Tag: Commentary 2013

  • Have Fun

    Do you remember how to have fun? I hope so. It seems too many of us reach adulthood forgetting how to laugh and have a good time. Oh, certainly, some of us think we are having a grand ole time after a couple of drinks. I am not talking about that. What I refer to is the ability to have a good time naturally. Life is too short to be somber. It is also too short not to be sober. We should not rely on downing some booze in order to laugh. As kids, most of us probably did quite a bit of laughing. Too many times we were told to stop it. Adults admonished us for laughing too much, as if walking around looking like a professional constipate was a better way to go. Yeah, right. I mean, is maturity some kind of calculus of who looks like they are in the greatest discomfort? Hmmm, Jay looks real gassy, he must be a serious, self-evolved individual. I think not. Jay, work on your digestion friend.

  • An Achievement Mindset

    We often end up being our own impediment to success. People may tell us how good we are. If we do not believe it what end does it serve? Praise for our abilities falls on deaf ears unless we are ready, willing and able to accept it, believe it and act on it. We are our own worse critics. Many of us struggle with having faith in ourselves. We believe that somehow, we lack a key ingredient enabling us to succeed. Of course, this is false, but if we believe it we will act as if it is true. Hence, our efforts will rarely lead to anything meaningful. Instead, we will be trapped in a purgatory of self-fulfilling negative prophecies.

  • Relax Into Success

    The notion that relaxing can lead to success probably seems unusual to some people. After all, we are taught that success comes as a result of hard work. Perhaps, we are taught to not just work hard but also to work smart. Certainly, we are taught to focus on what we are doing. We are taught to be goal oriented. How many times are we taught to relax, when it comes to learning how to succeed? Not many I suspect. Unfortunately, we tend to become myopic about what it is we are trying to accomplish. We forget what we might accomplish if we modified, albeit slightly, our approach to whatever it is we are attempting to achieve.

  • Make a Choice

    Making a choice can be hard. When we choose to do one thing, we give up the opportunity of doing a myriad of other things. There is always a cost when we make a choice. That cost, whether we realize it or not, is the opportunity cost. An opportunity cost is whatever we gave up to do what we are doing, specifically the best alternative. A classic example of opportunity cost is the notion of a free lunch. In economics, it is said there is no such thing as a free lunch. This is because if we are invited to eat for free at lunchtime, the reality is we gave up some other opportunity to do that. Maybe it was eating with our family or friends and enjoying their fellowship. Maybe it was going to the gym and exercising. The point is that any decision, any choice – even one that appears to be free – comes at a cost. That cost is the forgone alternative.

  • Jay Bildstein, Sunrise, Both Sides

    A Time to Think and a Time to Act

    There is a time to think and a time to act. Learning to discipline ourselves to follow through on this often takes more effort than we might realize, but it is most certainly worth it. There are those of us who are perpetual doers. We do and do and do but often do not spend time contemplating exactly why or what it is we are doing. We are driven by quick ideas and impulses. Something comes into our minds and we act. We find it difficult to sit still, either actually or metaphorically. Our mantra is, “Take action!”

  • Developing a Healthy Relationship with Time

    We are faced with all sorts of challenges. There is an overweight/obesity crisis. We eat too darn much. We eat too fast. We far too often find ourselves in the grips of rampant consumerism. We buy things on impulse and fill our homes with them, though they offer us precious little utility. We communicate superficially through fragments of text, yet deep and meaningful conversations are often absent in our daily lives. We are fascinated with celebrities, stars and sports figures and, at the same time, neglect the basics of our own lives. We sit too much and move too little. We are good at finding fault with others but rationalize our own deficiencies away. Worst of all, these behaviors – which create needless challenges for us – do not increase our quotient of joy.

  • Shopping, Jay Bildstein, Buying, Consumerism, Shopping 2013, Happiness

    Happiness and Consumerism

    What makes you happy? Wait. Perhaps, that question is premature. How about this, do you know what happiness is? Let’s get beyond dictionary definitions. What is happiness to you? What makes you happy? We all seem to be striving for this thing called happiness and, yet, too many of us don’t have a handle on what it is. We have not identified what happiness means to us personally. On the contrary, we have unwittingly fallen into patterns of behavior which we have been told will bring us happiness. Consider, for example, how many of us are caught up in rampant consumerism.

  • Extraordinary Things are Accomplished in Unextraordinary Ways

    Kids love magic. If a child is young enough, you can entertain him by pulling a coin out of his ear. You need no skill to do this. As a child grows up, your magic skills have to keep up with his developing mind. As we transition through childhood, our critical reasoning facilities become more and more developed. The “pull the quarter out of the ear trick” might impress a five year old. It is not going to impress a 14 year old. As for grownups, you better come up with a really good trick if you want to intrigue and amuse them. Yet, though we adults will not be wowed by pulling coins from our ears, we still like magic – quite a lot actually.

  • Work, Jay Bildstein, Personal Life

    What Happens Outside of Work

    What happens outside of work can have a dramatic impact on our performance while we are at work. True, there are some individuals who are able to compartmentalize their lives and limit the effect that ups and downs in their personal lives might provoke in their careers. I doubt many people fall into this category, however. Our personal life is going to tend to affect our work life. If going home means retreating to a place of quiet peace and enjoyment, it is probably going to serve to bolster our ability to work hard. If, on the other hand, our personal lives are fraught with chaos and drama, this will most likely affect our performance at work for the worse.

  • A Dream is Not a Plan

    Passion can power a purpose driven life. A given field or endeavor can draw us into its orbit. When this happens, we might feel as if we do not need to expend energy pursuing whatever it is that has captivated our interest. On the contrary, it often turns out that something we have a natural affinity for provides us with more energy than we put out in its pursuit. How do we know if we have passion for something, be it art, music, sports, an entrepreneurial endeavor, etc.? One signpost of our predilection might be that we are always thinking about that activity. When we wake up in the morning it is on our mind. We think about it when we go to sleep. Oh, and during the day when we are supposed to be doing others things, this activity exerts a continual pull on our attention.