Category: Blog

Quality is not something you find by accident. It’s a clear choice you make either buying or doing something.

If you care about quality when you make your work, then you’ll do different decisions, take different bets. Quality isn’t about the short term, it’s about the long term

We’re tricked all the time. Manipulated all the time.

Words can recall memories we didn’t want to remember. People can say things that we misunderstand, causing anger, rage, etc.

We think we’re in control but we’re often guided by emotions ignited by others in our unconscious mind. That’s why our mind is our most precious ally and worst enemy.

It can be both, and we’re not really in control unless we start looking at it each and every day, understanding where it comes from etc.

Because if you say frequently: “I can’t do it”, then it’s right: you can’t.

But not because it’s not possible for you. But because you are defining yourself, asserting who you are and what you’re capable of.
And no, this is not your self-help talk. I’m not saying that if you believe it you can do it. No. I’m saying that there are studies that show how letting people READ words related to old people made them walk slowly without them even realizing it.

Your mind defines you even if you are not aware. You can’t control it, so the only other way is to become more aware to get back on track.

“I need to train to get fit, but I need motivation to train, and I need results to get motivation”.

Seems complex, but the point is: We need to build momentum to get back on track, even if we did it in the past, we need to start from scratch when we lose our momentum.

How to do it then? Go back to the smallest thing you can do. Exercising? Start with 1 rep per exercise and then go to work.

Start with something you can do easily and continue. Build momentum, once it gets going it’ll be always easier.

If you’d only take chances on what you know, you would not probably go too far, try new restaurants, explore new places.

It’s the idea that we can surpass our life, that we can go beyon what our mind has for us, that we can create something bigger than us.

Do you ever find a brand that you like, an idea that you like?
Thinking “oh, I wish there were more people doing things like this”.

Recently I discovered a new brand of clothing. I loved the idea instantly, but right now didn’t have budget to spend on their big products.

When we see something priced outside of our spending scope we fallback to going to our usual habits. Cheap clothing for example, that will produce waste in the long term.

Or let’s compare it to rusks. I recently bought two different brands, one cheaper than another.
The cheaper had each 4 rusk sealed into plastic. Which does seems like a good idea, although we abuse the use of plastic (something 10 years ago that we didn’t mind).

The more expensive one is made of paper. Yes, maybe they’ll stay crisp for less time, but in the end they do a favor to the planet.

These ideas that we like, we should support them. I never thought about brands as companies to support, but big and small brands are, afterall, companies. And they do survive only if there is money on the table.

We feel powerless in a world of big brands, of lobbies and gigantic companies, but each of us has a power to vote for what’s important. Which ideas are good.
That power is granted to us by money itself. How we use it, where we use it.

Therefore, after getting to this conclusion, I bought a small thing from the clothing shop. Not because I needed it, but because I wanted to support them. To have an extra customer so that they’ll think about it twice in case they’ll want to shutdown the company.

Money won’t act the same for a big brand. You can use it only to give them hints, not support. But it’s still powerful.
Change happens as it is happening for the use of plastic or other material/ingredients.

What matters the most is to spend the money in the brands we believe in. Maybe avoid spending on a big brand and saving up for a dress made in a small shop or a product made near to us or that is aligned with our values.

I know: Why would I want to pay if I can spend less in a big store?
Because if you don’t, those small shops will go away and we’ll be left with no choice but buying from the big stores. Stores that will comply with the general intention of the population but that will _never_ experiment like the small ones do, because they can’t risk money.

But why pay more then?
Do we really need a new shirt? Do we really need a new pc, a new smartphone every year?
It’s a choice, no one’s to blame.
What I think is that we buy more than we need of.
We have clothes in our closet we don’t use in 2 years.
We buy food we see rot and put them into trash.

Are we really saving up money? I do think that in these situations we’re wasting resources more than saving money.
Because for each thing you buy there’s the cost and pollution to produces, there’s the low wage or decent wage of people involved into producing it, there’s the pollution from transporting it to you.

When you buy something, you’re not buying a single product. You’re buying a process, a set of values, an idea on how to setup this world.
You’re voting for what you believe in, consciously or not.

If this relates to you then try buying less, save up some money to support the small brands you like, the ideas you like, so they can outlive you and leave a mark on how the world will be 20 years from now.