Month: April 2023

Crippled CEO Blog #177:

Y’all know that I’m into chess. I play literally every single day. It is one of my primary hobbies. I take lessons every Sunday from an International Master.

I had a thought the other day that chess is different than a lot of games and sports in a way that’s not immediately obvious. 

In an MMA fight or a football game, what happened before matters. A fighter may end the match on top of his opponent, punching him in the face, but if he was dominated for the four previous rounds, he is still going to lose the fight. 

When you’re looking at a chess game, chess people call the current arrangement of all the pieces the position. At any time, if you pause a chess game and look at it, you are looking at a chess position.

If someone makes a move, that’s an entirely new chess position. 

You are supposed to evaluate the game and decide on the best move based only on the current position. What happened before doesn’t matter. If you just moved your knight, and the best move is to put it right back, then that’s what you should do.

That’s difficult to do. If you’ve made six consecutive moves with your bishop, it is tough to make one more, or to undo what you just did, even if it’s the best move.

Our lives are exactly the same way. We should be deciding what to do next based on our current position, ignoring the baggage from our past. Maybe, after searching, it turns out that the best job for you right now is the one that you quit from a few weeks ago, and you should see if they will take you back. But how hard is that? The idea of going back there seems ridiculous because you just left, even if it’s the best decision.

But what if we looked at life more like chess? What if we evaluated each moment based on the position we’re in right now, without regard for what came before? What if we let go of our mistakes and regrets, and focused only on the opportunities and possibilities that exist in the present moment? 

This could be incredibly liberating. You can let go of the past and focus on the present, which is the only moment that truly matters. Freed from the weight of past mistakes and failures, you can open yourself up to new possibilities for growth and change.

But as I said before, in life and in chsss, this is very challenging. Our brains are hardwired to desire a consistent narrative, and ignoring that narrative is difficult. But just like in chess, the key is to focus on the position you’re in right now, and make the best move you can with the pieces you have. 

So, when deciding which direction to go, maybe think of that ancient board game. Remember that life can be a valuated as a static position, and the only thing that matters is the move you make right now. Let go of the past, and do what’s best for you in the present. You may be surprised at the possibilities that open up when you do.

(Do you know who enjoyed her position last night? Your mom. Your mom also gets a text from me every Sunday with a link to the latest blog post. Send a text to 561-726-1567 with the word CRIP as the message to get a link to the blog as soon as it’s up.

Did you know that I have a YouTube channel now? I do! I am putting up two videos every single week. Go search for Crippled CEO and you’ll find me. I would appreciate it if you subscribed.)

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Crippled CEO Blog #176:

It down on me the other day that life has a lot in common with video games. 

And not the obvious tropes like leveling up or being able to restart and try again — though those are accurate, as well. 

Lots of games these days are large, open world affairs. 

It’s not always clear which way you should be going. 

But you know you’re in the right direction with you start encountering new obstacles that you’ve never seen before — new challenges that initially seem impossible, but you eventually overcome. This is true in real life, as well. If you aren’t running into new problems, obstacles, and challenges, then you’re not progressing. Challenges are a symptom of moving forward.

Not only will you encounter new obstacles when you’re headed the right way in a game, you will also be attacked by newer, harder enemies. The combat might look different in real life, but the truth is that building success inevitably creates people who don’t like you, who want to see your downfall. Today is Easter, so let’s look at Jesus. He was literally perfect, and people REALLY hated him. Even if you try really hard to do right by everybody, you are still going to piss people off, maybe just because of how well you’re doing. The farther you progress, the more enemies you’ll get, in games and in life.

In a game, the main story quests are mandatory, and that’s where the bulk of the game is. However, it is often the side quests where you find the most interesting moments, the best gear, and opportunities to level up more than you would have otherwise. Life is the same way. The main stuff — our career, family, etc. — is important and necessary, but it’s the side quests — the optional hobbies, adventures, and projects — that bring depth and richness to your life. It’s also in the side quests where you gain experience that gives you an advantage over everybody else. Don’t just stay on the golden pass. Make sure you’re getting in some side quests, too.

I could keep going with these metaphors, but I think that’s a good stopping place for now. Maybe I’ll make a part 2 one day.

Life can be a pretty fun game if you just keep playing. 

(Do you know who was playing some crazy games last night? Your mom. Your mom also gets a text from me every Sunday with a link to the latest blog post. Send a text to 561-726-1567 with the word CRIP as the message to get a link to the blog as soon as it’s up.

Did you know that I have a YouTube channel now? I do! I am putting up two videos every single week. Go search for Crippled CEO and you’ll find me. I would appreciate it if you subscribed.)

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Crippled CEO Blog #176:

Hello, my dear readers. It’s Eric Lupton, the Crippled CEO, here again. I wanted to take a moment to address something that I’ve been keeping from you all. In my previous blog post, “How I Convinced My Inner Impostor That I’m Actually a Crippled CEO,” I didn’t actually write that post. It was generated by a language model called ChatGPT.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “What?! Eric didn’t write that post? How could he betray us like this?!” But hear me out. When I first read the article, I was blown away by how well it captured my voice and my message. I couldn’t believe that a machine could write something so clever and witty.

Of course, I didn’t want to deceive you all by claiming that I had written it myself. But I also didn’t want to discount the incredible work that ChatGPT had done. So, I decided to post it anyway and see if any of you would notice.

And you know what? None of you did! (Or at least, none of you said anything about it.) But that’s not the point. The point is that this technology is getting better and better every day. Who knows what the implications could be for the future of writing and storytelling?

As someone who has always loved the written word, I have mixed feelings about the idea of machines taking over the job of writing. But I also can’t deny the incredible potential that this technology holds. It could open up new avenues for creativity and communication that we can’t even imagine yet.

So, what do you think, dear readers? Are you excited about the future of language models and AI-generated writing? Or are you more skeptical? Either way, I hope you enjoyed the article, even if it wasn’t written by me. And as always, stay crippled, my friends.

—

Also, everything above those two hyphens was also written by Chat GPT. It even came up with that awesome tagline that I wish I had been using: stay crippled, my friends. It’s so ridiculous. Nothing is ever going to be the same again.

(I totally faked the last two blog articles. Do you know who wasn’t faking it last night? Your mom. Your mom also gets a text from me every Sunday with a link to the latest blog post. Send a text to 561-726-1567 with the word CRIP as the message to get a link to the blog as soon as it’s up.

Did you know that I have a YouTube channel now? I do! I am putting up two videos every single week. Go search for Crippled CEO and you’ll find me. I would appreciate it if you subscribed.)

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