think normal 014 ( Belling the cat )_2009.02.22 18:44

Belling the cat

 

 

 

 

 

If you live in the same era as someone,

at least if you share the same dream as someone,

...everyone tends to dream the same dream.

 

Everyone knows the method.

It's just that, when it comes to actually stepping forward,

 

it feels uncertain,

it feels unclear,

it feels like showing off,

I'm still not good enough,

it feels like I'm the only one taking the lead,

am I the only one who'll get left behind,

that anxiety, or self-pity... that's all it is.

 

 

For example...

Anyone in the know already knows that someone has to bell the cat.

Whether you got it from a marketing or business school class or from reading a book, you know that's the only way to dodge the cat effectively.

 

Some people say you should hang a wind chime instead of a bell, others say you need a sensor that goes off when the cat approaches.

All in all, the idea is that if you put a bell on the cat, we'll all be able to avoid the danger in advance.

The cat is the risk, and the bell is one of the solution elements.

 

 

 

 

In other words,

we keep extending our schooling. To find the solution.

To arm ourselves with the optimal elements and untangle the answer...

Setting aside only the extreme kill-or-be-killed methods, we spend most of our lives, or most of our earnings,

on extending our schooling.

 

 

 

But

it's not about weighing the effects of belling the cat versus hanging a wind chime,

debating which one to pick or whether there's something else.

The difference in execution matters more than the difference in effect.

 

While we hunt for and agonize over those small things,

right now the mice are still being eaten by the cat, our own lives are shrinking, and our passion is wilting away.

 

What matters is not the degree of efficiency,

but execution -

and the irregular, scattered problems that come up during execution, finding their solutions, and executing again.

 

 

 

 

For instance, if you're a man, instead of debating whether to enlist in the military to live a more meaningful life,

it matters more how you live in lieu of not enlisting if you do enlist,

and if you don't enlist, it matters more how you live in lieu of enlisting.

The choice itself doesn't matter.

Because that efficiency can be sufficiently changed by your actions and mindset after the choice.

 

Don't waste your precious time on those result-oriented, idealistic small details...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before execution,

no matter if the predicted probability is 99%, if you hit the 0.1% exception, in that instant the 0.1% becomes the possibility that was, and... also,

no matter if the predicted probability is 0.1%, if you hit the 0.1% exception, in that instant it becomes the 99% possibility that was. 

 

 

 

Choices based on predicted outcomes don't matter. Outcomes are determined by countless exceptions and unforeseen variables,

in the end, not by the choice but by the process.

What matters is...

why you chose it, why it had to be that, why you wanted it that way.

 

Since we've come this far...

let me unpack this in even more detail....

In that case, before this, why did the problem occur,

what were you doing in the middle of, that triggered that problem,

why did you come to do that something,

and once more, why do you like that something,

if you came to like it, was it just you, or were you swept up by the crowd into liking it.

If, and only if, it relates to your identity and to the ideal reflected in your reality,

 

then once again you stand at that crossroads of choice.

Taking the things I just listed into account,

you'll find a clear answer to what you're going to choose, what you have to choose, and what you want to choose.

 

 

 

Sure, there'll be a lot of words, words, words from people around you, some sympathy, some looking down on you.

So things might turn out that way,

and so you might just work even harder to prove a point.

 

So someone might end up looking down on you,

and so you might end up meeting someone who recognizes you - someone whose dream and ideal-reflected reality match yours. 

 

 

There's a saying that goes:

Speed doesn't matter.

Only direction matters.

It's something I overheard, so it's not exact...

 

I somewhat agree... but,

if I'm allowed a bit more, speed should be appropriate.

 

No matter how kind, no matter how right, no matter how much love... our lives lie within the tangled threads of fate woven by timing.

Even if it's destiny, something we can't change with our own power...

at the very least...

to ourselves, or to the dream that reflects our reality, and to the people we love and cherish,

as a human being, or as a living creature... in a way that is not, or will not be... shameful...

it's the bare minimum manners we owe to our own lives.

 

 

...Just to bell the cat,

I seem to have gone on and on... am I just doing the same thing as them, only laying out methods?

That's why I built this place.

And I built it in a place that's a hassle to get to.

And I held out for six months without saying a word.

I wanted to test how long I could last, and how much I could build, on my own, without showing off or boasting.

 

 

Unlike people who've made some money and write autobiography-style marketing books to do their sales or fake-marketing more efficiently,

I haven't amounted to a dime.

But I'm going to act on the things I've spat out from my current convictions, values, and mindset.

 

The marketing I'm talking about, the marketing I'm doing,

isn't from any book, nor is it some autobiography written as someone's self-praise or a brag about their company or product.

I don't benchmark anything.

I have no competitors either.

 

I just read the current situation, find the method that fits this situation, find the way to execute it right away, and execute right away. 

 

 

Let me make it clear: my philosophy was written before any success.

I have nothing right now, and I've set up the best possible situation.

Unpacking this is, I think, what marketing really is.