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  • Be Intense

    Victor Hartanto Wibisono 12:40 am on December 27, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply

    This is post is inspired by a post at Jeff Atwood’s awesome blog post. (”Who needs talent when you have intensity?”)

    Alright, basically the gist of his blog post is this:

    Even if you think you don’t have the talent to do a job, don’t focus on your incompetent. Instead, only focus on delivering and you’ll be able to deliver just like a pro.

    Let’s face it. I am at this age when I don’t really have any concrete / tangible expertise in anything. I mean, I’m not any prodigy and neither is 20 years long enough for me to develop any expertise in any of the areas I’ve got myself involved in — Linux, options / stock trading, programming, writing, etc.

    But the message is this: the feeling of incompetence should not hinder anyone from practicing something he knows he is capable of. If you’re a budding photographer, don’t let the thought of your inability to produce postcard-like pictures hinder you from practicing your photographic skills. ‘cos if your focus is on your incompetence, you’ll be too paralyzed by it to hone your skills and this won’t help you become better.

    So relax, smile and focus on just having fun and creating stuff with whatever skills you have. It doesn’t matter if you’re a noob or a pro, ‘cos what matters is that at the end of the day, you’re gonna’ become what you have ambitioned to be. :)

    Another post a day after Christmas! Merry Christmas! :D

     

  • Writing as the last resort

    Victor Hartanto Wibisono 12:08 am on December 27, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply

    Andre Aciman of Stanford University once said that writing should be the last resort in finding answers to questions about your own life. He said: “if there is psychotherapy as an option, then psychotherapy might be better.”  (link)

    Oooooo.. what a statement, isn’t it! Writing is basically for erm.. erm.. m.. mad people!

    And if it takes some madness to write better, then let me be mad! Let me be more and more mad so I can write better! :D

    Oh writing, how it ACTUALLY answers many of my life’s deepest questions! :D

    Merry Christmas, people! :0

     

  • What's going on?

    Victor Hartanto Wibisono 11:49 am on December 13, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply

    What’s going on, I do not know.

    What it is about you, that makes me **.

    A year and 2 countries later

    And I am still as crazy about you as I was before

    I have seen the others

    Some more beautiful, some less

    But just none of them are like you

    And I don’t even know why

    You are my base of comparison

    I have learnt that in every crossroads there are 2 paths: the desired one and the undesired one

    And it is for the better of me that I get prepared for the undesired one

    Well in fact, I am prepared — oh I’m not.

    Am I in your mind like how you are in mine?

    I don’t think so — or perhaps I do.

    Do I like it this way? No I don’t

    I just want to forget you

    And forget you and forget you

    So I can move on with my life

    Without the thought of you haunting me

    It’s been a torture hearing them talk about you

    And I have tried and tried

    To make it seem to my brain that nothing has happened

    That I have totally erased that episode out of my memory

    I don’t know

    If I should forget you, or just keep you in mind

    With the thought that later, God will finally decide

    To either help me forget you or get you in my arms

    Ah, ah ah ah ah ah ah

     

  • Process vs Result

    Victor Hartanto Wibisono 1:43 am on December 13, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
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    Just a note: I’m so sorry for complaining but I think this time it is pretty much legitimate. My — not one but — two Windows OS has become so lagged and so sucky I have decided to throw it away and start using Ubuntu. C’mon, Windows! :p

    ——

    I’m a big believer of the notion that the process is always more important than the outcome. I have always believed that it ain’t about what is on the other side. And neither is it about how fast you’ll achieve your results.

    Yes, being focused about your outcome is a good thing. But I think we should never lose sight of the importance of the enjoying every moment of your struggle. Yes, it may some times be painful, dreadful and basically undesirable, but even then we still have to focus on the process instead of the outcome. Focus on what you are going to learn from your struggle; focus on what you are going to learn from the discipline you put in through your struggle. Focus on the process instead of the outcome. Anyway, the book “The Road Less Travelled” talks about how discipline is delaying gratification and just doing the difficult stuff first before the more enjoyable ones.

    So, the consequences of focusing on the outcome instead of the process is the fact that you will not be looking for the easiest of stuff, but rather the most meaningful. You’ll chuck even the slightest thought of earning easy money through a ‘proven gambling strategy’ or anything of that sort ‘cos you’ll basically go for something that will be a better use of your talents. And even when you think about your career, the thought of earning a ’stable income’ will come after considering whether or not the job will make good use of your capabilities.

    And don’t ever think that doing all these creative stuff is fun, you should think again. Because no matter how exciting these stuff can seemingly be, any kind of meaningful things will actually need a lot of hardwork. And such hardwork associated with the creation of amazing stuff is also mandatory for even some of the most experienced artists, novelists, etc.

    So, my messages for the night is this:

    1. Instead of focusing on the outcome of whatever it is you are doing, focus on the process and what you can learn from the process.
    2. When choosing to do anything at all, choose to do stuff that will make full use of your talents and potential instead of stuff that only keeps you busy.
    3. Even when doing stuff you like, you have to understand that there some hardwork and discipline will have to be put in. Don’t complain, just do it.

    So that’s it, mates! Good night! :D

     

  • Victor Hartanto Wibisono 1:18 am on October 28, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
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    Wow.. one more day and the Karmic Koala is outttttttt!! Woohooo!! I can’t wait! :D

     

  • The Secret to Greatness

    Victor Hartanto Wibisono 6:44 pm on October 27, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
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    Michael Jackson spend hours and hours everyday rehearsing for his concerts and recording in the studio. Michael Phelps swim 5km every day for years leading up to the Olympics. Michael Jordan said that the secret to being better than other is to “train harder than anyone else”. He said that: “When my friends are sleeping, I’m training. When my friends are making love, I train.”

    So, what’s the secret to greatness here?

    Malcolm Gladwell calls it the 10,000 hour rule. That is: if you wanna’ be good at something, you’d have to have done that thing for at least 10,000 hour. This ‘rule’ by Gladwell is based on statistical data and may seem rather impossible to many of us.

    But if we just forget the 10,000 hour part of it, it is basically saying to us that if we wanna’ be good at something, spend time on it! :D If you want to be good with computers, spend all your life in front of the computer! If you want to be good at swimming, try swimming 5km every day! :D If you wanna’ be good with girls, be around them all your life! :p (I’m just kidding..)

    So, that’s my 2-cent worth of reflection for the day! May all of us reach that point of greatness. :D

    See you and have an enjoyable evening! :D

     

  • Victor Hartanto Wibisono 12:09 am on October 27, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
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    I am currently having a terrible toothache, accompanied by very painful ulcers and the unceasing flow of mucus flowing out of my nose. But I know I’ve gotta’ be strong and forget about the pain and continue living life. Cos the more I am into the pain, the more the pain will be there. I have to concentrate on making the pain go away by eating medicine, etc. And for now, it’s gotta’ be my exams that is on my mind. :)

     

  • About Preparing Early

    Victor Hartanto Wibisono 12:07 am on October 27, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
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    This is what political analysts say about SBY’s victory at the recent election: “SBY won because he prepared for this election very early. In fact, his preparation for the 2nd term election started on the first day of his first term in Office.”

    Another quotation I remember talks about preparation this way: “If you are already prepared for something, you have already won half the battle.”

    So, prepare early. Prepare for your work interview and your after-college life on the first day you begin your undergraduate education. Prepare for your exams the moment you step into your first class in school. Prepare for your life as soon as you realise that you’ve got to stand on your own feet sooner or later. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

     

  • About Being Creative

    Victor Hartanto Wibisono 5:19 pm on October 25, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
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    I was very much inspired by the writing of Justine Musk (here) about being a good writer. I think this rule generally applies to all discipline: in order to be a creative writer, you have to read; if you wanna’ be a creative programmer, you have to be kept constantly in the loop of good programs; if you want to be a creative designer, you have to constantly see good design. In my opinion, it is this process of being inspired that will in turn enable you to inspire others through your work. So, this is my first point.

    My second point is this: people often ask me this question: “what’s the point of being creative? I have exams to study for and assignments to complete, I don’t have time for all these stuff.” And my answer is always simple — this world does not need knowledgeable people as much as it needs creative people. And who are these creative people? They are the people who not only know stuff, but they use their knowledge to create stuff. They dare to be different — when their mates are only concentrating about school, they’d dare to venture out and become businessmen / businesswomen, singers, writers, artists, etc. They dare to use what they know and produce something of value.

    With all due respect, I am not trying to belittle or underrate the importance of knowledgeable people — I know you guys are good and will become successful in the future. But what I am trying to say is this: Do not ever try to discourage the work of creative people who may seemingly be going off tangent with whatever it is that you think you are “supposed to do”. Azrul Ananda, Sherina and Raditya Dika are some of the people who may not have the most experience in their field or the most knowledge but are succeeding due to their sheer amount of creativity and tremendous hard work. I am genuinely inspired by these people and wish to become like them in the near future.

    And from some of my reading, it is a common idea that most creative process happens during your undergraduate years. Two reasons for this: 1. you’re probably at an age when you are mature enough to think like an adult, but not have so much in your mind like what the normal adults have (eg. paying bills, family, etc.). 2. undergraduate people are basically not as busy as the people who are in the workforce.

    So I think it is a good idea that we devote at least 1% more of our attention towards creative processes instead of spending all our time studying for exams :P .

    Good luck in your creative processes, mates! Have a great day! :)

     

  • Obama and SBY

    Victor Hartanto Wibisono 8:42 pm on October 9, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Indonesia,

    Watching both the speeches of Obama and SBY was a truly inspiring experience.  Well, I actually wanted to watch SBY’s speech at Harvard Uni (link). However, since SBY says his speech was partly in response to Obama’s speech at Cairo Uni (link), I ended up watching both.

    In this post, I’m keen to try and outline my thoughts on what makes the two speeches tick.

    These are what I can derive from SBY’s speech

    #1: Knowledge

    SBY’s speech seems to reflect deep understanding of world affairs as well as matters back home. This shouldn’t be surprising considering the fact that he is a PhD holder (just like many of you smarty-pants) and how he is commonly referred to in Indo as “The Thinking President”. And if you compare him to the rest of the presidential election candidates (esp. the prettiest one), it is also no surprise why he won the recent election — Indonesian made a wise choice.

    #2: Humility

    I’m not sure how to support this with empirical evidence, but I get this sense of humility when watching the speech of SBY. It was as if he was giving a tutorial to a small group of about five people. And that he was kindly, patiently and effortlessly making his audience understand his arguments.

    #3: Formality

    Perhaps due to an over-estimation of the intelligence of his audience — the smart Harvard kids — SBY’s speech sound a little bit too formal, IMO. He could have made it simpler so people like me wouldn’t have to repeat parts of the speech to catch what he was saying. =P

    … and from Obama’s:

    #1: Charisma

    I strongly feel that Obama has that innate ability to say the right thing at the right time. Some of the “hit-the-spot” moments of his speech: when he said “Assalamualaikum”, and when he talks about how the Muslim world should also give Americans a fair view just like how Americans has given them respect.

    Another thing about Obama’s charisma I think comes from his tone of voice and his posture. I have no background knowledge in this area, but that’s how I feel. So, let’s keep it to this.

    #2: Simplicity

    I think Obama has that elusive ability to simplify complex ideas so that everyone understands him. Simplifying complex ideas does not mean reducing complexity of ideas but rather phrasing the ideas in such a way that it is much easier to comprehend. In Mathematics, it’s like simplifying 25/30 into 5/6. Same meaning, but simpler and easier to understand. Obama has that ability which I think is crucial for each and everyone of us. If we can talk in simpler terms, others will understand us better and we’ll not face that problem of “not being understood”.

    Well these are my two-cent worth of comments. Watch the videos yourself and you’ll be inspired. =P

    Good night! :D

     

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