Paul Kasaija

1/24/2021

11:09 PM

Today was a good one and a bad one, depending on which perspective one looks at it from. The good part is an optimistic nation-wide outlook: the U.S. is looking forward to the $1,400 stimulus, the fast rollout of the vaccines throughout the country, and the new presidency of Joe Biden, inaugurated on the 20th of this month, along with the general re-opening of businesses and return to normalcy. The bad part is my own malfeasance in my charge of “progress”. I'll admit that I slacked today and broke my own routine, which regardless of the day or time should be kept, like noted in the fundamentals of a routine I wrote on day one.

Clearly, the issue with the modern culture is the overindulgence in entertainment and pursuing a slacker’s idea of self-care. Adopting this cultural practice may seem to work in the present, the problem is, it ends up backfiring when one's opportunities and future prospects pass by them. So I'll admit that I procrastinated, pretending to focus on doing many things in order to seem productive; and that I spent nary a few hours reading social media which is supposed to be off-limits temporarily; lastly I did not write a word in the journal until 11 P.M of today, which means I will have to skip one day (The Journal of the 24th). That’s why it is frustrating. I hold myself, like anyone else, accountable to what they promise; for me, that means keeping the routine as the anchor of my day and putting entertainment aside for this month. Anyhow, it will be better for me to keep moving on and produce results that overwhelm my failures. According to Ray Dalio, from the viewpoint of a business and in life, one needs to fail and understand why to make real growth in what he calls a “loop”. I’ll apply that same logic and make strides to be better and to leave the “slacker” ideals behind.

Yesterday, I finished reading the recommended audiobook version of the book Blockchain Comparative Advantage by Alison Davis and Matthew C. Le Merle. For me, audiobooks are a luxury that only a certain niche can truly enjoy: people who can focus on doing separate things while listening to it or people who have the patience to do nothing. Surprisingly though, I managed to flow through my exercise well while listening to the book, and that is saying something. The book was well written and narrated, which improves comprehension (I can only guarantee this at 1x speed), and makes it good for even people who are not normal audiobook readers. Not only that, but it provides a good foundation for those who want to learn about the blockchain space without the redundancy of bland teaching, and you get to learn from people who actually made money from what they are teaching about: the best of both worlds.

The use of catchy phrases like “way to play” and “way to win” help simplify the narrative of the book, as they are used to describe what one needs to do in order to gain a competitive advantage specifically in the Blockchain technology space. Examples are given for established corporations, investors, entrepreneurs, and even governments to gain this advantage. Established corporations will have different strategies because they already have their own capital and an easier time of pivoting into the technology because they have existing “ways to play” in their own industry. Investors will need to look into the future, make diligent research and understand the risks of investing in blockchain startups but will also need to be active in promoting the success of their portfolio of investments. Entrepreneurs will need to start from scratch in discovering “ways to play”, make good partners with disruptors and established corporations, understand rules and regulations in the industry, look for smart capital, and make innovative technologies like Ripple that bring in large and trusted investors. Governments will need to understand the risks of centralizing blockchains where they can have an amount of power that can cause major risks, they need to focus on bringing the leading investors, entrepreneurs, and corporations to the table to discuss technological progress, and understand that investors can look for greener pastures if they put too many restrictions on them: red-tape bureaucracy, high tax codes and little to no legal innovation to match technology.

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All in all this book has a lot of good ideas on the current methods of gaining a competitive advantage in more than just blockchain, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to any person who fits into the category it is aimed at. Anyhow, I digress: as for me, I'll put my personal errors in journals like I did today. If only by the shame of these errors, my number one priority to make this a journal of success rather than failure!

"According to Ray Dalio, from the viewpoint of a business and in life, one needs to fail and understand why to make real growth in what he calls a “loop”. I’ll apply that same logic and make strides to be better and to leave the “slacker” ideals behind."