There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet. — Admiral William Halsey

So, I’ve been pretty busy lately with MBA school, book writing, full work plate, businesses to run, personal issues, and attempting a life on top of that. And thus the genetic library has suffered due with a lack of updates. But enough of my excuses…what are the future plans to revive this patchset.

I have some good news. IBM has generously given me 1 PY of help to work on the genetic library which I will be overseeing. Unfortunately, I will still have my normal work responsibilities to attend to, so only my “free work time” will be available. This PY will attempt to create a plugin for the O(1) scheduler in order to increase the likelihood that the genetic lib will ever make it into the kernel. Resumes are being accepted as we speak. :)

In other good news, I have a “I/O Workload Fingerprinting” feature coming out on the genetic library, which will enable faster convergence. This feature is the main topic of my 2006 OLS paper, and thus I will actually have to do it.

Stay tuned for updates.

What is the same theme in every book like: The Magic of Thinking Big, The Power of Positive Thinking, Psychology of Achievement, and the ever famous, Think and Grow Rich? It is the use of the subconscious.

Have you ever had a problem at work, and you would just wake up in the middle of the night knowing the answer. That was the subconscious.

The subconscious is always running in the background acting on what it is given. If a person wants to know how they can make something work, the subconscious will give them all the answer. However, if someone wants to know why they screwed up, the subconscious will give them that answers as well. It can be your greatest friend, or your greatest enemy.

That is why it is essential to think positive. If you believe that you will succeed, your subconscious will figure out a way to make it happen. It can create any reality it believes exists. If you can wrap your head around making 6 figures, and truly believe it, the subconscious will make it happen.

Self-confidence is one of the first things people notice in you, and it can take you further than almost any other attribute.

So the first question is, how do you know if you posses self-confidence? You may think you have self-confidence, but is it the superficial kind which is just at the surface. Having true deep self-confidence is much different, and is what really matters. For instance, how many incredibly attractive people do you know, who may project self-confidence but are really the least confident of all? I would wager the answer is a “large portion”.

To find out how confident you are, there is a simple test which is best described in an example. If someone comes up to you telling you about their trip to China. They describe how the Chinese do things, about their culture, and what are the great sites to see. Yet, they do not know that you lived there for 2 years, and know far more about China. Do you have to one up them, and tell them everything you know, or can you just let them have their story and not mention anything? If you can just let them have their moment, you have true self-confidence.

After 31 hours, I have arrived in Dunedin, NZ!

New Zealand is by far the prettiest place I have ever been. The land formations created from volcanoes are beautiful and the sunlight is a much whiter light than anything I have seen in the US. This is due to a hole in the ozone above New Zealand. So while you get burned rather quickly, it does make for great star viewing.

Hopefully I’ll get a few shots of Mt. Doom and maybe a few hobbits while I’m here.

Just a tip for future travelers to NZ. The first time you cross a street, look right….then left. Large buses and other cars drive on the left side of the street.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President

A common complaint about making New Year resolutions is: why should a person wait until the new year to make a change in their life. And while I agree w/ that in theory, in reality, there is a very powerful psychological tool about starting something new. A person is more likely to follow through w/ their resolutions if they really believe that something new has started. Otherwise, they get into the trap of saying….well, I’ll start that diet tomorrow. By having a date, they do not have that out.

A new year is a good point to take stock in your life decided what is working, and what is not. Setting up new behaviors, and bettering yourself as a person.

So what are my resolutions for the year?

1.) Blog minimum once a week (you can hold me accountable for that one)
2.) Stay away from fried food
3.) Read 2 books a month (would be more, but school and writing take a lot of time)
4.) Work on reading people’s strengths & weaknesses quicker
5.) Do more public speaking

It strikes me that too many of America’s youth idolize sports stars as their heroes in life. Unfortunately, this idolization extends past the star’s abilities in the arena to their personal life. Needless to say, stars like Kobe Bryant and Mark McGwire are not model citizens.

A hero should be someone who you want to emulate, and has done something to be proud of.

My question is, why do not more children see their parents as heroes. From fathers who are over in Iraq, to mothers who work three jobs to support their family. These are America’s heroes.

While I do not believe kids should grow up thinking that working three jobs is something to emulate, I do believe the mentality of doing what it takes is something to be proud of and something to strive for.

Goals are the single most important driving factor towards success. If there is not a destination in mind, how can you figure out where you are going? Furthermore, in setting these goals they should be made measurable stretch goals. How will you know your potential if your goals are easily attainable. It is not what a goal is that matters, it is what a goal does.

So what about my life goals:

1.) Create a fortune 500 company
2.) Write a best seller
3.) Million dollar net worth by age 32
4.) Have a happy family (yes, I know it’s neither measurable nor stretch, but important nonetheless)
5.) Travel Africa
6.) Speak in front of 5,000 people
7.) Own a house on Lake Austin
8.) Speak a second language
9.) Have a separate Austin home for my parents to live in whenever they want to visit
10.) Retire by 55, and own the Lions

Sometimes the best way to prove a point is through an example. It is a little long, but intriguing until the end. Take a look at a simplier life:

   Body Ritual among the Nacirema

Read the comment below after reading the study.