Sunday, May 29, 2011

Domingo, 29 de maio de 2011

Estou em casa, está chovendo bastante hoje, parece ser tufão.

O que fazer? A pergunta que sempre me faço. Parece que nunca sei o que fazer. O que posso fazer num domingo? Normalmente eu sairia para passear, talvez Shibuya, Shinjuku, Roppongi.
Engraçado que moro no Japão há mais de 15 anos e não conheço quase nada de Tokyo. Eu passeei por muitos lugares em Tokyo, mas eu acho que boa parte de Tokyo é bem chato e desinteressante. Eu comprei um guia de Tokyo procurando bons lugares para passear em Tokyo, mas eu acho que as recomendações do guia são todos estúpidas! Uma das recomendações é o mercado de peixes em Tsukiji! Por que eu ia querer ver um mercado de peixes???
Outra recomendação é o templo de Asakusa. Embora eu nunca tivesse vontade de ir, acabei indo nesse tempo há algumas semanas atrás. O templo é maior e mais bonito do que eu imaginava, mas mesmo assim.... É o tipo de lugar que você vai uma vez na vida e nunca mais!!

O melhor lugar para ir em Tokyo não fica em Tokyo. Fica em Yokohama. É a região de Minato Mirai, na minha opinião o LUGAR MAIS BONITO DO JAPÃO. E eu acho inacreditável que a maioria dos guias turísticos nem mencionam Minato Mirai. Em vez disso eles mencionam lugares horríveis como templo de Asakusa, mercado de peixes de Tsukiji, Shibuya, Shinjuku...

Ok, vamos falar de Shibuya e Shinjuku. Embora eu pessoalmente frequente muitos esses lugares, eu não acho que eles sejam particularmente bonitos. Eu vou para esses lugares apenas por falta de opções... São os únicos lugares onde encontro gente! Qualquer outro lugar do Japão é um deserto vazio sem gente!

Eu embora talvez eu goste de lugares vazios sem gente, principalmente lugares amplos onde você pode ver o céu, de preferência de horizonte a horizonte. E esse lugares são raros. Dentro da cidade você está sempre cercado de prédios e edifícios.

Preciso de dinheiro! Por que sempre tenho problemas de dinheiro? Quando eu era jovem eu achava que se você fosse bom em alguma coisa o dinheiro viria naturalmente. Agora já não penso assim. O dinheiro não vem naturalmente. Você precisa estudar de onde vem o dinheiro. Pessoas relmente ricas pensam em dinheiro o tempo todo. Elas não pensam em física, química, culinária, música. Elas pensam em dinheiro. O que muitas pessoas fazem é se concentrar no emprego, na carreira, achando que o dinheiro virá naturalmente.
Hoje acho que esse pensamento está errado. Você pode ser o melhor ator, músico, engenheiro, médico do mundo. Mesmo assim você não será rico. Talvez você consiga um salário razoável, mas mesmo assim você não será rico. Por que? Porque pessoas ricas não recebem salário.

Como se livrar do salário? Achar outras fontes de renda que não sejam salário.

Às vezes eu penso em abrir minha própria empresa. Mas a única coisa que consigo pensar é uma escola de inglês. Ou talvez português para japoneses. Uma escola de línguas.
Um ponto crucial ao abrir uma empresa: você não pode trabalhar na empresa!! Você é o dono da empresa mas você mesmo não pode trabalhar na empresa, senão você se torna um mero empregado da empresa.

Estou lendo atualmente um livro de planejamento financeiro. O livro é bem chato realmente, não sei se há alguma utilidade em ler esse livro. Nem estou conseguindo fazer um resumo. Ultimamente tenho feito resumos de todos os livros que leio.

Monday, May 9, 2011

How to get control of your time

Planning: making decision as to what, when and how.

Planning:
1. make list
2. set priorities

Lifetime Goals Statement

1. What are your lifetime goals?
2. How would you live if you had only 3 years left?
3. How would you live if you had only 6 months left?
4. Set priorities. Which goals are more important?

The Lifetime Goals Statement should be revised periodically.

Activities are steps along the way to a goal.

5. List the possible activities for each goal.
6. Set priorities
7. Eliminate low-prioritiy activities
8. Set deadlines for each activity
9. Schedule the activities

Make a To Do list every day.
Keep it visible
Use it as a guide to action

Handle each piece of paper only once.

80/20 rule
If items are arranged in order of value, 80% of the value come from the top 20% of the list

Perfectionism is worth approaching when 80% of the value comes from the last 20% of the effort.
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 fritter: to squander or disperse piecemeal; waste little by little (usually followed by away  ): to fritter away one's money; to fritter away an afternoon.
 put off: to postpone; defer.
 clamber /'klæmbər/: to climb, using both feet and hands; climb with effort or difficulty.
 haphazard /hæp'hæzərd/ characterized by lack of order or planning, by irregularity, or by randomness; determined by or dependent on chance; aimless.
 iota /aɪ'oʊtə/a very small quantity; jot; whit.
 loaf /loʊf/ to idle away time.
 endear /ɛn'dɪər/ to make dear, esteemed, or beloved.
 ply /plaɪ/ to work with or at diligently; employ busily; use.
 undertake /ʌndər'teɪk/ to take upon oneself, as a task, performance, etc.; attempt.
 suit /sut/ to be appropriate or becoming to.
 payoff /'peɪɔf/ the consequence, outcome, or final sequence in a series of events, actions, or circumstances.
 stove /stoʊv/ a portable or fixed apparatus that furnishes heat for warmth, cooking, etc., commonly using coal, oil, gas, wood, or electricity as a source of power.
 dash/dæʃ/ to move with violence; rush.
 veritable /'vɛrɪtəbəl/ being truly or very much so.
 breadwinner /'brɛdwɪnər/ a person who earns a livelihood, especially one who also supports dependents.
 irate /aɪ'reɪt/ angry; enraged: an irate customer.
 widget /'wɪdʒɪt/ a small mechanical device, as a knob or switch, especially one whose name is not known or cannot be recalled; gadget: a row of widgets on the instrument panel.
 outset/'aʊtsɛt/ the beginning or start.
 backlog /'bæklɔg/ a reserve or accumulation, as of stock, work, or business.
 back order:  an order or part of an order waiting to be filled.
 nag /næg/ to annoy by persistent faultfinding, complaints, or demands.
 scare off: cause to lose courage.
 presumptuous /prɪ'zʌmptʃuəs/ full of, characterized by, or showing presumption or readiness to presume in conduct or thought.
 lay out:to plan; plot; design.
 slip away: to recede; slowly vanish.
 outing /'aʊtɪŋ/ a pleasure trip, excursion, picnic, or the like.
 snap /snæp/ to take a photograph of, especially quickly.
 turn out: to result; issue.
 grade /greɪd/ to assign a grade to (a student's work); mark.
 reap /rip/ 1.to cut (wheat, rye, etc.) with a sickle or other implement or a machine, as in harvest.2.to gather or take (a crop, harvest, etc.).
 trite /traɪt/ lacking in freshness or effectiveness because of constant use or excessive repetition; hackneyed; stale.
 gauge /geɪdʒ/ 1. to determine the exact dimensions, capacity, quantity, or force of; measure. 2. to appraise, estimate, or judge.
 charter /'tʃɑrtər/ to lease or hire for exclusive use.
 jar /dʒɑr/ to conflict, clash, or disagree.
 put in: b. to interpose; intervene. c. to spend (time) as indicated.
 take stock: a. to make an inventory of stock on hand. b. to make an appraisal of resources or prospects.
 face up to:  a. to acknowledge; admit: to face up to the facts. b. to meet courageously; confront.
 cull /kʌl/ to choose; select; pick.
 zero in on:  a.to aim directly at (a target). b.to direct one's attention to; focus on; concentrate on. c.to converge on; close in on.
 mesh /mɛʃ/ to become or be engaged, as the teeth of one gear with those of another.
 crease /kris/to make a crease or creases in or on; wrinkle.
 prune /prun/ to cut or lop off
 sophomore /'sɒfəmɔr/ a student in the second year of high school or college.
 varsity /'vɑrsɪti/ any first-string team, especially in sports, that represents a school, college, university, or the like.
 put forth: a.to bring out; bear; grow. b. to propose; present.
 conscientious /kɒnʃi'ɛnʃəs/ 1. controlled by or done according to one's inner sense of what is right; governed by conscience; principled. 2. careful and painstaking; particular; meticulous; scrupulous.
 tackle /'tækəl/  to undertake to handle, master, solve, etc.
 single out: Choose or distinguish from others.
 preempt /pri'ɛmpt/ 1. to occupy (land) in order to establish a prior right to buy.2.to acquire or appropriate before someone else.
 gizmo /'gɪzmoʊ/ a gadget or device.
 expedite /'ɛkspɪdaɪt/1.to speed up the progress of; hasten.2.to accomplish promptly, as a piece of business.
 drudgery /'drʌdʒəri/ menial, distasteful, dull, or hard work.
 inordinate /ɪn'ɔrdnɪt/ not within proper or reasonable limits; immoderate; excessive.
 spurt /spɜrt/ a sudden, forceful gush or jet.
 net /nɛt/ to gain or produce as clear profit.
 skim /skɪm/to read, study, consider, treat, etc., in a superficial or cursory manner.
 hairdresser/'hɛərdrɛsər/ a person who arranges or cuts hair.
 pool: a facility, resource, or service that is shared by a group of people.
 slack /slæk/ not tight, taut, firm, or tense; loose.
 regiment/'rɛdʒəmɛnt/ to manage or treat in a rigid, uniform manner; subject to strict discipline.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Some ramblings..




These days I have been re-reading the book "What I wish I knew when I was 20" by Tina Seelig.
It is a very interesting book, and I am writing a short summary of that book.
A few weeks ago I decided to write summaries for every book I read. I used to do that at college, but  stopped when I came to Japan, don't know why.
In the last weeks I read books on high school mathematics, physics and chemistry.

Why write summaries?
Because 99% of a book is garbage. Seriously. You write down on a summary the actually useful remaining 1%.

Books are usually written under contract, in which the publisher asks the author to write a book about a certain subject. Or the author pitches the publisher about a book he want to writes.
If there is agreeement, the author needs to finish the book by a certain deadline, writing a certain minimum of pages.
But the author wil not be inspired 100% of the time, and he will be in a position he needs to fill pages even though he has nothing interesting to write. That is when he will write garbage. Pages and pages of obvious, commonplace garbage.

How to use post-its?
Instead of writing summaries should I use post-its? I have never used them. I don't know how to use them. I had a friend who used to use post-its everywhere. Her books were filled with post-its.
A post-it seems to be a bookmark. If you find a passage that seems particularly interesting, you can bookmark the page with post-it, so you can find the passage easily.

What else?
I have met 2 Japanese people interested in learning Portuguese language and I am giving classes over Skype.
Can I turn this into a business? How should I charge ? How much should I charge?
I have been thinking of asking for donations at this point. Donation actually is not a good business model, do you know any successful company based on donations??
But at this point, if I were to charge for fees, how much should I charge?
An hour of work should go for a minimum of 1,000 yens. English classes will not go for less than 2,000.  The cheapest English school will charge no less than 10 thousand yens a month.
If I were to turn this into a business I need to find more students. How can I find more students, when I have no money for advertising?

Monday, May 2, 2011

Some ideas from the book "What I wish I knew when I was 20" by Tina Seelig.
According to the copyright I can reproduce "brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews" ... I hope this qualifies....

Opportunities are abundant. At any place and time you can look around and identify problems that need solving.

The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. Nobody will pay you to solve a non-problem.

If we clearly define a problem, the solution will logically present itself.

Have the zeal to solve a grand problem, as opposed to being motivated to make money.

Break free from established guidelines by having a healthy disregard for the impossible.

Think big. It is easier to have big goals than small goals.

There are no bad ideas in brainstorming. The craziest ideas may turn out to be the most interesting.

Don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone.

Nobody told me I could or should do this... I just did it.

Write letters to people you admire. Don't wait for an invitation. Make the first move.

The primary barriers to success are self-imposed. The biggest ally of superachievers is the inertia of others.

If you want leadership roles, then take on them. Just give yourself permission to do so.

Write a failure resume, describing what you learned from the failures.

Failure is a natural part of the process of innovation.

All learning comes from failure.

He asked every attractive woman he met for a date, and some of them said yes.

If you get out there and try lots of things, you are much more likely to find success.

If you want more successes, be willing to live with more failures.

When analyzing a risky situation, define the possible outcomes, figure out the chances, develop a backup plan for each downside.

Tap into the wisdom of those who have gone before you.

There is no such a thing as luck. It is all hard work.