Rainy Grapes

Building Mental Toughness

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 18:53:00 +0000

Lewis Pugh, an environmentalist, swimmer, and motivational speaker, recently swam across an ice-cold lake on Mount Everest, the first person ever to do so. Afterwards, he gave a talk at TEDglobal about his experiences and the different challenges that he had to overcome in order to obtain such a difficult feat. He also talks about the environmental aspects of his accomplishment, but I'm less interested in those, and more interested in the mental toughness that it takes to accomplish a mission like this. It's amazing to me the things that people can accomplish when they truly devote all of their energy to a given task. For example, take the ultra-marathon runners in Born to Run. Or Jessica Watson, the 16-yr old Australian girl that sailed around the world. Or Jordan Romero, the 13 yr old Mount Everest climber. Or even the poor family in rural India that continue to survive on a day to day basis. And the list goes on and on.

But what if you don't have that mental toughness? Is it something that naturally comes to someone or is it something that you have to find, nourish, and develop? Although I'm sure there are some natural hereditary aspects, I think a lot of it comes through personal growth and development. It comes through consistent training and development of the mental aspect of any physical change, and this is something that can still be developed, even at a later stage in life.

What's the key to building mental toughness? There are tons of self-proclaimed mental toughness experts that might say this or that, but in my opinion, there are 2 key elements.

1) Small Wins. No one is going to run a marathon, climb mount everest, sail the ocean, or anything else, in a day. Small, consistent wins build mental confidence and ensure the ability to persist in a tough situation.

2) Small wins outside your comfort zone. In the beginning, baby steps are important. But take a baby step outside of your personal level of comfort, and succeed, and it will feel a world's different. Continue to grow and develop (small steps not giant leaps) and eventually you will be on an entire mental ability all together.

By focusing on these two elements, a person's mental toughness and their inner ability to persist, and even thrive, in tough situations will grow tenfold.

(An additional tip that I'm personally a fan of but that doesn't necessarily work for all people is to read stories about others. I love reading and hearing other people's stories about persistence, determination, and mental toughness. It makes me feel that if they can do it, then I can to.)

America's 5 step plan

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:43:00 +0000

Jeffrey Sachs, considered by many to be one of the top economists of our time, recently wrote a Financial Times editorial on what he believed to be the solution to America's current issues. He initiates his solutions by first criticizing American politicians (Democrats and Republics both) for having a very short-term vision for financial stability. He says that while Americans were exhausted from a decade of over spending on consumer items, the government promoted more spending (i.e. on cars and houses). Contrarily, the government needed to promote long-term, sustainable growth, as opposed to a quick, rapid turnaround. According to Sachs, by focusing on investments for the long-term, instead of a focus on short-term consumer buys, the US and the west will get back to a time of sustained development.

He continues on to lay out his 5 step plan as to how the US can get back to this focus of long-term, sustainable investments.

Step 1) This has been mentioned many times before, but a continued focus on investment in clean energy, and the upgrading of a new national power grid. Instead of using the cap and trade system (or emission trading) that has been talked about before, Sachs suggests to use guaranteed clean energy price subsidies that will be financed through rising carbon taxes.

Step 2) A 10-yr program of infrastructure redevelopment. Things such as new high-speed rail systems, new water and waste treatment facilities, and new highways should be the focus. This should be financed with a combination of contributions from the Federal government, local governments, and private institutions.

Step 3) Higher public spending for education. And not at the elementary level as others have mentioned, but rather at the secondary, vocation, and bachelor degree levels. This is to re-teach individuals that have been struck hard by unemployment, and to train and develop the younger generation for the future.

Step 4) Boost infrastructure exports to Africa and other developing countries. I'm not sure how significant of an impact this would make but Sachs believes that there are huge benefits to be had, such as increased exports, increased African development, and increased international goodwill and stability.

Step 5) A 5-yr plan to reduce the budget deficit to sustainable levels. He lists a couple ways to do this like cutting defense cuts by leaving Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as cutting back on weapons development. He also includes increasing taxes on Wall Street profits and bonuses, and high-end marginal tax rates, and potentially even adding a value added tax.

Although in theory this 5-step plan seems like an accurate way for America to get back on the growth plan, I don't think the implementation of this plan is realistic. Party politics plays too large of a role in the American economy, and with parties continually changing every 2 years, it's hard to come up with a 5 or 10 year plan to revitalize America. That being said, if the US doesn't get over party politics and look, together, towards the future, then it's only a matter of time until we'll all be looking back together saying "What if?" and more importantly, "What now?"

The LA Public Transport Dilemna

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:26:00 +0000

I recently read an article the other day about the Los Angeles public transportation system - it went something along the lines of, "Public transport in LA is horrible, and needs to be fixed". Yes, very informative indeed. I think at this point the citizens of LA have either decided that public transport needs to be fixed immediately or that public transport is unnecessary, and that driving cars is sufficient. But for one of the largest cities in the world, with one of the largest tourist revenues, to not have an adequate public transportation system is absolutely ludicrous. Bangkok, Jakarta, and Tokyo all have larger populations, just as large of a city, and are still able to implement at least a basic, rudimentary transit system. LA doesn't even have that. The worst part isn't even that LA doesn't have a transit system, but that the city doesn't even seem to be trying. There have been talks about developing a new metro system, but due to budget issues, those plans continue to be pushed further back and don't seem to be happening anytime soon. For one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, the lack of accessible public transportation is highly disappointing.

Ok, ok so LA has a bad public transit system, but it's never had a good transit system, so why get mad now? Well, I recently read a report about a new, green public transit concept in Beijing. A virtual double decker bus that will ride literally on top of the current freeway system. Huh? Yeah, I was confused too. Imagine a double decker train, with the entire first level hollowed out, so that previous traffic can still continue. They're calling it a "straddling bus".

To top all that, the entire bus (or train, or whatever you want to call it) will run on only electric and solar energy, will be able to hit speeds upwards of 60 km/hr, and will be able to carry approximately 1200 to 1400 passengers. And that's not even my favorite part. How long will the entire thing take to develop? 1 YEAR!! Los Angeles couldn't even produce a blueprint for a standard bus system in one corner of one part of town in one year, yet alone develop a brand-new, paradigm-shifting system such as the one that Beijing will shortly be implementing.

And after all that, people still wonder if the future is really in Asia or not...

Could Facebook become its own nation?

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:07:00 +0000

I recently read an article in the Economist that tried to compare Facebook to a sovereign government. It says that Facebook, if it were considered a nation, would have the third-largest population in the world, behind only India and China. After the population comparison though, the similarities begin to dissipate. Facebook has no police force, no actual physical land to defend, no rights for citizens, and so on. But it’s an interesting idea nonetheless.

There have been arguments in the past that as the future moves on, people will no longer-be governed by contemporary governments, but rather by multi-national corporations. These corporations will become so vast and so powerful, that they essentially will control what governments say, creating their own set of preferences in place of what the government already has. Let's take Google and China for example. If Google was able to influence enough change in China in order to get China to minimize their censorship, then one could say that Google has larger influence over Chinese government than China themselves. This would only be in one particular aspect of governmental rule, but the fact of the situation still remains the same. Of course, this is a far way away, but there are still other circumstances in which this could be applied.

Let’s get back to Facebook. The Economist article also mentions a discussion that British Prime Minister David Cameron and Mark Zuckerberg recently had (check it out here). Recently-appointed Cameron wanted to create more transparency and more citizenry participation into his new government, and he was consulting with Zuckerberg on how Facebook can contribute to this. The potential implications could be massive. What if voting no longer took place in the polls, but on Facebook itself? What if you could have real-time discussions, with people on the other side of the country, as people vote? This is of course years away but Facebook is one of the few available platforms in which such wide-ranging discussion could realistically occur and actually make an impact.

And this wouldn’t be this first time that Facebook has played a role in politics. After all, Facebook, among with the rest of it’s social networking brethren, was one of the main reasons that Obama became elected. Without Facebook as a platform to unite a major foundation of Obama supporters, it would have been interesting to see if Obama would have been able to create the success that he did.

There is one major advantage that Facebook, Google, and other multi-nationals have: how do you defend against them? If any of these corporations get that big, then how can a sovereign nation defend their agenda from the overpowering influence of these corporations? They could try to block them, only enraging the public, human right’s activists, and a plethora of other people and organizations. There isn’t really an adequate “defense”, meaning that as Facebook gets bigger and bigger, so does it’s influence over government. So although Facebook might never become a sovereign nation, it, for all intents and purposes, could have more power than one.

The Next Emerging Market: China's Porn Industry

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:05:00 +0000

Ok, so I realize that this might come off as a joke, but I'm actually slightly serious about this. There was a recent article that I came across that said that some internet porn sites have started to become accessible in China. The article itself is pretty funny, with people mentioning that they happened to "stumble" across the sites, and that they surely weren't users or anything. There was even "a 29-year-old employee at a state-owned logistics company who did not want to be identified because he surfs for porn on business trips." How dare him!! But really, what does this actually mean for China? Most stats for the porn industry are rather vague, there are some interesting one that could be an indicator:

· According to Nielsen net ratings, more than a quarter of Internet users accessed an adult Web site in January 2010.

· America's porn industry is worth an estimated $14 billion.

· 72% of porn viewers are men (I so would have thought this was higher).

· There are about 300 million internet users in China, with a population of 1.3 billion, 670 million of which are male.

If China starts incrementally allowing access to porn sites, this could have a great financial, as well as cultural effect on China. First, the financial impact seems more or less obvious. A lot of people + a lot of porn = a lot of money (yes, American education is truly spectacular). The cultural effects are less obvious. The first question that comes to mind is this: If restrictions are reduced on porn, then could they be reduced on other things as well? Could this lead to a potential change in the Chinese government's monitoring of the internet? If so, the human right's implications are momentous. The availability of information, whether its political, economical, or whatever else, could potentially lead to a different society altogether. It could open up a complete new avenue for bloggers, news sites, evangelists, etc, which in turn would also lead to greater access for marketers, advertisers, businesses, and so on. This could also lead to greater opportunities with international organizations. For example, imagine if Google didn't have to worry about censorship issues. This would, of course, take some time to fully develop, but the impact is still clear.

As this story develops, it will be interesting to see if this is a one-time occurrence, or if this will lead to a changing of the tide for China. After all, as one individual commented in the original article, "The more they restrict something, the more people pay attention." And if China feels that the internet is too open anyway and that restriction just isn't working, then who knows what could happen.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:09:00 +0000

Earlier today, I was spending some time with my 6-year old niece, when an interesting thought came across my mind. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up, and her eyes beamed, a huge smile filled her face, and she shouted - "Makeup artist!" "Aaaahh yes, makeup artist, of course!" was the thought that filled my mind. And then I remembered a moment in first grade when I was asked to write about the same question. My answer was, with as much enthusiasm as my little niece, "professional football player!". Later, I wanted to be a doctor. Then a lawyer. Then I wanted to get in real estate. Then I wanted to be a sports agent. Then a recruiter. And well, now, I want to be an economist. Now that I think about it, I wonder how many times I've actually been asked that question - it's definitely way too many to count.

In society, especially American society, people are constantly pushed to look for the future. What do you want to do? Why? How will you get there? Will it be worth it when you get there? Are you sure when you get there, that that's really where you want to be? Starting in Kindergarten and asked every step of the way thereafter, these questions are always swarming the thoughts of growing minds. For some people, they pick a direction early in life and develop their entire life around that direction. For others, they don't decide until later in life, and some, maybe never at all. And of course, it's never solely a personal decision. It's a decision and a thought process that is influenced by hundreds of different outside sources - friends, family, tv, internet, etc.

Personally, I think Steve Jobs said it best in his Stanford graduation speech, which you can see here. Jobs speaks about how earlier in his life he was unsure of where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do - he hadn't picked his direction yet. He dabbled in this, including trying acid and living on an ashram in India, and tried out that, but none of it seemed to fit. In his speech, he says how looking back on his life, the path that he created for himself all seems to makes sense, but when he was younger, he had no idea the path that would form. Rather than create a plan, follow that plan, and execute that plan, which is what is told to millions of college graduates nationwide, he says to connect the dots looking backward. To, essentially, do what you want to do now, and then eventually everything will fall in to place.

So as many of my recent college graduates, myself included, continue to debate their futures, it's important to remember that as valuable as thinking about the future may be, it's more important to not lose focus on what you're doing now. And, lastly, as important as some might say it is to create a plan and follow that plan, I say do what Emerson said -

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

1 year blogging hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:34:00 +0000

Wow. It's been quite a while since I wrote a post on this blog. In fact, a lot has happened since my last post May 28, 2009. First, I graduated college - Woohoo! I think spent a month lying around my parent's house contemplating life and my future. I decided that the only rational thing to do was to continue that contemplating on the other side of the world in Australia, where I spent a month traveling from Sydney up the coast to Brisbane. Unfortunately, or fortunately, at this point I still had no idea as to where my future was headed, but I did have a slightly clearer picture than before. I knew that I wanted to go and teach abroad. There were many reasons for this, but the bottom line was that it was something that I am very interested in, it was something that I had the time and the availability to do, and lastly, it was something that financially was both reliable and rewarding. So, with that in mind, I embarked on an 8-month teaching English in Thailand adventure - which I jumped to a different blog to document teachinginthailand.tumblr.com. After two months of semi-violent protests, 8 months of nocturnal parties, and hours of pondering later (o, and actually teaching), I finally arrived back in the US.

And that's that - a year in a paragraph. What next? Well, another month at home spending time with the family, then off to continue my education (definitely nothing to do with pushing off the real world). I do want to continue writing about Generation Y and careers, but I also want to expand this blog and additionally being to discuss larger economic and political issues as well. Ideally, the point will come when these two seemingly disparate ideas are able to merge together, but until that point, it's good to be back!

OMG! Finding a Job Takes Effort.. Who Knew?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:26:00 +0000

These past couple weeks I’ve noticed a lot of my friends have started to scramble for jobs as summer is fast approaching. I know because my Facebook update stream is overwhelmed with job search updates. Too bad it’s usually stuff like

“my exciting job search is starting to really suck!”

and

“does anyone have a job for me, like is it seriously this hard to find a job?”.

I’m sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but it was NEVER easy to find a job. Even in the best of times, there was still tons of competition, you still have to submit resumes and cover letters, and you still have to go through a full interview process. The problem is that people that are newly entering the job force think it’s only a NOW thing and not a normal job thing. It’s not. Jobs are always competitive. Finding a job is never easy. And no one is going to do it for you. So instead of wining about it and saying how sad it is to not have a job, then go out and find a job. Do more then search Craigslist for 15 minutes and submit your resume to 3 different places. OMG 3 different places didn’t respond, the job market is horrible! O please, who knew that you had to work hard to get something? I know, what a crazy concept, right? Here I’ll even give you some job search tips:

1) Create a list of 30 companies that you’re interested in.

2) Search www.LinkedIn.com and find employees, managers, and HR personnel of those companies.

3) Write a well-crafted cover letter and resume that introduces yourself, your background, and your interests

4) Either send LinkedIn messages, find their e-mail online (Google it), or find their Facebook page and send them a message that way.

5) In ever e-mail and message you send out, tell them the job that you’re interested in (whether it’s listed as open on their careers page or not) and ask 2 things 1) if their company has that job and 2) if not, do they know any companies that have that job.

That’s just another means of finding potential jobs. Using Craigslist, Monster, Indeed, and all the other job posting sites are useful, but they should only be one part of the job search, not the only part.

Hopefully Gen Y will snap out of it and realize that finding a job takes effort and will stop hoping that everything will come to them easy, because it doesn’t. Nothing in life is easy and nothing will come to you if you just sit and wait for it. You have to know what you want and go out and get it. Otherwise, be quiet and stop complaining.

Disclaimer: I know there are a lot of people that are trying really hard to find a job and haven’t found anything, but those aren’t the people I’m referring to. I’m referring to the people that say it’s a bad job market but 1) have no reference to other times and 2) haven’t tried hard enough to know even if they do have reference to other times.

An Acronym for Generation Y

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:32:00 +0000

Here is an acronym that I created in order to help identify the mentality of Gen Y. Some of these can be viewed in a positive or negative light, but if there was a way to define a generation then most of these characteristics would align with Gen Y.

Globally Conscious – The global environment that we have grown up in has made us all highly aware of other societies and cultures.

Energetic and Enthusiastic – There’s a strong sense of passion that is put into everything we do. Whether its video games, work, school, or anything else - we commit ourselves and put everything we have into it.

eNtreprenurial – In a work environment, we want to have the autonomy and ability to make a difference. The “do what I tell you” approach of generations past isn’t effective.

Early Adopters – Due to our consumer mentality, we want to be the first to try something. We want something right when it comes out, not a year later.

Recognition – There’s a reason that Gen Y is also called the “Trophy Generation”. We love awards and trophies and even a simple pat on the back can make a huge difference.

Altruistic – Social welfare is very important to us and we are more willing to take volunteer and community service jobs so we can help others.

Technologically Advanced and Dependent – We’ve grown up using technology from day 1. It’s hard to get through an entire day without the use of any sort of technology.

Individualistic – Probably do to our parents over parenting, we have a very strong sense of self. I am the best and I can do it all aren’t uncommon thoughts.

Optimistic and Idealistic – We want to change the world and we truly think we can do so.

New mentality – We want a new way of doing things. The way of the past is old news to us and we have no problem initiating the new changes necessary.

Youtube, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc – At the end of the day, it’s the creation and mass adoption of these social networking sites that will end up defining Generation Y.

What do you think? Are there ones that I’m completely missing or do these pretty much hit the nail on the head?

How Important is Company Culture to Gen Y?

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Mon, 11 May 2009 08:04:00 +0000

The other day, I was talking to one of my good friends who was excitedly telling me about her amazing internship that she got this summer. She talked briefly about what the company does and what she’s gonna do there, then she went into a 10 min rant about how employees are allowed to wear casual clothes to work, how they go to happy hour regularly, and how they have a lax scheduled time of work. It was as if the company didn’t matter, the position didn’t matter, but the only thing that did matter was the environment that she would be working in. She absolutely loved the fact that you could wear casual clothes; she talked about it like it was some sort of revolutionary concept. As we all know, it’s not, and many companies are starting to initiate these little changes in order to attract new talent. And at the end of the day, it’s these little details that will make or break a job opportunity for a Gen Yer.

The fact is that if I want to get into sales, then I can join 1001 different companies. If I want to code java, I can do it at a plethora of companies. If I want to do advertising, I can do it at thousands of different companies. But which one would be I really love working at? Which company has the people that I will love to hang out with outside of work? Where will I feel comfortable and relaxed and yet still feel motivated enough to work hard? It’s these types of questions that are defining the roles that Gen Yers are taking, and not the “what does the company do?”, “What’s my job description?”, and “What’s my career path?” questions.

And personally, I think that this is a much better way of looking at job opportunities than the way it was looked at in the past. Life’s too short to sit in a cubicle (unless you want to) and waste away your life not enjoying what you’re doing or the people that you’re doing it with. That doesn’t mean that the job has to be perfect and the environment has to be amazing, because obviously it won’t be all of the time, but it is something that should be a key focus of any job search. If you think that you wouldn’t fit into an environment and that the culture isn’t in line with what you’re looking for, then don’t waste your time. It’s better to be patient and find a place that you feel comfortable working at then forcing yourself into a situation that isn’t right for you.

Realistically, it’s gotten to the point that most job descriptions read the same anyway and the only way to differentiate between companies is by the culture that they’ve created. If you thrive off competition, then join a company that has a lot of bonuses and incentives. If you thrive off collaboration, then join a company that emphasizes team-work and group effort. If you know yourself and your personality and you focus on finding a company that matches those characteristics, then you will feel that much more satisfied with the company that you decide to go with.

Be Prepared For The Unexpected

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:44:00 +0000

Let me start off this post by telling a story. It’s a poker story, so if you don’t understand the basics of poker then this might not make sense, but I’ll try to give the cliff-notes version of it. Basically, I had a very good starting hand, pocket Q’s, and the flop came AAQ, giving me a full-house, a very good hand. I got all my money into the pot, with another person that called my hand. I could not have played the hand any better or have gotten any more value out of my hand. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter. He had AJ, which gave him trip Aces and which gave me the best hand… until the turn came, which was another ace, the only ace in the deck, giving him Quad Aces. I could not have played my hand any better, yet I still lost.

Let me give you another scenario. If you watched the Kentucky Derby this weekend or heard about it, then you know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t, then let me tell you. A horse that had one of the lowest chances of winning, 1/50, came back in the last seconds to win the horse. Almost no one could have predicted it or planned for it, yet it happened.

Now both of these cases are gambling, but the same idea can be brought to anything in life. Career planning, financial planning, family planning, whatever else. Sometimes things happen that are just outside of your control. Rather than being in shock when it happens (because we all know that it’s going to happen), the best thing you can do is to minimize the blow when it does happen. Here are some ways to do that:

1) Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Some people might disagree, but putting all your eggs in one basket is never really the smart choice. I’m a risk-taker and even I realize the obvious negatives of doing this. You can have everything planned out to the T, but if one little random unexpected thing happens, you’re in a very bad situation.

2) Understand the possibilities of what could happen.

Although it might not be likely to happen, know everything that COULD happen. Even if it’s the smallest of chances that it will happen, if you think about it before then you won’t be as surprised when it actually does happen.

3) Have a backup plan.

If you know what COULD happen, then you can think about what you would do if one of those things happens. If you are able to assess the potential possibilities, then create alternatives if those situations happen, then you’ll be in good shape.

4) Expect the unexpected.

No matter what, expect that the unexpected will occur. If you think that those random, unplanned things will happen, then when they do happen, you won’t be surprised.

You can apply these steps to almost any scenario in which you’re planning something. It could be planning your career, playing poker, working on a school/work project, etc, etc. At the end of the day, Murphy’s Law will still hold true and anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. The best thing you can do is prepare for it.

Is the average Facebook user addicted?

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:53:00 +0000

I just read an article that CNN posted titled “5 Clues that you’re addicted to Facebook”. It gives the story of a single working mom with a 12-yr old daughter and how her daughter gets mad at her because the mom won’t get off Facebook to help her daughter. It then goes on to list 5 signs that you too might be addicted to Facebook. I’ll talk more about these below. Before I read the article and just saw the title, I assumed that the article would be about a college-aged student, but I was wrong. It caught me by surprise that a mom would actually neglect her child in favor of Facebook. I mean, you would think that she would have some sort of priorities in life, right? But I guess not. So it’s not just college and high school students that overuse Facebook, it’s professional, middle-aged people as well.

As I mentioned above, the article continues to go on to show 5 different signs that you’re addicted to Facebook. Now, I’m not saying that EVERYONE is addicted, but the majority definitely is and here’s why. (The CNN signs are in bold)

1. You lose sleep over Facebook. There’s no surprise that the most activity that Facebook sees comes at night. Dustin Moskowitz, Co-Founder of Facebook, says that “During our biggest peaks - Sunday & Monday night around 10EST - more than one million people will be simultaneously logged into the site”.

2. You spend more than an hour a day on Facebook. A Neilsen study found on Mashable says that Facebook users spend an average of 3 hours and 16 minutes a day on Facebook!

3. You become obsessed with old loves. Ever heard of Facebook stalking? Checking wall posts, pictures, friend adds, etc. Everyone’s done it. And now with Facebook status updates being the centerpiece of Facebook, it’s easier than ever.

4. You ignore work in favor of Facebook. Psh who wants to work anyways. And this has become a major issue in the workforce, which is talked about (here, here, and here).

5. The thought of getting off Facebook leaves you in a cold sweat. Ok, I agree, a cold sweat is a little extreme. But most users can’t go a day, let alone a week without checking Facebook, talking about Facebook, or wondering what their friends are doing on Facebook.

Now there are surely people that don’t use Facebook as actively as most, but at least going by this CNN article, the average Facebook user is definitely addicted.

Tony Blair: Faith, Globalization, and Malaria No More

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:49:00 +0000

So I just got back from hearing Tony Blair speak and wow, am I impressed. He’s without a doubt the most famous person I’ve ever seen speak and just his ability to engage and interact with the audience is unbelievable. Besides his charisma and his illustrious oratory ability, what he actually had to say was quite inspirational. I’m going to try to reiterate it below, but it will come nowhere near to how well he was able to articulate it. If you ever have the opportunity to see him speak, I highly recommend it.

The title of his talk was “The Road Ahead - Faith and Reconciliation in a Time of Global Interdependence”, so as you can imagine, he talked about the many problems that we face as a world, and how we need to come together as a global community in order to fix those major issues. Specifically, he talked about faith and religion and how if we were able to eliminate religious boundaries than the road to eradicating poverty, and dealing with the many other global issues (financial crisis, global warming, energy, etc) would be much more tangible. He then goes on to list three things that we need to focus on in order to eliminate religious boundaries.

1) Eliminate extremism. And not just Islamic extremists, but extremists of all religions. He says that best way to do this is by taking advantage of “the people” (i.e. the majority) and of the wide majority of moderates. He believes that empowering them to take action against the extremists of their own religion will help mitigate much of the racial divide.

2) Get religions to work together. He starts by giving the example of abolishing Malaria in Africa, and in fact, The Tony Blair Foundation is a major supporter of the Malaria No More initiative. He says how hospitals are very sparse throughout most of Africa, yet churches, mosques, and temples are located in multiples in every town. If religions would look past their differences for the common good of their own people and use these religious centers as health care centers as well, then bed nets and malaria prevention can be rapidly spread.

3) Resolve the Palestine / Israel conflict. He says that if politicians were able to negotiate a legitimate and sustainable peace treaty, then this would be the ultimate symbol that religions can co-exist in peace. He says that the best way to accomplish this is by allowing Palestine to attain statehood, while still keeping Israel in tact.

He finally concludes by telling the story of the Northern Ireland peace process (something that he helped broker), in which Protestants and Catholics that had battled for years (called The Troubles) over religious and political differences were able to come together and create a peace treaty.

By focusing on these three things, Blair thinks that we will be able to work together as a global community to help solve the plethora of global issues that we face. I do believe that his approach is quite idealistic and overly optimistic, but I can’t say that he’s wrong. And, frankly, I do hope that he’s right and that someday we’re able to live in a world where there are no religious boundaries and where we do have hormonal peace.

What do you think? Is Blair’s viewpoint right?

Does Generation Y Dream Too Big?

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:44:00 +0000

So I was talking to one of my friends the other day about what he was going to do after he graduates from college. He’s a Business Economics major, and is specifically interested in international business. We talked about a wide range of opportunities that he could get in to – from going to graduate school to doing consulting to volunteering and a wide range of jobs in between. To each idea he responded, “Yeah, that could be cool, but I want to do something exciting”. Which I would then respond, “Well, what’s exciting to you?” Then he would say, “I’m not sure, I just want to do something influential”. When I would then make a sarcastic comment and say, “O, ok, that narrows down the options”. Essentially, the conversation got us nowhere except probably making him more confused about his future options than he was before we talked. And I realized that this isn’t just an issue with my friend, I think it’s a Generation Y issue.

Here’s what I see as the problem: How many times have we heard of twenty-something year olds starting businesses and making millions of dollars? Mark Zuckerberg, Kevin Rose, and a ton of other ones (top 50 entrepreneurs under 30) just to name a few. All of these stories, combined with the plethora of available opportunities, have gotten into the heads of Generation Y. It has made us think that the sky’s the limit, anything is possible, and anything less than that is just mediocre. We want to change the world. We want to be revolutionary, not ordinary. Now that’s all good and well, but no one is going to change the world in a day. In fact, unless you get lucky, you’ll have to work for years to make an impact. But Generation Y has a tough time with patience. We’ve grown up in a world where things are instant, and we don’t like waiting around for things to happen. We look to the sky but don’t realize that you can’t reach the sky without taking the first step. That’s why, at least in my opinion, it’s become custom now for people to change jobs every 2-3 years, if not less than that. People want greatness, and if they don’t get it, they become disheartened and disappointed.

Now I’m not saying don’t have dreams, but I am saying that you have to be realistic about your opportunities. Let’s face it, not all of us are going to change the world and not all of us are going to be revolutionary. As much as our moms have told us that we’re amazing and that we’re number 1, most likely we’re not. Now I’m not saying don’t have dreams and hopes, but I am saying that you have to take the first step.

So what’s the first step? First and foremost, figure out what you want. “Change the world” is not an answer. Either is “Let’s just see what happens”. How are you going to change the world? Figure out what career you want and what’s the best way to get in to that career path. Once you get their, work hard, but be patient. Don’t half-ass your job, because no one that has ever achieved greatness was lazy. But don’t expect to become CEO in a day either. If you take it step by step, while still having your eye towards to future, you will still be able to achieve greatness. But overlooking that first step could be detrimental for your career and for your ego.

The thing is, we as a generation have the opportunities and the potential to truly change the world, but saying it and talking about it won’t make it happen. We need to take action and strive to achieve those dreams, otherwise we will always look for and think of something better, but it will never come.

Could Social Media Be Ruining Our Lives?

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:42:00 +0000

So I’ve had this thought for a little while now, and coming across this article made me think that my thoughts could very well be true. Simply, the article says that people that use Facebook get lower grades. Now the study isn’t the most accurate study, and it suggests that it could be due to causation - in other words that other factors could contribute to the lower grades. Things like Facebook users are more likely to have active social lives, or be involved in sports, music, or other extracurricular activities that take up their time. But the thought still remains... could spending time on Facebook be ruining my grades? My job? Or my life?

Well, in my opinion, yes, it is. And I think people are just starting to realize that although social media is beneficial, done in excess it can certainly be detrimental to one’s life. Think about how much time an active social media user spends online in a given day – 4 hours, 5, 6, more? That’s quite a lot of hours. I mean according to Tim Ferris all you need is 4 hours in an entire week to run a whole business, and people are spending 4+ hours a day blogging, chatting on Facebook, looking at pictures on Flickr, tweeting, etc. Imagine what could be done if people used their time doing other, more productive things. Imagine how much time people spend at work sitting on these sites rather than actually working. And like the article mentions above, imagine all the college students that are wasting their hours on Facebook instead of interacting with their friends, studying for tests, or being active in the community. After all that, does spending that much time on social media sites still make sense? Or is it just a big waste of time?

I’m not saying that people should spend zero time on social media sites because there are some benefits, but I think people need to realize that these sites are addicting, and that there are more efficient things that people can do with their time. I’ve listed 4 easy different things that people can do with their time instead of spending it in front of their computer.

1. Read a book. There’s nothing better in my opinion than a good ol-fashioned book. It helps you zone out, relax, and it helps keep your intellectual spirit running.

2. Go on a walk. With all the time that people spend on their computer, it’s important to take time out of the day to go outside and get some fresh air. It’s healthy, relaxing, and it will help get your mind off the nuances of life.

3. Spend time with your family/friends. These are the people that get hurt the most by your excess time spent online. Every hour you spend on social media sites is an hour that you don’t spend interacting with friends or family

4. Start a side-project. So much can be accomplished with all of the extra time you would have if you cut down on your social media time. This can help keep you do something that you’ve always wanted. Create a new product, re-engineer a car, solve a puzzle, or do whatever it is that excites you.

I think that if people cut their social media time down by an hour or two they will realize how efficient they really can be and how great of an impact they really can have. So next time you want to stalk your friends on Facebook or read tweets on Twitter, think against it and do something more productive.

Is this Lebron's year?

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 07:23:00 +0000

So as the regular season of the NBA comes to end, all the good memories of playoffs past start to come back to life. Remember Jordan’s game winning shot over the Jazz? Remember Dwane Wade’s heroics vs the Mavs? Remember the Lakers vs. Kings series or the Heat vs. Knicks series? Well, they’ve all got one common denominator.. playoffs, baby! The one time of year where true basketball heroes emerge and true greatness is brought to the table. But who’s gonna win it all this year? Will the Lakers stay dominant in the west? After all, their healthy, young, talented, o yeah and they have Kobe. Who will come out of the East? Will it be the Celtics or the Cavs? Or will a team from Florida surprise the league? These are all questions that will be answered in the coming weeks but I’ll try my best to predict the future below.

So let’s start with the easy side, the West. The Lakers are hands down the best team in the West with a handful of teams battling it out for second place. I like the Lakers staying healthy and dominant throughout most of the games, with maybe a few bumps here or there. The problem is that the Lakers have shown signs of inconsistency throughout this season with some losses to some pretty weak squads. A game or two like those in a series against the Nuggets or the Jazz and the Lakers could be looking at a pretty steep hill to get out of the West. With all that said, I still think the Lakers come out on top. Kobe’s just too dominant and they just have too much power inside, especially with Bynum coming back.

The East on the other hand is a much different story. First off, there’s the Celtics. Even though they’re slightly older and banged up, they’re still returning champs and they still have three future hall of famers. Yes, they had a slightly under the radar year but they were will able to come out with the third best record in the league and they definitely have the experience to make it to the finals. Their biggest question though is whether they still have that drive and motivation that carried them to the championship last year. Personally, I don’t think they do.

Then there’s the two contenders from Florida – Orlando and Miami. Orlando has Dwight Howard who is the best big man in the game right now, but they’re lack of depth in the back court will hurt them. Losing Jameer Nelson for the year was a huge loss for them and I don’t think they’ll be able to overcome it. Orlando will go out to the Celtics in 6 in the second round. Miami on the other hand has in my opinion the runner-up for the MVP vote, Dwayne Wade. The man is just having an unbelievable season and might be the best closer in the league right now (sorry Kobe and Lebron). Sadly, I don’t think that’s enough. Miami will be a contender for many years to come, but this year they’re going to fall short to the Cavs. Wade and Lebron will have some epic matches but in the end the Cavs supporting cast is better than Miami’s and that will be the difference maker.

So that leaves us with the Cavs. Lebron James at this point is the overwhelming choice for MVP. His numbers are ridiculous and his team will have the best record in the NBA. They’re playing probably the best team defense in the league and they have the offensive firepower to run with most teams. Their biggest problem though is experience. Does anyone remember what happened to them a couple years ago in the finals? 0-4. Sweep. That hurts. They have the talent and the skill to beat the Celtics in a 7 game series and come out of the East, but I don’t know if they have enough to win the championship.

Now the showdown that everyone will be looking forward to – Kobe vs. Lebron. Two of the best in the league right will now will go head to head in the NBA championship. But as anyone will tell you, this is a team game. And although Lebron will win the MVP, the Lakers are a better all around team. They have the power inside, a solid backcourt, and a deep bench. O yeah, and they have the motivation and the desire to win, especially after what happened last year.

So at the end of the day, sorry Lebron, but this isn’t your year. Kobe and the Lakers will take down the ring and the championship in 5 games in Los Angeles. Just remember, you read it here first.

What If?

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:17:00 +0000

So as my short, yet highly entertaining college years come to an end, I start to rethink about old times and think about the “what ifs”. I’m a person that doesn’t have many regrets in life. I know that I definitely wouldn’t be the person I am today if I didn’t go through the experiences and challenges that I faced earlier in life, but I think everyone has to wonder “what if?” Now, the thing that I’m trying to do is instead of sitting here and getting all mopey and sad thinking about the past, I’m going to try to take advantage of the “what ifs” and see if I can minimize them in the next stage of my life.

The next stage in my life is going to be a big transition for me. I’m moving to the other side of the country (New York) and I’m starting an office essentially from the ground up. It’s no easy task to say the least. But I think by analyzing some of the things that I’ve gone through previously in my life, and learning from those mistakes in the future, it’ll make me have a much better experience because of it. And realistically, I think that many college students are going through the same type of scenario and going through this process might help them as well.

So here are my “what ifs” and here’s what I’m going to try to change for the future.

1. I lived in one of the quiet, more separated dorms, rather than the main freshman dorms, but what if I lived where all the other freshmen lived?

2. I joined a Fraternity, but didn’t participate in many other groups or organizations, but what if I did?

3. I slacked off through most of my first year or so in college, but what if I tried harder?

I could get into more personal and specific details but I think I’ll leave those for my own private reflection since I doubt anyone wants to hear those stories. But like I said, rather than mope and worry about the past since I know I can’t change it, here are some things I’m going to try to do when I move out to New York to hopefully not have these “what ifs?” when the next stage of my life rolls around.

1. I’ve been researching as much as possible about the potential areas to live in in New York. What’s in the surrounding area? What types of people live there? Is it a nice area? Is it quiet (well, quiet for New York) or is it loud and rowdy?

2. I’m going to try to be as active in different groups, organizations, and networks as possible. I’m going to be a recruiter so that’s always a good first step for networking. I’m a big sports fan (all sports). I love to play poker. I love social media. It’s these interests and passions that I will look for in other organizations that I didn’t participate in in college.

3. I will give it everything I have. In my opinion, I’ve realized that the harder I work, the better I will feel as a result. Not working hard and slacking off only makes me feel that I could have done more, or tried harder, and I want to make sure I don’t have those doubts in New York.

Although these opinions are personal to my own experiences, I think that many college students or even seasoned professionals have these same types of thoughts. But in my opinion, it’s the ability to understand the mistakes and lessons learned in the past and work towards ensuring that these same mistakes and regrets don’t resurface in the future.

Welcome!

noreply@blogger.com (Pepstein) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:53:00 +0000

Hello!

My name is Peter Epstein and I'm currently a senior majoring in Business Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Considering that I'm in college, I would estimate that about 15 hours of my day are spent on the internet - reading different news articles, commenting on things I think are interesting, Facebooking, etc... After getting pissed off about a number of different topics, I decided that I would finally start revealing my thoughts to the world and create this blog. It'll probably take me a while to start getting in the flow of blogging, but I'm planning on eventually writing a couple articles a day. Hopefully they'll be interesting, but I guess we'll see what happens.

Peace!