Elements of my philosophy

IMO, philosophy is for people what strategy is for companies.

The following are some of the elements of my philosophy, which I sat down and formulated in 2003, after 41 years of living, a degree in decision sciences from MIT, an MBA from Europe's top business school, life in 3 European countries and 3 US states, military service (obligatory) and 14 years of working in various fields, for or in small, medium and large firms, private, state and quasi, etc etc etc.

* A philosopher seeks wisdom and enlightenment; a wise person has achieved them
(reminder: I am a philosopher)

* Life is to be lived

* Life is to be felt and thought, both in good measure, then it is well lived

* I think AND feel, therefore I am (only robots do not feel)

* Do not borrow someone else's goals in life, it is like borrowing a suit or dress, in any case, dress casually, to be happy

* Fame should never be an end, sometimes fame can be a means to an end, sometimes

* Learn the difference between causality and correlation

* Most events in life were not caused by a single factor

* Can future winners (in anything) really be picked based on past performance?

* Rethink and challenge all the concepts and notions of the industrial age

* Utilize the competitive advantage of being human; do not compete with machines and animals

* Having a philosophy in life is more effective than having plans!!!

* We have been programmed to live goal oriented lives! Un-program yourself

* Do not make your happiness depend on what you cannot control

* Survival of the a) cheapest b) fittest c) smartest d) wisest e) laziest f) happiest? (1)

* Dare to be "lazy"


Plus: Simplify, Rationalise, Economise (I did not come up with this one, I saw it in a ... movie)


(1) IMO, the answer is (f). (d) and (e) can contribute to survival too.


More elements of my philosophy in forthcoming posts (and tweets: @npanayotopoulos)