M2F2M

 Going to experiment with two techniques I read about in 'Tools of Titans' by Tim Ferris.  Number 1 - What would ten year + me say to current me? What pearls of wisdom would he pass down? Here goes: 1. Invest more in bitcoin. 2. Really aim at being in the present with the kids while they are young. Be aware. 3. Take more days off, sit under a tree in a park, and practice being mindful. 4. Avoid getting caught up in the hoopla, the rank battles, sweating the small stuff that doesn't matter. 5. Stay away from things that I know are bad for me. Negative people. Influential people. Bad energy people. 6. Crank that handle for the positive black swans. 7. Keep writing. 8. Be open to the possibility that will be doing something completely different to what I am doing now - and be fine with that. Number 2 - The Dickens Exercise: What belief is having an impact on past present and future self Belief: Engineering is a process-driven-follow-standards-commoditised-lack-of-creativity-u...

You know that feeling you get when you've been betrayed? Well, you feel like you've been betrayed, which is probably the same thing. That scrunch of the stomach. That minute taste of metal on the tongue. The feeling of fatigue because you are so pissed off that you can't find sleep. That is called growth. That is a valuable lesson you have just learnt. This is the productive and optimistic view, which is the most effective. Humans need to trust. Children who grow up in homes with untrustworthy parents become screwed up. Society needs to function with trust. When you approach a green light at the traffic signals you have trust that the other cross direction is red. You trust that the signals have been programmed properly. How would anyone get anywhere without there being trust? Yet there are untrustworthy people. People who take advantage, are after the quick win. They don't care about the long term relationship. Tit for tat with forgiveness as the optimum game theory st...

The nice people are being picked off. The over generous, the people who can't say no. Those who like order and completeness, and therefore will go into the red to ensure things are in order. One by one, down they go. It is sad to watch. They are losing their health, both physical and mental. You can  push yourself and get away with it in your early adult years, but even then habits form. Habits which are hard to break. If the  'please external people' practice doesn't change then by mid thirties the trend is fast going down down down. It isn't linear either. It is exponential. I learnt from a friend at work today that she is pre diabetic. She has other health issues associated with the condition. It's obvious that she has not been looking after herself, which has been evident for a while. She's also had some trauma in her life which hasn't helped the situation. Really smart lass. A 'pleaser'. Woman have it tough in today's workplace. I believ...

I like the notion that people are essentially moist robots. We are pattern seeking. We can follow processes. We can be very analytical and specific and repetitive.  But we are generally crap at all that (assuming one is not on the spectrum). That is why consistency is so valued in certain parts of the economy. Look at sports. Any player can have a really great game here or there, but it is the consistency that gets the big dollars. The owners (in many cases what I would term as exploitative people) want consistency. Consistent performances at a high level resulting in consistent wins so they can invite whoever they are trying to poke to their owners boxes and not be embarresed. Business people want consistent dollars, consistent television revenue, consistent season ticket member sales. Regular cash flow is king. Sort of takes the magic out of it right? In fact I find it actually hard to get that excited about sports these days. Everything is measured and managed to death, it reall...

Is that better then 'Escape Engineer'? Kinda mimics our good friend Scott Pape (Australian financial commentator). 'Shoes Off' does really hit the target of where I'm going, and where I hope you guys go. It signifies freedom. It brings thoughts of the beach. Walking without shoes on is great for your kinetic chain (As long as you don't walk on glass). Going barefoot stimulates neurogenesis (Apparently) so you get smart smart smart. I spent this afternoon with shoes off, walking with my son through a couple of parks and to the beach. It felt really good with the sand and grass between my toes. A sense of connection with Mother Earth, grounding. Feels awesome. My little tacker was also barefoot. Will continue.

Warning - I am not polarised to an extreme on the political scale. This post is about some of my conservative leanings. Parrrrticularly around 'Rights' and 'Responsibilities'. What Jordan Peterson has to say on the matter resonates with me. You can't really have a conversation about one, without a conversation about the other. It is hard to even discuss the 'Responsibilities' word because it brings philosophy, theology, morals and biological evolution into the fray. Not topics to be treated lightly in this complain about everything on social media, I'm a victim, wah wah wah  age. Yes responsibility is important. It is incredibly important to young men, in the context of going out into the world and making a difference. Women also, but I'd say to a different extent due to the whole 'she is the one who carries the child and cares for biological needs in infancy' aspect.  Responsibility is very important to young men. They want to know, to expe...

The game within the game. I'm currently reading Anthony de Mello's: The Way to Love. The author writes about attachments and awareness. Great book. I was thinking about the concept of awareness during the day. How people are generally going about their business on autopilot. As de Mello puts it - they have layers of fat around their brain: attachments, beliefs, programming etc so they aren't truely awake. It's hard to be angry at someone once you realise they are unconscious. But the game in the game. Aren't I just falling into a trap if I go around judging people's state of awareness? That is my new belief, and WHAM, I'm back asleep. There is a lot of truth in it though. I am on autopilot most of the time. Kaufman talks about similar things in Thinking Fast Thinking Slow.  A system of scheduled meditation and reflection periods is an antidote. System mind you, not a goal (see Scott Adams). So what is this ramble of blog post trying to say?  Well it was insp...

 I always try to seek advice from others for important decisions. It doesn't mean I take all of the advice, it still goes through my filter, but it definitely is the best way to get different views on an issue. Listening is hard. It gets harder as you get older. I try and stay humble. Modest. See the world with curious eyes. Ok too much of this.....but it leads to ->>> Yes yes yes I was fucking right. There are times, and for me they are rare, when the common wisdom says x but your own guy says y. I listened to my gut this time, put up with the flack and comments, but it all paid off. Because I was right right right.  Ok don't let it get to your head, I know.  I'll still consult, I'll still seek counsel with the wise (how do you spot a wise person - look at the fruit they produce ~ health, family, happiness, perspective, optionality, wealth), and more often then not I'll incorporate some of their advice into action. But every now and then.... Numero cinco: ...

  I bet many of you try to function in an organisation with broken systems. You are then faced with a choice - make a decision to lower an engineering risk at the expense of due protocol, or get on the merry-go-round and hope that crap doesn't break.  It is lose-lose situation. But wait! Aren't those 'support' services there to help you? Else why do they exist? Surely the finance, IT, HR and procurement sections are incentivised to assist you, the engineer, create value? Hahahahahha Skin in the Game by Taleb is required reading. In fact I think that is the message for today's post. Start creating people. Start getting ideas out there. I think it was Peter Thiel from PayPal Mafia fame who said that when he looks for ideas, he isn't chasing what people are doing in their day job. He wants to know what they are doing at night, in their garages, creating. That is where the special sauce is made. That is a path to a path. Get on the positive side of a potential black...

 I just realised the title of the post goes up the top. What an interesting way to start a blog post hey? Today was fantastic. It's not all grim in the engineering world, I do like to build stuff and interact with people who are passionate and fun. My joy today was derived from rocks. Big large granite rocks to be exact. Rocks that were recently placed on a heavily deteriorated rock groyne. The weather was fierce, the wind was furious, and the waves were rolling and tumbling in, but our repairs stood firm. Some boulders had moved, but that was to be expected for a rubble mound structure.  Most if it was in tact, absorbing the energy from a mad ocean. The structure remained neat and tidy. My new apprentice (ex mechanical reliability person) took me to some other places where he had instigated some temporary rock revetment repairs. He showed me what he had organised; I was well impressed. There was even a geotextile laid out! He explained to me that he was taking his learnings f...

 He was only 50 something Wow. Learnt something very interesting today. A colleague who I assume was pushing past 65 is actually only 54. What does this have to do with anything? Well the guy is smart. Smart smart smart. Very analytical. Cares a great deal about asset management and doing things right. His passion is making sure crystal clear processes are in place, people are assigned clearly defined roles, and maintenance tasks are optimised to get the most out of an organisations assets. That all sounds great right? This guy is morbidly obese. He looks terrible, and has days when he has to go home and rest. I am also aware of other 'serious' health issues he has. He is an incredibly hard worker. Everything is fast tracked, accelerated, and needs to be pushed ahead to meet a deadline. I don't think he ever stops working. Even on holidays he is out at midnight in some back beach on top of a caravan trying to get internet signal to log in and do something. He'll also st...

Prison Break Well I was totally wrong about what working as a professional engineer would be like. All those years of hard work and study were meant to pay off into something lucrative, fun and exciting. There have been moments of enjoyment, I do take pleasure in building stuff, but the majority of my career has been pretty bland. Crunching out calculations, following processes, and acting as a risk absorbing sponge for higher ups in the organisation. Fuck that.  I started plotting my escape long ago. I've also developed and employed some strategies to make survival more bearable in the meantime (ie I was in the prison, but I turned my cell into a nicely furnished apartment with a good view of the ocean). Now that I'm at a point where I have a) an alternative source of income and b) fuck you money, I feel obliged to share some of my tips, tricks, and strategies with the world. Some might work for you, some might not. I'm also keen to point out the absolute bullshit in our i...