Tag Archives: richard-branson

Here’s Some Better Life Advice Than Richard Branson’s

Mother Jones

Richard Branson has a life tip for us all: “You only live one life, so I would do the thing that you are going to enjoy.” Tyler Cowen says, “The rest of the advice, more pedestrian, is here.”

Holy cow! What could possibly be more pedestrian than that? Is there any rich and successful person in the entire world who hasn’t given the rest of us this advice?

Now, in fairness, Cowen was referring to the other piece of Branson’s advice: have a sofa in your kitchen. “The truth is, so long as you’ve got a kitchen which has space for a sofa, and a bedroom, and a partner that you love, you don’t necessarily need the add-ons in life.” Uh huh. Can I translate this? “If you have enough money to buy a house with a ginormous kitchen that can comfortably accommodate a sofa, you’re probably doing OK.” If I tried to put a sofa in my kitchen, there would be no kitchen left.

I know I’m being cranky, but I am sick to death of rich people telling us to “follow our passion” or something similar. (In a 10-part list, Branson repeats this advice in five different forms.) Some of us, of course, are lucky enough to get to do that. I’ve come pretty close, for example. But for most of us, this is a recipe for going broke. That’s because, sadly, the world tends to assign a low market value to most of our passions.

Here’s some better advice: try to avoid stuff that you hate. I admit that this is less uplifting, but it’s generally more achievable and produces reasonable results. You might not ever get your dream job, or your dream house, or your dream partner, because that’s just the way the lottery of life works. But with a little bit of effort, you might be able to avoid a soul-crushing job, a two-hour commute, and an empty relationship. Maybe. It’s worth a try, anyway.

But honestly, most of us are better off saving our passions for our hobbies. This won’t get me invited to give any commencement speeches, but it’s still pretty solid advice.

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Here’s Some Better Life Advice Than Richard Branson’s

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Challenge Aims to Help Small Islands Reduce Fossil Fuels

Sir Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room is leading a push to make 10 islands independent of fossil fuels. Photo: Carbon War Room

While dependence on fossil fuels is a global problem, it poses an even bigger threat for small islands that must import resources like oil, coal and natural gas. With rising sea levels caused by climate change, small islands find that their dependence on such fuels to survive is also the very thing that is threatening their existence.

As a way to break away from fossil fuel dependence, 10 Caribbean island nations have joined with the Carbon War Room and The Make Yourself Foundation to launch the Ten Island Renewable Challenge. The Carbon War Room, founded by Sir Richard Branson, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to discovering and implementing business solutions that reduce carbon emissions and promote a low-carbon economy. For the Challenge, they will work to make the islands dependent upon wind and solar power.

“We work as an ‘honest broker’ for islands,” Branson explained in promotional materials about the Challenge, “helping them identify the best available technologies, attracting the right experts and the investment, because we want to help them choose the best technology options for their islands, their economy and their people.”

According to a blog post written by Branson in September, the Ten Island Renewable Challenge will lead by example and encourage other, larger nations to move toward the use of renewable energy. Work has already begun in Aruba, and Branson says they will next expand to St. Lucia, Grenada and the British Virgin Islands before turning their attention to the Pacific Islands.

“There is no Planet B,” Branson wrote. “Let’s take good care of our planet. We’ll start by implementing renewable energy on islands, and then expand to the rest of the world.”

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Challenge Aims to Help Small Islands Reduce Fossil Fuels

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