Month: December 2012

No new habits means no new outcomes.

If we’re smart, we’ll never shy away from making decisions. And if we’re really smart, we’ll try to make as many (important decisions) as possible.

Sometimes we’ll make the wrong decision and realize during the course of the failure that the decision was wrong. We may even know what the right answer is and envision ourselves making the right one next time.

But the true test of our learning is being able to determine when it’s worth it to scrap everything and start over. The answer isn’t always obvious.

Reading books and watching movies are two of my favorite pastimes, and I’ve got a few favorites that I return to from time to time. What I love noticing is the new insights I gain on my work and outlook when reading some of the same passages and watching some of the same scenes in my favorites works, years after I’ve initially experienced them.

My current fascination is learning the nature of systems and how simple components fit together to form something complex. This deals with such concepts as purpose, efficiency, adaptability, and interoperability. From bicycles to servers to social science, there are lessons and insights all around us.

Only the focused hours count towards your 10,000.

Going through the motions just wastes your time life.

I’m more convinced than ever that we’re all alike in more ways than we care to admit. What seems to matter most (and what explains our perceived differences) is the lens through which we view the world and the way we decide to reach our goals.

These things are influenced largely by our world view and our peer group but the overriding x-factor is the conscious decision we make to determine where we stand on issues, why we believe what we believe, and whether or not we have the courage to renounce previously held beliefs after developing a clearer perspective on something.

And as it turns out, the people I’ve come to respect most tend to profess a mastery of few things. Instead, they simply share their observations and their personal path to success in their craft and how to reach a particular end based on what has worked for them.

Our diverse views of the world can coexist peacefully if we develop a more empathetic perspective and look first to understand why others have certain viewpoints rather than taking the mental shortcut that is labeling someone and refusing to consider an issue more deeply.