The Concept of "Swag"

I've had many discussions with peers about my opinion regarding what it means to 'bring that swag,' so I might as well document it for future reference, as the concept of swag has and will withstand the test of time.

Looking at swag from a distance, it can be seen simply as confidence, but upon closer inspection, it is slightly more intricate. For me, it is going into a meeting, knowing that you will provide valuable input. It is understanding that if I am in a pickup basketball game, my team will always be competitive, and won't get blown out. It's going into an interview unsure what questions might be asked, but confident that I have the experience to provide a good answer.

Swag is knowing what your strengths are, understanding how to use them, and executing in appropriate situations with the goal of performing at a high level. It is the elimination of self doubt, and the ability to handle any obstacle thrown your way. It shouldn't be confused with cockiness; being respectful of the abilities of others, as well as being open minded and willing to learn are necessary. Swag involves taking everything learned into effect and using it to do your best.

Bring that swag on the daily. It'll do you good.

Betrayal

If there is ever a post that discusses shady business, this has to be it.

If you did not know, I am a Cal alumnus and big football fan. Those unfamiliar with college football, once the season ends, the coaches focus on recruiting high school students to join the team that fall (or even in the spring if they want a head start). Each school has a recruiting strategy and many rely on their ace recruiter; for Cal, that man was Tosh Lupoi, a man who bled Blue and Gold, started as a player and grew into a respected, classy recruiter/coach. Notice the past tense.

This week, he left the team, the act of which I have no problem with. Cal does not own him, and he has every right to do what is in his best interest. The way in which he departed, however, is where my frustration stems from.

With sports as well as life, I respect people based on how they play the game (a phrase that works for both sports and life). In basketball? Box out, play defense, make the right pass, shoot if you're open. In life? Don't do anything you wouldn't want done to yourself. Be conscious of people's opinions. Stand up for what you believe in. Pick your battles.

This coach, while at Cal, preached family, loyalty, etc., all qualities which I have learned to associate Cal with, from top to bottom. Every school has their skeletons, but I took pride in the notion that Cal has fewer than many others. Simply put, we do things the right way. The article I linked to describes many ways in which this was the exact opposite.

I will miss his recruiting skills and the feeling of having an ace in the hole. But after actions like this, I can say nothing else, but good riddance.

The Motivation Struggle

I read up on a lot of sports, and the articles that laud the great players in their respective sport often times mention the hours spend in the gym, the early morning workouts no matter the date or location, and the drive to be the best.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are those people who are not interested at all in improving, and are content with their current knowledge, career, and financial level, among other things.

Smack dab in the middle are people like me with the potential to improve themselves and reach every goal he or she sets ... only to waste away precious time and effort behind other activities. As you may have guessed from the title, this is a motivation struggle, but not in the general sense of the phrase. I personally want to reach my dreams, and the prospect of doing so excites me. I am held back by four mental barriers, however:

1. Getting started

2. Continuing the process until its finished

3. Doing these things alone

4. Fear of failure

Aaaand that's my elevator speech, when do I start? All jokes aside, these problems appear easy enough to solve, especially to my engineering-tuned brain:

1. Start

2. Finish it

3. Grow up

4. Seriously, grow up

Simple enough, right? It should be. I'm even one of those people blessed to have things come easy to them (#humblebrag) so it shouldn't be a problem. At the end of the day, however, it is. So what am I doing to solve it?

Super Mario 64.

I've never been good at video games (start wall), when I did play, I could never get very far so I'd stop (finish wall), it's a 1 player game (alone), and you lose lives a lot (fear of failure re-enacted with a dying Mario).

It sounds silly, but as of a week ago, I received this game through eBay and have started my quest to conquer these irrational fears 1 star at a time. Hell, if I can beat this game, what can't I do?

Resurrection

It's been about two and a half years since my last blog post, and though that seems like a short amount of time, I've become a very different person. Technology and how we use it has also transformed considerably during this time.

In two and a half years, tablets are no longer the wave of the future but the foam at the shore of the present. The cloud is no longer just that thing you imagine to be soft as cotton balls if you were to jump out of an airplane. We approach communication at a completely different angle. My parents understand how to use skype. Facebook is updated from do everything phones that make the first time you got a phone with a camera on it seem pedestrian and honestly, a joke. News is brought to you the instant it happens on Twitter.

Everything is faster.

Yet here I am, writing a blog post, among the slowest reads, especially when regarding a topic the reader (you) may not be interested in.

Part of these last two and a half years resulted in a maturation (#humblebrag) of my thoughts, and though I love twitter, the unwritten rule of publishing few, concise tweets, no matter the topic has proved too constricting.

I may not post much, if at all. The topics may be random. At the end of the day, my plan is to use this space not to get my opinion 'out there', but just to get it out.