While reading the book "A Brief History of Time" written by Stephen Hawking I kept noticing the fact that nowadays we have the ability to study and appreciate the works of great thinkers of the past (distant and not so distant) thanks to their desire to record all that.
Conversely, how many ideas did not get the deserved attention just because they weren't recorded in any form?
Now we are living in the age when recording and sharing your ideas has never been easier in history. Furthermore, thanks to the tools that we now have, those ideas have the potential to reach the people who are looking for them.
Something that might seem obvious and simple to you might just as well inspire someone or make their day a bit better.
Robert PožarickijTech & Software
Indeed, due to the sheer volume of information and its nature of competing for your attention, the bar for visibility is a lot higher now.
I also think that the likelihood of your ideas reaching the intended people depends on how specific or niche those ideas are.
As an example, I loved one thing pointed out by someone (can't find it) about the quality of discussions in Hacker News comments.
By opening the comment section of a generic and less deep HN post you are more likely to find many opinions and noise. Thus, the chances of getting much value from those comments are low.
On the other hand, niche and more specific posts tend to attract people with more expertise in that area. In such posts you can find pure gems of knowledge provided by true experts of the area.
7 months ago·
Povilas GodliauskasTech Recruiter & Career Coach / Founder @ coach.lt
Robert, that's the thing: you can find a lot of gems, but gems are not diamonds. If you want to get any value from an idea, you have to work with it, look for gaps, think about the implications, try to apply it. This can be done if you are engaging with an idea for a longer time. You can do that when you read books or long articles, but I am not sure if you can achieve that reading comments or posts.
7 months ago·
Robert PožarickijTech & Software
Aren't we using comments right now? :)
On a serious note, I think ideas can be expressed in various formats, and comments is just one of the formats. For an idea to be valuable to you it doesn't have to be long and you don't necessarily have to "steep" in it for a long time. Sometimes a few sentences is enough to steer your opinion or provide you with a different way of looking at something.
7 months ago·
Povilas GodliauskasTech Recruiter & Career Coach / Founder @ coach.lt
Robert, why do you think having your opinion steered by few sentences is good?
7 months ago·
Robert PožarickijTech & Software
I think an opinion is generally based on your knowledge and experiences within a specific subject. Thus, a few additional data points can be powerful enough to change your perception of the respective subject.
7 months ago·
Povilas GodliauskasTech Recruiter & Career Coach / Founder @ coach.lt
Sure! But why do you perceive it as a positive thing? Or don't you?
You know, this is what marketing people do. Steering people's opinions or needs with few sentences or images.
7 months ago·
Robert PožarickijTech & Software
We, as individuals, have the power to decide how to react to things around us and whether we want to care about a particular thing. Just because a person is exposed to a piece of information, it doesn't mean they will actually receive and internalize it.
I don't think being someone whom others (marketing people, as an example) can manipulate is a positive thing, but I think a person can develop the "muscles" to resist that. That way they can learn to discern the signals from all the noise that bombards us.
7 months ago·
Povilas GodliauskasTech Recruiter & Career Coach / Founder @ coach.lt
Robert, I am 100 percent with you on the muscle part. This is the reason I asked you why it is a good way to be steered by "few sentences". And this is why I challenged the power of "gems".
In my view, taking considerable amount of time in engaging with ideas is crucial not only for understanding their implications but also maintaining a strong core of your thoughts and values.
Anyway, interesting discussion as always.
7 months ago·
Robert PožarickijTech & Software
I think an environment where your opinions are challenged provides more opportunities for growth.
I enjoyed the discussion as well!
7 months ago·
Lazaro CampuzanoIndustrial engineering student
Also, think about the ideas and thoughts people had in history that were actually recorded in some form, but were lost over time, because their value was not appreciated at some point to make them be considered worth it for conservation.
7 months ago·
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Markus Seppam on Books that have influenced my life the mostPerformance Marketing Specialist | Google and FB adsSome time ago
Most of my teenage years I used to be super shy with no self confidence at all. I remember having a mindset: “I will not start a conversation myself and only start speaking when someone asks me something or starts talking with me”
I had a terrible fixed mindset and thought I will always be like this.
Looking back at what helped me to crawl out of this hole, there were many things, but what layed the foundation was books on self development.
I still remember so vividly how I went to the library and borrowed my first book which was called “Self-confidence”.
After finishing that one book, I gained a whole new perspective and realized “wow, I can actually learn how to be better at social situations”.
Ever since reading that first book, I have been an avid reader, always trying to improve myself on every aspect of life, whether it is social, mental, financial, physical - you name it. There is just so much wisdom in books that can improve your life.
So my idea for you - if you have a teenage relative, friend, siblings etc. Gift them a book on personal development - my recommendation: D. Carnegie - “How to win friends and influence people”.
Best case scenario is that you may change their life forever, worst case scenario is that they won’t read it :)
Gabrielė Galkutė|Philologist working in techology field| |interested into spirituality|
Love that!!! Thank you for sharing your expierence! ❤️
Markus Seppam on Books that have influenced my life the mostPerformance Marketing Specialist | Google and FB adsSome time ago
What are you afraid to do but know you should?
Everyone has fears. Some have more than others.
I have always had many fears in my life: fear of failure, embarrasing myself, etc...
One mindset that has really helped me to face fears is this:
“Feel the fear and do it anyway!”
Because, what we fear doing most, is usually what we most need to do!
I was terrified of taking a sales job at 19 years old, but I knew that was something that would be most beneficial for me in that moment to grow as a person.
I remember my first day at the job. I got only 2-3 hours of sleep the night before because I was so anxious and excited at the same time. And then making that first sales approach - I was afraid, but I still did it and it actually went pretty well. And as they say, the more you face your fears, the easier it gets.
So next time you feel fear. Remember: “Feel the fear and do it anyway!”
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