, so you better notice opportunities. (See a book called The Luck Factor for the science behind that.)

once again, something that makes a lot of sense. we so often think we’re analyzing things so beautifully, being realistic about our chances.. overlooking this simple principle. optimism does open the mind to oppurtunity.

now, if only i could convince myself.

(from dilbert.com)