Dragos Roua's life is the furthest thing from boring.
Born in Ramnicu-Valcea, Romania, Dragos attended college in Bucharest before paying duty for his country through compulsory military service during the chaotic Romanian Revolution. His life path then took him into the mainstream media as a radio broadcaster, which paid well, but was unfulfilling. Eventually, he founded and started (from scratch) a digital company, sold it and with the money he got he started to invest in real estate; however, lost nearly everything during the Great Recession.
But Dragos understands that it's OK to fail. Rather than sulking in his bad fortune, he picked himself up and started his blog, which has more than 1 million words addressing topics such as: personal development, online business, productivity, motivation, blogging and life lessons.
He says he doesn't like to give advice... but I think we can all learn something from these 20 questions with Dragos Roua.
20 questions with Dragos Roua
1 - How would you describe yourself in one sentence?
Dragos - The only two things that you need to know about me are: I am curious and stubborn. In that order. It's more than one sentence, but well...
2 - You've said, "Happiness is a process, not a goal." What do you mean by that?
Dragos - Happiness is never to be found and then "that's it, it's over." It's a never-ending process. In the absence of the process, there is no happiness to be found.
3 - For those who aren't familiar with your blog, what is it all about?
Dragos - I do my best to live an interesting life, by trying out new and exciting stuff (curiosity) for long enough periods of time (stubbornness) so I can extract enough meaning from them for other people.
4 - What advice would you give someone who is interested in getting more involved with blogging?
Dragos - I don't usually give advice, but if you insist, I think it would be: "Stick with it, no matter what. It's a long game, not a spring."
5 - Since you've written an entire e-book about it, how important is reputation when it comes to blogging?
Dragos - Reputation (or "personal branding") is that small square centimeter of cortex you win in the brains of people, when you've proved you know your way at something. For instance, the square centimeter for "electric car" is owned in your brain by "Tesla." And "visionary entrepreneur" most likely by Steve Jobs.
6 - I noticed you have a "Medium" account where you've published a few posts. What are your thoughts on Medium? Is it somewhere you will continue to blog?
Dragos - I try a lot of new stuff in order to gauge its performance. Medium was a nice niche but I'm not attracted to it anymore. I was also a contributor to Lifehack for a couple of years, but then again, the channel seemed to dry out for me.
7 - I understand you did military service in Romania during a chaotic time. What was that experience like, and how has it shaped you?
Dragos - That is a very, very long story. Maybe this post will help your readers to understand it better.
8 - Of your 77 tips for an online entrepreneur, which do you feel is the most important? Why?
Dragos - It's hard to pick one, but if I had to, I think this one would be the most important: "Fail Often." We tend to learn so much more from the failures than from successes.
9 - Where is one place that you've not yet traveled, that is on the top of your list to visit?
Dragos - I guess Vietnam or Cambodia. Or maybe Costa Rica. There are many. :)
10 - Who is your favorite author?
Dragos - Ernest Hemingway.
11 - What's your favorite quote?
Dragos - I don't have one, but, to be honest, I love to fool around on Facebook with fake quotes, like this one: "If your post doesn't fly from the first time on Facebook, try again. And again. Eventually, they'll notice it." - Wilbur and Orville Wright, "How To Make A Paper Plane That Goes Viral."
12 - What's ZenTasktic all about?
Dragos - It's a new approach to my productivity framework called Assess - Decide - Do. The first iteration of this framework is an app (coded by yours truly) called iADD, and you can find more info about it here. ZenTasktic goes a bit further by adding real time communication and a true multiplatform experience.
13 - As a marathon runner, what advice would you give to someone else who is interested in running marathons?
Dragos - I don't give advice but I am ready to share with anyone willing to listen to me that running changed my life in a more profound way than entrepreneurship.
14 - Who inspires you?
Dragos - Steve Jobs, for his ability to come back after being kicked out from the company he founded.
15 - What's your greatest fear?
Dragos - I have many, but running ultramarathons really helps me befriend all of them.
16 - You've dedicated an entire blog post to "waking up early." Why do you think this is important?
Dragos - Because it creates a mental tendency (a neural pathway, if you want) that makes you "wake up early" to everything: opportunities, new trends, etc.
17 - Your blog covers a multitude of topics. What's your favorite thing to write about?
Dragos - Right now it's about running. But for years I wrote about productivity and entrepreneurship and I plan to continue doing this.
18 - What's your most embarrassing moment?
Dragos - When I realized I lost all the money I made from my first exit in the real estate bubble. It was also a very liberating experience, to realize that.
19 - You get to have dinner with three people, living or dead. Who are you eating with?
Dragos - Elon Musk, Buddha, Scarlett Johansson. In that order.
20 - What is one thing very few people know about you?
Dragos - I am very skilled in a wide variety of astrological techniques. I studied this field for more than 11 years now and I constantly use it in my daily activities (even in my professional activities).
Edit: founded and started (from scratch) a digital company, sold it and with the money he got he started to invest in real estate
Cheers to Dragos for agreeing to be part of the 20 questions interview series. I think we can all agree he provided some great answers.
As always, thanks to all of you for taking the time to read.
Who would you like to see me throw 20 questions at? Drop me a comment below and I'll work on setting up the interview.
If you like what you read, be sure to follow my blog!
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