The picture below spent a good portion of yesterday on the front page of Reddit beneath the title “The brilliant philosophy of a 1st grader.”
And with good reason. It’s awesome. And 100% true.
A Lesson About Fear That Will Help You Accomplish Something Amazing
April 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment
On the advice of someone who was a complete stranger, I recently started reading the book Start Something That Matters
If you don’t know the story of TOMS, it’s really quite remarkable. Learn more about it here.
Basically, Mycoskie started a shoe company with one simple idea: for every pair of shoes he sold, he would outfit an impoverished, shoeless child with a new pair of shoes.
It was a radical idea, but Mycoskie was not about to let fear stand in his way.
A Perfect Lesson From Philip Humber … That Has Nothing To Do With Baseball
April 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This past Saturday, White Sox pitcher Philip Humber threw the 21st perfect game in MLB history, much to my excitement as a rather dedicated fan of the Pale Hose.
Scott Merkin, who does a terrific job covering the White Sox beat for the team’s official website, took the opportunity tell the story of a trip Humber took this past December to impoverished areas of the Philippines and the impact it had on the pitcher.
I highly recommend the entire article, which you can read here.
This excerpt is what stuck out the most to me:
How Sam Cooke Can Help You Make The Most Important Decision of Every Day
April 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The statement I am about to make will not make sense. I want you to know that before I say it.
It’s true, unequivocally so, but you will think I’m making it up. Just know that I’m not.
Here is the statement: The most excited I ever felt going to work was for the shittiest job I ever had.
See, you think I’m making it up. I knew you would.
But I’m not.
And I couldn’t have done it without Sam Cooke.
3 Ideas That Will Guarantee Personal Growth By Making You Better At Failing
April 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I can be a real nincompoop sometimes.
I’ve been getting the Experience L!fe magazine for months now, ever since I signed up with Lifetime Fitness. But for myriad foolish reasons, I have not taken the time to read it.
This weekend I am correcting that mistake and realizing what I’ve been missing.
Yesterday I wrote about four quick lessons for sustained weight loss that I learned in the most recent issue.
Today, I want to offer up a few ideas from Jessie Sholl in this month’s issue that, when embraced, guarantee personal growth by enabling us to to fail better.
Do What You Say You’re Going To Do
April 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This morning while driving into work I turned off the radio and turned on a podcast.
Rather than listen to sports talk, I wanted to listen to something that might enlighten me, teach me something, inspire me in some way, leave me with a thought or nugget or anecdote and push me forward in my day.
Idle, mindless noise had no place in my car this morning.
Specifically, I listened to Tripp Lanier’s interview with Jon Rose; and I got what I was looking for.
Great TED Talk by Simon Sinek: “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”
January 19, 2012 By 1 Comment
My wonderful Aunt Nini called me up excited several nights back after watching a TED Talk that had been recommended by a co-worker, the name of which she couldn’t remember. After describing it and piquing my interest, she texted me some time later with the name.
After 48 hours of unnecessary procrastination, I watched it…and was predictably inspired.
5 Lessons I Relearned By Rereading The Alchemist
June 28, 2011 By 7 Comments
As I told you yesterday, I recently decided to re-read The Alchemist, the book I always cite as my favorite of all-time.
I finished Read #2 yesterday, and while the words and lessons contained in this marvelous little tale are obviously the same, I found myself relating to them much differently now than I did five years ago in 2006 when I read the book for the first time.
There are many, many different angles I could take for a blog post about The Alchemist, and it is somewhat daunting trying to choose one. How do you accurately yet succinctly capture the multitudes of lessons contained in this simple yet rich tale of a young dreamer named Santiago?
Solution: just sit down and start writing.
I didn’t take notes while reading through the second time, nor did I highlight or mark up the book. I just read. And enjoyed. And learned. And thought. So without any notes to go off of, I anticipate that by “just writing” I’ll allow the most prominent lessons learned to surface to the screen.
So here goes. Let’s see what comes out.
The Alchemist and Inspiration
June 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Yesterday I decided to re-read the book that I always respond with whenever anyone asks me what my favorite book is: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
Re-reading this splendid little novel is something I’ve been meaning to do ever since I first read it back in the summer of 2006. Yet something always got in the way of me doing so, usually my own ability to procrastinate or some silly fear that the second reading could not possibly compare with how sublime I felt reading it the first time.
Silly indeed.