Passionate Living

For this post at the end of October, I thought I’d do something different than usual: review a book by one of my favorite speakers on the subject of creativity. This is the first book review style post of a series to come, where I plan to review one book per month in accordance to my ongoing plan of purchasing and reading only one non-fiction book per month. This month’s author is Elizabeth Gilbert [1], and her book is Eat Pray Love [2].

Now to tell you how I found Elizabeth is worth a separate post on it’s own, because then I would have to tell you about the best place where you can learn the most about the world in the shortest amount of time: the TED website. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and Elizabeth’s speech during the TED Global 2009 Conference at Oxford became one of the hit speeches of the conference. It’s one of the most discussed speaks on the TED website because her talk on creativity shares an authentic perspective on how she views genius to be tantamount to hard work and personal commitment [3].

Elizabeth received the opportunity to talk at TED because she has recently enjoyed mainstream commercial success with her travel memoir style autobiography book “Eat Pray Love”. It’s a best seller that’s been sold over 5 million copies worldwide (according to the cover of the copy that I have). It’s also planned to be made into a movie starring leading actress Julia Roberts (her testimonial on the book is printed as the first on the cover). If you ask me though, I think that this is the kind of book that’s difficult to translate into a movie because most of the content is Liz’s thoughts about herself, love, life, and God.

One woman’s search for everything

The book starts with Liz being in Italy, a country she’s always wanted to visit since the first time she heard Italian. It’s the first leg of her year-long journey where she devotes her time in Italy to the pursuit of pleasure. This is the first country she travels to because she had suffered a deep and destabilizing depression that caused her to divorce her husband and often made her feel suicidal. While in Italy she made great friends (one aptly called Luca Spaghetti), and learned fluent Italian. But her greatest accomplishment was that she managed to regain her health, her body weight, and new found confidence to help her rebuild her self esteem as a woman.

The next leg of the journey is India, where she devotes four months to the pursuit of devotion. Here, she stays in an Ashram that belongs to an India spiritual Guru that she became a student of back in America. Her days at the Ashram are spent in manual labor and deep meditations. At first she doesn’t like it and thinks that it won’t work for her, but Liz finally succeeds in letting go of the pain and hesitation and received peace with herself and the energy of her divorced husband. This is the part of the book that I like the most, although there are some conclusions that I disagree with.

The final leg of the book tells her experience staying in Bali, Indonesia, where she revisits a medicine man that prophecized she would come back when she first visited two years before. From him, Liz learns about Balinese culture and medicine, and how she wants to spend her time in Bali in search of the balance between pleasure and devotion. From Ketut the medicine man, she meets with Wayan, a massage therapist, and the two of them become best friends. Their names are worth mentioning because from this relationship Liz finally met the man with whom she can learn to love again – a Brazilian expatriat by the name of Philippe.

Attraversiamo – let’s cross over

Attraversiamo is Liz’s favorite word in English – it means Let’s cross over. It is an appropriate phrase to describe her transition from one phase of her life to the next. The end of despair and the beginning of hope.

From Liz we can learn that to reach spiritual enlightenment, you need hard work. You need to dedicate yourself to the pursuit of devotion. You need to create the balance between your spiritual achievement and also physical achievement.

However, it’s interesting to see that she needed to indulge her senses in Italy first before she could start her spiritual search [4]. It’s also a lesson that anyone who makes the effort, can grow close to God, regardless of the faith that she believes in. I have only one question though, where I object to the conclusion she makes: why must it be about love in the end? Is there no greater purpose than healing our hearts and learning to love again? If we are born to hurt then to heal, than isn’t that just returning to the same place we arrived?

I believe there’s a greater purpose. It’s not just about love in the end. It’s about attaining spiritual strength, and then using that strength to live according to principles.

Have you read the book? What’s your take on Liz Gilbert’s thoughts in the memoir? Have you had a similar experience in your life?

—

*I’ve started a tumble log, titled Passionate Living Inspired, where I post quotes from the book that I’m reading the current month. I actually bought Eat Pray Love in August, but I’ve only started the project now. Have a look to see quotes from the books that I find interesting and inspirational.

[1] Elizabeth Gilbert official site
[2] Information on Eat Pray Love
[3] Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity talk on TED
[4] How Much Do We Need?, 2009

Do you remember what it was like growing up? Remember the times your parents bought you clothes and toys? And as you get a little older, they support your teenage lifestyle?

I think that we cost too much growing up. We consume so much resources by making the mistakes we make in order to learn the lessons we need to learn. We are frivolous with what we enjoy and are most times ungrateful for the things we are given.

My question is: is this alright? Is it a standard we can live by? Because I feel that I cost too much growing up, and the return on investment may not necessary show a promising profit.

Smart investing

Since we’re talking about investments, let’s take a look at several investing parameters that investors use and figure out how we can apply them to our lives:

1. Return on Investment (ROI)[1]. Measured in percentages, this is one of the most important parameters used to identify whether an investment is worth the cost or not. The ROI number is how much money you get in return for each one spent, and is equivalent to an interest rate when saving in a bank. For example, if the ROI of a project is less than the interest rate of saving in a bank, than why not just save in a bank instead – you’ll get more return for your money.

2. Pay Back Period (PBP)[2]. Measured in months, this is the amount of time necessary for your money to return. Sometimes the PBP of a small project could be as short as two months, and in larger projects could be as long as several years. Sometimes the pay does not come back.

3. Internal Rate of Return (IRR)[3]. Measured also in percentages, this one is a fickle concept. What it basically means is that it tells you how strong the investment is towards fluctuation in inflation. If the IRR number is smaller than the current inflation rate, that means that although you make money, in real purchasing power measurement you aren’t making any money.

A smart investor’s purpose is simple: to make money by making money work for her. And in the same sense a smart person’s purpose is simple: to create value by using the resources available. Now how can we use the meaning of these parameters to measure our efficiency in life?

Sophisticated investing

These parameters teach us the intrinsic measurable profits in what we do. It doesn’t always have to be about money. It can also be about maintaining relationships, choosing our own method of education, and deciding on the things that we buy and keep or discard and leave.

What’s your ROI? How much value are you creating per unit of resource that you consume? Does it take you a lot of effort just to give yourself a little or do you constantly search for better and healthier ways you can continuously promote what you believe in and enjoy growth as a person?

What’s your PBP? How long do you take to grow up and become an independent person? How long before you grow over your heartbreaks and take the responsiblity of being happy yourself regardless of external conditions that you can’t control?

What’s your IRR? How strong are you in the face of adversity? How do you educate yourself so that you can keep ahead of the small mindset paradigm most people use and live by only for themselves?

If you are born into a rich family, you may get the inheritance. But as past and present kings have shown, good character does not necessarily run in the family. Good character is not passed down by inheritance.

Every person needs to be responsible for their well-being, both in the economic area and in the personal growth area. There are times when we can file for bankruptcy and ask for a bailout to help us through tough and rigorous times. But most of the time, with good planning and strong discipline we can achieve good results and avoid falling victim when the circumstances change.

Do you feel that it was worth it growing up? What lessons can you learn from your youth that you can apply now to lead a more efficient life? How has your past mistakes helped in shaping your mindset today? Share your stories here

—

[1] Read how to measure ROI here
[2] and how to measure PBP here
[3] and measure IRR here
[4] Photograph by Kevin Zhengli

How many people die inside an ambulance on the way to the hospital? How many factories run on outdated technology that actually cost more to maintain than to upgrade? How much technology is designed not to excel, but merely to comply?

What if ambulances were designed to be mobile hospitals with the same capabilities of a hospital room? Instead of building ambulances merely to sustain life on the way to the hospital, what if we designed ambulances that have the tools that can bring life back and sustain it well right there inside the vehicle? Then the only concern would be to arrive at the accident scene in time and no need to rush over to the hospital.

Do you think it’s possible? Many of you might say “but that’s difficult”, or “the technology isn’t here yet”, or “even if it was, it would be very expensive”. Well, let’s think for a while that it’s not expensive, it’s relatively simple, and the technology is already here.

Do you know how many innovations and inventions are elegant? Do you know how many engineers and scientists do come up with novel solutions that are not only better, but also faster and cheaper? You’d be surprised at the true capacity of human genius if only the institutions vested to protect obsolete technology would step aside.

This is the problem. Most engineers and scientists are trapped thinking inside the box. Years of education and training from the institutions lead them to believe that better, faster, cheaper all at once isn’t possible. They are trained not to innovate and challenge old beliefs, but to conform and comply with the status quo.

A case for medical professionalism

Let me present you with a case study from a lecturer of mine back in college who specializes in membrane technology:

This Indonesian professor succeeded in creating a dialysis machine [1] that’s better, faster, and cheaper. He was able to do so because he used domestic tools and materials vis-a-vis the old method of importing them. He then presented his design to a board of medical doctors.

However, the doctors declined his offer. The professor was confused. It’s much better technology that’s much safer and cheaper for the patients, why are the doctors being so stubborn?

The answer: they hadn’t made their money back on the old machine.

We are a poor society indeed

This is our mistake. We are trapped thinking inside the box. We still conform to the old technology, when technology that is better, faster, and cheaper can be made.

We are still afraid and not confident of our own skills. We are more afraid about losing money than we are about hurting society. Junior engineers don’t speak up because they are afraid they might compromise their careers if they do.

The key to change is in the paradigm. We still suffer from a colonized mindset. We think that technology that doesn’t come from a western country can’t be trusted and second only to western technology that’s very expensive to import, install, and maintain.

We need to break from this obsolete mindset if we are to leave obsolete design and technology. It’s mandatory that we do so. The risks that we take by playing it safe are much more dangerous than the risk of change.

Why is this important?

Because engineering determines the quantity and quality of people’s lives in society. Most people depend on engineers, scientists, academicians, entrepreneurs and leaders. That’s why people in formal positions have a moral obligation to prioritize value over personal benefit.

Wouldn’t you want better, faster, cheaper medical technology for your parents and your family so they can live healthier? Wouldn’t you want better, faster, cheaper education for your children so that they are more versatile to determine their own success in the challenges of their generation? Wouldn’t you want technology that brings more convenience into your life without carrying a hefty price tag?

I’m not saying that all technology should be cheap. Some novel luxury technologies are inherently expensive. But the technology that have a fundamental effect on people’s lives can be made to be much better than it is today.

Fortunately there are independent engineers, both by training and by passion (those who have no formal education), who are constantly challenging innovation. They provide the elegant solutions to the problems we face today. They are not afraid of making mistakes and of questioning their beliefs because they understand that in order to grow, change is inevitable.

The question is, are you ready to change?

How do you think technology can be better, faster, and cheaper? Do you know of a story or experience where technology is more efficient? Share your insights here

—

[1] Dialysis on Wikipedia
[2] For another article on engineering, check Sustainable Development, 2009
[3] Photograph by Derek Bakken