"The idea that in order for us to truly create and contribute to the world, we have to be able to connect countless dots, to cross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, to combine and recombine these pieces and build new castles" (Popova 1).
I like this because I think it is basicaly saying that in order for us to have thoughts and ideas, we have to combine every experiance and observation we have had so far in our lives. That what we think and create is just a combination of what we have taken in throughout our life. We take everything we have seen others do, and nature do, and combine it to make our own creations and ideas.
This is a lot like what Austin Kleon was saying in the video we watched in "How to steal like an artist". That artists must steal others ideas in a way and change and transform them to make them their own. I think he even said, actually, that our thoughts and ideas are a combination of what we have taken in throughout our life.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Tenacity
The best definition of tenacity that I have heard has to be when Leonard Brody said, in Tenacity vs Intellect: what makes an entrepreneur?, that tenacity is, "taking ten punches to the stomach and getting up for the eleventh." This is truly what tenacity is, the willingness to keep trying and trying at your goal no matter what obstacles get in your way. Your tenacity is sort of like your ability to persevere, or your level of mental and physical endurance.
The context in which Leonard talks about tenacity is its role in business, which I see as the perfect place for such a trait. When trying to be an entrepreneur and run your own business, you run into obstacles all of the time. Mainly because business is a risk. It is one hundred percent different than a pay check job, because there's no guaranteed money. You might make money, or you might lose money, and i think that just dealing with that idea in the first place requires some tenacity. You have to spend money to make money in a business, and you have to have the tenacity to do everything you can to ensure that you actually do make money, otherwise you'll lose your ass on your investment.
I have some idea of what I'm talking about here because I am trying to work out a couple businesses myself. Both of which I put out money to buy something, and try to turn the product around for profit. Both have been very successful for me. And while I have made some money, I have definitely gotten a taste of some of the difficulties in running a business.
The business I am trying hardest at now, and am having difficulty with, is flipping cars. Let me tell you from a first-hand experience, this business takes a lot of tenacity. I have to look on Craigslist everyday and file through dozens of adds trying to find the perfect deal. And this is not easy task, because not only do I have to find a car for a good price, but I have to find one that I can buy, fix, and still sell for enough to make profit. Then when I find one I have to call the seller and deal with the headache of scams, misleading ads, and people who don't know how to bargain. Then if I get through that and actually find a decent deal, I have to drive anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour and a half to see the car in person and decide whether or not its all its cracked up to be. Then after all of that, if I actually find a good deal (which rarely happens), I have to try and wheel and deal with the seller some more to get down to my ideal price.
And that's just buying the car. After actually acquiring a car to flip, I have to fix the car. Surprisingly, this is actually the least frustrating part of the process. But when it comes to time management, fixing the car gets exhausting. The one succesful car I flipped, I did this past summer. Now over the summer, I worked at a bodyshop everyday from 8 am to 8 or 9 pm, so i would spend a couple hours each night after work working on that. This changed my schedule to 8am-9pm: body shop 9:15-10:dinner and shower 10-12or1am:working on flip car.
Then after the car is finally fixed, I have to sell it, which is also no easy task. People never want to pay what you need to make to earn a profit, and you have to know what kind of people are looking for what. i had to learn to say no to offers that were too low, and eventually accept an offer that was good enough. But let me tell you, after going through allllll of this effort, and finally taking the cash for that car I put so much effort in, you get one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment ever. I feel like all of that hard work and time and effort and reward are all part of owning a real business, and if all of that doesn't take at least a bit of tenacity, I don't know what does.
The context in which Leonard talks about tenacity is its role in business, which I see as the perfect place for such a trait. When trying to be an entrepreneur and run your own business, you run into obstacles all of the time. Mainly because business is a risk. It is one hundred percent different than a pay check job, because there's no guaranteed money. You might make money, or you might lose money, and i think that just dealing with that idea in the first place requires some tenacity. You have to spend money to make money in a business, and you have to have the tenacity to do everything you can to ensure that you actually do make money, otherwise you'll lose your ass on your investment.
I have some idea of what I'm talking about here because I am trying to work out a couple businesses myself. Both of which I put out money to buy something, and try to turn the product around for profit. Both have been very successful for me. And while I have made some money, I have definitely gotten a taste of some of the difficulties in running a business.
The business I am trying hardest at now, and am having difficulty with, is flipping cars. Let me tell you from a first-hand experience, this business takes a lot of tenacity. I have to look on Craigslist everyday and file through dozens of adds trying to find the perfect deal. And this is not easy task, because not only do I have to find a car for a good price, but I have to find one that I can buy, fix, and still sell for enough to make profit. Then when I find one I have to call the seller and deal with the headache of scams, misleading ads, and people who don't know how to bargain. Then if I get through that and actually find a decent deal, I have to drive anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour and a half to see the car in person and decide whether or not its all its cracked up to be. Then after all of that, if I actually find a good deal (which rarely happens), I have to try and wheel and deal with the seller some more to get down to my ideal price.
And that's just buying the car. After actually acquiring a car to flip, I have to fix the car. Surprisingly, this is actually the least frustrating part of the process. But when it comes to time management, fixing the car gets exhausting. The one succesful car I flipped, I did this past summer. Now over the summer, I worked at a bodyshop everyday from 8 am to 8 or 9 pm, so i would spend a couple hours each night after work working on that. This changed my schedule to 8am-9pm: body shop 9:15-10:dinner and shower 10-12or1am:working on flip car.
Then after the car is finally fixed, I have to sell it, which is also no easy task. People never want to pay what you need to make to earn a profit, and you have to know what kind of people are looking for what. i had to learn to say no to offers that were too low, and eventually accept an offer that was good enough. But let me tell you, after going through allllll of this effort, and finally taking the cash for that car I put so much effort in, you get one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment ever. I feel like all of that hard work and time and effort and reward are all part of owning a real business, and if all of that doesn't take at least a bit of tenacity, I don't know what does.
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