Posts related to people category

Abstract Education: The Khan Academy

This site is truly amazing and could turn out to be one of the most important websites in the world. Abstract living at its finest. I urge everyone to share it with everyone they know. Its a site with videos teaching educational concepts. It starts with simple concepts like 1+1 and goes all the way into college level and calculus. The Khan Academy is helping people all around the world, giving them access to a free, first grade education. ### www.khanacademy.org For another perspective on abstract, read Blog Moving to Abstract-Living.com.

Are You a Decision Making Douche?

Vinay Patankar
11 Nov, 2010
People

My latest and faviouritest book is Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. I have the audio version and am on my third listen. Which is no small feat as it’s a monstrous book. The book is crazy famous and has been used by countless athletes, actors, CEOs, entrepreneurs, coaches etc... For those who don’t know, Psycho Cybernetics is the father of self help books. Its topics include self image, emotional state, action quota, decision making, success mechanisms, happiness, visualisation and I don’t even know what else. It is literally like 5 books in one. Each time I have listened to it, it has been like whole book of new information. It is one of those books that will resonate with you differently depending on where in life you are. This is why I think so many people go through it multiple times. It’s like reading a different book the next time around. One of the topics that stuck with me this time around was the topic of decision making. I wrote here how important decisions are and how much of a dramatic impact they can have on your life. Maxwell Maltz goes into decision making in great detail. Here are some of the takeaways: ## Making a decision Making a decision is incredibly important. While you should use the information you have to assess the pros and cons of a decision **you should not dwell on it too long**. Decisiveness is one of the strongest traits of any leader and is a key hiring characteristic for management in the corporate world. Being able to **quickly come to a decision**, act on it and have others follow you **creates motion** **instead of stagnation**. Motion is the breeding ground for innovation, creativeness, success and happiness. Stagnation is the breading ground of doubt, lethargy, boredom and depression. If you are thinking about doing something, decide if you are going to do it or not, then act on your decision. ## Locking away the Decision This brings me to the next point. Locking away a decision. Once you have made a decision, you need to lock it away in the ‘lock box’ as so famously quoted by US Vice President Al Gore. There is no use worrying or stressing over whether or not you made a correct decision **after** you have made that decision. Once the decision is made, you should completely **detach yourself from the outcome** of the decision and just work on taking action. All analysis and concern should be done **before** the decision is made, not after. If you spend time thinking about whether or not the decision was the correct one is that going to help you achieve your goal? No. Worrying and stressing about the ‘correctness’ of your decision is a stupid waste of time, energy and emotional state. ## Making the Correct Decision In his lectures to business leaders, Maltz quotes a few cogent remarks from his attendees: > “Dr. Maltz, the truth is that there are few inherently right decisions or wrong decisions. Instead, we make decisions, then make them right. That’s what leadership is all about.” > “You can always correct a poor decision, but if you do nothing, you can never get the time back.” As stated above, worrying about whether your decision was the right one or not is not only stupid, but it **increases the chances that the decision will end up as the wrong one**. If you decide to start a project, but spend all your days worrying if it will be successful or not instead of working hard to create the output necessary to complete the project**, you are creating the result of a poor decision**. Whereas if you had decided you are going to start a project and work five hours a day for the next two weeks on it and not worry whether or not it will be successful, **you are creating the results of a completed project which has a higher chance of being the correct decision**. You can significantly alter the outcome of your decision helping to determine its success factor. ## Moral of the story If you’re thinking about doing something, **decide and move on**. If it turns out you made the wrong decision, **make a new decision and move on**. Don’t stay in a state of limbo and don’t worry about if you are making the correct decision. Worst case scenario you fail. Who gives a fuck! NEXT. To go deeper on decision, check out The Importance of Decisions (How a Single Decision Changed my Life).

Blogworld 2010 #bwe - My Review

I was a lucky SOB and managed to win myself a full access pass to Blogoworld last week. It was an awesome experience. I have been to many trade shows in the past but nothing like this. And none since I set out on my own last year. I used to go representing my company which is a little different. I had also never been to a multi-day event, which had parties too. One thing I have learned about myself over the last year, is that I suck at networking online. I just don't have the patience for it. I know this may be a bit of a negative being in the online space as there is no better place to meet people who work online than online... But I just don't like doing it. I don't like hanging out on Facebook, I don't like tweeting stuff, I think its weird meeting and connecting with people online. But hey, that's just my opinion and personally, I think its a pretty stupid one. I should do more of it. I just feel that the computer is a place of work and learning. When I am on my computer, I am almost always doing one of those things. If I am not doing one of those things, I quickly start to feel uncomfortable and need to get outside, meet some people, do some exercise, do something! I also know this challenge I have is the opposite of many other bloggers / internet markets who find it awkward to meet and connect with people in person but have no troubles online. I guess its the salesman in me. So when Blogworld came about, I was like a kid in a candy store. Admittedly, I only went to the full first day, then the clubs afterwards. Even though I didn't make it to too many events the next couple of days (partly due to the seductive beckoning of the pool, partly due to my hangover), I made it to every party - and after party. I know this was almost the reverse schedule of lots of the attendees who made it to Blogworld. Whichever way you prefer to use your time, you need to make sure you use your time. I didn't feel there were too many advanced content courses being taught during the days, but lots of great stuff if you are just getting into new and social media. The nights were where it was at. I met so many interesting people. Had so much fun. Spammed business cards, collected business cards, pumped my LinkedIn account oh and did I mention the fun? Whatever the type of person you are, if you work in the internet space I think Blogworld is worth checking out. I will definitely be back there next year if I am on this side of the planet. So what did I get out of Blogworld (besides the ability to party for a few nights in Vegas?) - contacts. I met people. Lots of interesting people. And its all about who you know right? Here are some photos including some great content slides from Blogworld: \[gallery\] If review is relevant to what you're working on, this is worth reading next: Networking Awesomely Review.

Bobby Chang from Incase on Socially Responsible Businesses

Vinay Patankar
30 Aug, 2010
People

I got a chance to work with the guys from PathPacific.com in Dublin a while back. We were shooting a video for a product launching in Asia (weird I know). Path Pacific had recently recorded the Dublin Web Summit where Bobby Chang was among one of the many impressive speakers attending. I had never heard of Bobby before, but he is one of the founders of Incase, the company that makes the official cases for Apple products. He did a great speech on the background of his business, collaboration and building socially responsible businesses. Check it out: One more post that complements this topic is Discovery vs Debate – A Tale of Two Conversationalists, especially around people.

D-Day: The DTR Talk (Determine the Relationship)

Vinay Patankar
17 Jan, 2010
People

Being the typical, young, male, commitment-phobe I am, I’ve had a few of these conversations. Some went better than others. All were uncomfortable. If I only knew... Firstly I want to highlight I am no love doctor or dating coach, but relationships are an important factor of lifestyle design. More so for the location independent worker or globetrotter, as many people you meet won’t have your level of flexibility. ## New Love Ahh, new love, is there anything more exciting? The first few days, weeks or months after a chance encounter leads to meeting someone new and exciting. The first eye-gaze, the first joke, the first kiss, the first time you \[adult reference\]. Days filled with flirty text messages, stories, teasing and laughter. In the office it’s easy to spot. Cheeky grins and chuckles while typing an ‘important email’ - definitive signs of a flirty conversation. These days or weeks can become some of your fondest memories until... ## D-Day D-Day: the day of the Determine the Relationship (DTR) conversation. This is the talk where your potential partner drops a question like “what’s happening between us?”, “where this is going?” or “my friends have been asking me about my relationship status on Facebook?”. You know it’s coming, but you never know just quite when, where or how. Sometimes it’ll be as obvious as a smack in the face, sometimes as subtle as... something really subtle. Typically face-to-face, occasionally on the phone - I’ve even had one over txt (gen-y in action) but it is bound to come. Depending on how things are going so far and your situation in life, this conversation can be a huge weight off your chest or the uncomfortable moment you’ve been dreading. Either way, it’s an inevitable and important talk that will set foundations for the relationship and should not be overlooked. ## Strategy Every relationship is different. People need to look inside at what they feel and outside at their circumstance before making a decision, but there are a few things you can do to make things smoother. 1. Be Prepared. It’s going to happen sooner or later. Just knowing its coming will stop you being caught off guard. 2. Control the environment. Don’t let an argument or a fight spark the conversation. Try to avoid having it in public or when you might be interrupted (like in the morning before work). If the environment isn’t right, move it. Tell them you understand this is an important conversation but you don’t feel this is the right time and place. Set a new time and place, somewhere you won’t be distracted. 3. Be honest. Relationships are tricky. Sometimes you just don’t know. And deciding if you want to commit to someone is a massive decision. So if you don’t know where your head or your heart is, be honest. Talk through what you like and don’t like about the relationship. Talk through your life situation and the things that may be holding you back. If you’re not sure, say so. It’s unfair on the other person to be vague or deceptive because you need more time to figure things out. 4. Accept the outcome. Usually this conversation will finish with 1 of 3 outcomes. Either you move forward with your relationship, you continue as things are to reassess in the future or you part ways to look for greener pastures. Whatever the case, be mature and accept the outcome. Don’t have a hissy fit if it doesn’t work out like your dreams (her offering a no strings attached relationship and all her friends are invited / him proposing while doing the dishes and calling your mum). 5. Understand the outcome can change. Remember, whatever happens, you can usually change it. Sometimes, losing someone is the only way you realise how much you care for them (or how much they annoy you). Ever had a weird, funny or scary DTR talk? One more post that complements this topic is The Definitive Guide to LinkedIn Recommendations, especially around people.

Just say YES! And a Tattoo!

For the last year or so I have been trying to live my life much like the Yes Man (you know that good book by that guy and the crappy movie with Jim Carrey). It’s amazing what can happen in your life if you just say yes. There are a whole bunch of quotes I could pull to this argument and I have talked about the importance of decision making in the past. Men (and women) should make decisions and that decision should be yes – most of the time anyway. And once you say yes, you need to DO IT, and DO IT GOOD! Take my last 2 years for example. I made the decision to quit my job and travel. I then made a decision to make money while I travel. I travelled all over the world (South East Asia, Europe and North America) while making money and having all sorts of crazy experiences which I loved. While I was in Canada, I made a decision to enter the Shoemoney Contest which I won controversially and lead me to Vegas. In Vegas I met Adolfo Salazar who I now work for. I met Shoemoney and DK who are great guys. I moved to Tempe, Arizona to work with Adolfo for a couple of months, I then plan to spend Summer in Costa Rica. This is life in Tempe: In March I am going to Vegas for Lead Con, Austin for SXSW, Lake Havasu for Spring Break and Miami for Ultra Music Festival. While I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t decide to say yes, I also wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have support and help of others. Such as my uncle in Vancouver, Adolfo and Jeremy Schoemaker. Humans are social creatures and we progress much faster when we work together (something many internet marketers don’t embrace). Relationships are everything. Relationships are created through commonalities and shared experiences and are maintained through loyalty and trust. And because I promised to get a Shoemoney tattoo if I won the contest AND the black jack hand here it is.... Now that’s Abstract Living... And thanks again Jeremy, my life has changed directions (once more) thanks to you. Related reading on people: Networking Awesomely Review.

Live Bidding for Drinks in a Bar

Imagine a bar that had a live bidding system for the price of drinks. The bar could purchase a whole bunch of discount alcohol and start the prices really low. Every time a customer makes a purchase, the price of that particular drink goes up for the next person. The price could go down if that drink isn't purchased for a certain period of time. There wouldn't really be any tangible benefit to this system, it's more a gimmick for the bar to use to give people something to talk about. Plus some days you might be lucky enough to grab a discounted beer. A useful follow-up on business is Vitoto Editing Features Launched.

My Abstract Timeline

Vinay Patankar
30 Jun, 2010
People

#### Below is a little about my abstract life to date: **At age 0 I...** - Was born in Sydney, Australia **At age 6 I...** - Went to a boarding school in India at the base of the Himalayas **At age 12 I...** - Was taken around the world by my parents (thanks!) giving me the travel bug. Visited: USA, Canada, England, Scotland, France, Portugal, Singapore, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and India **At age 13 I...** - Got my first job (pamphlet delivery) - Started my first business (buying bulk candy from the supermarket in the morning and re-selling it at school) **At age 14 I...** - Was ‘recommended’ by my principal that I should leave school, half way through year 9 due to constant mischief and rebellious acts against authority - Got a job at the Pizza Hut Call Centre (I was too young to legally work but lied about my age) **At age 15 I...** - Went to TAFE (a community college of sorts) and completed my year 10 in 4 months - Worked in Data Entry, Desktop Support and whatever else I could find **At age 16 I...** - Became the youngest Australian to get their CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) - Also became a Microsoft Certified Professional - Got my first real job in IT - Travelled to Hong Kong and Japan **At age 17 I...** - Returned to TAFE to complete my High School Certificate (HSC) **At age 18 I:** - Lost my job in IT as my company closed down - Worked in a bar, cafe and restaurant - Executed my first stock trade **At age 19 I...** - Graduated from TAFE with my HSC and a mark of 94.95 - Was accepted into a Bachelor of Commerce at Sydney University (top business degree in Australia) - Got a job as an Undergraduate Accountant in a Finance Company - Got a job as a part-time Mortgage Broker - Got a job as a part-time High School Tutor **At age 21 I...** - Quit my 3 part-time jobs - Got a full-time job as an IT Recruitment Consultant in a Public Firm, youngest consultant ever employed. - Switched to part-time Uni **At age 23 I...** - Made $140,000 for the financial year - Purchased my first property - Dropped out of University - Travelled to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam **At age 24 I...** - Quit my job as a Recruitment Consultant - Set off to travel the world: Asia, North America, Europe and counting... - Started an e-commerce business - Started affiliate marketing - Started this blog **At age 25 I...** - Continued to travel... Mostly Canada and USA - Learned to Snowboard - Attended numerous conferences in the Internet Marketing Space - Grew my Internet Marketing Company - Sold my E-commerce Store **At age 26 I...** - Lived in the Dominican Republic for 8 months, learned to surf - Built my internet marketing company significantly revenues, profit, staff - Started Vitoto - Also traveled to the US, Thailand and Australia **At age 27 I...** - Moved to San Francisco to work on Vitoto where I currently am Well, that's all so far... Feel free to contact me regarding anything I have done or if you are doing something similar and want to network. I am always open! For another perspective on abstract, read Abstract Education: The Khan Academy.

Networking Awesomely Review

Vinay Patankar
22 Apr, 2010
People

The other day I read a book by Colin Wright called Networking Awesomely. Colin lives a truly abstract lifestyle as a location independent professional, moving to a new country every 4 months as he runs his design studio remotely. The country he moves to is decided by the readers on his blog Exile Lifestyle. In this book, Colin talks about the lessons he has learned about networking and meeting new people as he travels the world. ### Review Networking Awesomely is a guide to networking in the new world. It encompasses old school networking strategies, new school technology and a touch of awesomeness. A book perfect for both newcomers and veterans alike Colin philosophises, deconstructs and simplifies networking from every angle. A strong message to rethink the boundaries between your lifestyle, friends, business colleagues and even sexual partners – this is a book not just on networking but on life. For the more experienced you will receive at the very least a number of handy tips to network in common (and some uncommon) situations plus a refresher on many of the important life lessons once learned. Colin incorporates lifestyle design, social dynamics, the concept of value, frames of reference and more to help build confidence, attractiveness and social skills – turning you into a natural networking machine. But don’t let the big words scare you as Networking Awesomely simplifies the lot making it an easy read for all. With stories, humour and a cheeky attitude it will be tough to put this down once you start. This book wont leave you dreaming about what could be either. Colin delivers many “do it now” tips including advice on fashion, social networking shortcuts, email scripts and business card design to get you networking awesomely right away. Another interesting aspect to the book is the input from other bloggers. Not only is this empirical evidence of Colin’s ability to network but gives extra spice to the material. You will hear from many new world networkers about their approach, thoughts and successes from networking. We all (should) know networking delivers exceptional value in all areas of life. A small investment to improve this skill is a no-brainer. It only takes one person to change your life. Buy it now! You can check out the book here. To go deeper on review, check out Blogworld 2010 #bwe - My Review.

Outsourcing Revisited - What I've Learned Since 2010

\* caveat - this post is from the perspective of a small business owner who does not have full time managers and human resource specialists. Someone who doesn't have systems and processes in place to manage large collaborative teams on long term projects. This is for someone managing a small team with limited resources and need work done in the most efficient and effective manner possible. A while back a wrote a post called 4 Tips to Not Get Screwed on Elance which has gained some controversy and even some backlash from the Elance community, mostly from freelancers who wrote me up as some type of slave driver. Well, since that post more than 2 years ago, I have clocked up A LOT more experience with Elance, oDesk and a bunch of other outsourcing sites. I have had many full time, part-time and freelancer staff and have learned a bunch more since I wrote that post. First things first. I completely stand by everything I wrote in the first post, and think it is excellent advice to cover your own ass. I understand this might irritate some people, but the fact of the matter is those people probably haven't put up their own hard earned money onto a site only to had it flushed down the drain buy someone in another continent. Of course, I would prefer to be able to put up a nice fluffy ad, sign little hearts above my i's and frolic around a paddock while my work gets done, my business grows and my cash flow is controlled. Unfortunately I don't live in a fairy tale and shit happens. Even after I wrote that post, I have still had many disturbing experiences with outsourcing sites. Mostly from NOT following my own advice. I've had many delayed, disregarded, over priced and under delivered projects, again and again. In fact, I have come to the basic rule that 50% of all outsourcing hires are going to fail within the first week. Please read that stat again, because it’s RIDICULOUS compared to a normal business. Even guys I know who are based in the Philippines and have staff in house in their own office, think that a 66% stick rate after 1 week is doing well. With these kinds of figures as an employer, it only makes sense that you need to be much tighter in not only your hiring process, but you project schedules, time tracking and more. I am not running a start up in SF. I cant hire a few college grads, give them Mac Books and iPhones and expect them to sleep under their desk every night. Its hard enough getting virtual staff to show up everyday. After my additional experience with virtual staff, there are a number of things I have learned. I will go into screening these concepts in later posts, but here are my 2 biggest takeaways: **1\. Communication skills, Communication skills, Communication skills, Communication skills repeat etc..**. Communication skills are EVERYTHING when dealing with virtual staff. Since you have no way of directly managing them, if they are a poor communicator, chances are your project is going to fall through before it even starts. This should be your key screening metric during interviews, technical skills, processes and tasks can all be learned. But someone that doesn’t know how to do something, and never tells you that don’t know how to do it, is where everything falls down. I will do a whole post if not multiple posts on screening communication skills. **2\. Work Ethic / Current Situation / Motivation** Whatever you want to call it. We used to just call it "current situation" basically what it means is WHY does this person want this job? Do they NEED it? Are they EXCITED by the project? Will this be their primary focus? Do they already have multiple other clients and projects that are of higher commitment than your project? How much do those projects pay? What proximity and level of commitment will the worker commit to your project? These are all questions that need to be asked when making the hire. I have studied human resources and organisational structure and I completely understand this is not modern, traditional or textbook way of approaching, hiring or managing staff in a traditional business. But outsourced work is not traditional business. Ideally you want to create a collaborative culture or a fun working environment, but a REQUIREMENT is to get the job done in the most cost effective manner and thus the process becomes much more transactional. With all the above being said, that doesn’t mean once you hire someone who you work well with you can’t empower them. On the contrary you should, but just make sure you screen thoroughly before relaxing on management techniques. You can compare this approach with Blogworld 2010 #bwe - My Review for more on 2010.

Overcoming Failure, Adversity & your Parents by Harry Potter Author

Vinay Patankar
15 Apr, 2010
People

### Takeaways: - You don't have to let your parents influence your direction in life "There is an expiration date on how long you can blame your parents for pushing you in the wrong direction" - Failure is OK - Think about all the positives in your life - The value of learning from your failures and experience against the value of learning from school - A reminder on how lucky we are to live in a democratic society - The importance of giving back ### Watch Video J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine. If you're digging into people, you'll probably also enjoy The Importance of Decisions (How a Single Decision Changed my Life).

A Simple Tip for Socialising while Travelling Solo (or How to Have Mind Blowing Nights Out when you’re on your Own)

Travelling alone is one of the best things I've ever done. It opened my eyes to both the external world and internally into my own personality and mind. One of the changes I had to quickly adapt to was that if I wanted any type of human interaction I had to go out and find it. Moving about constantly means you need to be able to make friends quickly or else you may find yourself eating dinner alone, which is no fun. While there are hundreds of ways you can go about meeting people while travelling, with hanging out in a hostel being one of the easiest, I want to share a simple strategy that I used all the time in every country with a 90% success rate (I just made up that number but it basically works all the time). It’s also a strategy you can use if you are staying in a nicer hotel or on a business trip so don’t worry if you don’t plan on going backpacking any time soon. ## The Bar Strategy Sounds like a pretty unique strategy right? Just read... If you're travelling on your own (even if you're in your own city really) and feel like meeting someone new and not spending the evening alone, here is what you do. Spend your day sightseeing or in your meetings. While you're going about during the day look out for bars that you feel are your kind of style. When I say a bar, I mean a place with a bar. Not a lounge, not a club and not a beer garden. You want somewhere that has an actual bar, around the bar tender area with stools you can go and sit on. Plus they should serve food. If you see a place during the day, pop in quickly and chat to the bar tender. > You: “Hey, I’m new in town and looking for somewhere to hang out tonight, what’s this place like? BT: Its good / Its bad. \*If it seems like somewhere cool that you could hang out at, and it seems like it gets a little busy follow up with this.\* You: Awsome, sounds cool. I think I’ll head back here later. Thanks so much for helping me out. What’s your name? BT: No problems, I’m Julie. You: Julie, nice to meet you. I’m Vinay. Are you going to be working tonight? BT: Nah, I finish at three. You: Ahh, too bad. I wanted to see you again so I could give you a HUGE tip for helping me out. Do you know who is going to be working tonight? BT: Yeh its Dave I think. You: Dave hey, what does he look like? BT: (blah bla description) You: Ok cool. Thanks again Julie, it was nice talking to you. I may see you again tomorrow. What you have just done there is properly sussed out a venue. It’s only a 1 min conversation but if you jump into 5 different bars throughout your daily venturing, it can seriously help out the quality of your night. Plus, now you have something to talk about when you go back in later. It works just as well if the bartender is still going to be working that evening. Come back into the bar, ideally earlyish. 6 or 7. With the plan to eat dinner and get a few drinks (or not if you don’t drink). Sit down at the bar, in the middle of the bar. Next to other people and ideally near the section where people come and buy drinks. Strike up a conversation with Dave telling him how you met Julie earlier. Tell him you’re new into town or on holiday. Ask him what is happening in the area tonight. Talk LOUD (but not obnoxiously) so that others in the bar can hear your conversation and contribute. As soon as you get chatting with the people next to you, introduce yourself. Find out what they're up to (if they're staying for a few or about to leave is all you need to know). If they're staying for a while, offer to buy them a drink straight away. Don’t worry, you will get one back. Tip the bartender big the first time. You now have a whole bar full of friends. When people (read girls) come up to the bar to order their drinks, bring them into your conversation. Introduce the girls to the bartender and to your new friends. Can you see the snowballing effects here? Don't worry if the bar isn't the coolest place in the world. You can always move on later in the night. Also, don't worry if you don't get a chance to check it out during the day. If its fairly busy and has a bar, it still works fine. I can’t tell you how many crazy nights I have had that have started off in this exact manner. I've ended up being taken out by the bar tenders, the people next to me and the girls that walk up. To all sorts of crazy places, in different countries. You never know where you'll end up. As a closing rule, if you are travelling and out to experience. Try Do not to say no to anything. If some old dude invites you to his kids birthday: Yes. If two seedy guys invite you to a strip club: Yes. If two beautiful girls invite you back to their place... Life can be awesome if you let it. If travelling is relevant to what you're working on, this is worth reading next: Working while Travelling: Distractions and the Zone.