Catarina's World

You can't hide lack of energy and motivation since it's evident from how you carry yourself. Sit down somewhere and watch people walking and you will quickly notice whose got what it takes and who hasn't. How are you going to be able to move forward and create new beginnings if you don't have it? Who would hire or do business with someone without the drive and energy to succeed?

What kind of exercise you choose is entirely up to you. Personally I thrive on swimming, yoga, roller-blading and walking.

To be inspired will not be enough if you don't have both the physical and mental energy it takes to succeed. So now that many of you are between jobs you have no excuse for not exercising, sleeping enough and making sure you get the nutrition you need, both for your health and mental wellbeing.

At least half an hour a day

When you are tired and under stimulated you don't perform well and your results consequently leave a lot to be desired. So now is the time to change that. You have the time and it's not more expensive, or difficult, to lead your life in ways that give you energy. Are you getting the nutrition you need through what you are eating? Are you exercising enough? At least half an hour a day, now that you have the time? Are you sleeping enough? Have you got positive relations with the people around you? How about goals? Have you set them yet? And are you taking time out for yourself to be able to think and reflect on what is important to you and why? Not to mention learning from what is not working out the way you intended?

What kind of exercise do you do?

There is no set formula for this since we are all different. What kind of exercise you choose is entirely up to you. Personally I thrive on swimming, yoga, roller-blading and walking. But if you prefer football, jogging or whatever that's what you should do. Exercising makes your body produce endorphins, which is like a natural feel good drug. And yoga has the added benefit of completely removing stress if you breathe properly while doing it. Not to mention pranayama, the yogic breathing exercises, that have amazing benefits on your health an well-being. Sauna and steam baths are great too since you sweat out the negative energy.

You are what you eat!

Whenever I'm in a supermarket anywhere in the world I'm amazed at what people have in their trolleys. Not as bad as junk food, but almost. There is very little nutrition left in such food, so how about eating more fresh vegetables, fruit, whole-grain bread and other good sources of fibre? And to be on the safe side, take at least a multivitamin supplement to make sure you get everything you need.

Sleeping enough to recover and repair is essential. You may be one of the lucky ones that thrive on four hours a day or you may need eight? Personally I'm fine as long as I get six hours. Anything less and I'm tired. You know how much you need, so just make sure you get it.

Avoid negativity

Being surrounded by negative people have a really bad impact on you. How about trying to improve relations, when possible? Failing that I would suggest you just ignore negative people and the discouraging comments you get. Simply make an effort to be tolerant and accept that what he/she thinks is his/her opinion. We're all different and whose right and whose wrong?

Regarding goals, if you don't know what you are aiming for, where will you end up? Now is the time to decide what you really want to achieve in your life. But don't be too rigid since that may prevent you from even noticing other lucrative possibilities that come your way.

Make plans and evaluate

Getting time for yourself may be difficult, but it's essential in order to move on. If nothing else how about thinking through what happened during the day and how you could have done better just before you go to sleep? And then first thing in the morning thinking through and deciding what you would like to achieve during the day.

And whatever you do, don't feel sorry for yourself or, worse, start drinking or doing drugs, because then you really are doomed. Sitting at home watching television is not a good idea either. Read inspiring books about people who have achieved something, Dale Carnegie or other motivating authors.

Scientists have actually proven that flowers and plants make us more creative and able to come up with innovative solutions to problems. So get out in nature and get energy. Not only is it delightful but it also brings you closer to your goals. Even buying a plant will have a positive affect on you. So what are you waiting for, make an effort, get more energy and succeed! No health – no wealth, is another way of putting it.

(re-published on popular demand)

(Photo Stana Photoxpress)

Is being a leader a service job or an insurmountable task of being perfect in every respect? Does a leader have to know more than everybody else?

Successful leaders surround themselves with people who know more than they do - and listen to them.

In my opinion the mission of a successful leader is to make sure colleagues know more than he/she does about the tasks each of them are carrying out. Have interviewed a multitude of heads of states and without failure they had several advisers present who, if necessary, filled in regarding details and areas the president didn’t know about.

Nobody’s perfect

So why do so many heads of companies and organisations believe they have to know everything there is to know? In today's business climate it's impossible to master everything. On top of it it's futile to try to know everything. Nobody does. So don't make your business dependent on one or two people only.

It's the leaders job to make sure that the company rests on a huge platform of knowledge and competence. And to ensure the staff really know what they are doing, not that you beat them to it in every respect.

Are you competing with your staff?

Are you a leader that gets stressed by colleagues knowing more than you do? How about looking at it as the day your staff are more skilled in what they are doing than you are, you have succeeded?

Leaders that competes with their colleagues are detrimental to the organisation they are running. Compare that with Ronald Reagan, a good example of a leader who didn't know everything but surrounded himself with experts that did and listened to them. Another prime example is Richard Branson who delegates to qualified people. And it's no secret that they are both regarded as very successful leaders. So how about following in their footsteps and make sure you thoroughly master the art of leadership and allow your colleagues to be experts at what they are doing? If you do, you will not only succeed as a leader but make sure your business flourish as well. Provided of course you listen to the experts you surround yourself with.

Photo: PhotoXpress – Alexandr Shebanov

You can have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down, Mary Pickford once said and it's so true. And only you can do it. If you wait for others to lift you up, not only will you be disappointed – you will stay down.

Get back in the saddle again and look at your problem in ways that will allow a solution.

Now it's time to make an effort and make sure your life and/or business benefits. Many of you actually ask me to write more since you are feeling better after reading what I write. Makes me wonder if you feel good long enough to get back in the saddle again? Because you simply have to.

Are you brave?

These are difficult times and it's essential that you realise that the problem isn't you and get the courage to move on. And it has to come from within you. I appreciate that it's hard but it's in times like these that you separate "winners from loosers"

Opportunities disguised as problems

Being positive is crucial and to look at your problem in ways that will allow a solution. Maybe you have to look at possibilities you never considered before? But no matter what, it will be a question of persevering until you succeed, and not allow yourself to feel down. And don't forget that we are often faced with great opportunities disguised as insoluble problems

Are you "problem friendly"?

How creative are you? Ever thought about the fact that creative people are “problem friendly”? Don't get me wrong, nobody is delighted to deal with problems but now is the time for you to roll up your creative sleeves and find opportunities to improve your life. How? The solutions will be different for each of you. We all have problems that need to be solved every day. Even if it's just that we got dirty and have to wash. There's no running away from problems since everybody has them. If someone says they don't, they are simply not telling the truth. So the important thing is to try to find solutions that will enrich your life.

Don't discard your ideas

Don't discard the ideas you have, value them instead and take the challenge of developing them. If you are creative you will be persistent and optimistic until you succeed. If you, or others around you, dismiss your ideas too early you will never get anywhere. Many of the ideas that I have had would in the beginning have appeared crazy to others, but nobody called them crazy after I succeeded. What would have happened if I had talked about them to early? Maybe criticism would have killed off my ideas? Be flexible as well. The fact that you are developing one idea doesn't prevent you from working on other ones as well. In fact, I think you should work on several possibilities at the moment because so much is changing in our world. Covering your back is always a good idea. Have noticed that when I don't, things go wrong.

Still stuck in the rut? How about re-framing your situation by looking at it from different angles? It has the power to change your entire perception of the problem and finding new solutions.

And always, always remember that the only thing that's certain in life is that everything is uncertain. That's a fundamental fact of life and you have to get the strength from within to handle it, because whatever happens to you in life, it's up to you how you perceive it. Positive or negative? Your choice. Or as Lincoln once put it “You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves”. Remember that failure happens on the road to success, which may be just a step away.

(Photo: Photo Xpress)

Should the US government have the power to shut down web sites world wide? Or do you agree with Wikipedia and Google that the proposed bills amount to Chinese style online censorship? Devote 2 minutes to watching an informative video about the bills:

If congress pass the bills, anyone posting a home video online with a song playing in the background could in theory be accused of piracy and their site shut down. The Obama administration has stated it's not in favour of the proposed legislation since it threatens an innovative and open internet. So if worse comes to worse, the president could presumably veto it? Some members of congress however, are keen on the bills in order to please Hollywood and the musical industy. 

Would the bills be the end of internet as we know it?

This is what Wikipedia has to say about the bills: ""They put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed.

'Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. And, Sopa and Pipa build a framework for future restrictions and suppression. Proponents of Sopa have characterised the opposition as being people who want to enable piracy or defend piracy". 

According to Jimmy Wales, "The bill is so over broad and so badly written that it's going to impact all kinds of things that, you know, don't have anything to do with stopping piracy."

Sopa and Pipa actually propose that anyone found guilty of streaming copyrighted content without permission 10 or more times within six months should go to jail.

Would Sopa and Pipa completely change social media networks like Linkedin and Facebook because they would need to police everything their members post? Will online freedom of speech be severely resticted by the bills? Or do you agree with Robert Murdoch who has complained about the White House not supporting the most extreme elements of the bills? Do you want to keep the internet as it is or should it be censored world-wide by the US government? 

Video: Al Jazeera English – You Tube

Tehran says it not only will, but is ready to, counter attacks from Israel and the United States. They are angry about the new sanctions and have threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. Devote 6 minutes to watching an interesting video with Seyed Mohammad Marandi from the University of Tehran explaining how Iran looks at the current stand off:

Interested in making a fortune in investment banking? Preferably at Goldman? Here’s a tutorial created by 5 bankers advising you how to get hired:

Are you after the watching the video up to the challenge of convincing Goldman Sachs to hire you? Would they consider you part of the inner circle?

Is becoming a partner still equivalent to wealth beyond imagination?

It is said that Goldman Sach's partners are its highest executives and its biggest stars. The rumours are many but what’s really going on behind the scenes? An examination by The New York Times looks at the power and wealth of this secretive group:

Or maybe the world is changing and the allure of the financial markets is a thing of the past? On December 15th Fitch credit rating agency actually downgraded Goldman and several other large banks in Europe and the United States, stating that results from both economic developments and a myriad of regulatory changes will have a detrimental impact on them.

So is a career in Goldman Sachs till the lucrative ticket it was? Would a Golden Ticket make you happy? What have you got to offer them? Would they be interested in you? Or maybe you are not interested in joining Goldman? Maybe you think investment banking is a bad choice of career at the moment. After all, according to what we read in the press Goldman in getting rid of some staff. Do you believe that investment banks are hanging themselves due to their recent behavior? Is trust in brokerages declining? Will that result in a trend of more and more people opting for careers in other sectors?

Videos: BreakIntoBanking & The New York Times – You Tube

Want to kill two birds with one stone? Then you should aim for CSR (corporate social responsibility) and sustainable development.

How long will it take before all companies, like Vestas and Timberland, will display not only economic but social and environmental results as well in their annual reports?

Not only does it enable you to make positive contributions to society and our environment, it makes money for you as well. Sounds to good to be true? No we are actually looking at capitalism at its best. And if you haven’t jumped on the band-waggon yet, it’s high time you do since customers are increasingly expecting companies to show they care about our world and not only their next quarterly results.

If you are not already doing it, start by making small changes that swiftly save money, such as switching off the light, and share holders will be keen to do more.

It’s easy to only look at environmental aspects since profits are swift. But sustainability also includes social and economic sustainability. Social sustainability can for instance be to have multicultural employees that reflect your customers in order to give them better service.

Makes you more profitable, attractive and competitive

To run your business the smartest way possible pays off. Hence the importance of CSR and sustainable development. Why does a company have social responsibility? Shouldn’t the state take care of that? The answer is for capitalistic reasons because consumers prefer to buy from enterprises they believe are taking their responsibilities, employees prefer working for such companies and more and more businesses chose to buy from responsible firms.

Small companies have an advantage

It’s interesting to note that many small companies have been into CSR and sustainable development for a long time with the simple difference that they called it common sense. For them it’s natural to keep expenses at a minimum and make sure that they create an environment that makes staff happy.

Adapt or die

The interest in sustainable products and services is increasing on a steady basis all over the world. Companies that don’t adapt to customers preferences and demands will simply see their market shrink and eventually die.

Long term thinking as opposed to swift results

How do you get multinationals to think long term and not only focus on the next quarterly results? Is social responsibility a step in that direction? More and more focus is on not only economic but environmental and social results in order to determine if a company is prosperous. If not, a company can have fantastic quarterly result due to staff working 24/7 or causing environmental damage so bad the company will be thrown to the wolves once the public finds out. In other words what looks good on paper could turn out to be a pie in the sky. Companies like Vestas and Timberland hence account for not only economic but social and environmental results as well in their annual report.

Will companies be able to ignore CSR and sustainability?

How much longer will it be possible for companies to behave like in the past? Will consumers tolerate businesses that ignore the world around them and in fact have a detrimental impact on the environment and society? CSR is to use resources in the most intelligent way regardless of if we are talking about people, energy or commodities. And how much savings or gains you get is easily calculated. However, it’s important to be able to show what you are doing and not just talk about it.

Generally speaking companies are better than they realize when it comes to CSR and sustainability. Catch is that they are not good at communicating what they are doing and hence don’t get credit for it. Do you agree that CSR and sustainability is capitalism at its best? Are you into CRS or maybe you simply call it common sense? If so, have you already noticed that it makes money for you in various ways? If not, are you planning to get responsible and start making money by doing good?

(Photo: PhotoXpress – mashe)

Sometimes when I read the news it seems like a script to a new James Bond movie. Dr No is at it again with a 300,000 strong cyberarmy whose only purpose is to get into other countries secret networks. And Blofeld, or maybe Goldfinger, is helping countries deceive their citizens as well as an entire continent.

What's 007 up to? Having a martini, shaken not stirred, or fighting Dr No's cyberarmy?

Last year MI5 warned that Dr No is making a huge attempt at hacking into Western companies concentrating on defence, manufacturing, PR and law. They also said that “honeytraps” of beautiful girls were being used occasionally. Apparently it happened to the deputy mayor of London who woke up to find that he had been drugged by a pretty woman who downloaded secret files from his Blackberry while he was knocked out.

Dr No in cyberspace

If you believe the news, Dr No wants to use cyber warfare to destroy vital infrastructure in the West in areas like government, finance, business, military and defence. And the irony is that many of his cyberarmy soldiers have actually been educated at top institutions in the West.

Dr No’s victims so far are said to include Google in January this year and Exxon Mobile who suspect that he has stolen vital information from them. The bad news, according to Wired, is that nobody is immune to this kind of APT attacks. And they seem to happen mainly to companies and countries of interest to Dr No, who deny the allegations.

Blofeld’s evil genius at work

Some Euro countries current economic trouble was kept hidden for a long time with the help of Blofelt who, for a hefty fee, assisted them with sweeping their problems under the carpet to make Europe believe everything was fine. Nothing illegal just questionable from an ethic point of view and very profitable for Blofeld. He was also very active in orchestrating the global recession by all kinds of actions that almost brought down the entire American banking system and not to forget the substantial part he played in bringing AIG to its knees. With the Blofelds of this world it would have been tricky even for James Bond to do anything since they are not breaking the law. But that could be solved by his license to kill.

Where’s 007?

The continuation of the scripts would be M asking Miss Moneypenny to find 007. In his meeting with M Bond would be told everything is at his disposal to fix the problems. And as we know, James Bond always succeeds. No doubt he would have innovative and helpful gadgets from Q that would give him the upper hand, not least, in cyberspace. Can’t help wondering what 007 would need to do to succeed in the current scripts? And who would be the “honeytrap” Bond girl that would change sides to help him out?

Good and plausible scripts for Bond movies, don’t you think? Highlights how thin the line between fiction and reality is. If you believe everything you read in the news, that is. With a long background in media I am aware that not everything you read is true. Many times the negative aspects are blown out of proportion and facts are sometimes simply just invented. But there is at least a grain of truth in these stories.

Fiction is often based on reality but the latest ventures of Blofeld and Dr No, again, proves that it works the other way round as well. Maybe the perpetrators actually got their inspiration from fiction? Maybe I’m not far of when guessing on Dr No and Blofeld?

For your eyes only

Blofeld's actions must, so far at least, have harmed the world more than Dr No has?

Makes you wonder if we live in a real world or life is like a Bond movies, doesn’t it? As long as the Dr Nos and Blofelds of this world are not caught and brought to justice they thrive. But the good news is that after going through a multitude of difficulties 007 always succeeds and end up having a wonderful time with the Bond girl. So let’s hope the real world will play out like that.

Considering the troubles caused by Wikileaks maybe it’s time for intelligence services to, again, revert to “for your eyes ony” dossiers? That way further embarrassment could be prevented.

Begs the question where is James Bond at the moment? Hopefully not with a beautiful “honeytrap” that doesn’t see the error of her ways. Much better that he is speeding in his Aston Martin through the streets of London to attend a meeting with M. Or maybe he is actually recording a new Bond movie based on the above scripts? If so I wonder if the villain will be Dr No or Blofeld? Which one of them has caused most harm? Despite Dr Nos cyberarmy I tend to believe that Blofeld’s schemes have, at least up until now, been more harmful to the world.

Photo: Flickr theringhotel’s photostream +Paul Baack)

Yes why not? If Caesar was alive today he would easily have got himself elected to what is still the most powerful position in the world. Life today is actually very much like during the Roman Empire. Crassus personifies big business and banks and Cicero, Julius Caesar and Catilina today’s politicians. And as far as dictators go,  Sulla did what that category are doing today already 2,000 years ago.

Gaius Julius Caesar would have felt at home on Capitol Hill and in the White House. He, or Cicero for that matter, would easily have managed to get himself elected president.

The headline “Financial reform compromise rebuffed in Senate” could easily be applied to the Roman Empire. Not least since that’s where the original Senate was located. The difference is that today you read news in the media and in those days Roman citizens talked about news on the Forum.

Roman elections, taxation & justice

Just as in some countries today the elite ruled at the expense of the common man.The main tools for power were already then elections, taxation and courts of law. Making profit was crucial to Roman businessmen. Crassus almost had hundreds of slaves executed just to serve his business interests. He had houses burnt down to buy them for nothing to increase his wealth.

Oportunisism still works

Power corrupts and Cicero, just like any opportunistic politician throughout time, completely changed his policies to get elected (does it sound familiar?). And no doubt a fabulous orator like him would also have been able to convince any electorate today to vote for him.

Envy and opinion can alter history

Shakespeare’s play has wrongly made many people believe Caesar was a tyrant, which is far from the truth. He usually refrained from executing his enemies which was his downfall. Would history have looked different if he hadn’t spared Brutus’ life? And the irony is that Brutus may very well have been his illegitimate son. Can’t help thinking of some royal families where assasination today still seems to be the way to the throne. The Julian dynasty emperors after Caesar however became increasingly more tyrannical, which is not unusual in similar families today.

Human nature doesn’t change

So haven’t we learned from what went wrong with the Roman Empire? Why doesn’t humanity evolve, learn from history and move on? Because it is not big business, the banks or politicians that are at fault. It is human nature. Once a generation has learnt from its mistakes another generation takes over that have yet to learn.

Human nature doesn’t change. Many people, even though they would rather die than admit it, would do anything for money, power and glory. Not to mention fame and just simply feeling important.

Vested interests rule the world

Many of us would like to see a fair world. But the world has never been fair and it’s unlikely that it ever will be. About 15 years ago I told a friend of mine who used to be minister of foreign affairs in Mexico that I would like to see all people in the world eat three meals a day and have basic schooling. He told me, “Catarina, it will never happen because vested interests will not allow it”. In other words powerful countries and people will look after its own interests.

But since empires come and go who does what to whom evens out throughout history. In the future the Chinese and Indians will do to the West what the West has been doing to them.

Makes you wonder what makes today different from the past, doesn’t it? Why should people who genuinely want to make a difference succeed today where caring people in the past failed? Will the fact that the whole world is so interconnected make a difference?

Maybe the most important lesson from history is survival? Marcus Mummius, a Roman army commander put it very well over two thousand years ago: “ When you are hurt (in battle) the worst you can do is stop fighting. If you do the pain takes over and you are finished. I have seen many soldiers die of wounds that shouldn’t have been fatal just because they stopped fighting and gave in to the pain. No you just scream and throw yourself right back into the fight. That way you will neither feel the pain nor bleed to death since the blood will rush to your brain and the arm that holds your sword  to enable you to succeed”.

(photo: genjo m Flickr)

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Scott Atran, psychologist at France’s National Center for Scientific Research, says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s behavior shows he is out of touch with reality:

The Syrian president, just like Hitler and Stalin were, is so out of touch with reality that what’s normal to them we consider evil. They don’t believe they are doing anything bad against their people – on the contrary. Stalin, for instance, had a deep held belief that it was necessary to sacrifice people in order to develop a perfect Bolshevik state. Uncle Joe was so convinced of that, he actually sacrificed members of his own family to reach his goal.

Do you agree with Scott Atran that Bashar al-Assad is out of touch with reality? Or is he insane? Or maybe you are of the opinion that he knows perfectly well what he is doing but power is so important to him he would do anything to keep it?