Oct 09
D'Tanga SmallMy Life
With the recent death of Steve Jobs, I’ve taken a large amount of time to reflect on my own values and views, and how I started on the path I’m currently on.
Academically, when I first arrived at Ryerson, my plan was to be a marketer! Heck, I didn’t know what a marketer did, besides market. Of course, my view of marketing was a tad bit skewed at the time. You see, I had always pictured myself standing at the head of a board room, discussing an idea for a new product line or brainstorming ideas on how to target a new demographic. One thing was different though: I wanted to be the innovator. When I thought about it, I made the decision that I would much rather be the innovator and the creator of something amazing.
This isn’t because I want my name to be known throughout the world.
This isn’t because I want to be rich.
This is so that I can spread a positive impact throughout the world. On that note, looking back even further, the reason I went into business was because I wanted to positively impact people at a larger scale. I considered social work, but the reason I decided against it in the end was because I felt that I wouldn’t be helping enough people at once. When I think, I think big. I know that there is always a place to start, but I always envision the end goal.
So, back to the story.
I joined SIFE Ryerson, which greatly changed the way I viewed business. I could actually make a business with capitalist profits while pushing socialist values. With that, and a fair amount of smaller things that opened my mind slowly, I changed my major from Marketing to Entrepreneurship. It was a big change, but I knew that it was necessary if I wanted to achieve my end goal.
Beyond that, I decided to minor in Business Communications. Why? Well it all ties back to my idol. Steve’s keynotes were simply outstanding, in the sense that he spoke with passion. He communicated his love and passion with the world in a way that was relaxed, yet captivating. I strive to do that with my products and I strive to be an amazing presenter in my lifetime. That’s why I chose Business Communications.
And a few weeks later, he passed away.
The night that I found out that he passed away was not an easy one to sleep through. I want to say that I cried on the first night, but I didn’t…I cried on the second. I realize now, more than ever, that his way of living and his passion really got to me. The way he communicated himself and the way he carried himself made a huge impact on me. For me to cry over the death of someone I’ve never met, is a feat in itself. But when you share your passion with the world and express it as such, it’s hard not to feel an emotional attachment to that person.
I watched his Stanford Speech a while back, but viewing it again right now seems much more relevant. There’s one specific thing that he said that really reached my heart and, once again, set me off on a path to live freely and making a lasting impact in the world.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
No matter what most people do, it completely disappears after they die. Something that you’ll reflect upon as you’re dying is either your satisfaction having done the things you’d wanted, or your regrets for not doing them.
And this, my friends, is the beginning of something new. May you rest in peace, Steve.
Mar 20
D'Tanga SmallMy Life
I absolutely love it when I’m talking to somebody about their career goals and they mention something out of the ordinary. As an example, I know of a few people who wish to start their own businesses in the food industry after they’ve graduated with their Bachelor of Commerce.
More times than less, goals like that are looked down upon because they require lots of hard work and are bigger risks than a secure job. But I’m here to ask: Why not? Whether you want to start a business, or work in an industry that doesn’t have many jobs, or even pursue a degree in something completely different, you’re pursuing what you love, right? Who’s to tell you that you’re aspirations should be overshadowed by “security”?
I don’t mean to undermine anyone’s academic or career choices. I want to help people think outside the box because at one point, I was contemplating between being an investment banker, a lawyer and a doctor. Why? Because those jobs pay the most. They’re also looked highly upon. And I mean, somebody has to do these jobs, otherwise we’d have a shortage of labor in the economy which would result in higher price levels, etc. All I’m saying is that you have a choice in your career. When I say that it’s your life and everything is your choice, it really is. You can choose what you learn, choose who you interact with, choose your actions and choose your emotions.
I remember in one of my lectures, our professor asked “How many of you want to be a Chartered Accountant?” Virtually 75% of the class rose their hand. It’s crazy! When you compare that with the number of people who actually graduate from the accounting program, you see just how many people change their minds throughout the time they’re spending in their undergraduate studies. I like university because the more I become active in it, the clearer my goals become to myself. 
Take some time to contemplate what you love! Go out and volunteer, talk to strangers and take some extraordinary courses! Have fun!
- D’Tanga
Dec 19
D'Tanga SmallInteresting Stuff
“Fear – attachment to time
All fear is, in essence, fear of the future. We are afraid of the things that have not yet happened, but which if they did might bring us pain, suffering or some other discomfort – or stand in the way of some future contentment. And we are afraid that circumstances that are already causing us displeasure may continue in the future.
We may fear losing our jobs and the resulting drop in living standards. We may fear failure for the disapproval it might bring. We may fear having nothing to do because we might get bored. We may fear telling the truth because others may not like us for it. We fear the unknown for the dangers it may bring. We fear uncertainty, not knowing whether or not we will find what we are after. Here lies a sad irony. We want to be happy and at peace with ourselves. Yet the very nature of fear makes us anxious in the present and not at peace.
Many of our fears are not so strong that we would label them as fears. They may be just concerns, little niggles we have about how things may turn out. They may not even be conscious concerns – in many cases they surface only in our dreams, in conversation with a friend, or after a couple of drinks. Nevertheless they fill our minds with thoughts.
This is the voice within our heads that comments, often critically, on everything we do. It thinks, ‘I did that well, people will approve of me’, or ‘If only I had said it differently she would not have got upset’. It is the voice that speculates on the future, ‘Should I make that telephone call…what if…?’ It wonders what other people are thinking and how they will react. It is the voice of fear, the voice of the ego-mind – the part of us that believes that only through what happens to us in the world around can we be at peace within. But filling our minds with worry over what people might or might not think, is not the most constructive use we can make of our imagination.
This internal dialogue keeps us trapped in time – it dwells on the past or the future. As long as our attention is in the past or future, we are not experiencing things as they are, we are seeing them through the judgements of the past and our fears for the future. At times we can be so caught up in our self-talk that we do not even notice the present. We ignore what is going on around us, do not really hear what people are saying, do not appreciate how we really feel. So engrossed are we in our concerns that we never seem to pause to let things be. We have lost the present moment – lost the NOW.
This moment is all that exists. This fleeting instant is the only reality. The past is gone forever. The future is not yet born. Your body is in the NOW. But if you’re like most people, your mind is in the past or in the future. You grieve or glory over events of long ago. You harbour resentments and guilt and shame – hangovers from the past. You think of what you should have said or might have been. You fear and fantasise over the future, you worry about every moment of wasted time. You worry about death, not having enough time to achieve your ambitions, the end of your ego. All of which cuts you off from the present like a dark screen.
If you bring the mind from miles away to the activity of the moment, if you abate the clatter in your head to focus on the physical reality surrounding your body, and the sensations from within it, you’ll gradually experience a surprising sense of well-being. Indeed, tuning in to the NOW is one gateway to perceiving eternity. The philosopher Wittgenstein observed: ‘If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, the eternal life belongs to those who live in the present’.
By experiencing a moment for itself, you stop time. Time is defined as the interval between two events. When you are in the NOW there is no interval, only the event alone.
The concept of the NOW has great validity when dealing with emotions and the senses. NOW is a point at which you are in touch with the ongoing process. Past and future take their bearings continuously from the present and must be related to it. Without reference to the present they become meaningless.”
Transforming the Mind by Peter Shepherd
http://www.trans4mind.com/transformation/
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