Getting a Reputation

Hey Guys,

This is something I have been learning about a fair amount lately is how you get a reputation. It is probably one of the easiest things to get in the world. It can be as simple as a one time thing or a complex as a series of events or actions that cause you to gain a reputation. The craziest thing about a reputation is how long it sticks with you and you can never seem to shake it. A great saying is this:

A reputation for a thousand years may depend upon the conduct of a single moment.
- Ernest Bramah

This still rings true today and will probably ring true for the rest of our lives. Most of the reputations I have of people and the reputations I have seen of others have been created by a singular event. Whether it be an act of annoyance, losing your temper or being competitive these acts create a reputation for you. When I look at my own reputation I would like to believe it is a reputation of good but I would be a idiot to believe that. 

It is a sign that your reputation is small and sinking if your own tongue must praise you.
- Matthew Hale

That will ring true also. I am not going to try and say that my reputation was created based upon nothing which is unfortunate. I am going to be writing on if it is even possible to change a reputation. I dream it is because I do not want my reputation to be the same as it was 2 years ago, a year ago or even 6 months ago. I had a good talk with a smart guy a few days ago who told me that the only way to change a reputation or how people view you is not through words, but through actions. I told him I was trying and he responded saying 'that is good' but that is still not enough and not enough people are seeing. 


Back to the point which is getting a reputation. It is an extremely easy thing to do, it only takes a matter of one action to gain a reputation that is going to stick with you for a long time. I worry sometimes that what I write on this blog will create a reputation for me, not just a reputation with people who know me already but for anyone who is reading this. To anyone who has never met me before in life, hi! 


My encouragement and challenge for anyone reading this is think about your reputation, think about the actions you are taking and what that means for your reputation. Think as you are getting a job, meeting knew people, what your first impression is going to be and what reputation will you build. My dad always tells me you can only make a first impression once. He is right. You can only make the first impression once and that first impression will last with you as a reputation, and it takes a long time to change a reputation. So make sure you make the first one count because you do not want to have to try and change you reputation. Do it right the first time.


Goodbye for now,
Christian Sawka

Reputation

Hey Guys,


Something that was brought up and something that has always been on my mind has been this idea of reputation. I am still thinking through everything right now and will be trying to understand a few key aspects of what a reputation means. Over these next few days I am just going to be thinking and look at what makes up a reputation, what a reputation means for you and how can you change a reputation. These are pretty big things especially for the age group in which I live in. We tend to spend so much time thinking about how we are thought about from other people. It is something in a lot of ways plagues our society. Think for a second about some of the actions we do, does the fear of what people are going to think change those? I am not saying that being concern about what other people are going to think is always a horrible thing but when it stops you from doing the right thing it is something wrong. The reason I have been thinking about this more and more is that we have been studying social psychology in my psychology class. It brought up some very interesting ideas regarding how people change their thinking depending on what the people around them are thinking. Whether we like it or not we do get molded around what other people think. I guess the question I am going to be figuring out or trying to make sense of these next few days is does our reputation mold us or do we mold our reputation?


I am also not saying every reputation does not hold merit because as I am well aware they are not based on nothing. Usually they are over exaggerated and embellished to the point that the original conclusion is no longer the truth believed. I had a teacher back in grade 8 that always told me that it only takes one event to create a reputation for you, and it will take you 4 years to change the reputation. I am kind of hoping she is not right but I am starting to think she is. Something that I have experienced is how a reputation can affect you. I am not saying mine is unjustified but I am wishing it was not so hard to change.

Hopefully you will follow this little series and that you will comment and think about the reputations you give other and what that means.


Goodbye for now,
Christian Sawka

Knowledge

Hey Guys,

A friend of mine today said this and it got me thinking, "Knowledge is power". This definitely made me think for a second what does that actually mean, knowledge is power. A few quick things ran through my mind which was school, life and experience. There are a few ways you can gain knowledge I am finding it is either though learning or experiencing. I am in school and we are taught everyday and we gain knowledge on business, english, politics and everything in between. In like we learn and gain knowledge through experience. We do not necessarily have to experience it ourselves to gain the knowledge of something. True, we will never know something for sure unless we experience it ourselves. But think for a second, if I tell you stealing is bad do you have to try it yourself? I know the is extreme but that is an example of when knowledge from someone elses experience can be transferred. So what does it actually mean knowledge is power?

I am taught every day knowledge, sometimes I think some teachers teach me more then others but none the less I am given knowledge each day. But what is the power in that? It took me a while to start to realize this but the knowledge we gain here today will help us in the future whether in be in our major or just the simple fact or gaining the experience on how to learn. Learning how to learn will be knowledge we will use for the rest of our lives. Something that we are told is that the knowledge we gain in school will separate us from the rest of the working force. That the little degree saying we gain the knowledge in this aspect separates us. You know the great thing about knowledge is that once you have gained it, it takes a while to lose it. You are probably thinking, what about those classes I took that I cannot remember. Well I guess you never gain that knowledge!

The next thing is sort of my main topic is gaining knowledge about yourself and your struggles. For me where I am gaining the most knowledge right now is to start to understand my downfalls and weaknesses. That is something we tend to over look a lot is trying to figure out and gain knowledge about ourselves. When we were talking about knowledge is power is was in the context in struggles. For me something I wish I would have done a lot more was read about depression, read about what was going on and gain knowledge how what steps to take. In retrospect it is a lot easier to think, here is the fix to depression is step to step process:

1) Talk to your close friends and family

2) Get professional help

3) Read about everything and understand

4) Continue 1-3 until better

If it was only that easy at the time right? During something we always forget to read about what we are going through and to gain knowledge as to what our downfall is. What I am learning is that the power of getting better is in the knowledge of understanding what is wrong. You can never get better without understanding what went wrong. 

Knowledge is power, I stand by that. In everyday life you will see that too. The person who gets ahead, the person who wins the argument, and the person who seems happy about life is that person who has knowledge. Whether it be as simple as knowledge in a school subject or as deep as knowledge in ones self and their down fall. Knowledge will give you power over these.

Goodbye for now,

Christian Sawka