Quotes
"If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started."—Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey (1923)
“Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.” — Anonymous
“Remind yourself. Nobody built like you; you design yourself” — Jay Z.
“People aren’t afraid to start their dreams — they are just embarrassed to be seen starting small.” — Brendan Bouchard
"Conversation is a catalyst for innovation." - John Seely Brown
"The person who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the person who does not ask is a fool for life." - Teronie J. Donaldson - (Yep, that’s me cool, right?)
Notes/Observations
What would you do differently - if today was your last day on Earth?
This type of question is more about intention. With 86,400 seconds in a day, it is vital to make our days count as time never replenishes.
So what we do with that time affects our lives and those around us.
There is a common complaint about lack of time; however, the root cause is squandering it on unimportant things.
I am not saying you have to be a productivity machine, but consider the best return on investment for your life.
Chances are binge-watching tv shows may not be the best choice — Unless you ultimately want to do that.
Here is a funny thing: if it were your last day, many important things would get tossed to the side, so the key is figuring out what that will be on a moment-to-moment basis.
I admit I wouldn’t say I like putting myself in a deathbed mentality, but it does help with focus.
#productivity #mindset #lifelessons
Here is an excellent video on the topic;
Articles
Watched
Book of the Week
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
“The Secret” explains how the law of attraction governs your thinking and actions and how you can use the power of positive thinking to achieve anything you can imagine.
It doesn't seem like much of a secret, does it?
Until you realize that negativity is a powerful force in our lives, if you look at any form of media, what drives the headlines are usually negative - crime, destruction, slander - you name it.
And is ever present in both social media and traditional media. So spreading positivity seems like it would be secretive—something to think about later.
According to studies, humans have approximately 60,000 thoughts per day - and most are repetitive negative thoughts.
Fortunately, these thought patterns can be changed.
And here's where books like this come in handy.
The Secret emphasizes that If you focus on achieving a goal, believing that you can do it, and visualize you already have done it, you can achieve virtually any goal you set your mind to.
and conversely,
If you focus on what you don't want, you inadvertently draw that into your life. For example, constantly thinking about what's stressing you out will attract more of those situations and stress into your life.
The Law of Attraction is the theory that the energy of our thoughts (positive or negative) attracts experiences of the same energy to come into our lives.
The three steps of the law of attraction are:
1- Asking.
2- Believing.
3- Receiving.
So, in a nutshell, this book encourages us to get into a better frame of mind to maintain motivation to pursue goals.
But
I must emphasize that would only be a start - the other part of getting what you want out of life is being worthy of receiving it.
How do you become worthy? By putting forth the action necessary to help your goals along.
For example;
If you want to be in good shape, you can ask for it and be ready to receive all you want; but you will also have to exercise, eat right, take care of yourself and be in environments that will aid your progression.
So "The Secret" is more on the mindset aspect, which is always a great place to start.
If you like this book, you will also like these;
1- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
2- Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.
3- The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peele.
Strategy
A young boy enters a barber shop, and the barber whispers to his customer,
“This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”
The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other then calls the boy over and asks,
“Which do you want, son?”
The boy takes the quarters and leaves.
“What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”
Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream parlor.
“Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?”
The boy licked his cone and replied:
“Because the day I take the dollar, the game is over!”
— A parable by Vinaya Patil
Playing "dumb" is sometimes a valuable strategy for our careers and in society. Not in the sense of trying to manipulate people but only to further your goals and periodically for survival.
"Playing Dumb" is a variation of underpromising and overdelivering.
People will assume that you are not talented or smart enough.
So if they believe you aren't cunning, sometimes you have to let them figure out for themselves that you are.
This is a fantastic lesson to understand and utilize.
What are your thoughts?
Question
Are you drawing what you want in your life?
If not, how can you?