Author: Carl Setzer

A blogger blogging from just north of Seattle.

Living without regrets

Carl Setzer
A life with no regrets doesn’t need to mean one with no mistakes. Really it means you’re always looking forward, not obsessed with the past.

Our culture pushes a fear of failure, deeply. With that, achieving failure often triggers a deep identification AS a failure. It’s an easy trap to get ensnared by. Watch for it!
It robs joy, and drains focus for the NOW. This builds a negativity mindset, one where all compliments are distrusted, all opportunities are dreaded. In this world, the only efforts wth making are ones with guaranteed outcomes. Which are few and weak.
The ultimate regret:  failing to finish a dream. Seek to prevent that. Keep your eyes forward; find dreams and embrace them. Then steel yourself to fight, fumble and stagger your way forward. It’s helps to focus forward, towards the top of the hill we’re climbing. Efficiency often is inelegant. Crossing the finishline is ultimately what matters, whether perfectly coiffed or dripping sweat.

Updated: I found this graphic that sums this up well. Enjoy!

Weariness

Carl Setzer

Inspiration dry.
Exhaustion creeping throughout.
Gray skies crushing me.

Minecraft

Carl Setzer

My son requested I download Minecraft at some point in history; I’m not sure when. The months (years perhaps) of watching him engage the game impressed me. This game engages creativity in a deep and significant way, in ways no shooter one can. With his current creation, he’s taking into account architectural details like work and room flow (currently building a bakery). Then when I mentioned to him about how Boeing camouflaged their Seattle plant during World War II (built a fake neighborhood above), he announced that he was building his own Boeing factory.

It delights me to see his brain working like this. And the standard gaming side-benefits (most noticeably better hand-eye coordination and dexterity) are nice, I love the creativity. His right brain is getting brilliantly stimulated. For that, I’m grateful.

Economic Cost

Carl Setzer
We don’t see that what we pay directly influences how well others live. By driving to pay less, always less, we drive down the quality of life for others; this lust for advantage. Now I understand that we expect that the lowered costs come from the horded wealth of the exploiters. Yet, really, that cost is born by the most vulnerable.
Where is the sweet spot: customer maximizes their lives, seller theirs? It’s truly impossible to know without transparency. Which won’t be fully realized without trust.
Finding this place of trust, where we can believe, fully, that each party is seeking “win-win”, this is the great challenge for humanity. To move past seeking advantage, from exploitation to relationship and respect. To seek out a world where we all grow, all benefit and no one is crushed by inequality. This is my dream, at least.

Winter’s Breath

Carl Setzer

Air flows calmly down.
Teeth of winter’s brutal bite
Tranquil snows falling.

Annoyance shouldn’t equate to rage

Carl Setzer

We need to be able to experience annoyance about the descending into judgmental rage. Far too often, people burst into a rage at the mildest of provocations. The all too familiar “Road Rage” is, perhaps, the most common variation.

My perception: we have developed a lack of ability to process modern life’s nuisances. Perhaps it’s the speed, or expected speed of today’s life. Anything that impacts our speeding at maximum perhaps frightens too much.

Finding that place of tranquility; tis a serious challenge. Not something we teach much. Our ability to collaborate gets compromised. And collaboration is our economic future. Socially corrosive, this is.

Marketing and Business Expertise

Carl Setzer

Saw a flyer earlier today for a Business Planning Clinic which amused me. I support thoughtful business planning, however, this flyer failed to impress me. First, it presented me with a whole page of information, including such things as the presenter’s marital status, but didn’t have date, location or price. In other words, a marketing “fail”. Really, none of the key “Ws” were communicated besides “who”.

So, would I take business planning advice from someone who fails a basic flyer, their critical chance to get me engaged? Perhaps a rhetorical question, but I’ll leave that analysis up to you.