Comments on: Life is 10% How You Make It and 90% How you Take It

By: Rohan Rajiv

Rohan Rajiv — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:13:00 +0000

I read this now as I saw a link off your LinkedIn profile.
Lovely. Thanks Mark.

By: Melinda Kim

Melinda Kim — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:56:00 +0000

I just stumbled upon this post now and what great timing! Quite my job last year and I’m in the midst of my first start up. Money is tight but I’m loving every minute of this adventure. Must admit though, I had a tough week last week and this post reminded me to keep pushing and looking to a new tomorrow. ) Thanks a bundle.

By: Anonymousse

Anonymousse — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:33:00 +0000

I think your carve-out should apply to your relative with Parkinson’s disease. Neurological disorders affect mental health. All serious and long-term illnesses affect mental health. I have an illness so now I can tell you that you don’t know what it is like and don’t understand some things until you get one of those illnesses. One example being, what you see is not the same as what the disease feels like. You see that he can walk and doesn’t shake that much, but that doesn’t mean that he feels better than Michael J. Fox or the other people you mentioned. Pain and discomfort are not visible.

Also, your relationship with your relative is not the same as with the celebrities. You don’t know whether the celebrities have someone or some people who they complain to. And are they complaints or just saying what it feels like? It’s possible to appreciate all the positive things while also acknowledging that some diseases are f–king painful or uncomfortable. When someone has a cold, people don’t mind asking how they are doing and hearing that they feel terrible. It’s no big deal to hear this response. When someone has a serious disease, then people can’t handle asking how they are doing and hearing that it’s feels terrible. The latter is orders of magnitude worse in severity and duration. This is what I wonder, why people don’t mind hearing someone say they feel terrible when they just have a tiny cold for 2 days but don’t want to hear someone say they feel terrible when they actually do.

What you see from celebrities is filtered through the media. What they do and say in public also may not be the same as how they behave in private. They make for nice stories and inspiration for healthy strangers, deleting all the tough parts.

By: Ahmed J

Ahmed J — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:58:00 +0000

Hi Mark, Your posts are very inspirational and believe me if I happen to succeed one day and make it BIG, your guidance will have an integral role. Cheers

By: Shadowlayer

Shadowlayer — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:11:00 +0000

I liked most of your post Mark, but other parts I didn’t

I really hated when you started with the happiness stuff, coelho and his cheap discourse disguised as psychology

I had a team member who was all about being happy and uppity or whatever, and what happened when we had just a minor inconvenience with our plan? he quitted on us, arguing all that BS about toxic people, happiness and crap, and that he couldnt deal with the situation

But the cynic guy who liked to make bad downer jokes? he stood with us until we delivered, he never even talked about leaving, and always got his part of the job done on schedule

If you need to fake your happiness then you have a problem, a serious one, and you shouldnt hear the advice of complete hacks like coelho but go to an actual psychotherapist. I’m not joking there, whatever is causing the problem is going to keep piling on for years

I totally agree with you that most people dont make it big, that most should be thankful of having a lucky strike in their early 40s rather than bitch about not being like Zuck

I agree that the glass is half full, but then again I’m not blind, and I can tell when its half empty

That parkinson example, while I agree that at 70 the guy had already lived his life the fact of the matter is that having a mental illness like parkinson can be worst than cancer, because you know you are going to slip away very slowly, and that there isnt a cure

The only thing worse than parkinson its alzheimer,

By: Kirill Zubovsky

Kirill Zubovsky — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 07:06:00 +0000

Mark, great post, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. @grmeyer once recommended that I read a book called “The Magicians”, and besides just being a really great book, it comes with a very vivid reminder on the topic. If you have time, I’d highly recommend.

By: Murat

Murat — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:36:00 +0000

Highly recommend Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

By: Mitul

Mitul — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:02:00 +0000

Thanks for your post!

By: Anthony Bullard

Anthony Bullard — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:28:00 +0000

Mark, as a 29 year old starting his first startup – and moving from Indianapolis to SF in order to do so – I can tell you that this article is hitting me at the exact right time. I have been torn down by the realities of what this business takes from someone. This is the most important thing I have ever done, and yet, there are times when the real world just off and smacks me in the face. Depression has at times set in deep. But this article has helped me remember that I have an opportunity to work with amazing people and build things that will affect lives. I shouldn’t let small things bring me away from the happiness I feel when I am working towards this amazing product we are building. I will make sure that the rest of my Team reads this as well.

Thanks again Mark.

By: Dan Spoor

Dan Spoor — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:07:00 +0000

Great article! Thanks.

After two years of struggling to get my business up and running, but loving the journey – i couldn’t have said it better!