Month: February 2021

  • Assume the Best

    Assume the Best

    Give people the benefit of the doubt and assume the best. Fundamental attribution error – we are usually quick to assume the person is the problem, not their situation. But it is usually their situation or circumstance that causes people to act badly. Maybe they’re having a bad day, maybe they lost someone or maybe they aren’t happy for some reason. Chances are, something is going wrong in their life and they are just taking it out on you. So it’s not about you and nothing to take personally or let drag you down.

    But don’t be naïve. There are bad people out there. In general, however, most people are good and there are many more good people than bad people. After all, how can we have a society like this if most people aren’t good??

  • Power of Mentors

    Power of Mentors

    Power of mentors, getting help from others, learning from others experiences

    Look at all of the people who springboard with the help of others.

  • 10,000 Hour Rule

    10,000 Hour Rule

    10,000 hours rule. Your intelligence is flexible. You can improve and change. Show examples of people who didn’t start great. You can get better with deliberate effort.

    There’s a lot of controversy around this rule but the lesson is important nonetheless.

    “The 10,000-hours rule says that if you look at any kind of cognitively complex field, from playing chess to being a neurosurgeon, we see this incredibly consistent pattern that you cannot be good at that unless you practice for 10,000 hours, which is roughly 4 hours a day for 10 years.” -Malcolm Gladwell

  • Failure

    Failure

    Anyone who is trying to do anything of significance will fail. It’s inevitable. How you cope to and react to failure is the whole key to success. It’s ironic-failure, and how you fail, is the key to success.

    In reality, there is no failure. Only learning. Every failure is an opportunity to start again smarter. You are either succeeding or growing. Each failure is another growth opportunity.

    Failure is an event, it is not a person. You will fail many times in your life, especially if you are pushing. Don’t let it define you.

    You’re not a failure until you quit trying.

    You only grow through stress. If you do something you already know how to do, you do not grow. It is only when you force your body and brain to do new and bigger things – new stresses – that you grow.

    Suggested reading:

    • Mindset book
  • Stay Humble

    Stay Humble

    When you inevitably experience triumph and success in your life, it’s so tempting for it to go to your head. This can manifest in very obvious ways, or it can also be very subtle. You have to protect against confidence from past successes spilling over into cockiness. There’s always someone out there who is better than you so stay humble and realize that, more often than not, you aren’t as good as you think you are. Supreme confidence is great. Cockiness is a big turnoff to everyone around you.

    Virtue: Humility

  • Power of Habit

    Power of Habit

    People often think setting the big hairy audacious goal is the key to success. It isn’t. The key to success is what you do year to year, month to month, and day to day that gets the results you need to achieve your goals. Habits are the foundation of success because they are literally how you carry yourself minute to minute. What’s incredible is once you form a habit it becomes unconscious and you don’t need to think about it or force yourself to do something–it happens automatically.

    The power of habit is undeniable. Constructive habits, like exercising or eating vegetables, carried out over many years can have tremendous impact. It’s kind of like water dripping on a stone. Over the course of a day or even a month, you will not see any change to the rock. But leave it there for long enough and the water will literally wear away the stone. How do you think the grand canyon was formed?

    What’s funny is the the habits you form not only determine your success… they also determine the kind of person you are. You literally are your habits. If you have habits of discipline, you will be known as a disciplined person. If you have habits of late night binge eating, you will be known as a fat person. This can also work in the other direction. A great question to ask yourself as you try to form habits and become the kind of person you want to be is “What would XYZ person do?” If you want to be fit, ask yourself, “What would a fit person do?” Eventually, as you repeat these actions/behaviors enough, you will become that person. You can also think of yourself as that fit person, which makes you all the more likely to carry the action forward. If you are debating whether or not to go to the gym, you can remind yourself that you are a fit person and it will propel you towards the gym.

     

    Suggested reading:

    • Power of Habit
    • Atomic Habits

     

  • Your Thoughts Define You

    Your Thoughts Define You

    “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t–you are right.” -Ford

    You are your thoughts. Your thoughts determine your future. Your thoughts define the person you are. “You become what you think about most of the time.” –Earl Nightingale

  • If you want respect, carry yourself in a way that commands it.

    If you want respect, carry yourself in a way that commands it.

    Respect isn’t easily or quickly given to you. You earn it by the way you carry yourself. This includes your confidence, demeanor, attitude, and approach to life.

    Dress for success.

  • The MBA & the Fisherman

    The MBA & the Fisherman

    An MBA student graduates and decides to celebrate with a trip to a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman pulled in and docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The MBA complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

    The Mexican replied, “Only a little while, senor.” The MBA then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish. The Mexican said he this is all he needs to feed his family. The MBA then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

    The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria. And I stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The MBA scoffed, “I got my MBA and I can help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds you can buy a bigger boat. With the money you make you can buy several boats and eventually you will have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution.”

    “And what then, senor?” asked the fisherman.

    “Well, then you would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

    The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

    To which the MBA replied, “I’m not going to lie to you. It’s not quick. It will probably take 15 to 20 years.”

    “But what then, senor?” asked the Mexican.

    The MBA laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich—you would make millions!”

    “Millions – then what, senor?”

    The MBA said, “Then you could retire, move to a small coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

  • Happiness is a Choice

    Happiness is a Choice

    Happiness is a choice. You choose to be happy. But it takes work to cultivate this mindset. It doesn’t always come naturally or immediately. It can take work, kind of like building a muscle. But if you dedicate yourself to this, you can eventually completely control your thoughts and mindset. When you can determine your thoughts, you determine your own happiness. In other words, happiness is just a thought away.

    Happiness comes from training your mind to be happy.

    Also managing expectations.