Rowan Spazzoli

Today I was fortunate to witness the finest display of “no fucks given” that I have ever seen.

A man had been walking on the promenade and enjoying the day. He then decided that he wanted to soak up more of the sun, so he walked to the waters edge and took off his shirt. Then his shoes. Then his pants.

And then he just stood there. Enjoying the sand and sun and ocean.

And he gave zero fucks.

Look at him:

Now, a little closer:

See? No fucks were given.

My friend and I then went to the food market. We were there for easily an hour. looking at the stores and eating burritos. And when we returned, guess what?

The man was still there. And he had still not given a single fuck

See the cover photo of this blog post? If we zoom in a little you can see his magical silhouette. In a superman pose. Not giving a fuck

That. That right there is inspirational.

Learning to give less fucks

There’s a popular book called “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” which is an extended version of this blog post by the same name. I’ve read the blog and some parts of the book. And I aspire to learn how to give less fucks.

In reality I find this really difficult. Even when it’s downtime, be it the weekend or when I have little work to do. My stress is at a constantly high level. And there is always an undercurrent of anxiety, be it social or work related, that I carry with me.

But I’m learning to work through it and have proper down time. Yesterday I was able to sleep and relax the whole day without feeling guilty.

And one day, I aspire to give as few fucks as my hero on the promenade.

P.s. 100 days to go of the #365of25 journey!

Image is of the fine specimen of a human, taken from the prom, when we were on our way back.

Blog: 265/365

Song of the day: Honoraries – Get there someday

Last night I, and millions of people around the world, looked up at the night sky to see the lunar eclipse. It was a spectacle and an absolute joy to watch.

It was the longest lunar eclipse that we’ll see for the next 100 or so years. And most of us will be dead by then.

But this got me thinking. What degree was looking up at the moon specifically because it was a rare and what degree was because of how beautiful it was?

There are all sorts of interesting sky events that happen regularly. A full moon happens almost every month. The international space station comes past almost daily. And there are many beautiful moonrises and sunsets that happen frequently.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with appreciating something that’s rare. Scarcity itself is a form of value.

The problem is when the only reason something is valuable is because it’s rare and not because it is has inherent value.

Diamonds are a shareholders best friend

Take, for example, diamonds. The average consumer sees diamonds as being phenomenally valuable and highly coveted. A friend of mine got an engagement ring that cost R300 000! (this still makes me feel ill to be honest)

We value diamonds because they’re “rare”. And if anyone says differently I have a couple of points:

• There are much prettier minerals and gems in the world that cost less
• Artificial diamonds have exactly the same chemical structure and sell for less
• Diamonds look like little glass balls
• There is no intrinsic value in a diamond. You cannot eat it or use it to produce goods.

And most importantly, they’re not actually that rare. During the diamond rush in South Africa, a chap (that you might have heard of) called Cecil John Rhodes was able to gain control of most of the supply of diamonds through his company, De Beers.

The company then restricted the supply of diamonds and coupled this with an extensive advertising campaign. This increased the perception of rarity of diamonds which drastically increased prices (and profits). (See more in this great college humour video)

Rare doesn’t mean valuable

There are a number of other brands and companies that do this too. Some famous fashion companies are known to limit supply or destroy unused stock to make sure that the market has less than it requires.

As consumers, and as people, we must make sure that we understand what drives the value of something. It’s alright to appreciate something that is rare. Just know that rare doesn’t necessarily mean valuable.

Images of the moon taken by my mother (and shamelessly stolen off her facebook feed)

Blog: 264/365

Song of the day: Creedance Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising

The revolutionary insurance app, Pineapple, is now live! You might remember this post from a few months ago when they sorted out an insurance claim for me on the same day.  I was also their first ever insurance claim #firstclaimantswag

They’re changing the insurance industry.

And now you can be a part of it.

Today Pineapple launched across South Africa with an activation that saw 30 000 Pineapples given away. As a bonus, one of these Pineapples had a golden ticket for a trip to Brazil (where Pineapples come from).

If you’re tired of regular insurance and are ready for transparent, simple and fair insurance, download the app and sign up today!

P.s. here are links to the website, Facebook and Instagram pages

Image was shamelessly stolen off their instagram page and features the three main programmers, including my brother and friend Sizwe

Blog: 263/365

Song of the day: Pina Colada Song – Rupert Holmes

Note: I didn't realise I'd saved this post as a draft
instead of publishing it. Here is yesterdays post

I love the path I’m on. I get to do so much invigorating work. And I get to experience and learn from a wide set of activities.

And I know that there were some things I did that got me here.

But a lot of it was just chance and luck.

• If I hadn’t met a particular group of people I might have stuck it out on the CA route
• If the management studies department hadn’t hired me I don’t know how I would have managed to work and study a full time masters. And I wouldn’t be a lecturer now
• If Kay hadn’t sent an email advertising Nova Economics at UCT I would never have found this line of work.

And those are just some of the big inflection points. There have been so many lucky things that have brought me along this path.

Being aware of this has two effects. First, that I’m conscious that my position now has had a fair bit of luck, meaning that I need to be humble. The second is an awareness that some people may have had different encounters with chance and luck, meaning that I need to be empathetic.

It’s true that working hard can put you in a good positon. But it’s imporant to remember that luck probably plays a far bigger role

Image was taken from my bedroom in 2014 🙂

Blog: 261/365

Song of the day: Mansions – NF

I have a bad habit of taking too many projects on at the same time. But at the beginning of the year I called a stop to this and decided to focus on the projects I had in the pipeline until they were done.

Of the 6 or so projects I had going at the time, I only really have one left, being my thesis. And this will be done in the next few weeks.

It’s an exciting feeling. I haven’t taken on any major new work in a few months and now I’ll be able to do so again.

So I’m keeping my eyes out for new projects and opportunities. And I’ll share them here as soon as I start them 🙂

Image was taken in Newlands forest in 2014 🙂

Blog: 263/365

Song of the day: Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

I’ve been reading a WaitButWhy post on careers over the last few days which implores the reader to look at their wants, beliefs, preferences, desires, aspirations and dreams in detail. And, more importantly, it suggests understanding the source of these…. are they my own or were they planted in my head by society/peers/family?

It’s caused me to reflect a lot on my own core… what part of it are things that I truly want and what are things instilled from outside?

And where do they come from?

Some things I can untangle. Some are mangled and difficult to get through

But this process of distillation can be really useful. Once you understand the building blocks of your life choices, you can begin choosing the ones you want to keep and the ones you’d like to get rid of.

It’s good to have a little spring clean of the psyche every now and again, and remove the stuff that doesn’t need to be there

Image is of my friend Caito when we were moving out of res in first year

Blog: 260/365

Song of the day: Rameses B – We are the universe

There are some decisions that I make that go against what ultimately makes me feel good. For example:

• Not going on a run, despite always feeling great afterwards
• Binge eating (anything from snacks to massive pizzas), despite feeling sick afterwards
• Meditating, despite it putting me in a good headspace
• Going to bed late, despite knowing I’ll feel terrible in the morning
• Procrastinating work, despite it causing anxiety later.

It’s not like I have a lack of evidence for these effects. I’ve experienced them countless times. I could even say out loud how they’ll make me feel afterwards.

But yet I often make these decisions even though I know what the outcome will be. And often that outcome is less than an hour away.

What’s worse is being aware that I’m making a poor decision and still acting on it.

I think the frustrating thing about this is the fact that I’ve been brought up fundamentally thinking that I am rational, and so are other human beings. When given a set of choices, we’ll choose the one that makes us happiest over the time horizon of the decision. So failing to make the right decision makes me a bad human.

But our irrational, animal brains often override that decision, even when it has evidence.

It wants to eat now.

It wants to play now.

It doesn’t feel like doing anything.

There are ways of overpowering this instinctual drive. Getting friends involved to have peer pressure influence the decision. Tricking yourself into the activity. And of course, good old will power.

But I think what’s more important than overpowering it is to recognise it. And realise that, although we think we have complete control, we really don’t.

We don’t need to get angry with that part of ourselves. Just be aware of it and understand that sometimes, your instinctual side is just going to win.

Image was taken in the Greenpoint park yesterday 🙂

Blog: 259/365

Song of the day: Sigala – Lullaby (video shot in Cape Town)

In February this year, I was days away from submitting my thesis when a massive data problem meant that I had to reregister and redo most of the writeup. I was bleak but I was still motivated to continue.

However, I’d scheduled a bunch of work to do post-thesis. This included two major consulting projects, lecturing for Strategic Thinking and running the Oxford global challenge.

There were a bunch of personal bumps along the way too. The robbery set me back significantly and so did the odd mental health battle.

But tomorrow, I’m getting back into the thesis game.

I’ve packed my bag and sharpened my (metaphorical) pencils.

I have set myself two weeks to submit my draft to my supervisor.

Then I have a short break with some school friends.

And then I’ll submit it.

Here I go again 🙂

Image was taken overlooking Clifton on my run this afternoon 🙂 I actually video called my mom while I was there 🙂

Blog: 258/365

Song of the day: Here I Go Again – Whitesnake