Why did you lie?

Giây phút mong manh

Bứu

tôi thồ nỗi nhớ trên lưng
hằn lên mặt đất qua từng dấu chân
đứng im, nỗi nhớ đỏ rần
lang thang nỗi nhớ trắng ngần trong veo
ngủ mà nhớ chả ngủ theo
trong mơ ngỡ bắt lại vèo qua tay
em ơi xin được một ngày
tôi coi cả trái đất này người dưng...

bụi đường như lá trong rừng
nâu nâu lấp lấp mưng mưng mòn mòn
trên lưng nỗi nhớ véo von
hồn nhiên như đứa trẻ con chả già

trái tim sưng tấy rồi mà
để tôi phải hoá lạc đà sao em?

25.11.02

Nguyễn Thế Hoàng Linh

The 8 habits of highly productive people

What makes a productive person? Is it the ability to robotically churn out work, hour after hour? Is it the amount of discipline one has? Is it the speed at which one works?

Before we can discuss what makes a productive person, we should first define what productivity is. The common notion of productivity is the ability to churn out a lot of work in a short span of time. True, but not complete. IMO, true productivity is the ability to create a lot of high impact work in a short span of time. This is the kind of productivity we should concern ourselves with, not other kinds of productivity which are more empty / busy work that create no impact in the long term. For example, let’s say Peter types very fast and can reply 1000 emails a day. That doesn’t make him/her productive, because there’s little output (product) to speak of (unless the emails contribute to tangible, high impact outcomes). However, if John completes just one task in a day that has more impact than the 1000 emails put together, then he’s more productive than Peter is.

The past few months have been my most productive months for the year. I ran/spoke at a total of 8 workshops/speeches/conferences, including one in Hong Kong last month. My latest workshops have drawn in the highest number of participants to date. I created and ran 30DLBL, the first ever 30-day personal development challenge of its kind online, and had the honor of running it with over 1,200 of you in this special journey. I wrote, did the design and launched The 30DLBL Book (both guidebook and workbook), which has sold over 200 copies to date (that’s almost double of TPEBook in its first 2 weeks of launch). TPEB grew almost double in subscribers since Sep (3 months), from 9k to over 18k, making it one of the biggest personal development blogs online today. At the same time, I’ve also been managing other work, such as 1-1 coaching with clients (I’m handling about 5-6 clients on average at each time), administrative aspects of the business, writing TPEB articles/guest posts, maintaining the site, etc.

A few days ago I finished designing my line-up of workshops next year, and earlier this week I conceptualized the idea for my next book for next year (I noticed many of you are in the stage where you’re thinking of pursuing your passion or turning it into a viable, full-time career. I want you to join me and pursue your passion as a full-time career, so I’m going to write about this for my next book. I’ll be sharing how I turned my passion from nothing into a 5-digit monthly income career today and how you can do so too. More on that next year). That’s all while maximizing other aspects of my life, such as keeping to my exercise regime (I exercise daily now), having a positive social life, keeping in touch with old friends, all at the same time.

I think productivity is really how you manage yourself, and the habits you practice. By selectively practicing certain habits over others, you can get a lot more output for your time. Here, I’ll share with you my top 8 habits in productivity. Practice them and compare how your productivity changes afterward :D.

Habit 1: Ruthlessly cut away the unimportant (and focus on the important)

The first thing is to slice and dice everything that’s unimportant. Whenever I go to my work desk, I write down a list of things to do for the day. I then evaluate which are the most important things out of the list, first circling them, then ranking the items. After which I’ll challenge these items to see if they’re the best use of my time. What impact does doing these make? Can I be doing more high value tasks? Doing so helps me ensure I’m working on the absolute most important things for the day. Then, for the non-important ones, I either push them to a later date or find a way to take them off the list. (Learning how to say no to others is very important here.) Those who have The 30DLBL Book might recognize this as the 20/80 List in Day 8. It’s my favorite daily self-management tool.

For everything you’re doing now, ask yourself how important this is. Does this bring you dramatically closer to your dreams? Does this create any real impact in your life in the long-term? Is it the absolute best way to spend your time or can you be doing more high value tasks? If not, perhaps it’s time to ditch it. No point doing something unimportant! Say you’re handling a project that makes no difference to your business after it’s completed. It wouldn’t matter whether you take 1 hour, 3 hours, 1 week or never to do it! It’d still make no difference!

Many people tend to wrongly classify regular tasks as high value tasks. A good tool to set them apart is the Time Management Matrix that classifies our daily activities into 4 different quadrants. Your most important tasks fall under Quadrant 2. I’ve written about it extensively complete with diagrams and recommendations on how to deal with tasks in each quadrant, so read them here: Put First Things First.

Going by the questions I raised above, my most important tasks are the ones that bring me closest to my dreams when I do them. For example, working on my blog allows me to reach out to more people out there, which lets me achieve my end vision of enabling others to achieve their highest potential and live their best life. For you reading this now, I’d like to think that you found this blog partially through my efforts in reaching out to people out there, and partially thanks to the universe. Thank you for being here at the blog. This is why I prioritize TPEB blog development over all other tasks, such as writing guest articles, getting new speaking engagements, etc. While other tasks help me progress in my goals too, they’re not as effectively as working on my blog.

It doesn’t end with correctly identifying the high value tasks. Often times, we’ll be imbued with a stream of random, miscellaneous requests throughout the day. I used to give immediate attention to these things. Say random request # 1 comes in and I’ll do it immediately since it takes just 5-10 minutes, max. This is the same for random request # 2, #3…. all the way to #20. After a while, I realized these things take a lot of my time and I don’t even get any meaningful result out of them. Not only that, I never finish my high value tasks. I may think I’m being very productive when I finish the random things, but truth is it’s just fake productivity.

So nowadays, I use a separate “will-to” list for these urgent tasks. I dump all the incoming tasks here and work on my 20% tasks. At the end of the day, I allocate a time slot to clear these tasks. I batch the similar urgent tasks, then clear them at one go. Turns out I’m always able to get them cleared in an hour or less, compared to the few hours I’d have taken if I attended to them in the day.

Habit 2: Allocate breaks strategically

I don’t think being productive requires you to work non-stop like a robot. On the contrary, it’s when you try to do that that you become less productive. While the number of hours spent on work increases and the amount of work accomplished seems marginally higher, the work done per unit time is lower than your average. Not only that, the work done per extra unit time actually decreases.

If you think the above sounds confusing, not to worry! Here’s a simple example to illustrate my point. Say you want to write a book. You can usually type 1,000 words in an hour working on your book. This goes well for the first 2 hours, and you clock 1,000 words per hour. However, at the third hour, you feel tired, and you type 500 words in the 3rd hour instead. That’s -500 words less than your usual output! This is known as the Law of Diminishing Returns in economics.

Rest is important. No matter how much you want to work, there are areas of your life that it can’t fulfill. Such as love, family, health. That’s why our life wheel is made up of different segments, vs. just 1 big segment. Each segment is distinct and unreplaceable by others. By “rest”, I’m referring to any segment of your life that’s outside of Business/Career/Studies. Taking time off charges your batteries so you can sprint forward when you return to it.

Earlier this year, I did an experiment. I went for a period where I continuously worked without stopping (save for necessary breaks like sleeping, eating, etc). I also went for a separate period where I would work, then space in break times in between work, such as catching up on emails, exercising, walking around the house, reading books, going for a walk, catching up with friends, a short nap, and so on. What I found was this:

Output decreases over time when there are no breaks (despite reaching the point of diminishing returns)

With breaks, the output can be maintained at a consistent high

*Drawings are very empirical, but you get the idea!

What this means is when I work non-stop without any breaks, my productivity keeps slipping until it’s near 0. However, when I take breaks, they help me start on a high note when I get back. Even though there are “down-times” away during the breaks, the high output more than makes up for that. Hence, by strategically placing my break times, I’m able to maximize my output. Rest, hence, does not prevent me from getting more done – it enables me to get more done. More time spent on work does not necessarily lead to more work done, but applying the above strategy AND combining it with increased time spent on work will maximize your output.

If you’re self-employed or on a flexible work schedule, you can put this into practice easily. Even if you’re in a 9-5 job, you can still do it all the time. Whenever you feel unproductive, throw in a quick break. Walk away from the desk, get a drink from the pantry, go for a toilet break, talk to a colleague about work. You’ll be more perked up when you return.

Habit 3: Remove productivity pitstops (i.e. distractions)

Productivity pitstops are things that limit your productivity. They can be the music you listen to when you work, your slow computer, unwanted phone calls, alerts from your inbox on incoming mail, the internet, You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. These things trap you and prevent you from getting things done.

What should you do then? Well, remove these pitstops! Or go to a place where they’re no longer an issue. For example, a big productivity pitstop for me is the internet. When I write my articles while online, I have the tendency to click to other sites. I’d check my mail, after which I become distracted by the new mails. The mails would lead to follow-up work and replies, which take time. By the time I’m done, a good 15-20 minutes has passed. Then within minutes of working, the same cycle repeats. So instead, when I’m writing, I unplug the LAN cable from my laptop and move my laptop to my bed (which is what I’m doing now as I’m writing this article). It’s a lot faster!

Go about your daily routine and observe when your output slows down. What’s distracting you? How can you remove it? Experiment and try working in different places. Adjust your environment. Make tweaks here and there. The more productivity pitstops you find and remove, the more productive you’ll be.

Habit 4: Tap into your inspiration

I can’t stress how important this is to maximizing your output. No matter what field you’re in, your inspiration is the key to your output. For example, an inspired programmer creates programs that changes people’s lives for the better. An inspired structural engineer designs effective building structures. An inspired marketer creates breakthrough marketing plans that touches people’s hearts. An inspired writer writes continuously. A highly inspired musician writes one song after another

I fully grasped the impact of inspiration when I started my business and was in charge of my full schedule. I realized during the times when I’m inspired, work is simply effortless. Taking writing as an example. The words will flow and I don’t even need to process them. They get transferred as thoughts in my mind straight to the keyboard. My last article How To Finish What You Start was completed in 1 night, which is much faster than my normal articles which can take as long as a week (for series posts). That’s because I was very inspired when I was writing it. On the other hand, when I’m uninspired, nothing comes out. It’s like when opening a tap and there’s no water, save for 1-2 drops.

What do you do then? Do you just idle, waiting for inspiration to strike before you do any work? That’s allocating your control to your external world, which really isn’t what this blog is about. I often hear people say they’re not planning to write because they’re not inspired. I think it’s not about waiting for inspiration to strike but about learning to channel into your inspiration.

How do you do that? It’s simple – think about what inspires you in life. Is it helping others grow? Connecting with people? Being recognized for your work? Working with the poverty? Helping the unfortunate? Being #1 in your field? How can you achieve them? Find out your motivators, then use them to drive you. My biggest inspiration is to see others achieving their highest potential and living their best lives. I love seeing everyone living to their highest being, and if there are ever anything blocking them I’ll feel all ready to rip it away, so I use this to drive me in everything I create. When I’m writing a blog entry, I’ll start by thinking what is an area people are facing blockages in, then I channel into that energy. 30DLBL was created because I noticed while many people pursue self-help, not many know how to translate what they read into practice. I got inspired to create a personal development program which would encapsulate my best strategies and learnings on how to live our best life. This program would consist of a series of tasks, at a manageable pace of one task a day, which would both trigger immediate action and create tangible results. And hence, 30DLBL was born.

Habit 5: Create barriers to entry

A great thing about our world today is that it’s easier than ever to reach out to someone. Everyone is just a sms/phone call/email/Facebook message away. At the same time it has become a highly distracting place to live in. Every few minutes, there’s a new request coming in. Your phone rings and it’s a telemarketer; You get an sms from a friend who’s bored at work; You get a new email and it’s some unrelated, unimportant mail; You get a Facebook mass events invite from someone you don’t know; Your calendar sends an alert about an appointment you already know… the list goes on. There are constantly messages coming from all different directions, shouting for your attention. Each one of them serves an agenda that’s not yours. And every time you pay attention to them, you’re distracted from doing what matters… to you.

What do you do then? To get real work done, I recommend you put up barriers, so it’s hard(er) to reach you. Unplug your phone, switch off your phone, close off your inbox, set a personal rule where you only reply to emails after X days. I’m not saying disappear from the face of the earth, but do that during your work hours at least, especially when you’re working on an intense project. After a while, people will get used to it and adhere to the rule in order to reach you.

For example when I was working on the 30DLBL Book last month, I blocked out my calendar from other appointments. When my friends wanted to meet-up, I explained I was working on an important project and I wouldn’t be free for a few weeks. On a daily basis, sometimes I’d switch off my phone and only check it at the end of the day to return the messages and calls (my telecom automatically sends a message if there are missed calls while I’m unavailable). I set up my blog contact form as my official contact channel, and funnel the requests through a FAQs page which filter out majority of potential requests before they are sent. I still continue to get regular mails, and people who send them know there’s a minimum 5 day lead time (if responses are needed). By making it harder for others to reach you, you filter out a lot of unimportant “noise” from outside, and that lets you work on your Q2 goals (see Habit 1). It’s not about being difficult or putting yourself above others (nothing of this sort) – it’s about focusing on what matters to you and creating real value you want in your life so you can then do the same for others.

Habit 6: Optimize time pockets

Time pockets refer to pockets of time you have in between events. You usually get time pockets when waiting for people, commuting, walking from one place to another, etc. Look at your schedule. What are the time pockets that can be better utilized? How can you maximize them? Have some ready activities to do during these pockets, such as listening to podcasts, reading books, planning, etc. You will be amazed at how much can be done in just a short amount of time!

For example, I spend a lot of time commuting. Even though I largely work from my home office now, I still commute a fair bit, say when heading out to meet friends, networking, business/lunch/personal appointments, giving workshops, and so on. While I try to schedule them at convenient places, there’s still downtime from walking from one location to the next, waiting for transport, traveling, etc. So rather than let the time go to waste, I use it to do some work. I bought a smart phone last year (with a QWERTY keypad) so I can type articles on the go. I also got a dataplan so I can check my emails wherever I am. Last but not least, I make it a habit to bring a notebook when I go out to jot down ideas. Amazingly, I’m highly productive during these time pockets. Because there’s nothing else I can do in this 15, 30, 45 minutes, I concentrate fully on what I’m doing. Right now, I’m actually typing this article on my bus ride home. Just a few days ago, I finished creating my 3-months plan from Dec ’10 to Feb ’11, as well as created the idea and book outline for my next book for next year, all while having lunch. That’s a lot of progress compared to if I had just spaced out, slept or idled away the time pockets.

Habit 7: Set timelines

A fundamental productivity habit. By Parkinson’s Law, work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. This means if you don’t set a timeline, you can take forever to complete what you’re doing. If you set a timeline of 2 weeks, you’ll take 2 weeks. If you set 1 week, you’ll take 1 week. And interestingly enough, if you set 1 hour, you actually can complete it by one hour too, if you truly want to. So set timelines. When you set timelines, you set the intention to complete the work by this time, hence paving the way for the reality to manifest.

I do regular goal setting to maximize my output. The 30DLBL Book was out last month as I had set the timeline for it to be released then. If I hadn’t done so, it would still be in the works, possibly for release this month, next month, or perhaps even never. This month, I’ve timelines for other projects, such as for an upcoming workshop, to start writing my next book, write new articles, have a 2nd anniversary celebration at TPEB (more on that next week!), release The Personal Excellence Book version 2, and hit new readership targets at TPEB. By virtue of just setting these targets and striving for them, I’m already increasing my productivity compared to if I didn’t set any goals.

Be clear on what you want to achieve (Habit 1), then set your timelines for them. What do you want to finish this month? What will make you look back and think that this is the best way you’ve spent today, and there’s no better way you could have spent it? Set that as your targets. From there, set your weekly goals. Finally, you can set your daily goals which become your day-to-day targets.

Habit 8: Automate everything possible

Technology today has made automation possible for a lot of things we do. Even when it’s impossible to fully automate the task, we can still use the systems to get a lot of the work done for us.

Keep a record of the things you do today, and see how you can automate them. Some of the not-so-productive tasks that we do on a regular basis are:

1. Delete, archive, sort our mails
2. Delete spam mail
3. Paying our bills
4. Appointment scheduling
5. Planning our days/weeks/months (unproductive because it’s still planning vs. acting)

Here is a partial list of things I automate:

• Site mails: I set up a filter where all site requests and reader mails automatically go into my ‘Reply later’ folder. I don’t see them when I check my inbox – Only when I’m ready to reply to mails

• Scheduling: My schedules are somewhat automated. I set recurring items for things I’ve to do daily, weekly or monthly like paying the bills, posting new 30DLBL daily posts (for Dec 30DLBL), exercising (daily), workshops, etc so I don’t have to worry about them later. It’s not exactly automatic in that I have to first create the entry, but once it’s set I don’t need to do anything about it anymore.

• Tweeting/Facebook: I automate the tweeting and posting of my new posts. Every time a new post goes live, my twitter will have an announcement, which automatically feeds into my facebook as well

• Book payments: My book payments are automatic. Whenever someone makes a purchase for one of my books, e-junkie (my payment vendor) will automatically generate an invoice, a download link and a confirmation email and send them to the buyer. The payment is automatically sent to paypal.

• Coaching payments: The same goes for my 1-1 coaching, where the payment system is automatic.

• Coaching schedules: My coaching sessions with each client are set on a fixed day, fixed timing every week. Like #2, I have to first create the entry, but after that it’s automatic. That way we don’t need to arrange for a time slot every week and can get on with the coaching topics.

• Site maintenance: I’ve set up the blog and forums to be as low maintenance as possible, to the extent where my only involvement is to write/post new content and reply comments. Many things such as the statistics, category count (in the sidebar), etc are automatically generated by wordpress.

• Email filters: I set up filters for newsletters and subscriptions that go into different folders depending on the category. That way my only job is to read and get the value, not to sort. (Read 11 Simple Tips To Effective Email Management).

I’m continuously looking for ways to automate my process, so I can spend more time on creating value for others rather than being stuck in busy work. By automating your to-do list as much as possible, you reserve your time for the absolute important things. If you get a deja vu feeling when doing something on your task list, that’s a cue to automate that item.

Source: celestinechua

Trái tim nhiều ngăn

5 ways to keep your mind fit

A good mind fitness is an important part in our strive for feeling good. Mind development is something we should practice every day. In that way we can build a strong mind.

The picture of a human as a holistic entity is breaking through today. More and more people recognize that we are more than our body, that we consist of several parts which are all equally important. There are mainly three parts that we focus on, body, mind and soul.

It´s also common knowledge today that all three of these parts need stimulation for us to feel as good as possible. Body exercise is training the body and the muscles, while soul exercise is for example meditation. What this article is about is mind exercise, how we can increase our mind fitness.

Although this is about mind fitness it also relates to the other parts of a human. Maybe that is the best way to practice, to use exercises with a holistic effect and which develop all parts of the individual.

These practices I have noticed working for me.

1. Reading

One of the first things one think of when talking about stimulating the mind is reading. It doesn´t necessarily have to be books, but reading on the whole is stimulating the mind. It also develop ones feeling for language, and developing the language makes one grow as a human. One can assimilate broader and deeper texts. This of course requires that we read texts that gives us something. We all have a level of reading ability and understanding, and to develop our reading and our mind we need to deepen this ability and understanding.

2. Go for walks or be in stillness

Personally I recognize that walking is something that stimulates my mind and my thinking. To be outside gives fresh air and gives a chance to experience nature or whatever is in the surrounding. It increases the intake of oxygen and makes the brain more alert and clear. Even different forms of stillness where we give our mind a chance to relax is to our advantage. Our mind need time to rest to be able to work properly. Mental burnout is probably more common than physical burnout today.

3. Solving crosswords, playing chess and similar things

This is things we do where we have to use your brain to figure out solutions. Solving crosswords is one example, playing chess another. There are a lot of things we can do to stimulate our mind in this way, sudoku, mathematical challenges and so on. I have myself been coaching in football (soccer) and figuring out practices and tactics for sports is another example of this.

4. Colors stimulate

Colors is also something that stimulates the mind. If you want to get attention from the mind you can use strong colors. We can see this in advertising on the internet where the advertisers emphasizes the most important words by using strong colors. Many people become happy in a more colorful environment and thus easier achieve what they want. Just a bouquet of flowers may make a difference.

5. Think before reacting

We are always facing different situations in life. Mostly we react automatically to these situations. If it is something that may lead to a change our immediate reaction is resistance, a no. This is an instinctive reaction, but as humans we also have the ability to think before we decide. Stop for a moment and reflect on what is happening. What is my motive to say no to this? Can this even bring about something good? We should not underestimate the instinct, but by combining it with a reflection we can get better results. By making it a habit to reflect before we react we develop our mind.

Source: stevenaitchison

A history of viruses on Linux

1996:

The cracker group VLAD wrote the first Linux virus named Staog. The virus took advantage of a flaw in the Kernel that allowed it to stay resident on the machine and wait for a binary file to be executed. Once executed the virus would attach itself to that file. Shortly after the virus was discovered the flaw was fixed and the virus quickly became extinct. VLAD was also responsible for writing the first known virus for Windows 95, Boza.

1997:

The Bliss computer virus made its way out into the wild. The virus would attach itself to executables on the system and prevent them from running. A user had to have root access for the virus to be affected, and to this day Debian lists itself as still being vulnerable to this virus. The threat to Debian is minimal though as users do not typically run as root.

1999:

No significant viruses were reported this year but oddly enough a hoax message went around stating there was a virus that was threatening to install Linux on your computer. At the time the Melissa virus was ravaging PCs worldwide and on April 1, 1999 (April Fools Day) a message went out warning that a virus named Tuxissa was running about secretly installing Linux on unsuspecting computers.

2000:

A rather harmless virus, Virus.Linux.Winter.341, showed up and inserted itself into ELF files; ELF files are executable Linux files. The virus was very small, only 341 bytes, and would insert LoTek by Wintermute into the Notes section of an ELF file. The virus was also supposed to change the computer name to Wintermute but never gained control of a machine to effect the change.

2001:

This was an eventful year for Linux viruses; the first was the ZipWorm, a harmless virus that would simply attach itself to any zip files located in the same directory it was executed in. Next was the Satyr virus which was also a harmless virus, it would simply attach itself to ELF files adding the string unix.satyr version 1.0 (c)oded jan-2001 by Shitdown [MIONS], http://shitdown.sf.**(edited as URL causes Avast to block page). There was also a virus released called Ramen which would replace index.html files with their own version displaying Ramen Crew at the top and a package of Ramen Noodles at the bottom. Later a worm by the name of Cheese came out that actually closed the backdoors created by the Ramen virus. There were several other viruses released this year that were relatively harmless.

2002:

A vulnerability in Apache led to the creation and spread of the Mighty worm. The worm would exploit a vulnerability in Apache's SSL interface, then infect the unsuspecting victims computer. Once on the computer it would create a secret connection to an IRC server and join a channel to wait for commands to be sent to it.

2003:

Another harmless virus showed up, it was called the Rike virus. The virus, which was written in assembly language, would attach it self to an ELF file. Once attached it would expand the space the file required and write RIKE into that free space.

2004:

Similar to the virus from the previous year, the Binom virus would simply expand the size of the file and write the string [ Cyneox/DCA in to the free space. The virus was spread by executing an infected file.

2005:

The Lupper worm began spreading to vulnerable Linux web servers. The worm would hit a web server looking for a specific URL, then it would attempt to exploit a vulnerable PHP/CGI script. If the server then allowed remote shell command execution and file downloads, it would become infected and begin searching for another server to infect.

2006:

A variant of the Mighty worm from 2002 named Kaiten was born. It would open a connection to an IRC channel and wait for commands to be sent and executed.

2007:

An exploit in OpenOffice led to the spread of a virus named BadBunny. This virus would infect Windows, Mac and Linux machines. The virus creates a file called badbunny.py as an XChat script and creates badbunny.pl, a Perl virus infecting other Perl files. There was also a trojan horse released by the name of Rexob. Once on the machine, it would open a backdoor allowing remote code execution.

2009:

A website for GNOME users to download screensavers and other pieces of eye-candy unknowingly hosted a malicious screen saver called WaterFall. Once installed on the machine it would open up a backdoor that when executed would cause the machine to assist in a distributed denial of service attack (DDOS). The DDOS attack was very specific and targeted a specific website, MMOwned.com.

2010:

The koobface virus, a virus that spreads through social networking sites targets Windows, Mac and, in a more recent variant, Linux computers. Once infected, the virus attempts to gather login information for FTP and social networking sites. Once your password has been compromised the virus will send an infected message to all of your friends in your social network.

This is by no means a complete list of Linux viruses but it does cover the major ones. It also points out that most of the viruses found on Linux are fairly harmless. That doesn't mean they don't exist though. Be sure to keep an eye on what your downloading and where you're going on the Internet and you will most likely stay virus free. An occasional virus scan wouldn't hurt either.

Source: neowin.net

I have a demon in my dreams

I'm forbidden

Regrets of the dying

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

Source: inspirationandchai.com

Comments from news.ycombinator.com

If I were able to live my life anew, In the next I would try to commit more errors. I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more. I would be more foolish than I've been, In fact, I would take few things seriously. I would be less hygienic. I would run more risks, take more vacations, contemplate more sunsets, climb more mountains, swim more rivers. I would go to more places where I've never been, I would eat more ice cream and fewer beans, I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.

I was one of those people that lived sensibly and prolifically each minute of his life; Of course I had moments of happiness. If I could go back I would try to have only good moments. Because if you didn't know, of that is life made: only of moments; Don't lose the now.

I was one of those that never went anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, an umbrella, and a parachute; If I could live again, I would travel lighter. If I could live again, I would begin to walk barefoot from the beginning of spring and I would continue barefoot until autumn ends. I would take more cart rides, contemplate more dawns, and play with more children, If I had another life ahead of me.

But already you see, I am 85, and I know that I am dying.

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Sometimes I think that I might be one of the few people who will be on my deathbed, regretting not working harder.

When I look back on my life, it's mostly been unfinished projects, or good ideas that didn't get far.

I've always been told how much potential I have, and I even feel this in myself. But so far, there's not a lot to show for it. Sometimes I've spent years not doing much of anything except looking at sunsets, walking in parks, reading books, and being creative, and all the things that are supposed to make life wonderful. These idle years weren't all a bowl of cherries (mostly it was due to depression) but it still wasn't so different from the slow sort of lifestyle exalted above. And I still find it lacking.

We only have a limited time here, and in our age, individuals have extraordinary leverage. Isn't that also a reason to try as hard as we can to make some kind of dent in the universe? If I forgo a few sunsets, but make a thousand people's lives better, did I really do it wrong?

When it comes to regrets, the literary image that stays with me comes from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This part is usually omitted from popularizations and films. Marley's ghost has delivered the warning about the three spirits, but also shows him a vision of spirits wandering the earth:

The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. Every one of them wore chains like Marley's Ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; none were free. Many had been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. He had been quite familiar with one old ghost, in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step. The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever.

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I always have mixed feelings when reading about the wisdom of people who are dying. I don't doubt that they feel the way they say they feel at that point, but are their judgments relevant to how they WOULD HAVE felt for years, not weeks, back when they still had years to live? On their deathbeds, when they value family so much more than career, they wish they'd spent more time on the former, less on the latter. But if they had actually lived that way for decades, would they have been any happier? Can we know for sure? They might be romanticizing the time they could have spent with family, but didn't, and underestimating the discouragement of living with the professional consequences of "spending less time at the office," while successful coworkers were spending more.

I suspect that the real key to success in life over all is to carefully identify your priorities and to deliberately, passionately, and courageously pursue them, rather than being governed by accident, convenience, fear, and inertia.

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I guess it remains to be seen conclusively when I fall terminally ill or get close to death of old age, but in my mind, it is not possible to have a life without some kind of theoretical regrets. Every choice you make to spend every moment a certain way is necessarily mutually exclusive with spending it any other way, and there are only so many moments and so many things one can realistically do.

I'm quite positively certain that if asked to reflect on all the things I regret near death, and truly chose to entertain the question from that angle, then I would find something to regret no matter how I lived my life until that point. There will always be could-have-beens, should-have-beens, what-ifs and maybe-if-I-did/didn'ts.

Furthermore, in a practical sense, life is an economically bounded experience; life in a world with finite resources, finite time, and within a society of other people always entails strong elements of concession, compromise and accommodation. You cannot lead a purely hedonistic life unconstrained by material or political limitations. What you do will always be subsumed to some extent by exigencies you would rather not have, by the needs and wants of others, by nature, and various forces you can't control. So, I don't think it's intelligible to implore people to "lead a life without regrets."

I'm not saying there isn't wisdom in being aware that life is short, and you only get one, and that there are some things you will wish you had done if your life ends up being a lot shorter than you expected. However, it seems to me that an important part of finding peace is acknowledging and coming to terms with the objective facts of the human condition and the inescapable psychological truths that accompany them. Seeing your existence as it is and not as it could hypothetically be is an important pillar of peace and comfort for the soul. The reality is, you will always have "regrets": there are always infinite alternate possibilities for any conditional branch, there are practically infinite variables.

"Live a life you won't regret" is the wrong way to look out at the world and your relationship to it. A more constructive approach may be to say, "Lead a good life," whatever that means to you. It is not logically equivalent to "lead a life about which you will never wish something could have been different."

Also, it is important to emphasise the critical distinction between a) regretting that you had not done something differently, in that all it would take for you to not regret it is to have made a different - and equally accessible - choice, versus b) regretting that you could not have done something differently, in the sense that you wish circumstances or conditions had been such as to make possible or make more likely that you could have made - and actually carried out - a different choice.

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Here are some things I wish I understood when I was 17:

1. Being "unique" doesn't mean trying to alienate everyone else. Many of the people that you meet, and who seem simple or uninteresting, have a great story to tell or a special talent to share. So, trying to "fit in" a little bit and getting to know lots of people doesn't make you a lesser person in any way; it makes you greater for the broader perspectives that you will get.

2. As you begin to learn to find something of value in each person, also begin to learn to find something of value in the work that you do. Stubbornly refusing to do homework only hurts you, and proves nothing. This is the best time to begin developing the discipline required to focus completely on a mundane task and finish it as quickly as possible; if you can get the hang of that, then there's no job you can't master.

3. Do not talk yourself out of saying "hi" to that girl. You're missing out on a lot of fun, it won't hurt you, and the sooner you start practicing this the sooner you'll get the hang of it.

4. Make sure you maintain a healthy balance in your life. Working all day behind a computer and then going home to play around with a computer until the early morning will eventually cause you to burn out and completely disrupt everything you have in order to feel healthy again. Even though you enjoy it now, you're better off leaving some time for learning how to work on a car, or running around outside, or socializing; then you'll have something to do when you can't stand working on a computer anymore.

5. Most of all, spend less time on the internet. In 10 years you'll barely remember any of the message boards that are so important to you now; you'll have trouble remembering many of the people that you associate with online; you won't be certain exactly what it was you did with all your time online. If you want to socialize, meet some people in person; if you want to learn something, start with a book; if you want to waste some time, try another hobby; and if you want pornography, try finding a girl to say hi to instead.

6. Oh, and finally: you probably won't heed any of this advice anyway, because you're irrationally stubborn, determined to do things your own way, and still struggling with some bad habits that you refuse to get help with. That's OK. You'll be fine so long as you keep pushing yourself a little bit every day.

I'm sure none of these apply to you, but I wished I knew them 15 years ago. :-)

Are you copy pasting your life?

Do you know what copy paste is? Of course you do, you must be reading this article on your computer right now (or laptop, or iPad or iPhone), hence you do have a moderate knowledge of how to use it. In fact, everybody knows what copy paste is nowadays. And everybody uses it big time. You copy paste your address, your personal identification number, your phone number or your social media nicknames. You copy paste parts of your messages, photos, songs, and videos. It saves a lot of time and makes your tasks a little less tedious.

Copy pasting is indeed a very powerful process.

But you’re not copy pasting only that. You’re copy pasting a lot more than that. You’re copy pasting behaviors, reactions, attitudes, and processes. During your day, many parts of what you’re doing or you’re reacting to are based on a copy paste process. You’re actually copy pasting big chunks of your life everyday, sometimes without even knowing it.

For instance, when a beggar approaches you on the street, you don’t really take the time to hear his story. Be honest, you don’t. Most of the time your thoughts are following this pattern

1. “Oh, a beggar, I don’t have time for this.”
2. “I really want to get over this and I want to get over this fast.”
3. “Where is that piece of behavior that I usually apply when bumping into a beggar?”
4. “Oh here it is: copy from that remote shelf in my mind.”
5. “And now paste it to the current moment.”

Depending on what your usual behavior is, you might give some cash to the beggar, or you might repel him with a low voice. You may even ignore him. But whatever the choice, you believe that you won some time on your side because you didn’t write the whole action in the moment, you copy pasted it from some other corner of your consciousness. You may think that you won some time on your side, but in fact, you didn’t.

How Copy Pasting Works in Real Life

If you really take the time to assess how copy pasting works, you can identify some common points. In my experience, a typical copy paste situation unfolds in 3 steps.

Step 1: Identifying the Stimuli

We all have something called perception. This quality allows us to identify changes in our universe and match them to our internal history. We may choose to respond or not to respond to those stimuli, based on things like our past experience, intentions or current context. Some stimuli are processed by “lower” parts of our brain, while other stimuli are processed by “higher” parts of our brain.

For instance, every dangerous situation is processed in the “reptilian” brain, one of the oldest parts of our brain. That’s where fear is processed, and in turn where “fight or flight” reactions are generated. Listening to music or reading a book are processed in more recent parts of the brain, which are specialized in performing these types of tasks. That’s where “artistic” emotions take place.

Step 2 Identify the Usual Behavior

If the change in our reality triggers the need for an answer from us, we usually try to identify the most “popular” one. It’s a way for our brain to create shortcuts, it follows “known paths”. So, based on what the stimuli offers, we browse our internal library and pick whatever we think it might be appropriate.

For instance, if the stimuli is a big flame touching our hand, our reptilian brain will trigger a powerful and potentially life-saving response, usually in the form of a “run!” command. It does that in half of a second. It’s perceived as a “fight or flight situation”.

On the other hand, if we are listening to some beautiful music, our cortex may choose to respond by producing endorphins, or “pleasure hormones”, releasing them in our blood. It’s the most appropriate and beneficial answer from our cortex when facing what we may perceive as “beauty“.

Step 3 Copy it and Apply it

After we’ve identified the stimuli and picked up the most appropriate answer, we begin applying it. Our body follows the orders sent by the central unit. If there’s a reptilian brain command to ”run“, our hand muscles will contract and our hand will retreat from the perceived danger of the flame. If there’s a cortex initiated response to release endorphins, our body begins to enjoy positive feelings while listening to the music.

So, every time we identify a change in our reality, we match it to our internal history and we chose wether to respond or not. We may often choose to apply a “verified” model, or contrarily we may choose to start something from scratch.

When Copy Pasting Is Playing Nice

If you burned your hand once, then copy pasting forgoes the need to repeat the contact of your hand with the fire a thousand times to learn the consequences. Just copy paste the “avoid” behavior and move on. That goes for basically all life and death situations you’ve ever been in (or situations that have been “tagged” as such by your reptilian brain).

Being on top of a building and feeling the need to jump, just to experience flying, well, that’s a stimuli you have probably never experienced. Based on the knowledge of your own or others’ previous experience with similar situations however, your brain has most likely tagged this activity as “don’t”. Somehow you know you won’t experience true flying, or you’ll experience it, but at a much higher price than you’re prepared to pay.

Usually, copy pasting works when you’re avoiding past traumas or judging identical traumatic contexts.

What Can Go Wrong

The only part that can really go wrong in this copy pasting process is stimuli identification. The reptilian brain sends very powerful messages, and those messages are generated due to real life and death situations. Every time you overcome a threat by listening to your reptilian brain, your trust in its responses grows. You become more and more sure of your reactions. You start to see the world in black and white. So, the temptation to give “black and white” answers becomes bigger and bigger. You start to evaluate all of the stimuli around you as “black and white” and insert those really fast, primitive responses.

Even if the situation requires more attention and assessment, you assume that by copy pasting some “definitive” reaction, you’ll be safe. So, you don’t really take the time to assess.

For instance, if you had been in a relationship that was wrong for you, then every time you saw a person that reminded you of your ex, you would “instinctively” step back. Your internal history tells you that you’ve been burned by a similar stimuli, so you just pencil in that “secure” behavior by copy pasting your reaction. Which is to withdraw.

Of course that person is not even remotely identical to the person who hurt you. It’s probably only something in the attitude, gestures or even smile that reminds you of the person who hurt you in the past. If you would take the time to assess the situation, without copy pasting your behavior, you’d realize that in a few seconds.

In my experience, copy paste works only on the reptilian brain level. I mean when there is immediate danger and your brain is triggering the fight or flight reaction, you should copy paste. Those are life and death situations. You have to be fast. So copy pasting is probably your best bet.

But above these situations that trigger the reptilian brain, copy pasting doesn’t work as well as expected. The most common problem being that you’re identifying the stimuli in the wrong way. Not every situation should be dealt with using the ‘fight or flight’ response. In other words, you’re missing opportunities. You may have had a bad relationship in the past. Now you meet a new person. He or she reminds you of your ex. You identify a stimuli here, so you copy paste the last best behavior you had (either give in or give out).

But fact is no one person is identical to any other person. People are different. This new person is completely different from the person they resemble. And yet, you limit your experiences and opportunities by categorizing it into the same system, instead of assessing it at face value.

The Exercise

Copy pasting your everyday life, outside the basic survival situations will make you a copy paste person. You will spend so little time assessing what’s actually going on with your life under the present circumstances, and you will automate your reactions at such a level, that you won’t live a life anymore. You will be like a puppet. Trigger, copy paste, trigger, copy paste…

Our worlds are different and your story is completely different than my own. My book of life is written in a different way from yours, and I’m copy pasting in completely different areas.

Let’s see. What are you copy pasting right now in your life?

Source: dragosroua

Nếu Susan Boyle là người Việt Nam

I take this song as Nguyen Ngoc Anh's best performance

Khi Susan Boule tuyên bố ngày 9/11 sẽ phát hành album thứ hai, The Gift, thì chỉ 3 ngày sau Amazon công bố album này đã đứng đầu danh sách những đĩa nhạc đặt trước với hơn 300.000 người đặt mua. Sau hơn một năm sống trong kì diệu, Susan Boyle vẫn tiếp tục làm nên câu chuyện cổ tích. Chuyện cổ tích ấy có thể xảy ra ở Việt Nam?

Giấc mơ có thật

Người đàn bà mập mạp, quê mùa vốn vài năm trước vẫn còn bị ruồng bỏ trong tâm trí của mọi người, giờ như mọc thêm đôi cánh và bay. Chẳng ai tin nổi giọng ca ngọt ngào, dịu dàng như mây và thổn thức như tiếng vọng của tâm linh lại được cất lên từ đôi môi vẫn chưa từng được hôn ai bao giờ!

Tờ Guardian cho rằng Susan Boyle là người đã dạy cho con người một bài học, rằng đừng ngừng mơ ước và trong thế giới khi mà con người vẫn còn là linh hồn thì mọi thứ đều có thể xảy ra. “Cuộc đời chẳng thể nào khai tử những giấc mơ tôi hằng mơ”, tờ Times chơi chữ từ bài hát I dreamed a dream, chẳng ai giết được giấc mơ của Susan và giờ cô đã thành ngôi sao sáng, nhờ Britain’s got talent, nhờ cả một công nghệ giải trí biết trân trọng những tài năng.

Các hãng đĩa tiếp tục cạnh tranh mời Susan về làm album, các hãng quảng cáo thay nhau xin chữ ký của cô để tô vẽ cho thương hiệu “bền lâu” của họ. Susan được hát cho Giáo hoàng, được nhận cái bắt tay của những nhân vật danh tiếng, quyền lực…

Một xuất phát hai kết cục không giống nhau

Hai chữ “tài năng” ở thời đại nào cũng quý hiếm và được trân trọng. Nhưng trường hợp của Susan Boyle thật sự hiếm hoi. Susan không được đào tạo bài bản, những gì cô thể hiện hoàn toàn độc lập, tự mày mò và âm thầm thể hiện cho riêng mình. Nếu không có chương trình tìm kiếm tài năng như Britain’s Got Talent thì có lẽ cả đời Susan chỉ độc ca và tự ru mình bằng những hy vọng.

Những câu truyện tưởng chừng như cổ tích vẫn thường xuất hiện ở làng giải trí phương Tây. Một cậu bé lên 5 tuổi bỗng bị bệnh rồi mù lòa, vài năm sau cha chết, được một thời gian ngắn ngủi rồi mẹ cũng qua đời, gia cảnh khốn khó, cậu làm đủ thứ nghề để kiếm sống, chui vào những quán bar nực nội kiếm được 4 USD mỗi đêm để trả tiền nhà…

Và rồi có một ngày người ta ghi danh cậu là thiên tài, là di sản của nước Mỹ, là một thứ âm nhạc còn sáng hơn cả những người sáng mắt. Đó là Ray Charles, người điển hình cho những tấm gương từ nghèo hèn vượt lên rực sáng, ngắn gọn trong một slogan “American dream”.

Nước Mỹ, hay Anh hoặc những nước phương Tây luôn có cả một công nghệ để tìm kiếm tài năng. Ngoài những lò đào tạo chính quy, ngoài những gia đình có đủ lực cho con theo học ngành nhạc và được đào tạo cơ bản thì luôn có những tài năng lay lất ngoài xã hội, trong những quán bar, đường phố, trong trại trẻ mồ côi…

Nền âm nhạc phổ thông Mỹ, Anh hay Pháp hiện tại, nếu thống kê lại sẽ thấy không thiếu những tài năng trưởng thành từ lò đào tạo đường phố, được phát hiện sớm và trân trọng đối đãi tử tế. Các ông bầu được tỏa đi kiếm tìm, các cuộc thi hát được tổ chức mọi nơi, không phải để lấy danh mà là tìm tài năng thực sự, các chương trình ca nhạc trên truyền hình, các diễn đàn âm nhạc, thi sáng tác theo chủ đề, thi nhạc phổ thơ… Đó là một guồng quay chỉn chu đến mức tưởng chừng khó có thể để sót tài năng nào. Vậy mà vẫn sót Susan Boyle.

Nếu Susan Boyle là người Việt Nam…

Việt Nam chưa có Vietnam’s got talent, chưa có chương trình tìm kiếm tài năng âm nhạc thực sự. Vậy thì cách khả dĩ nhất cô có thể góp mặt lên truyền hình là tham gia chương trình Vietnam Idol hoặc Sao mai Điểm hẹn, nhưng không ai dám chắc với thân hình ấy cô sẽ lọt vào vòng 12 người. Với một chương trình mà sự quyết định thuộc về tin nhắn và giới trẻ chiếm đa số ai dám chắc rằng Susan Boyle sẽ làm được câu chuyện cổ tích ở Việt Nam?

Câu chuyện tìm kiếm tài năng ở Việt Nam hiện nay dường như là một lỗ hổng quá lớn. Các ông bầu, các công ty âm nhạc dường như ít quan tâm đến những tài-năng-kém-ngoại-hình. Những gì được thấy trên T.V, băng đĩa hầu như đều chú trọng đến sự gợi mở của dáng vóc và sắc đẹp, giọng hát từa tựa nhau, đèm đẹp, đến nỗi có quyền nghi ngờ rằng giới trẻ Việt chỉ có thể thưởng thức âm nhạc phổ thông đến mức cam chịu.

Họ “cam chịu” theo nghĩa đã bị thôi miên suốt một thời gian dài và mất đi một chức năng quan trọng trong thưởng thức: Cảm thụ. Sẽ thế nào nếu một ngày có một chàng trai xấu xí ôm đàn guitar lên T.V biểu diễn, một cô gái kém duyên cầm micro hát những bài hát về cuộc đời bất hạnh của mình? Sẽ rất khó được chấp nhận nếu thính giả không tự mở lòng mình và tôn trọng những giá trị của giọng hát.

Vietnam Idol mùa đầu tiên đã từng gợi mở một cái tên Ngọc Ánh. Ánh được xem là một giọng ca tốt nhất của Vietnam Idol, xuất thân từ vùng quê nghèo khó, gia đình không dư giả, nụ cười hiền lành, chất phác, cậu trở thành niềm tự hào của sinh viên nghèo. Vietnam Idol năm ấy ai cũng nghĩ “chàng lúa ra tỉnh” sẽ trở thành một câu chuyện cổ tích mới. Nhưng mùa đầu tiên đã kết thúc hơn 3 năm, Ánh vẫn là cái tên khá xa lạ, lâu lâu thấy tên anh xuất hiện trong một vài chương trình nhỏ lẻ, câu chuyện cổ tích vẫn không thấy lấp ló.

Điều đó cho thấy ở Việt Nam những câu chuyện cổ tích trong nghệ thuật rất khó có cơ hội chen chân trong một quỹ đạo được vạch đường bay bởi sự đặc thù cố hữu. Người nghe thì muôn hình vạn trạng, phân khúc âm nhạc lộn xộn, những chương trình âm nhạc truyền hình thì không chuyên, đĩa lậu tràn lan, các công ty băng đĩa không nắm hết thị trường, bảng tổng sắp âm nhạc chưa có, các cuộc thi âm nhạc đa phần không chất lượng… Một sản phẩm đầu vào như Ngọc Ánh, nếu có guồng quay chuyên nghiệp và biết trân trọng thì chắc chắn những câu chuyện cổ tích sẽ có cơ hội xuất hiện và làng nhạc Việt sẽ có rất nhiều cơ hội đổi khác.

Nghĩ về Susan Boyle và hãy đón xem Vietnam Idol cùng Sao mai Điểm hẹn sắp chính thức vào mùa. Có những tin đồn không hay lắm xung quanh hai chương trình này. Làng văn nghệ Việt không thiếu tin đồn và đa phần chẳng tin được.

Nhưng những gì đang diễn ra đã vẽ lên một hình ảnh mọi thứ đang đi vào sự nhàm chán đến mức không còn nhận ra được. Sự khác biệt ấy không hoàn toàn nằm trong túi tiền mà từ tầm nhìn vĩ mô. Biết trân trọng người tài, xây đường bay ổn định cho ngôi sao thì chắc chắn một ngày nào đó Susan Boyle cũng sẽ xuất hiện ở Việt Nam. Ai là người hưởng lợi nhất?

Những cuộc thi âm nhạc = Hội nghị khách hàng

Điều quan trọng nhất của mọi cuộc thi tìm kiếm tài năng âm nhạc ngày nay, không phải là có bao nhiêu tài năng được phát hiện, mà là sau các cuộc thi nhà sản xuất lời hay lỗ, nhà tài trợ được gì. Từ Britain’s got talent hay American Idol, Vietnam Idol đều không nằm ngoài mục đích này.

Nhưng vấn đề ở chỗ, mặt bằng âm nhạc ở những nơi khai sinh ra các cuộc thi ấy và những nơi mua lại format thông qua các nhãn hàng tài trợ, khác nhau một trời một vực. Khi American Idol đã qua mùa thứ 9 nhưng nguồn tài năng vẫn dồi dào thì Vietnam Idol mới có mùa thứ 2 đã ”cạn vốn” về tài năng ca hát. Thế mới thấy cụm từ “thế giới phẳng” không thể đúng trong mọi lĩnh vực.

Những Susan Boyle, David Archuleta, Danny Gokey… không thể so với Phương Vy, Hà Anh Tuấn, Tùng Dương, Phạm Anh Khoa… vì mặt bằng âm nhạc giữa các quốc gia quá chênh lệch. Công bằng mà nói, Sao mai Điểm hẹn đã tạo ra được một thế hệ tương đối có cá tính về âm nhạc: Tùng Dương, Phạm Anh Khoa, Hà Anh Tuấn. Và sân chơi này mặc dù format cây nhà lá vườn lại không bị sức ép nhà tài trợ.

Cần nhiều hơn nữa những Indie Artist

Trong thời buổi mà nền công nghệ tạo dựng các ngôi sao phát triển quá hoàn hảo, nguyên tắc và thực dụng, các sao được tạo ra không thể tránh khỏi đặc tính của sinh sản vô tính: âm nhạc thì na ná nhau, vũ điệu như cái máy, chiêu thức đánh bóng thiên về phần nhìn, thì vai trò của những Nghệ sĩ Độc lập (Indie Artist) lại quan trọng hơn bao giờ hết. Họ không bị đúc khuôn, không bị gò ép trong ý tưởng, cảm xúc bay bổng… Những yếu tố đó sẽ chinh phục trái tim người nghe.

Còn những cuộc thi tìm kiếm tài năng kia, nó vẫn vận hành theo quy tắc và tiêu chí của nó. Những ai thực sự tài năng sẽ biết con đường của mình không chỉ là những cuộc thi mà cần một con đường tự khám phá bản thân.

Nhạc sĩ Võ Thiện Thanh