Rowan Spazzoli

I had two meetings in the city centre in Cape Town today. I parked at the UCT Hiddingh campus and walked through the company gardens to get to them. I got to see parliament, various museums, St Georges Mall and Greenmarket Square.

I’ve been to all these places many times before but I think it may be the first time I’ve been there as a young professional, in a work context.

I don’t know if it was the change in context or that I was just more aware of my surroundings. But I found the whole experience of being in the city really enjoyable.

I don’t really have much more to add here, except that the city centre is such a cool space.

Oh… actually I did find one thing quite odd. It still has a very european feel. I passed a statue of Queen Victoria and thought it quite bizarre. And even though there is African artwork being sold in the city, much of it is directed at tourists.

I do think there is scope for the city to develop further with a more South African feel to it. But otherwise I really enjoyed it 🙂

Image was taken on my walk down the Company’s Gardens

Song of the day: Tom Odell - Another Love (Zwette Edit)

Blog 129/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

I’ve been driving to Stellenbosch quite a bit for work. I love the drive and will usually listen to music or have a catch up call with my mom on the way. Recently, though, I’ve added podcasts to my trip repertoire. I’ll listen to one or two on the way and they leave me feeling super motivated. I also feeling like I’m learning a huge amount.

My favourite podcast series is How I Built This by NPR, a show about entrepreneurs and the companies they built. I’ve listened to interviews with the founders of Instagram, Teach for America, Warby Parket, Chuck E Cheese, Atari, Five Guys, Compaq and many more.

Todays podcast was an interview with Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computers. I got about half way through the interview and was absolutely fascinated by the story. And, weirdly, when I got home I saw a retweet on my timeline from Michael Dell. He shared a picture of his first ever financial statements. He used it to convince his parents to let him drop out of university.

Getting used to it

One of the things I love most about these stories is how normal the people seem. When I’m listening to them it feels like they could be my peers. That I’m not too far away from them.

And that’s part of why I listen. Yes, the stories are entertaining. And yes, I learn a lot. But mostly, it puts me in the frame of mind that these incredible achievements are attainable. And I know I’ll join these people one day, however that might happen 🙂

Image is of my room in first year (2011), with my trusty Dell laptop on my desk. I won it in a science competition in 2008. Sadly it got stolen two years ago.

Song of the day: Undisclosed Desires - Muse

Blog 128/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

Over the last two years or so I’ve started linking people who I think should know each other. If I meet someone undertaking a project and know someone who would help them, I’ll introduce them in person or over email.

It’s a simple gesture that doesn’t take much time. And often nothing comes of the introduction.

But sometimes it’s just right, and both parties are better off from knowing one another.

It may not directly benefit me, but the network around me is strengthened. More people knowing each other, more exciting ideas and more interesting outputs.

If you haven’t done this before, give it a try. It takes so little effort. But the impact can be huge.

Image was taken on my cycle this afternoon 🙂

Song of the day: Heavy - Linkin Park

Thesis update: didn't make as much progress as I wanted to but still got some stuff done

Blog 124/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

It is easy to recognise and forgive the shortcomings in someone else. If a friend has a down day that means they can’t make it to an event, we are kind to them. If a colleague is struggling with work we might offer to help them. We realise that people have limitations and we are able to factor these in.

However, we are much harsher about our own limitations. If we miss a friends event because we are in a bad space, we’ll be angry at ourselves. If we are unable to complete work we tend to get frustrated or annoyed and direct this inward.

I know I do exactly this. I am much harder on myself than I am on anyone else in my world. And other people are nicer to me than I am to myself.

This speaks to the whole idea of being kind to yourself by providing the basis for it.

If it is true that other people have shortcomings, then you must have them to. And if you can be gentle with them about their flaws, you can be with yourself.

Being your own best friend

I’d already been thinking about this idea today, and coincidentally The School of Life uploaded this video describing a similar concept.

The main message in the video is simple: treat yourself as you would a friend. And in doing so, you will automatically become kinder, more understanding and more forgiving of your own flaws and shortcomings.

Image was taken outside our apartment today. The words are from the song Crazy by Lost Frequencies. 

Song of the day: Use Somebody - Kings of Leon

Blog 122/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

During a discussion today, I noticed that the person I was speaking to was basing his decisions on his own truth. It seems obvious to do this. You go with what you believe to be true. And this is fine.

However, when presented with evidence that his truth had limitations (and in some cases was wrong) he refused to change his point of view. In fact, he wasn’t even recognising the evidence presented to him.

I think the reason for this is that he wanted his truth to be the actual true. It was clear he was passionate about it and had spent significant time working on it.

In doing this, he might convince himself and people around him to follow his vision. But this might ultimately lead to poor decision making and eventual failure.

Don’t hold on too tightly

Holding on to our truths is instinctive. If we update them, there are many things that are based on them that would need to be changed.

However, we need to realise that these are sunk costs. It might hurt to start off with. But by updating our truths, we align our personal reality to actual reality. Which means that our decisions, actions and results are based on a better foundation, and therefore more likely to succeed.

So don’t hold on to your truths too tightly. Let them exist, but should they be in conflict with the outside world, examine them, analyse them and have the courage to update them.

Image is of my cappuccino at Truth this morning. Still blows my mind how good their coffee is. And yes, the theme of this blog is a play on the Truth Coffee

Song of the day: Man in the mirror - Michael Jackson

Blog 115/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

Today we had a major external deadline for one of my consulting projects. We ended up working from around 8am until 1am this morning and managed to output a significant amount of work. We’d been trying to set internal deadlines for this project but only managed to reach our targets once a deadline was externally imposed.

This reminded me of a paper by Ariely and Wertenbroch that we discussed in my behavioural economics course. It essentially found the same results as what we’d experienced.

To save you from clicking the link (and me from having to explain the paper) here is the abstract:

It’s an interesting thing to keep in mind. The biggest lesson is that external deadlines are more effective than internal ones 🙂

Image is another one taken on my way to Stellenbosch for work. My project has left me with a weird amount of knowledge about cows

Song of the day: The Middle - Zedd

Blog 114/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

Most weekends this year have been filled with work, but I’l try take a morning of afternoon off to rest/relax. This usually involves sleeping in late, having afternoon naps, watching series, playing playstation or having a drink with a friend. I’d dub this “passive relaxation“, where you don’t really engage in anything else except resting.

This can be great, especially if you’ve had a particularly heavy week. And usually it is very necessary to take the first bit of down time as passive relaxation.

But at some point, the returns to this diminish. Sleeping 10 hours will leave you rested, but sleeping an additional 5 will not help you (and might throw off your sleep cycle.

Active Relaxation

The opposite to this would be active relaxation, which would involve making an effort to do enjoyable things in your time off. These might include long drives, going on hikes/walks, going to the beach or hosting a bunch of friends for a braai.

As much as I enjoy active relaxation, I too often fall into the habit of over dosing on passive relaxation. Instead of getting equal amounts of the two, I’ll spend the whole day indoors, sleeping and watching series.

Today I was able to find the balance. I slept until 10, watched some series and tidied the house. I then spent the afternoon on a drive with friends which included some hiking and a picnic on a beach.

And now I feel much more relaxed and rested than if I’d spent the whole day watching TV.

I think both types of relaxing are important. But it’s equally important to find a balance between the two.

Image was taken on our drive to Cape Point today. This baboon stole our Doritos and proceeded to eat the whole bag in front of us

Song of the day: Adventure of a lifetime - Coldplay

Blog 113/365. Read more about my #365of25 journey here

There won’t be a normal Friday shoutout today . But I’d just like to take a moment to reflect on the amazing friends I have.

This year has been really intense so far. But each of my friends have been incredibly supportive and are always there to help me out.

So thank you to each of you. Those reading the blogs and listening to my story. You’re the reason I get by 🙂

Image is a fluffy car we saw on the prom yesterday

Blog 111/365

Song of the day: Dirty little secret- All American Rejects