nik.art | Page 186 of 231 | I write for dreamers, doers, and unbroken optimists.

There Are Two Ways To Judge People — Both Are Useless

August 30, 2018August 9, 2024 Nik

We all do it. You do it. I do it. Your friends do it. We judge.

At the grocery store, we silently judge people waiting in line. We secretly rate our family members by how much they support us, our friends by how fast they call us back and our coworkers by how cocky they are. But we also make more subtle judgement calls. Ones we’re barely aware of making.

When we eat, our gut signals to us what’s safe to put in our mouths and what’s not. When we meet someone new, we can instantly tell if they’re attractive or not, without having knowingly sorted them into either category. When we’re in danger, we make split second decisions about where to jump, which corner to turn. Much of this is natural. It allows us to exist.

Judgement, both conscious and unconscious, is a fundamental part of the human experience. We all do it around the clock because it’s a necessary function of moving, acting, and living in a dynamic world. And while we can’t do much about the beliefs we form without actively contributing, we all have our own systems of how we evaluate others.

Sadly, most of those systems are fundamentally flawed.

How To Use Idleness To Combat Setbacks

August 28, 2018August 9, 2024 Nik

Around 300 BC, a wealthy merchant set out on a voyage from his home in ancient Cyprus, Phoenicia, to Piraeus, a harbor town close to Athens.

Having almost made it to his destination, his ship crashed and went under, including the precious cargo. Luckily, he survived. Eventually, he reached Athens, and, once there, decided it’d be best to not do anything for a while.

Enjoying his newly found spare time, he spent most of it walking around the city, exploring. One day, he came across a book store, went inside, and picked up the first book that spoke to him. Its title was ‘Memorabilia.’ In the book, a man named Xenophon described episodes of his mentor’s life and how he tried to help others. That mentor was the famous philosopher Socrates.

The merchant was so inspired that he asked the owner of the store where he could find more men like Socrates. As fate would have it, another well-known philosopher happened to walk by, so the owner simply pointed at him. The merchant approached the philosopher and they started a conversation. After a while, he decided to stay and study under the philosopher’s tutelage.

He never left Athens again.

The Best Self-Help Book I’ve Ever Read

August 27, 2018June 19, 2024 Nik

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

5:00 AM. The alarm rings. I pull the blinders forward with two fingers and peer outside. It’s there. I get up, stumble into the bathroom and throw some cold water into my face.

Then, I open the back door right in front of my room and step outside. The wind is freezing, but it’s worth it. Ahh, the sunrise. Across the parking lot, the sky is glowing. The clouds are deep red.

After gazing at it for a couple of minutes, I go inside again, right back to bed. I pull out my iPad and start to read.

The Most Important Tool To Motivate Yourself

August 26, 2018December 11, 2025 Nik

Do you know who this is?

No? Me neither, because sadly, despite a plethora of news outlets reporting about him, none of them even bothered recording his name. But I know what his job is. The manhole he’s floating in is filled with the sewage water of Dhaka, a city in Bangladesh. He’s a municipal worker.

This man’s job is to clean up 18 million people’s sh*t.

He wears no protective clothing, no goggles, and if he doesn’t keep his mouth shut, well… The only ‘safety measure’ taken is the stick his coworkers hold out to pull him up once he’s done. Diving topless into the liquid filth of his fellow citizens, he must clear blockages with his bare hands. Without protection from the cockroaches and toxic fumes that surround him, all it takes is one, sudden rush of fresh sewage, and he’s dead.

What was that thought you had last week again? The one about your job sucking? Doesn’t feel so bad now, does it?

Will Smith: The Semantics of Success

August 24, 2018February 28, 2024 Nik

In the summer of 1985, the king of Philadelphia’s DJ scene threw down at a house party. That night, his hype man was missing. You know, the dude shouting around, getting folks excited, and prompting chants. Luckily, a local MC lived just down the street and offered to fill in.

The name of that MC was Will Smith. He and DJ Jazzy Jeff instantly hit it off. So much, in fact, that Jeff sent his former sidekick packing and the two joined forces. Less than a year later, they dropped their debut single “Girls Ain’t Nothing but Trouble” just in time to take the 1986 prom season by storm and allow Will to graduate high school as a rap star. Jeff recalls:

“Once Will and I made a record, we killed Philly’s hip-hop and ballroom scene. Nobody wanted two turntables. Now they wanted one turntable, a drum machine and some guy rapping. It wasn’t about Philly anymore. It was about conquering the world.”

And conquer the world they did.

Your Smartphone Will Make You Miserable

August 19, 2018August 9, 2024 Nik

Do you remember the first day you owned a smartphone? I do. In the fall of 2010, I was about to start college and Apple had just launched the iPhone 4. It was a quantum leap in the evolution of phones, nothing less.

We had it sent to a friend in France, because it was a bit cheaper, if that word even applies to a 700 € piece of technology. When my Dad brought it home, I couldn’t wait to take it out of the box and set it up. Afterwards, me and my family examined it in amazement. No buttons, crystal clear colors, great photos. High resolution, fast surfing, tons of apps, and, again, the screen!

I remember what it felt like, too. To now be part of this new, shiny, ever-connected world. It felt like I was joining a revolution. Rebellious. Enough with the old, it’s time to disrupt! Little did I know how right I was.

It didn’t happen the way I expected it, but life would never be the same.

The Difference Between Being Clever, Intelligent, and Wise

August 12, 2018June 19, 2024 Nik

If you mark an elephant and put it in front of a mirror, it will recognize itself.

At first, it’ll think there’s another elephant, but eventually, it’ll realize it’s just a reflection and examine its own body. That means elephants, at least some, are self-aware. The experiment is called the mirror test. In the 50 years since its inception, only six other animal species besides elephants have passed it.

And yet, all humans eventually develop this capacity. Babies first become self-aware between 12 and 24 months old. It can be delayed up to four years in less individual-focused cultures, like ancient tribes, but eventually, it always happens. Self-awareness makes humans unique. It’s a binary separator of evolution.

Now, when it comes to intelligence, that’s a different story.

Why Silver Linings Playbook Is One of the Best Films About Love

August 11, 2018August 9, 2024 Nik

“Hey!”

She almost runs into him as she cuts him off, then chases him down the street.

“How do you know when I run?”

“I wanted to clarify something. I just want us to be friends.”

He keeps running.

“Did you hear what I said? Why are you giving me such a hard time?”

“No, I’m not giving you a hard time.”

“I don’t know how to act with you when you do this shit.”

After a few more strides, he finally stops. On the building in front, it says ‘Llanerch’ in bright, red letters. He turns around.

“You wanna have dinner at this diner?”

The first time I watched Silver Linings Playbook, I was alone in my room. The second time was yesterday. Once again, it was just me, myself, and I.

In the five years between now and then, a lot’s changed. I’m about to finish my second degree, I make my own money, and I’ve finally upgraded the room to an apartment, even though it took moving eight times. The fact that I’m single is one of the few things that’s stayed the same.

Not that I didn’t have any relationships. There were some short ones, some long ones, and a great deal more that never really left the ground. It’s just that after this part of the journey, I’ve landed back in a familiar place. And yet, I’ve come a long way.

When I first saw one of 2012’s biggest surprise hit films, I was instantly swept away. But I couldn’t have told you why. Now I know. By taking us through the love story of two people with mental problems, Silver Linings Playbook lets us view the world through the eyes of the ideal lovers we all aspire to be.

More so, it shows us the price we’d have to pay: the world thinks we’re insane.

The Simplest Way to Improve Your Life

August 8, 2018August 9, 2024 Nik

Two men visit a Zen master.

The first man says: “I’m thinking of moving to this town. What’s it like?”

The Zen master asks: “What was your old town like?”

The first man responds: “It was dreadful. Everyone was hateful. I hated it.”

The Zen master says: “This town is very much the same. I don’t think you should move here.”

The first man leaves and the second man comes in.

The second man says: “I’m thinking of moving to this town. What’s it like?”

The Zen master asks: “What was your old town like?”

The second man responds: “It was wonderful. Everyone was friendly and I was happy. Just interested in a change now.”

The Zen master says: “This town is very much the same. I think you will like it here.”
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The Strong-Link Theory: How to Build a Successful Career

August 3, 2018June 19, 2024 Nik

My favorite painting in Munich’s ‘New Pinacotheca’ is The Poor Poet by Carl Spitzweg. It shows a penniless artist in a crappy, run-down attic apartment.

The Poor Poet is one of Spitzweg’s earliest compositions after becoming a full-time painter in 1833. Today, it is his most famous work. Likely because in it, he managed to capture the ambiguity of his own life.

Spitzweg was born into a wealthy family and eventually launched his career off the comfort of a large inheritance. At the same time, his father forced him through a pharmacist education and he was entirely self-taught. All his career, he pursued humorous themes, contrary to the common-sense nature of art in his era, the Biedermeier period.

Like Spitzweg, The Poor Poet is a puzzling figure. He’s huddled up in blankets, covering a hole in the ceiling with an umbrella, burning his own writings to stay warm. But he doesn’t look flustered. Is he choosing his poverty-stricken existence? Does it inspire him? Did he end up there because society is misjudging his genius? Or was he just too much of a snob about his own art?

The answers to all these questions are left to the viewer’s imagination, which makes it a great painting. Another reason I like this picture, however, is that it’s a reminder that in today’s world, no artist must starve.