Lost in Kollel » Inspiration

“He Could Do 4x as Much Chessed”

aaron — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:00:05 +0000

There is a well known personality in Flatbush who is always involved in raising tzedaka for those in need. He works tirelessly to raise as much money as he could for those he helps. Everyone who knows him is amazed at his unbelievable devotion to others, especially given the fact that raising money is not something that is too popular.

Given all that, you would think that here is an example of someone who goes above and beyond his duty – a living example of a person who does everything he can – and more – to help other people in a way that no one else wants to. What more could be expected of him?

Wrong.

His Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Elya Svei ZT”L said about this person, that he only does about 1/4^th of his capacity to do chessed. “If he would try hard enough,” said Rav Elya, “he could do 4x as much chessed as he does now.”

Shocking words – but of course they are very true. Everyone, even the most accomplished people in the world, have the capacity to do more. Not just a little more, but a lot more. Multiple times more. How? By constantly improving oneself in multiple different ways, one can dramatically increase the output one does.

As an example, software programmers are well aware of the fact that a great programmer is not just a little better than a not-such-great-programmer. They are 10x better! For every line of code that a mediocre programmer writes, a super programmer can write 10x as many lines.

How did the good programmer become 10x better than the mediocre one? By constantly improving his method of delivering code, which took years of practice and skill. We all can become multiple times better at what we do, as long as we constantly strive to improve our ability to deliver good results.

The lesson to be learned from the words of Rav Elya, is that one should never rest on their laurels by thinking they have done enough. If the biggest ba’al chessed in Flatbush could do 4x as much chessed, how much more can be realistically expected of us?

It works both ways as well. If you take the lesson of constant improvement to heart, it will put you not just a little bit ahead of the competition, but multiple times ahead of them.

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They Survived the Holocaust, Came Here With Nothing…and Prospered

aaron — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:47:04 +0000

I always wondered, why so many of our fathers and grandfathers who were holocaust survivors that came to the United States with nothing – no money, family, or happy memories – and nevertheless succeeded in business. It is hard to find such levels of success among the younger generations. Why were they so successful?

It’s easy to explain away this phenomenon on extraordinary siyata dishamaya (divine intervention) for those that survived the holocaust. But siyata dishmaya is only a good explanation for a particular individual’s success. But how do explain the fact that so many of them were inordinately successful – while the odds were clearly not in their favor? (No connections, anti semitism, immigrants, language barrier, unfamiliar culture, etc.)

I believe the reason for their success is because they simply had no safety net to fall back upon. There was no choice – either succeed…or go hungry. If they wouldn’t have been successful in business, there was such thing as family to to bail them out or Tomchei Shabbos to deliver meals to their door. There was no food stamps or HUD, no school vouchers or Gemachs to fall back upon. There was only one clearly marked path for them in life – work hard, build a successful business, and have food to eat. There was no other choice, and so they did what they had to. Success came at a price, but it was a far better choice than the alternative.

Today we are faced with many choices – choices that cause many of us to lose our way from succeeding in life. Should I learn in kollel for years on end, or go to work as soon as possible? How about getting a degree in (fill in the desired career path here)? Or perhaps I can join the family business? Should I continue being supported by my parents while I “get started” in business? What about government programs – if I go to work don’t I lose my eligibility?

These “decisions” make it that it becomes difficult from just doing what it takes to succeed. Our fathers and grandfathers didn’t have all these options, and thus success came naturally. Therefore, our job is to see beyond the confusing array of choices we face – and do what it takes to ultimately be successful in life.

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They Survived the Holocaust, Came Here With Nothing…and Prospered

Who’s Jealous of Whom?

aaron — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:13:51 +0000

Usually its the poor kollel guy or “person in chinuch” guy who is jealous of the fancy rich guy, with the fancy cars, big house, and the “freedom” to spend thousands of dollars without giving it a second thought.

But on Purim, the reverse is true. Its a lot easier to be a simple poor person who can go collecting by all the rich homes, and sending a simple shalach manos will be just fine, than to have to bear the “burden” of being a rich guy who needs to dish out large sums of money to tzedaka and impress friends with elaborate “themes” just to save face.

Being poor is no picnic all year round. But on Purim, take small comfort in the fact that some rich folks are wishing they were in your shoes – if only for a day.

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The Hairs Breadth of Excellence

aaron — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:14:29 +0000

Some of the fears associated with leaving kollel is the fear of being unsuccessful in your chosen career path. Sure, there are plenty of business success stories out there, but the pessimist in you doesn’t associate those success stories with something that you could be capable of being.

If others could do it, why couldn’t you do the same? The excuse is, they are super achievers who are great at what they do. But the real truth is that excellence is only a tad better than average.

Being excellent at something doesn’t require you to be so much better than the other guy. If you are just a bit better at something, that is already a good enough reason for the business to come your way. And then you have the resources to get better and better, leaving the competition in the dust.

Remember, back when you were a bochur in yeshiva, the ones who became the ‘best’ in learning weren’t miles ahead of everyone else. Their success came by being just a drop better than everyone else. When everyone was goofing off, they weren’t. When everyone else thought about the kashya one time, they thought about it an extra time. When everyone else wasn’t paying attention, they were. And before long, they were miles ahead.

The difference between excellence and average starts out small, but it quickly becomes a wide gap that is almost insurmountable. (Think of Google vs. Yahoo). You already have what it takes to be excellent at whatever you do, it just takes diligence. Be just a drop better than everyone else, and you will have won the battle for good.

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Help Others Without Giving Money

aaron — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:02:52 +0000

This week, 2 incidents proved to me how helping poeple can be easily achieved without costing you a penny.

A friend of mine who is going through a “career change”, is looking to get involved in a business that provides services to very specific kinds of businesses. Because the program is only of use to very specific kinds of businesses, he doesn’t have too many leads to approach. He asked me to call a relative of mine who works in the medical field to see if he could get some contacts from him. I called the relative, and after just 2 phone calls, I put them in touch with each other, probably resulting in a lucrative deal for my friend. This cost me nothing, and it gave my friend a great boost to his fledgling business.

In a similar story, a friend of mine connected me to a person who agreed to meet with me and offer me valuable business advice. This person runs a multi million dollar business, and I would never have been able to sit down with him and hear his ideas, until the friend of mine made the connection. Funny thing is – he was actually very happy to give me the time, and even offered to be of help whenever I need.

It’s hard to give someone your hard earned money. After all, there are so many things that you could be doing with that money, and giving it to someone else is probably not high on your list. But there are so many people who you could be helping without having to part with money.

Everyone is connected to someone who can help someone else. Networking, the life and blood of all business deals, is very easily accomplished in our community. Who doesn’t know someone who works in the medical supply field, the banking industry, real estate, etc.

Business is constantly evolving, and opportunities are always arising. Chances are, there is someone who you know that can be a great source of help for someone that you know who is trying to get a business started, or a deal through. Instead of shying away, help them by picking up the phone and calling that person for them.

You’ll be doing a tremendous chessed, and the person you are asking will likely be very glad to be of help. And best of all, it won’t cost you a dime.

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Parshas Vayeitzei: Disappointments Are Good For You

aaron — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:10:02 +0000

There are times in life when things just don’t work out as planned. A job offer that looked promising disappears, a lucrative business deal falls through, or a possible shidduch for your daughter goes elsewhere. These events can be devestating, and tend to take away your will to keep on fighting.

We all know that everything Hashem does is for the good, but we have a hard time fully believing it. The thought creeps into your head, “Maybe I just am a loser.” What to do in such situations? How do you motivate yourself to keep on going, even after getting the hope knocked out of you so many times?

It’s hard to imagine, but those who suffer setbacks actually do better over the long run than those who have a smooth, easy life. In this week’s Parsha, Yaakov who was running away for his life gets robbed of everything he owns by Elifaz. Instead of just throwing in the towel, he continues on to Lavan, gets married, has 12 children, and builds massive wealth. Would that had been possible if he would have just stayed at home and not gotten into this trouble in the first place?

It’s hard to figure out why we suffer setbacks, but we all do. However, these should be viewed as short term only, and in the long term they will turn out better for us.

A real life example of this is the stock of Altria Group, who used to be called Philip Morris. You’d think their stock would be a dismal performer, after being hit with massive lawsuits and government anti-smoking campaigns. However, over the past 30 years, their stock has beat many times over the S&P 500, and even over other safe & boring stocks such as Proctor & Gamble.

It may be more comfortable to have everything work out as planned, but in the long run, facing challenges and overcoming them outperforms the straight and easy by a lot.

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Being a Doer vs. Just a Onlooker

aaron — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:12:03 +0000

If you ever want to get an idea of how many people are out there on the internet, take a look at Wikipedia. There are millions of articles on every possible subject under the sun, all of them authored by anonymous volunteer experts on the particular subject matter. It is truly amazing to see how great things can be accomplished with collaborative effort. In reality, there are a few power editors, less than 1% of Wikipedia’s users, who contribute the bulk of the content on the massive website.

But the numbers can be deceiving. For every writer that there is on Wikipedia, there are at least 9 others that have never edited a thing! Most people just sit back and read what other people have to say, without adding anything of value.

As we go through life, we have a choice. We can be power writers, who use our knowledge and capabilities to teach and influence the lives of others around us, or we can just sit back and be an onlooker, who enjoys the work of others without adding anything of value.

All of us have within us the ability to influence others. It can be something regarding learning, business, or even just about having fun. You have the choice – you can decide to become an influencer, a doer, a person who writes instead of just reads. You will grow too from being an influencer, and it will most likely define who you are as a person. Or you can just go ahead and surf to the next post or blog and read someone else’s wisdom. But what good does that do for you?

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The Worst is Over

aaron — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:19 +0000

Anywhere you turn, you cannot hide from the news announcing the end of the recession. “The worst is behind us,” they say.

Is there really any significance to this? After all, unemployment is still at record highs, and housing prices continue to fall in many cities. It’s only significant that people are willing to believe that things will be improving instead of getting worse.

Hope is a powerful force. When hope is hard to come by, when the news media and the politicians are out there convincing everyone that the world is coming to an end, everyone loses their will to take reasonable business risks. Now is the time to strike, when hope is returning, and those who have been in hiding until now have not yet come out of their caves.

If you have an idea, a plan, a risk to take, what are you waiting for? In a few months from now, the playing field will be very crowded. Now it’s empty. Go for it.

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The Power of the “Little Guy”

aaron — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:15 +0000

Sometimes its hard to believe that the little guy wields any power. There are the “important people” who seem to control everything that happens, and no one gives any heed to the little guy.

But when the little guys band together, their force is unstoppable. Take for example General Motors. They were the biggest car company by far. Their executives flew fancy jets all over the world, the company had richly decorated offices in every major city of the country. Government officials consulted with them on economic and international policy. They were important. And they didn’t give a hoot about the little guy.

Until, that is, the little guy fought back. He stopped buying their inferior cars. First in the thousands, then in the hundreds of thousands, and then in the millions, they switched over to Toyotas and Hondas. No more would they blindly follow the dictates of the “important poeple”. And so, the millions of “little people” took the important GM and brought it down to the ground.

You may think that you are just a little guy. But your ability to make your own decisions gives you a force that is very powerful. On Election Day, all the little guys together decide who will be the important one. In Lakewood, all the little people of the community decided to ignore the dictates of the important people, and in the process, showed them how not important they really are.

Maybe you aren’t such a “little guy” after all.

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A Great Paying Job with Plenty of Time to Learn

aaron — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:14:45 +0000

Nothing is created in a vacuum. Most great things come about as a result of instability, uncertainty, and fast moving change.

Lakewood Yeshiva began as a direct result of the dire situation of Torah in America. Bais Yaacov was started after tens of thousands of Jewish girls were going off the derech. Going back many many generations, Rabbenu Channanel and his father spread Torah to faraway lands when their ship was captured by pirates and they were redeemed by the Jews of Spain.

Most people have dreams of finding stability – a good paying job that allows one to work a little, make a lot, and have plenty of time to learn Torah and spend with family.

Of course, such situations don’t exist. There is no growth from stability. A boat needs to be rocked in order to move.

Maybe that nagging feeling that sets in to most kollel guys when they hit 30 is not such a bad thing after all. If it bothers you enough, maybe it will inspire you to get moving.

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