It takes a minute to have our world turned upside down. Often, this will happen when we least expect it. Our ability or inability to deal with such events has a massive impact on our life. The easy way out would be blame the world for all our problems. We can put our head in the sand and hope for things to become better. Following this path will most likely result in making the situation worse. The better play will be to pro-actively respond to the new circumstances. This will require us to avoid knee jerk reactions and evaluate the best course of action. Easier said than done. Most of us are programmed to react rather than respond.

Responding requires us to maintain composure. Collect our thoughts and analyze our emotions. At this moment that will be the very last thing on your mind. Our lizard brain is going to be pushing us towards the fight or flight response. We will be afraid. Every worse case scenario will be playing out in our head. We will want to blame the world and our bad luck for all our problems. I know the feeling; having been in the same spot many times.

What I have learned over the years is that my response to these problems determines the final outcome. Fighting default reactions is difficult but not impossible. Each one of us has within us the ability to take control of our lives. Embracing failure and setbacks as roadblocks we all have to face. Some of us will have it rougher than other and that is just the way the dice rolls. Keeping your chin up, thinking clearly through your options and responding with the best course of action is the only way out.

Cockroach Theory This weeks featured article is a speech by the new CEO of Google. It uses a great example to help us visualize how a reaction is different from a response.

How I Learned to Get a Lot Done Without Being Busy As entrepreneurs it isn’t uncommon to being busy all the time. There is always something on our to do list. This article talks through the steps you can take to take control of your life back. There are several great pointers included. The one I liked the most was about being honest with yourself.

The future legends of esports Every week I read some piece of news regarding the growing e-sports industry. In prior issues we talked about professional teams and plays. This article talks about the growth of the industry as a whole and what we can expect as it matures even further.

A Dozen Things I’ve Learned from David Einhorn About Investing This was my favorite read of the week. The highlighted investor in this post is someone whom I admire. He started his fund with $900k in 1996 and has generated a 20% annalized return for investors since. This post highlights key insights into his investing thesis and process.

Marc Andreessen on Big Breakthrough Ideas and Courageous Entrepreneurs Marc Andreessen is one of the top technology investors in the world. In this video he talks about his investment thesis and the type of entrepreneurs he looks to back.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!