A gift from the immigration services for my birthday...

Tomorrow is my birthday and I just received another SMS alert from the immigration services...

It seems unlikely they chose their timing on purpose, but wow!

I got APPROVED for a GREEN CARD!!! Yoohoo!!!

What Should We Do With Our Life?

By: Po Bronson

The real meaning of success -- and how to find it.

A fantastic article about why and how each individual should find meaning in what he/she does and go for it. I especially like how the author, Po Bronson, finds out about some misconceptions and kills in the process the idea of wanting to make (tons of) money 'first' in order to fund/unleash that meaningful dream.
To me, it's like parents who plans to have kids when they earn enough, thinking that this financial comfort will automatically bring the emotional balance required for the 'preparation of the nest'.
The article is from 2002 (published in Fast Company), I wonder if the author still thinks that way, or if he made some new discoveries on the topic.
Apparently he wrote a bunch of books:

More excerpts from the article:

• Being smarter doesn't make answering The Question easier. Using the brain to solve this problem usually only leads to answers that make the brain happy and jobs that provide what I call "brain candy." Intense mental stimulation. But it's just that: candy . A synthetic substitute for other types of gratification that can be ultimately more rewarding and enduring. As the cop in East L.A. said of his years in management at Rockwell, "It was like cheap wood that burns too fast."
• What am I good at? is the wrong starting point. People who attempt to deduce an answer usually end up mistaking intensity for passion. To the heart, they are vastly different. Intensity comes across as a pale busyness , while passion is meaningful and fulfilling.
• Every industry has a culture. And every culture is driven by a value system [...] One of the most common mistakes is not recognizing how these value systems will shape you. People think that they can insulate themselves, that they're different. They're not. The relevant question in looking at a job is not What will I do? but Who will I become?
• Probably the most debilitating obstacle to taking on The Question is the fear that making a choice is a one-way ride, that starting down a path means closing a door forever.
• If you don't like The Inevitable Cocktail-Party Question [i.e. "What do you do?"], maybe it's partly because you don't like your answer.