My Five Truths

So Jeff Hilimire and now Donovan Panone have challenged me to write about my five truths. I think Drew Hawkins originally challenged Jeff, so the I’m next in line. I hope this is the first and last blog challenge from these guys. So here are my five:

Truth #1 – I have no regrets.
I’ve certainly made bad decisions, wrong choices and done some pretty stupid things. However each mistake has taught me something new or given me a new appreciation of the situation. I’m a better person as a result of my choices and therefore have no regrets .

Truth #2 – I’m a bad writer and reader.
I’ve always been a bad writer, and it doesn’t help that English was the third language I learned.  Hopefully I make a few folks laugh when they read my stuff.  Also, reading bores me and I often find myself unfocused or falling asleep. It’s not that I don’t want to get better or haven’t tried new techniques; I just don’t enjoy it and avoid reading unless I have to. Yes- bring on audio books and video.

Truth #3 – I get obsessed solving a problem.
When I’m faced with a challenge, I can’t see the forest through the trees.  This can be a good thing at times as I can normally find a solution to most things and love doing it. The bad thing is that I get totally obsessed to the point of diminishing returns.  If I’m focused on a problem, I’ll stay up all night and the next day; if someone is talking to me about something else I’ll zone it out. You can’t pull me off the project until I’ve solved it.

Truth #4 – My family is my universe.
I know everyone has something like this, but it’s the truth.  My wife, daughter, and family from both sides are the foundation under me. I’d do anything for them and I know they’d do the same for me.  My wife, Tovah challenges me and calls bullshit on me often.  She knows me better than I know myself. I’m nothing without them all (past, present and future).

Truth #5 – I blow off steam by going out.
I don’t express my emotions publicly (I’m an Indian Brit – what do you expect?). Most folks don’t know when I’ve had a stressful week, am under pressure for whatever reason,  or sad, or angry. What gives me energy and takes my mind off the problems is to go out with new and old friends, socialize, and get out of control a little. Don’t get me wrong, I talk to friends and family about problems (probably too much), but really what I want is to escape from the issues/anger and just have some fun to get me back to balanced point. I hate dwelling on stressful/angry situations.

Here are some quick extras and some wishes.

Extra truth #1: I can’t explain time – The begining of time and an end point doesn’t make sense to me (logically). As a result I don’t believe in the explanation from religion (e.g. God created us) and to some extent science (e.g. it started with the big bang). Rather, my truth is that I’m not smart enough to know and therefore should not waste time devoting my life to something I know doesn’t make sense.

Extra truth #2: I’m pretty good at writing birthday and anniversary cards – Really I am, BUT, I can’t say you’ll fully understand what I wrote because of all the spelling errors:-)

Extra truth #3: I’m a bad Indian – Yes I look Indian, but I really don’t know the customs, foods, traditions, etc. It’s not been a core element of my life. Outside of my parents I didn’t grow up around other Indians (I was born and lived in Africa) or participated in any events/customs growing up. My first Indian wedding was a few years ago and I really don’t know how to order that well in an Indian restaurant. My wife knows more about Indian food and normally orders in a restaurant (she is a white Jewish American). Yeah, I told you I’m a bad Indian.

Wish #1: I want to be like Justin Timberlake – The dude can dance, sing, act, owns myspace, and is the trend setter of my generation.

Wish #2: I want a $100MM+ exit – I want to help build a company bigger than my last accomplishments. And yes the cash would be great as well.

Wish #3: I want to explore the world and new cultures for the rest of my life – I’ve done a fair amount of this already, but I’m hungry for more.

Jeff/Donovan, I hope this is the last blog challenge:-) Let me know what you think?