… to move on.

2012 has started off as a year of changes for me. I am extending that process to the words I write too.

I started this blog in 2008. It was a place for me to detail my thoughts, make friends and learn through mine and other’s experiences in life. This blog hold many of my finest memories, some of my secrets, and all of my emotions.

This is the last post that I will write on this blog. The full archives of this blog will still be available [here].

The writing, however, does not stop. I am merely moving home….. I am encapsulating my memories, and starting afresh.

Come check me out at my [new home] (make sure you update your subscriptions!!!)

I LOVE [this] post by Hugh.

Actually, love is an understatement. I preach and practice on the lines of his words everyday.

Everyday, I wake up and figure how I can do good stuff, how can I deliver successfully, how can I learn from others and myself – and then lift myself to a new level?

I have learnt to ‘do epic shit’ by observing how things happen around me, and then evaluate how it could be better, more effective. If I see something/some product which is insanely awesome, I want to understand why it is awesome, how it became awesome; I want to learn what makes it the best thing since sliced bread.

When I was at university, and then in my career, I have learnt that written material will teach you basic theory, but knowledge and how you can use knowledge is only found through action.

Inspiration comes through creation. Keep creating, keep trying – surprise yourself with your creations.

I love this video!

Things which I have already begun doing: Making lists, drink coffee, listen to new music, go somewhere new, break the rules.

Things I REALLY need to work on: Get away from the computer, Quit beating yourself up, take more breaks, get lots of rest, write down ideas.

I loved this simple article about why hedge funds want economies to destroy your economy. What I want to do in addition to the article, is to add some numbers to the concept.

Using some knowledge gained through Wikipedia, and through my day job, here is a brief explanation of what happens.

An organization (be it a company, or a government) needs a loan (let’s say $1m). In return for the loan, they will provide some bonds as a security for the loan. For those who don’t know – a security against a loan is essentially something with a monetary value, which can be sold should the loan not be paid off. A bond is one such security, in this instance we can say that 1 bond is worth $1.

So the scenario is like so – the government of Greece (for example) wants to borrow $1m. In return for the $1m loan, they will issue bonds with a face value of $1 each. The bonds are a legal piece of paper which guarantees that Greece will pay the bond holder $1 come what may.

Now Greece is desperate for this money, and will do anything to get this money so that their ship doesnt do a Titanic. Enter hedge fund A (refered to as HFA from here on). HFA is willing to lend Greece the $1m (for 1m bonds as a security – you would have thought)…. but since HFA knows Greece is desperate for the money, it has its own rules for lending. The first one will ofcourse be a high interest rate on the loan. The second one (quite crucially) is the discount that HFA wants on the bonds.

What the hell is a ‘discount’? Let me explain.

HFA is doing Greece a favour by giving it some money. But since HFA is taking a major risk here (because who knows whether Greece will sink or swim), it wants to discount the face value of the bond. So – HFA will value the Greek bonds as 40c per bond (as opposed to the face value of $1 per bond). Note: if HFA sold these bonds in the market, it will do so at $1 per bond – THIS is the kicker.

So – Greece agrees to the loan. As a result, HFA will lend Greece $1m. Greece will discount the bonds which are each worth $1, and value them at 40c per bond for THIS loan agreement. As a result, HFA will ACTUALLY own 2.5m bonds (each with a market value of $1).

Now – if Greece pays off the loans on time, HFA does not make big money because all they really earn is the interest on their loan.

If Greece defaults however, HFA is in the driving seat to screw Greece.

If Greece defaults, HFA could relieve themselves of the risk of the loan by selling the bonds to someone else – i.e. sell 2.5m bonds. As a result, Greece will now owe the new person $2.5m + interest, as opposed to $1m + interest that it would have owed to HFA (remember – although HFA acquired the bonds for 40c per bond, the market value does not change and is $1 per bond).

Alternatively, HFA could screw Greece better maximize their return from the loan by activating their Credit Default Swap option. This would mean that HFA will ask Greece to pay back the bonds at face value i.e. Greece would have to now pay $2.5m instead of the original loan amount of $1m. Greece are obligated to pay this as part of the Credit Default Swap agreement. In order to do this, Greece will have to sell other assets, or borrow from elsewhere to payback the HFA loan.

What this would do is make Greece’s assets even more worthless, and hence HFA can lend even more to Greece and charge a greater discount on their bonds, and hence – destroy the Greek economy.

Note: Credit Default Swaps are NOT always activated or part of the loan agreements.

When we look far ahead – 10 years, 50 years, 100 years into the future – we have the luxury of assuming that things will be radically different. We are free to take wild guesses and push the imagination  without factoring in political and financial and cultural constraints. The distant future is ours to play with. The not-so-distant future? Not so much. The only way to see what’s on the horizon – the next day, the next month, the next year – is to stay firmly grounded in the present. And while the long view will never cease to inspire, there is a certain power in what’s next. It’s where today’s reality meets tomorrow’s potential.

- Taken from GOOD magazine, issue 025 winter 2011

[Clearly this blog post should have appeared at the end of 2011.... except I was busy dealing with Flupocalypse. On the mend now... and back on the keyboard.]

2011 was an interesting year for me. Maybe a big year too – I once again had the opportunity to grow up a little.

I came back, from living in the States, at the end of 2010 – I was very very confused. I felt like that person stuck in a paused position while the whole world moved around in fast forward x12. It took maybe 3 or 4 months before I was catching up with reality – life, work , common sense.

THAT is what New York does to you.

New York, and experiences of 2010 for that matter, taught me something - Patience.

Patience – the ability to endure shit even when it comes at you in greater heaps.

2011 threw challenges from many angles at me…. patience was the only mechanism fit to deal with it all.

I would finally get that opportunity to be a husband to my wife (after living 5 months apart while I was in NY). It does not matter how well you know someone before marriage – being married changes many MANY dynamics from being an unmarried person. Learning to do things another person’s way is not easy at all and it needs a LOT of patience to understand another person’s point of view correctly.

It turns out I can’t always be right.

Career wise, I was still dealing with very difficult and very illogical people. The easy approach would have been to bail, jump ship, find something easier/”better” to do. But as they say – when life gives you lemons, get a pitcher and start selling lemonade. In 2011, I saw people chase a higher paying job, an easier job, a more glamorous job…. eventually, each of those people were inundated with a whole pile of crap of their own. At sone point last year, I ended up learning that you can complain about work issues to a million people, you will get 2 million different sympathies, but ultimately – nobody cares and the mess you were complaining about still exists.

Be patient, deal with issues one at a time, bask in glory – that is the formula to success.

Finally – education.

I overestimated my ability and underestimated the scope of a certificate that I was studying for. 2 days before the exam, I realized – I have spent a year studying for this, and I could guarantee that I will fail the exam in 2 days time. Again – my options were to cancel my appearance (and save the exam fee) and try again at some point in the future, or go do the exam.

The problem with having more time than you can manage (yes, such a concept does exist) is – one has no motivation to achieve anything. The potential achievement will always be pushed further out…. until you kick the bucket – at which point, you have left the building as an underachiever. The point is – persevering through this point of failure helped me realize things I should be doing better…. and it was the patience and belief in eventually finding the right path that got me through.

I have started studying for the exam once again. This time there will be no mistakes.

The last word of 2011 was patience. It took me a long time to understand my path in life last year, but it could not have been done without  spending time trying to figure it out.

I watch the whole Occupy movement worldwide and it drives me mad. It drives me mad because yes, there are big fat cats lapping up big bucks while a lot of us suffer; but there are also able and smart people who are occupying parks and streets instead of trying to break the mediocrity that exists in the corporate world.

“Socialism” of any sort is not the answer to a successful economy.

I have been observing something for a few months, and I just cannot keep it down anymore. I am surrounded by a bunch of numpties at work. Bunches of people who care only about the weekend, pay day, the programmes on TV last night and their dream of winning the lottery. Corporate UK is filled with too many people who, even in this economic climate, turn up every morning with one single aim – I cannot wait till it is 5pm and time to head home.

I am surrounded by people who avoid responsibility like the plague, complain over every small thing, look to find scapegoats, and are resistant to change. This scares me a lot. A LOT!

What drives people to lose all respect for their skill and ability? What pushes people to the point that all they can dream about is becoming a millionaire by randomly selecting numbers? It seems that we have lost the hunger to do anything that matters, to create opportunities which finance the growth of an individual and an organization. I feel that there is a loss of pride, loss of self worth in people.

I think too many people don’t believe they are worth anything, and hence we are in this dire situation where idiots are in the office and genii on the street.

This is not a politician problem neither is this fat cat problem. This is a leadership problem.

I am certain that lack of leadership at the grass roots level is causing our economies to tank. Lack of leadership in the corporate world is leading to stale minds. Most importantly, it is the lack of vision in each of us which is stopping us from doing things that matter and building a stronger “economy”.

People – let’s get our heads down, push our passions, execute excellence and make shit happen.

When all is said and done, have you said and done enough? Have you just gone along for the ride, or have you steered destiny’s hot rod? When you leave this world, did you make it any better than it was when you arrived? All you need is all you’ve got, your wits and the clothes on your back, your epitaph is yours to earn; your legacy is yours to make.

GO FORTH

(taken from the Levi’s website)

I had a chance to attend the Charity Water 5th birthday…… unfortunately, NYC always equals tons of work for me and I did not make the event. What was REALLY awesome though is this awesome video they made for me to celebrate their 5th birthday.

Charity Water are my officially supported charity, and they ROCK!

People ask me – what do you do (as a job)? I generally dont know how to answer… mainly because I don’t do one particular thing as a job. Or two things for that matter.

Over the past 4 years, my job has been simple – jump into a rocky ship, assume control and bring calm, exit when the client is happy. Since each client has their own unique problem, there is no way that a particular skill or technique can be repetitively applied.

Or is there.

The mantra of the modern organization is to work smart and be productive. The reality however is the same 100 year old process – most organizations are run as a factory. There are bosses and there are minions. The minions are not responsible for making active decisions, and the bosses push that responsibility higher up the hierarchy and make it someone else’s problem.

The result is an ineffective, static and dull work environment filled with 9-5ers who don’t really deliver results results, and turn up mainly because they need to pay their bills.

The only way to get rid of this stupid stupid stupid structure is to make people responsible for what goes out of the door. If minions are made responsible for what they ship, they can vouch for the quality, the efficiency, and the end result.

I don’t believe that there is such a thing as smart working. Work can be done only one way – responsibly.

[Inspired by a Seth Godin post]