A Learning a Day

When I started out with blogging, I used to re-blog a fair bit. It was the easy thing to do as thinking of a new idea/learning every day was not easy. These days, I have the opposite problems – too many ideas and too few days. But, every once a while, I come across a post that I feel deserves to be re-blogged and today was one of them.

The honor usually goes to Seth Godin but today, it’s a wonderful post from my friend Kevin Marshall (who built the Gawk.it search widget you see on the sidebar). Hope you enjoy his post as much as I did.

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I often find myself thinking about my great grandfather (so much so that I used his first name as my oldest son‘s middle name as a small way to honor him and the following train of thought).

He passed away before I was born, so I never met him and I honestly don’t know very much about him. I don’t know what he did for a living, what his hobbies were, who his friends were, what his dreams and aspirations were…nothing.

Yet, I know that he existed and that I wouldn’t if he hadn’t. I know that he was a regular guy and so he most likely had good days, bad days, and more than anything average days.

And I imagine, or rather project, that his day-to-day stuff probably seemed really important and ‘required’ to him…because that is how most of us operate throughout our days. Yet I, just two generations removed within his very own family, appear to be mostly un-effected (or at least completely unaware) of any it.

This general thought has *really* bothered me over the years.

And it bothers me more when I extrapolate those thoughts out to the billions of other people who have lived through history…most completely forgotten (even by their own families).

I understand that only a few people from any given generation will be remembered by history…but given this, the fact that we all spend so much time, worry, and energy on what happens in our day-to-day seems kind of silly and somewhat useless to me.

And that is why, no matter what is going on in my own little corner of the world, I don’t let things get me too down or stressed out. I try to always keep my personal priorities and goals clear and in the front of my mind. Because in just a few short years, very little of any of it will be remembered or matter to the world at large.

This general flow of thought has long been one of the reasons I *rarely* have a bad day, and instead and am generally happy and in a good mood.

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Wonderful thought for the weekend Kevin. Thank you.

Great!

If you aren’t coming face to face with your limits every once in a while, how would you be able to push them?

VLOOKUP is one of the most popular excel formulas that exists. Looking up and finding data is one of the most common uses of excel and VLOOKUP is many an excel user’s go-to formula. VLOOKUP has one very annoying limitation however; it can only search to the right of the table.

INDEX+MATCH solves this problem and also does a better job. On average, INDEX+MATCH has been found to be 5-10% faster than VLOOKUP and when you are working with huge sets of data, this stuff begins to make a difference.

Basic use

I would suggest you spend 5 minutes learning the syntax of INDEX+MATCH by heart as it will save you a ton of time.

Index(“column with data you want”, MATCH(“data you have”, “column which contains this data”,0))

Demonstration: I have demonstrated this in the INDEX+MATCH sheet in today’s spreadsheet. Please download it here or please feel free to send me an email with your dropbox ID and I’ll be happy to share the folder.

(Tip: When you open the sheet, press CTRL+~ to see al formulas in the sheet. Same combination to reverse the view)

Advanced use

INDEX+MATCH is a very powerful combination and has numerous advanced uses. I have illustrated one advanced use – you can use it to extract all unique values from a list.

Another useful use is to have embed an INDEX+MATCH within an INDEX+MATCH to search both horizontally and vertically. You’ll find these applications on google as and when you need it.

The point to remember here is that INDEX+MATCH is the way to go when building excel models. Learn how to use them and you’ll find multiple uses for this very powerful combination.

Look forward to your questions in the comments.

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Series introduction, Part 1 (Set up), Part 2 (Shortcuts), Part 3(SUMIFS, COUNTIFS)

We haven’t figured out how to do online learning yet. A couple of friends and I are working on a project we call the “OpenLearn” project to improve how skill building is done online. 

We need your help with a 5 question survey to get your views about learning new skills and doing so online - it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes and we would really appreciate if you took the time. 

Please click here or go to http://tinyurl.com/openlearnsurvey. Thank you for your help

Look back at your past few successes and failures and you will see that the margins between success and failure are often very fine. You’re often just a half-step away from being heralded a genius and most often, you need a bit of luck or inspiration to make it past that half step. If you don’t have that bit of luck on your side, you’re suddenly closer to a naive idiot than a genius.

Of course, you have to put in a ton of preparation to give yourself that shot, but once you get close, small external forces you have no control over can change the outcome. The good news is that in the long run, luck balances out. In short spurts however, a lack of luck at the final step can be very frustrating.

So, what can you do?

1. Acknowledge that you are the sailor in stormy seas. It helps knowing where you are going but a strong wind in either direction can make you miss the target despite your efforts.

2. Keep putting in the preparation required to give yourself a shot at succeeding. There may be fine margins in the final step when you are competing against 2 others to land the big client but there is a huge gap between the ones who made it to the final step and the ones who didn’t. Keep getting yourself in the mix.

3. Don’t account for luck in your plan. If you account for luck, call it a wish. It’s not a plan.

This week’s book learning is from Willpower by Roy Baumeister.

After decades of research in the subject of willpower and self control, Roy Baumeister and John Tierney give us a fully scientific approach to weight loss.

1. Never go on diets. Drastic reductions are best never done. As evolution has made sure, our body copes by making sure it binge eats just in case ‘famine’ hits again.

2. Start with pre-commitments.

• Begin by keeping fattening food out of reach and out of sight – office workers ate a 3rd less candy when it was kept inside a draw.
• Simple commitment strategy to avoid late night snacking is to brush your teeth right after dinner. This adds resistance and makes snacking seem less attractive.

3. Make implementation intentions. If you are going to a buffet, say to yourself “I will eat only vegetables and lean meat” – this makes following it an automatic process.

4. Keep a food diary/log.

5. Place a bet with a bookmaker or with a friend. Name a realistic goal and put a tough penalty – losing 5-10% of weight is a realistic goal to start with. Losing more than 2 pounds a week is unrealistic.

6. Spend time with fit people. People reinforce behaviors and standards. Obese people cluster together and the same happens with smokers and alcoholics. Peer pressure and culture are why people in Europe weigh less than those in America because social norms don’t allow snacking during the day.

7. Maintain steady supplies of willpower. Eat regularly and get adequate rest so your willpower reserves are steady.

Finally, take your time to reach your goal and don’t let up. Keep up incentives to maintain weight.

Maintain steady supplies of willpower for a better life..
Sketch by EB

I hope you enjoyed the series of learnings from Willpower. In case you ever need a refresher, do check out our learnographic.

We took our post-wedding trip to French Polynesia. We chose French Polynesia as it was a far flung destination we would not have gone to otherwise. It took us about 30 hours to get there but boy, was it worth it. French Polynesia is home to gorgeous lagoons i.e. shallow bodies of water separated by reefs. Here is a French Polynesia primer in case you ever plan to take a trip there.

1. French Polynesia is a collection of islands in the South Pacific. It is between New Zealand and South America and south of Hawaii. The best way to get there is via Auckland, Tokyo, or Los Angeles.

2. They boast among the most beautiful beaches in the world but still suffer from relative obscurity. On the one hand, this makes it a lovely tourist destination but on the other hand, the tourism business is still struggling. One reason for that is unstable governance. They’ve had 7 or so government changes in the last decade and that doesn’t help.

3. French Polynesia has 4 groups of islands and the “Society” group are the most popular of the lot. Tahiti, Mo’orea, Taha’a, and Bora Bora form the tourist circuit.

4. Thanks to the large number of reefs, they are really great for diving enthusiasts. They are great for snorkelling too and you get treated to all sorts of marine life including large lemon sharks – a real life experience.

5. French Polynesia can range from mid-budget to extremely expensive. Since the economy is more or less built on tourism and since it is located so far away from civilization, it isn’t cheap by any standard but it isn’t helped by the fact that most tourism advertising is done by the big resort chains. There are many places for cheap/mid range accommodation and it is worthwhile thanks to the huge number of marine activities and the gorgeous views.

6. The locals are lovely island folk. They are typically engaged in fishing, farming, or tourism and are all friendly, warm and fun loving. Most of the pensions (i.e. cheap/mid-range accommodation) are owned by French settlers. French is the common tongue but most are familiar with English. Their dances, music, and love for coconuts had lots of similarities with South Indian customs.

7. Air travel between the islands is a lot of fun. All the airports are old air force bases and have cats walking around. There is no security check whatsoever and you are free to carry whatever you want into the plane. And of course, no need to switch of devices when you take off and land!

8. So, when should you plan a trip to French Polynesia? Any time really! Since it’s a huge distance away from most places except the West Coast of the US, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of South America, it makes sense to look for landmarks. There were tons of honeymooners, many celebrating their 10th, 15th, 25th wedding anniversaries with their families, among others.

Planning a trip to French Polynesia is not an easy task since information is scarce. We had a lot of help from a friend and my primary motive in writing this post is to offer help to you if you ever need it. Please just send me a note and I’ll be more than happy to help.

It’s a great place for celebration and just as a taster, I’d like to leave you with a few pictures. I only wish they did justice to the real thing..

View from the Magic Mountain in Mo’orea

Vahine Island – a small island off Taha’a

Bora Bora’s lagoon from the plane. Bora Bora is the most picturesque island.

Stingrays in very shallow lagoon water (4 feet)

Sudden dip in depth of lagoon water in Bora Bora

A better photographer would have converted this into a desktop wallpaper

The assumption when a candidate goes into a job interview is that the candidate is selling and the interviewer is buying. It’s similar when a prospective tenant is viewing a home – the tenant is the default buyer while the owner’s letting agent is the seller.

But, let’s consider the following situation – the candidate has 2 great job offers while the interviewer has been desperately trying to fill that particular position for many months. Similarly, the home is one that “rents itself” while the tenant is at a point of desperation in his search for homes.

As a wiser friend pointed out, when you walk into a buyer-seller situation today, keep an eye out for the real dynamics of the situation. Ask yourself – who is buying and who is selling? It is ideal to be the buyer but circumstances often force us to be sellers. If we’re to be sellers, let’s acknowledge our role but be self aware enough to sell with panache and enthusiasm, and not appear desperate. Appearing desperate is a put off.

Besides, in a negotiation, you are at your best position when you are willing to walk away..

We spend the first quarter of our life in schools preparing for final exams. Final exams are, as their name suggests, big and important. The more important ones determine which high schools and colleges we attend and have a sizeable impact on our life.

Real life is very different though. There are no final exams – only a never ending series of class tests. Some class tests are more important than others but, in the final analysis, it remains just a class test. There are a couple of nice advantages to this.

First, class tests allow for endless iteration. Yes, doing badly on a more important test can close a door but our progress in the long run will be determined by our persistence, tenacity, and the rate at which we learn from our successes and failures.

Second, our best selves don’t matter nearly as much as our average selves or who we are most of the time. In the long run, we make a difference when we raise our average performance level and ensure our lows aren’t damaging. Balance in our mental state isn’t overrated.

Finally, a never ending series of class tests means we can never cite lack of motivation or inspiration as an excuse. Every time we feel a lack of internal energy, we must stop and repeat – “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.”

Enjoy today’s tests and trial. It’s the infinite game – let’s have some fun!