Nothing is more damning in the mountains than hubris, yet hubris is fundamental to climbing mountains. All serious mountaineers possess big egos. You cannot take on the risks and constant suffering of big mountains without one. We may talk like Buddhists, but don’t be fooled, we’re actually narcissists—driven, single-minded, masochistic narcissists. Nearly all of us, ...
If only we had the knowledge had more time had more money had more energy had a boss who would let us had someone to go with had (enter reason here), then we would do the thing we want to do. If only the celestial bodies that are our excuses would line up in perfect order, then the great dream we have numbed our ...
Anyone venturing solo in the service economy for the first time has been faced with the dilemma of this question at family get togethers: “So what is it that you actually do?” Damnit...Someone top me up here, please. Since we are oftentimes unsure of what it is that we do (because we’re not actually doing it), our ...
I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. My brain started to stockpile descriptions of successful people: good networkers, exquisite communicators, committed, driven, passionate, educated and blessed with strong teams, but the problem was, that cache can look quite similar to those of unsuccessful people. Rats. So I stopped looking at the characterizations they harbored and instead investigated ...
The more I think I’m in complete, logical control of all my decisions, the more I realize that I’m fooling myself, flopping around in the shallows between reality and make believe. Whose side is your brain on? Well, that depends on if you’re asking the thinking “you” or the reacting “you”. Our consciousness is often an ...
Ask anyone worth his weight in salt - which I just found out is $9.5 for me so maybe that is not a good analogy anymore - and he’ll tell you that the fastest way to getting support of an answer to something is to ask for some input or feedback. So why the hell can’t ...
I’m writing this to you on my way to Hong Kong. I’ll be there for a night catching up with some family then it’s off to Thailand, Cambodia, Australia and New Zealand for the next 2 months as I explore, get a change of scenery and get lost for a while. Bassam, how can you leave ...
He who waits for chance may wait a year. - Yoruban proverb Ok, we’re here now. A new dawn is upon us and everything we said we wanted to do after the holidays, after the partying, after the New Year is now staring us in the face. Life has slid a voucher under your proverbial front door ...
With all these opportunities to create, why is it so hard for us to actually create? The Internet Age has given us access to unfathomable amounts of information paired with options too numerous to count. This is great for people who know what they want to do, but terrible for those who don’t. Because for a ...
Wrong. You won’t know where you’ll be in 5 years, so stop worrying so much about it. Often people ask me where do I want to be in 3 or 5 years and I consistently tell them, “I hope I am still living intentionally.” It’s stressful to think of this illusionary point that we - or our ...
"Hi, I'm Bassam Tarazi, creator of Colipera. This blog combines tenets of collective inspiration, personal accountability and global discovery. Enjoy!"