When dad passed away my (much) younger brother was 11. Recently he asked me for some life advice. I ended up writing 7 short pieces for him. He was very grateful for them and said it would be great to share this with others. So here is the 3rd piece. (You can find the first two on my nostr feed also). 3. Complete the job This word is full of mistakes. As awareness increases, we see more mistakes! What to do? Transform anger to action Years ago I saw many social and injustices that made me angry. I went on so many protest marches. I shouted, sometimes chanted slogans into loud speakers. One day I asked myself what I was contributing to the world. In that moment I realized that my actions were like that of a child who kicked over another child’s jenga blocks because he didn’t like the structure (and perhaps also because the act of venting gave a certain pleasure in that moment). But what was left, even if successful, was a pile of blocks, and two children fighting with eachother. I decided that I wanted to be the child who played nice with the other kids to build cool towers, not the child who tried to destroy other people’s towers, however worthy of being kicked over I judged them to be. This decision led me eventually to form several funds that specialised in impact investment, particularly technologies that had a strong positive environmental impact. As with criticism, sometimes pointing out mistakes is necessary. However the job is only half done until we offer a solution. If we cannot see a solution, offer to work with the other party to find one together.
2nd in the series about when my (much) younger brother asked me for some life advice years after our dad passed away (he was just 11 at the time) 2. Treat yourself, and others, as a good coach would Some of my greatest mentors have been people who’ve took me aside when I did something foolish and explained to me what the impact of my actions was, and what the likely impact would be if I continued. It was hard to hear. But nowhere near as hard as not hearing would have been. A mentor grows people as a gardener grow plants. They understand that the water of wisdom must be complimented with the sunlight of compassion and are vigilant to uproot the weeds of blame. Weeds can overwhelm a well laid garden just as blame can overwhelm well intentioned advice. For years I applied this knowledge to others but not myself. I blamed myself harshly, reserving the worst standard of coaching for myself and forgetting that I was subject to the same rules of how people grow: by the water of wisdom, the sunlight of compassion and free from the overwhelming weeds of blame. Sometimes I still catch myself speaking harsh words to myself that I would never utter to a friend, or even an enemy! In these moments I ask myself “do I want to be responsible for limiting my own growth?” “Do I want to discriminate against one person, me, and give this one person the worst of me?” “Is this what I would I say if I cared for someone and wanted to help them grow?” These questions are enough to end self-blame. This does not mean “do not criticise”. There are times when compassion demands that we voice a criticism, but in order that this criticism does not harden into blame, it should come only from the lips, not from the heart. As for blaming and complaining of others and of event, it is only possible to blame when awareness is low. When awareness is high, blaming ends. For example: many times I’ve run a process in workshops where people share their life story. When people are aware of a fuller picture of a person, blaming and complaining ends. It’s not an intellectual decision, blaming and complaining subsides spontaneously as awareness increases. Meditation is the most effective tool i have found to increase awareness. Which is why it is said that people after a period of meditating report that compassion rises and the complaining mind subsides.
When dad passed away from cancer, I was 35, but my brother-from-another-mother was only 11. He’s an adult now and recently asked me if I had some life advice. I wasn’t ready for his request, so didn’t say anything very useful. But then I reflected more on this. What would I say to a brother young enough to be a son? What can I share that may be valuable to others? I wrote to him and told him I wanted to put the effort into my response that the sincerity of his question deserved and that I would share 7 things that came to mind. I just shared the first one. It’s helped bring us closer across different sides of the world. He also said what I wrote has been helpful and so with his consent I’m sharing it. 1. Selfishness is self defeating. I’ve always tried to make decisions based on the principal “what’s for the greater good”. I’ve found that this generally ends up being for our greater good too. The first time this principal was tested was 25 years ago. I was leading a software team. One of the developers wanted to work for the R&D team. This would mean we lost our top developer which would mean the performance of our team would go down. But it was his dream and I could not hold him back. I worked together with him and others in the company to map out a path for him to transition into the R&D team. Far from hurting me, somehow in some way I do not understand still my career only moved ahead. I took another developer into my team that no team wanted and who the company wanted to fire because if an incident when he upset a customer with his direct manner of communication. I sat down with him and was able to work out what the issue was and coach him. Because we discovered the root cause, he went through a complete shift in his mindset and we never had another issue with him on customer sites. 6 months later I was running two software teams. When we behave selfishly, we act against self because all things are connected. God, life force, energy or consciousness moves through all things. When we act selfishly we are saying “I am not connected to this universal consciousness” in that moment. The seed of this action is disconnection. The seed of the thing becomes the thing. We cannot plant a lemon seed and expect a mango tree. So a disconnected action can only yield more disconnection in our life. The reverse is also true: as we take actions that are generous, we feel more belonging and connection to everyone and everything. Guidance of “how I should act” comes directly from our understanding of the nature of reality.
It took me two months to work out bitcoin was good for the environment It took me two years to work out how to tell that to others. This is the talk where I finally cracked the code on how to do it.
New article: Bitcoin and the Death of Energy Misinformation --->
Bitcoin “Crossing the Chasm” and the DEATH OF ENERGY MISINFORMATION – Batcoinz
 This is based on my recent keynotes from Amsterdam and Frankfurt
For years I had a poster on my wall of gattaca. Looks like NASA like it too. “There is no gene for the human spirit”
NASA considers this 1997 science fiction film the most realistic ever made
Over 2000 views in the 4 days since this went up If you know anyone who still believes Bitcoin is anything other than positive for the environment, and has a spare 27 mins to have their beliefs challenges, this is the video to send them.
Who’s coming to Amsterdam? image