With the current climate of chaos, hatred and violence that we have fostered around us, my reflection is that we need to learn to love again.
Fear and love are two opposing primal instinctive forces that are absolutely necessary to exist harmoniously in this world.
Love is like light (fear or dark is the absence of light)
These are the results of a broken society, of humanity overcome by envy, greed and anger.
Motivated by power, cultivated through a lack of knowledge and understanding and in dire need of empathy and guidance.
It’s every individual's responsibility to speak openly and educate our fellow people on the desperate need for equality and justice.
Most of all - Let’s learn to LOVE
Pondering...
Money is like energy - similar to going to the gym, you will build muscle but if you don’t continue training you will lose the muscle, conversely, if you get excited by the muscle growth and start lifting more and more you will get injured. Similarly, with money, if you get overly excited with money you will get burnt.
If you over use money, it will go wasted and you will quickly drain this finite resource.
Money shouldn’t be THE goal, it's a byproduct of living a good positive life. Generally when something comes to us quickly in an accelerated form we misuse it.
It’s a resource that’s a means to do good and enhance your personal growth.
Thought-Provoking...
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man: true nobility is being superior to your former self.
—Ernest Hemingway
How Being Imperfect Makes You More Likeable
The Pratfall Effect is a psychological phenomenon that says that competent people appear more likeable and attractive when they make a mistake than when they are perfect. It is named after the American expression for "falling on your behind".
when we believe someone is amazing, they almost seem “too good to be true.” Their blunder (or pratfall), however, makes them more relatable and therefore more approachable and likeable.
Psychologist Elliot Aronson discovered this bias known as the Pratfall effect. He recorded an actor answering a series of quiz questions. In one strand of the experiment, the actor – armed with the right responses – competently answers 92% of the questions correctly. After the quiz, the actor then pret
ended to spill a cup of coffee over themselves (a small blunder, or pratfall).
The recording was played to a large sample of students, who were then asked how likeable the contestant was. However, Aronson split the students into cells and played them different versions: one with the spillage included and one without. The students found the clumsy contestant more likeable.
Throughout our days, we constantly compare ourselves to others, but comparing ourselves to someone we believe is better than us, often lowers our self-esteem or incites envy. However, when this “superior” individual makes a blunder, it helps to lower our evaluation of them and make them seem more similar to us.
This phenomenon can also be applied to product marketing, people tend to believe and prefer a product with small imperfections.
In an age when many prefer the authentic to the mass produced, this boosts product appeal, For example imperfect cookies are more human than perfectly shaped.
This theory partly explains the success of budget airlines. At launch they openly admitted that the trade-off for cheap prices was a compromised service: no reservations and a small luggage allowance. If they hadn’t admitted as much, consumers may have assumed the cost-cutting had come at the expense of safety.
Finally, admitting weakness is a tangible demonstration of honesty and, therefore, makes other claims more believable.
The Power Of Progress
Benjamin Hardy
Look at your life right now. Whatever you see, that’s what you’re committed to
You can define your commitment by your actions not by your words.
You are committed to what you achieve today not what you want to be or say you will be
What you weigh, the money you are currently making is a direct result of your current commitment.
What would happen if you FULLY OWNED what you truly want?
Here’s what would happen: You’d get what you truly want.
But what have you committed to instead? Well, you’ve committed to whatever it is you currently have, and who you are.
We are all so much more powerful than we currently show up to be. What we have to commit to is Progress.
There is nothing more powerful than a clear identity. When your identity is clear, then your actions and behaviours are aligned.
Confidence is the byproduct of commitment.
“When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.”
— Pearson’s Law
All winners are trackers. Small incremental daily changes will amount to considerable gains in the long term.
Question
What is one small thing that you can measure and track today that will have an impact on a better tomorrow?
Measure what matters - John Doerr (click here)
The true definition of “decision” is to cut-off alternative outcomes. It means you’re 100% committed to something highly specific.
Clayton Christensen said:
“100% is easier than 98%.”
When you’re only 98% committed, it means you’re not committed at all. It means you’re still on the fence. It means you haven’t totally decided.
And when you’re undecided, you can’t intentionally and aggressively create miracles in your life.
Wisdom/What I'm Reading...
Tribe of Mentors- Tim Ferriss
I decided to review this incredible book not only because Tim is one of my favourite thinkers and an incredibly talented experimental blogger/ writer, but this week he has finally launched the “Tribe of Mentors” podcast series.
Podcast Series - click here
The Audiobook - click here
Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World
This book is highly inspirational, Tim asks the same 11 questions to a host of extremely successful individuals.
The way to get the most value from this book, is not to read it like a traditional book (cover to cover) but rather pick an interesting character and read his response to the questions asked and then do the same for someone else. I am sure you will gain a deeper understanding and some great life lessons from many of the responses.
The 11 questions asked were:
1.) What is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?
2.) What purchase of $ 100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)? My readers love specifics like brand and model, where you found it, etc.
3.) How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a”favorite failure”of yours?
4.) If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it — metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions — what would it say and why? It could be a few words or a paragraph. (If helpful, it can be someone else’s quote: Are there any quotes you think of often or live your life by?)
5.) What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.)
6.) What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?
7.) In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life?
8.) What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the ”real world”? What advice should they ignore?
9.) What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?
10.) In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)? What new realisations and/or approaches helped? Any other tips?
11.) When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?)
The key learnings I received were:
- Prioritise sleep and fitness (naps are a great idea).
- Be persistent.
- Following your passion is fine, just make sure you are learning, growing, and learning how to learn, and you’ll be okay.
- Focus on the micro and the macro will take care of itself - in other words, make the next five minutes great, then the day great, and eventually you’ll have a great life
- Read and write every day.
Memorable Quotes:
Naval Ravikant
Jerzy Gregorek
Tim’s own conclusion:
"Based on everything I’ve seen, a simple recipe can work: focus on what’s in front of you, design great days to create a great life, and try not to make the same mistake twice. That’s it.
Read a great review of the book - click here
Read a short synopsis - click here
Get the book - click here
You will also like - Tool of Titans podcast series - download here