Taxi Drivers Make The Best Boyfriends

February 14, 2014 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

Happy Valentine’s to those who still believe in Santa Claus!

And who better to deliver the Valentine’s message of the day than iconic Rory Sutherland, prompted and cajoled by non other than brilliant agent provocateur, behavioral economist and irrationality guru Dan Ariely.  Having taken his Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior class, I am now officially graduated to intermediate “Irrationalist.” I was happily rolling with laughter – and we all have to laugh more often and more. So, here’s to the non-hesitant types who are crazily mischievous and curious about what Valentine’s, the commitment conundrum and taxi drivers are all about.

***This post is dedicated to my recently married son and his new bride. May every day be a Valentine’s for you.

 

 

 

Doubt What You Know

January 23, 2014 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

Warren Buffett once said that people are best at interpreting new information in a way that holds all their previous conclusions intact.

Know what I mean? CaptureWe all have our assumptions, beliefs, firm ideas that we know what we know – and those “things” we know are right. It will shake us to have it otherwise. It’s convenient, comfy, easy, and it saves the energy to go learn and un-learn all that we think we know.

More widely known as confirmation bias, the tendency gives us comfort yet doesn’t do anyone any good – and on top of that leads to bad and unwise decisions. Taking it to extremes, people tend to believe lots of things. For a trip down the funny lane, all you have to do is visit http://literallyunbelievable.org/

Dan Gilbert, the Harvard Psychology Professor who wrote “Stumbling for Happiness” puts it quite succinctly: “When our bathroom scale delivers bad news, we hop off and then on again, just to make sure we didn’t misread the display or put too much pressure on one foot. When our scale delivers good news, we smile and head for the shower. By uncritically accepting evidence when it pleases us, and insisting on more when it doesn’t, we subtly tip the scales in our favor.” uncomfortable

As information technology moves in the speed of light, how you behave because of belief, dogma, politics and ideology seems unchanged. In a world blossoming with new knowledge, exploding with scientific discoveries in all aspects of human existence, like most people, you still pick and choose what to accept even when it comes out of a lab and is based on 100 years of research.

So, go against the tide: dare to be uncomfortable – doubt what you know. Only then, you may leave room for magic.

2014 Big Bang

December 31, 2013 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

happy 2014

Just make sure you do it with a bang:-)

Zombieland

December 25, 2013 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

zombie carolsZombies on Christmas Day? Yes, I know; not everyone is a fan of the Walking Dead.

Yet, this is about those other real life, figurative zombies  in our life. They suck our positive energy and goodness. They feed on negativity, the no, the sarcastic comments, the absence of praise, the passive aggressive temperament that torpedoes our enthusiasm, goodwill, possibilities, hopes. They don’t understand what they are doing and they hardly even grasp the damage and pain they are inflicting.

You know the types. We all know some while we unavoidably tend to be drawn into their nasty criticism, sarcasm, put-downs. Whether they make us feel sad, guilty, inadequate, angry and anything in between – at some point – after we have tried so hard and long – we simply have to let go and say farewell forever.yoda christmas

Just shut them down – sometimes, being deaf and mute is the best solution. So, how about giving yourself this Christmas gift today? Here’s to the zombie farewell – your garlic is plain and simple: drop them from your life and just go on doing what you do best: Living your life, it’s yours to live anyway.

Merry Christmas.

 

Why Not Fail?

October 23, 2013 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

 

Life

Failure? Really?.. That’s the topic of my talk next week at Infocom World in Athens.

I took it as a badge of honor when I was asked to speak. Of course you have to be a subject matter expert just to be considered, no? So, have I succeeded in my failures, and have I screwed up enough to reach a point of feeling good about all those things that I have tried and failed?

Talking about it is a Silicon Valley thing – and yes, tons of books cover the topic of failure and success and how overrated this may be.

But is it?

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 46.7% of Europeans age 18-44 say fear of failure prevents them from starting a business – and this is just one indicative statistic.

Why is it that there is so much resistance to the fact of life that we all make mistakes – and subsequently fail at plenty of things we do?

Yes, you can avoid talking or yet even thinking about your failures. You can even take it a step further and consider your path failure free.

I am a positive spin type of person that pays more attention to the positive – and I do believe in the happiness advantage. Yet, I am not afraid to talk about the lessons I learn every day – and in my book every failure and every attempt is a lesson and an opportunity.

“…Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, many things in life benefit from stress, disorder, volatility, and turmoil…” Nicholas Taleb (see post,) wrote.

During such times, failure is what you experience – feeling scared, insecure, uncertain, ambivalent, lost… It’s OK – it’s only temporary while you are finding your way.

And, no I  would rather not have regrets about all those things I did not dare do because I was afraid of trying. So, fail more often.  It’s just the flip side of your targeted “success” teasing you to go grab it.

 

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