

Is it worthy? - rizal
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/06/is-it-worthy.html

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redorb
I've been a seth reader for a long time, I'll admit it takes a little "Kool-
aid" sometimes to get into his stuff.. but I think this one is pure gold

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pxlpshr
I agree with Seth. It's hard to swallow pride, but failure is often one's
greatest success. As for me, failure has been my real-life MBA and I did not
have to go into debt to get it. :)

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edw519
Kinda reminds me of Guy Kawasaki's, "Make Meaning". It's so easy for a hacker
to fall into the trap of working on something cool that is of little value to
anyone. Taking a step back and asking, "Is it worthy?" may be the best time
management technique of all.

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wallflower
Speaking from personal experience, I think people would be experience more
happiness if they stopped getting so stuck up on themselves (and their
perceptions of what other people might thank) and just did what they wanted to
do (as long as it was "legal" by societal norms). Go ahead, sing in public

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raju
"The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve
created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our
birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something
bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all."

\- Brilliant!

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Mistone
my thoughts exactly - another great one liner: "What would someone with a
bigger vision have done instead?"

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cglee
Could I trouble someone to paste the text? I haven't figured out how to
navigate the Great Firewall of China yet, and for some reason, I can't get to
seth godin's site. Thanks in advance.

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BrandonM
With apologies to Mr. Godin:

 _Is it worthy?

Is this the best I can do?

I’ve paid for the rent and the furnishings and the menus and the staff and the
insurance... is this plate of food worthy of what went before it?

I’ve flown across the country to visit this museum--a building that cost more
than a billion dollars to create and fill and maintain. Is my attention
focused enough?

We paid $300 in marketing costs just to get this phone to ring this one time.
How shall we answer it?

I’ve had a great education, suffered and scraped and scrounged to get this
point... is this diagnosis, this surgery, this prescription, this bedside
manner the end that justifies that effort?

We live in a stable democracy, a place where people have lived and died to
give us the freedom to speak out... is that talking head or this spinning
pundit the best we can do? Or is he just trying to make a profit and air
another commercial?

Is cutting corners to make a buck appropriate when you consider what you could
have done? What would someone with a bigger vision have done instead?

Is being negative or bitter or selfish within reason in face of how
extraordinarily lucky we were to have been been born here and born now?

I take so much for granted. Perhaps you do as well. To be here, in this
moment, with these resources. To have not just our health but the knowledge
and the tools and the infrastructure. What a waste.

If I hadn’t had those breaks, if there weren’t all those people who had
sacrificed or helped or just stayed out of my way... what then? Would I even
have had a shot at this?

What if this were my last post? Would this post be worthy?

The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve
created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our
birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something
bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all._

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Hexstream
" _When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each
day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made
an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in
the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my
life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer
has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something._
"

\- Steve Jobs

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tyn
I see a flaw in this logic. One certain bad thing that will happen to you if
you leave every day as if it is your last is that you'll end up being > 200 kg
(would you go to the gym the last day of your life? Would you resist the urge
to eat as much as you like?). Another is that you will stop learning anything
(would you go to your french course in your last day?) Another is that you
might become a drug addict (some people might decide to see how crack feels
like in their last day, something they wouldn't do otherwise). Another is ...
ok, I believe you get the point.

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BrandonM
The flaw in your logic is that it focuses only on instinctual pleasure and not
that of a higher nature. For every "would you...?" that you propose, there is
a large group of people who would say, "yes".

The trick to happiness is not always to change what you're doing; it is often
to change your thinking about what you're doing. To be conscious enough of
yourself to know when you are full and when you are eating food that will make
you feel shitty later. To feel the pleasurable burning of your muscles and
your mind as you work out and learn new things. To avoid doing anything that
will later rob the little time that you have.

I don't claim to be able to do all of this myself, but I have resolved to try
to stay focused on these things. There is much beauty in the world, much to
experience, without changing anything but your mind.

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tyn
You missed my point completely. Would you do all these things in the LAST day
of your life?

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BrandonM
You missed my point completely. YES. With the right mindset, there is pleasure
in exercise and learning, you realize that gorging yourself will make you feel
like crap later, and with only a day left, I would hardly want to waste it out
of my mind on drugs.

