The year is 2046.
COVID-19 is long-gone. Like polio, like smallpox, like the influenza pandemic of 1918, 2020 was a moment in time now relegated to the history books. Looking back, it was a year of inflection: a point at which the world collectively said, “no more.”
According to many future historians, 2020 was the year when we began to meet the moment. We stepped forward. We invested in science as never before. We rediscovered our pioneer roots, and we turned a corner. We passed the “Great Filter.”
Faced with tyranny, a global pandemic, raging firestorms and hurricanes, unprecedented inequality, and global tensions boiling into a second Cold War, the best minds of our generation turned the corner. We doubled down, and we refused to give up. After years of hard work, we achieved a positive trajectory. …
America has been through a lot in the last twenty years:
Simplify, Meditate, Walk with Nature, Organize
How do some people stay focused through hard times?
What is the link between focus on the one hand, and resilience on the other?
In this TEDx talk, neuroscience researcher Marvin Chun discusses the limits of the brain’s potential to multitask. He provides three tips for improving concentration — “simplify, relax, unitask.”
The full talk is well worth a watch. Below, I distill Chun’s three points into four related ones.
“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca
December 1, 2021 — what does the image conjure in your mind?
Your actions today are already shaping that future.
Every choice matters. Even your subconscious shapes what’s coming for you.
So many people go through life without introspection — without planning. This is a form of surrender. If you don’t plan, you get what others want for you. Planning puts you in the driver’s seat. …
Do you ever wonder how “breakout” success happens?
How do the very best people go from ordinary, even painful circumstances — only to achieve explosive success?
Is it intellect? Talent? Or, something else?
Consider this.
“A little action often spurs a lot of momentum.”
― Noah Scalin
In any new endeavor, the first 4–12 weeks are the hardest part.
There are several reasons for this. During the initial growth period:
Say what you’re going to say, then move on.
Watch your adverbs. Watch your “complex” words. A fifth-grader should be able to understand your words.
Grammarly features the “Flesch Readability Score” — a simple number to check how easy or difficult your writing is to read. (This is not the Grammarly Score.) The higher the Flesch Score, the larger your potential audience. Ideally, your writing should be above 70.
If you don’t have access to Grammarly, that’s okay. It’s not rocket science. Use short sentences. Write simply. Communicate clearly.
Anything worth saying is worth saying simply.
Don’t waste words.
It’s not about you. It’s about the reader. …
Tennis is different from most other sports. There’s no one on the court but you.
If you lose, you lose. If you win, you win. Your preparation, your skill, your fitness, your outlook — everything goes into the mix. But there’s no one else to blame.
I started playing at age 13.
I lost every tournament match I played, 0–6, 0–6.
The first loss was to the number-one seed in a big tournament. You’re expected to lose to the top seed. This is the top player in the tournament (usually a regional or national player), risking his rank by playing in the first place. You’re expected to lose. Think of all of the matches Federer or Djokovic or Williams play against unnamed players before they ever make it to the ones you see on TV. …
You have a high-value project coming up. Several, actually.
It’s make-or-break time. Your company’s future is riding on your performance in the next few months. You have to get this job done.
But you have a problem. Your team has holes in it. You’ve lost two of your best employees. These were your newest hires, but they did a lot of your work. They left for competitors without explanation. You can’t afford to go into the busy season without them. The work won’t get done. Your numbers will be down.
There is a promising candidate coming onto the market who is perfect for the work that you need to do. This person has competing offers from four other firms. Your best recruiter swears this is your person. He has deep background in your area. …
Warren Buffett famously emphasizes integrity in hiring for any position.
There’s a reason for that.
Integrity begets trust. Without trust, people can’t work together. Everything grinds to a halt.
Trust is the only thing that allows us to co-exist in an ordered society.
If people don’t trust each other, they stop cooperating. They stop doing business together. They stop trading. They expend energies on figuring out what others are really up to, instead of active engagement — business, government, attending to things that matter.
Lies destroy the past and the future. When truth becomes relative, there is nothing that can keep a business alive. Think of the 2008 financial crisis, Enron, or Theranos. …
About