Staying Healthy

After a week of being sick with the flu, fever, shivering, head ache, stomach ache, diarrhea, and bleeding, I write this post.

It's been so tough being sick.

Not being able to do anything because you need to rest. Sleeping away the whole day. Operating at a reduced capacity, if any. No brain capacity to think, let alone analyse. Loss of work ethic. Dulling ambition.

That and the physical battle. Not knowing when your body can overcome the illness. How much worse off you are when the battle is won. How emotionally spent you become.

Where nothing else matters. Just overcoming the illness.

Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it. It's what's on the inside that counts.

Those Close to Us

I don't interact with almost all of my friends. There are so many people I don't keep in touch with.

Less than 5 people on this planet truly care about me. Less than 5 people on this planet who I truly care for.

There are few true friends and relationships. The ones that you care about on a deeper level.

Everyone else comes and goes. They all pass away.

In the end, we only have ourselves, and if we are lucky, a few people close to us.

I ponder this after watching two acquaintances pass away of cancer in the prime of their life.

My youth has passed me by. Everyone is getting older. We are born. We are married. We have children. We die.

On Making A Difference

I always believed in making a difference.

For myself, business is probably the most effective way to make a continuous and lasting difference unless I can lead entire populations to change or make an impact in another field [1, 2]

The vision of entrepreneurs creates what we take for granted today. It creates everyday products. It creates jobs. It enables us to donate and give back.

Business in general is hard. It is draining. It consumes your life. It wears you out. There is little time off. I think about it all the time.

The reason why I do it is because I see a better future. I am innovating and I have a chance to make a huge impact. I am going big. There is something beautiful in the struggle that is worth fighting for.

Great entrepreneurs are afraid of failing, but they’re even more afraid of failing to try.

Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook put the pursuit of making a difference this way: "Everyone is mission-oriented. They want to do something that will touch everyone on Earth."

While making a difference is all well and good, it is not permanent. People grow, age, and die. Cultures, trends, and businesses gain and lose their influence. Countries form and divide. Relationships begin and end. Emotions rise and fall. Change is inevitable.

The pace of change is accelerating. The average lifespan of a company in the S&P 500 was 61 years in 1958 compared to 18 years in 2012.

One cannot make a difference in the long term (1,000+ years), only a contribution. Despite this, one can still aspire to something and find value in the pursuit of it, knowing that it is ultimately fruitless.

Many people who have achieved their version of success are trying to figure out what to do next. The answer is simple. Enjoy everything that is front of you and pay attention to whatever you are doing in the given moment. So just enjoy life.