In our lives we aim for goals. That is the reason why we get up in the morning every day, get changed and head where ever necessary. It can be many things we aim for, career, family or personal achievements.

But, unfortunately, we cannot achieve all our goals no matter how much effort we put in. Some succeed in more things than others. And there are many of us thinking they are not successful or not as successful as they are supposed to be. Society enslaves us and puts us in cages where we need to fit in as something we are not. Just like little hamsters we run and run and end up at the same place we started. Our efforts are doomed to fail because we are just not made for it. People like that sometimes see themselves as losers and I quite frankly believe, that all of us thought of themselves as underachievers or losers one time or another. This particularly happens as we get older. To all those who think they are LOSERS, I say that “NO”, you can change.

I got to know myself and know many things I am not talented at. I am not a musician neither can I sing, I am also no athlete or a craftsman. I learnt that I am not good at sports because I played and never reached more than average. I was mediocre. I thought I was a loser because I wanted to be better at it. Friends of mine who play music always made me feel envious because I could not play and I always thought I have to play too and when I tried I failed terribly. It takes a great deal of time and practice and even then you may not reach a level beyond average. It can also be at work, every day we try to sell, present and impress and it sometimes just does not work. We see ourselves as failures and feel bad. There are people walking around and thinking that they are not good at what they do. Losers.

I say that everybody can be a WINNER.  The issue is that we always think we need to be good at what others tell us to be good at. Consciously or subconsciously our environment shapes us and so our goals in life are defined by others. When you are surrounded by prodigious musicians you will feel the need to play music or see yourself as a failure otherwise. In your job the same applies, you think you want/need to be good at something whereas it’s only that other people expect that from you. Often parents push their kids in a direction and when a child is being told to be a doctor or lawyer it will inevitably always think of being that and if not it will see itself as a loser. Open your mind and try new things. There are so many great people getting up every morning and heading towards a pointless, unhappy life. These so-called losers who sometimes walk around for decades of their lives just have not yet FOUND what they could be succeeding in. Anyone can find that particular thing he is good at. Basically, it is a process of trial and error. Try a job, hobby, anything and see if it is what you are good at.

THAT is the only thing that distinguished losers from winners. I have my thirst for knowledge and people say I’m a smart guy. As I said, I am not good at sports, working with tools or making music but I can talk. I can talk about things. I can’t sew but I can persuade, I can’t run but I can convince, I can’t throw but I can understand, I can’t play guitar but I can conceive, I can’t saw but I can argue.

My mind is the tool I need to sharpen. Questions which I ask are the right ones, that is what I think, as of now at least, is what I need to do. I will try and who knows maybe I will succeed.

As I said, sometimes it takes a lot of time to find the right thing, sometimes it’s less but UNDOUBTEDLY everyone can find it and be a WINNER.

It is a place where consumerism reaches an orgasm. Tens of thousands of people walk through this enormous street each day. Dozens of things people like, want or even need are sold every time you blink. We, human beings, it seems have found an extraordinarily convenient way to reward ourselves. If we are good at something or if we achieved one of our goals regardless of type or place. It could be work, family of simply something we are proud of ourselves. If we achieve something like that, we need to be rewarded. Unless a person who we respect or is superior to us does that we feel dissatisfaction. We have the need to be rewarded by our social environment with money, goods or words. Otherwise, we will find a way to take care of that ourselves.

In the olden days when media and subsequently advertising was not as ubiquitous and as manipulative people would just be dissatisfied and helpless to find a way around. (I guess, since I never lived in the olden days).  Fortunately, the US introduced consumerism and a throw-away way of life after World War II. They pushed the economy and laid the foundations for today’s world. This, however, opened a way of self-reward for those people who did not receive it by others. Nowadays, it is simple. If, for instance, you do not get what you want at work today you have a solution. If you do not get the praise for your contribution at work by receiving a bonus, promotion or round of applause then you can go and buy satisfaction.

Numerous locations conveniently accessible for all of us who feel the need to buy them satisfaction are available, especially in Oxford Street. Hugo Boss, HMV, H&M, Apple, Swarovski, Ted Baker, Ray Ban, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Sony, UGG, and many, many, many more offer you rewards someone else missed to give you. Every price range available, all credit cards accepted, open during the whole week.

Anyhow, Oxford Street is the perfect place for that and still I do resist buying things which I have no use for. Some sort of realisation that I do not need it and just want to buy it for a reason other than actual use.

I honestly admit that I also have bought things in my life I didn’t need just because I wanted it so badly but did not need it at all effectively. But now, at a not too mature age, I thankfully have already understood that there is no real point in all that. It will not solve any problem. It is only short-term happiness and satisfaction. Solutions must be found elsewhere.

People should fight for the appreciation of their work. It is one thing to boast but it is another to make people appreciate what you have achieved and speak about it proudly. This might prove to be difficult but it is the only right and genuine way to feel better in the long run. So, you would only need to go to Oxford Street if you truly needed something.

This is not one of those London experience entries. Nonetheless, London inspired me for this blog entry. Ever since I arrived in this metropolis I had difficulties with getting informed about what is happening around the world. I feel very unsettled by the fact that newspapers are just rubbish here. How do people get informed about things? It took a friend of mine several weeks until she found out that a huge oil spill was threatening marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Even more bizarre is that she was told by her parents in Switzerland via Skype.

Metro News, The Evening Standard and many other newspapers inform the general public about recent affairs of celebrities and spread rumours which do not bear any important nor useful information. It’s very stupid, basically. People are being dumbed down. They take what they get and think it is important and other events of much higher relevance are being neglected by the majority. The problem is not that people don’t care. It is rather the fact that newspapers publish pointless stuff on the front page which everybody will read since it appears to be significant. Small, little pieces of news won’t be read because they seem unimportant. Media corporations encourage the process of dumbing down because they need to attract people’s attention and won’t be funded unless they write about celebs, scandals, excesses and so on. That is absolutely sad. We just get news and have to deal with it and if we would like some quality news we have to look for it. Shitty news will be brought to us by most newspapers, TV and radio voluntarily!

In comparison to Switzerland I feel much less informed about current affairs than here. There are possibly a couple of explanations but the foremost reason is certainly the system of direct democracy. People in Switzerland get to vote every quarter of the year and can oppose basically all major decisions of the parliament. Thus, people inform themselves what is happening and parties are highly active when it comes what they promote. Topics affecting small villages are being discussed just as well as changes in the constitution. All that is not the case in the UK as far as I can conclude from my observations and chats with people.

It has a resemblance of zombies wandering around having no idea what decisions are made behind their backs though it all happens right in front of their eyes.

FURTHERMORE and ON THE OTHER HAND

We are being manipulated by powerful corporations which virtually own the news. Many people are aware of that and just don’t give a flip. (Flip here means fuck) I have friends who are really into alternative news which sometimes make more sense but most aren’t.

No matter how much we want to understand what is really happening around the world we cannot possibly process every bit of information. That is maybe why we grab only the headline news. But as I said not all of us are able to dedicate as much time to find out what really happens in the world. So, we just decide to ignore it or more precisely to just take note of it but do neither believe nor spread it because we know it is just the “official” version of what happened. As long as we do not stop to think on our own it is good. And I think my posts are getting longer and longer and I know your time is limited which is why I’ll just stop here.

Thousands of companies are found every day. Each one of them is driven by an idea. An idea which is supposed to make people’s life easier or make things more useful and efficient. There are not many companies which survive economic struggles or other difficulties and still remain as successful. Numerous start-ups fail after a short period of time and others resist a lot of problems and build up quite nicely. But when it comes to a recession as it did in 2008 even the most successful entrepreneurs face a challenge. This is the moment when well-run companies are separated from those, which could survive in a flourishing economy but do not possess the ability to overcome a serious crisis. Mostly it’s because of a lack of liquidity or structurally. That’s the kind of problems what only surface during a hard time. It is comparable to evolution. When we think about the catchphrase “Survival of the fittest”, which means that only the ones who are best adapted to their environment will remain in existence. The matter is identical to companies. If a business cannot adjust the way it’s been run in, it cannot survive. And a recession is no more than big challenge, which only the fittest businesses can master. If you are not prepared for that scenario, you will be gone by the end of the recession. And a whole bunch of companies is gone now.

Once a company is successful it probably has well-known products. Examples are Apple iPods, Coca-Cola, Dyson and many more. I want to focus on Apple for a moment. Do you really know what an iPod is? It’s a thing that plays the music from iTunes and stuff, right? Apple succeeds in making its product names synonymous to the original device. A lot of people don’t know the difference between an iPod and a MP3-Player. And no matter how long they try to find out the difference, they don’t come up with something. And the reason is that there is no difference. iPods are one specific branded product of MP3-Players, no more, no less. But some would even say they bought and iPod kind of thing when it’s in fact just an MP3-Player. The same is now happening to smart-phones. Ever since Apple has introduced their iPhone it more and more becomes a synonym for a smart-phone. People even asked me what kind of iPhone I have there, when I only had another touch screen mobile phone. Apple does a great job there and every company that accomplishes what Apple has accomplished with their brand can be extremely proud of itself. It takes a lot to make your product name a synonym to the product itself. Think about others who could not achieve this so far. No one talks about Vaios, Pavillions, ThinkPads. It’s either you have a MacBook or something else.

Another example is Google. To google has became synonym to doing an internet search. It’s even noted in certain dictionaries. All you need is Google; it’s as if Google was the internet. There are lots of products which people only know the product name and can’t remember what the actual product is.

There is even a Wikipedia article about generised products. Which contains the following list:

* Aspirin, originally a trademark of Bayer AG
* Butterscotch, originally a trademark of Parkinsons
* Escalator, originally a trademark of Otis Elevator Company[4][5][6]
* Heroin, originally a trademark of Bayer
* Kerosene, originally a trademark of Abraham Gesner
* Phillips-head screw, named after Henry F. Phillips
* Pogo for the toy Pogo stick[6][7]
* Thermos, originally a trademark of Thermos GmbH
* Tipp-Ex, originally a trademark of German manufacturers Tipp-Ex GmbH & Co. KG
* Yo-yo, originally a trademark of Duncan Yo-Yo Company
* Zipper, originally a trademark of B.F. Goodrich[6][8]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark

And here is another article about the same topic:

http://inventors.about.com/b/2006/01/29/when-a-brand-name-becomes-generic-genericized-trademarks.htm