You learn how to make your work by making your work.
You make good work by among other things making lots of work that isn’t good and gradually weeding out the parts that aren’t good.
Your work is your guide.
Art & Fear
Category: Food for thought
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What Makes You Special
Far too often, people think they are special because they come from a special situation like a royal family, or have an exceptional talent that makes them different and better. It’s not what you say or where you come from that makes you special.
The truth is this:
You are not special because of who you are but what you do.
You become special through your actions. By what you do. Every day, day in and day out. Your actions define who you are and the person you will become.
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The Wealth Paradox
This is an interesting phenomenon that I know happens in young men’s brains. I doubt it happens to such an extreme with young women, but I will let you be the judge.
I call it the wealth paradox. When you are young, there are so many things you could imagine doing if you had money. Big fancy homes, expensive cars… lots of bling designed to impress other people. This desire for wealth drives people to work hard and accomplish much so they can earn a lot of money to pay for these things. What’s interesting is unless you are very lucky or very good, it will take decades to make the kind of money that allows you to make super extravagant purchases. As those decades pass, the motivations you had in the early days fade and your priorities in life shift.
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Success Takes Time
A woman approached Picasso in a restaurant and asked him to scribble something on a napkin for her. She said she would be happy to pay whatever he felt it was worth. Picasso quickly sketched a beautiful piece that wowed the people watching.
Then he said, “That will be $10,000.”
“But you did that in thirty seconds,” the astonished woman replied. “No,” Picasso said. “It took me forty years to be able to do that.”
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Arguments & Emotions
Emotions have a funny way of distorting reality. There is a lot to write about this. For now, I want to focus on the emotional side of arguments.When you get into an argument with someone close to you, emotions immediately flare. Studies show that men get a lot more emotional in arguments than women do. Regardless, emotions flare for everyone, and one big consequence of this is things get blown out of proportion. A small disagreement over something trivial blow up into an all-out, no-holds-barred brawl. How this happens is worth closely examining for yourself in terms of triggers and chains of reaction. Mastering this will help you protect your closest relationships.I have noticed something funny about these kinds of trivial arguments that have blown up into a big ordeal. A few months after the argument, I can almost never remember why we were arguing in the first place. I remember the intensity of the argument or adrenaline flowing, but not specifically what upset me. Maybe it’s just me, but hopefully it is you too. I say that because it has really helped me put things into context. I may be feeling strongly about something that could blow up into an argument. When a big argument is start to flare up, it has helped me de-escalate to realize that I am going to forget what this was all about in a few months anyway. If I am going to forget, what’s the point of getting all worked up about it today? It it really is something trivial, let it go.Don’t get too hung up on arguments. You won’t remember what you were arguing about in a year anyway. -
Live, For I am Coming
Death twitches my ear. “Live,” he says, “I am coming.” –Virgil
This is one of my favorite quotes. Live your life to the fullest. It will go by in a flash and soon you will be gone. Yes, that is morbid. But it is also true. The sooner you realize that the sooner you will live every moment to its fullest.
Six Feet Under is a great show to watch to realize this. It covers the lifetimes of a bunch of characters that you get close to.
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You are not your backhand…
You are not your performance or result or test score. You should not measure your worth by how you perform or how other people see you. This will make you unhappy and anxious, and you are much more than that. If you identify with your backhand, you will judge and evaluate yourself that much more.
This came from The Inner Game a Tennis. Highly recommended reading!
