Valuable gemstones are valuable precisely because of the extreme pressure and heat it takes to form them. It takes skilled artisans and/or technicians to handle, cut, and shape them. It’s not easy to work with them, so that rarity builds value. Salt water covers 96% of the planet’s surface. […]
Tag: success
Losing
Note: I originally wrote this a few months ago, but didn’t know how to finish it. Now I do. Tonight, I started out in a skeeball tournament ranked 3rd in the league. I was scheduled to play a best-of-three match against a 30 seed. I could make a bunch of […]
Barriers to Empathy, pt. 3
So I talked about the need to be right and expecting empathy back earlier. The 3rd Barrier to Empathy is: 3. Expecting Change Right Away (Or At All) Like I said earlier, the toughest part about trying to become more empathetic (especially when trying to become more empathetic to drive […]
Barriers to Empathy, pt. 2
The second barrier to empathy (see the 1st here) is: 2.Expecting Empathy Back If you’re of the mindset that you can use empathy to drive change, you’re already looking at this as a tactic in order to get something you want. Whether it’s enrolling a team in your leadership or […]
Barriers to empathy, pt. 1
If you’re looking to have more empathy, but you’re struggling with it, I believe there are three barriers you need to overcome. Barrier 1: The Need to Be Right You’ve figured out that by having empathy, you can learn what other people’s needs are, and you realize that by understanding […]
Friendly With Fear
We all want to feel less scared. We all want to have more confidence, to be fearless, and to believe in ourselves. We want to feel validated, and protected, and safe. The thing is, you’re never going to be fearless. You’re never going to completely get rid of self-doubt, and […]
Dealing with Rejection
It’s easy for us to judge ourselves when people reject us. Whether it’s not buying our product, to someone making a snide comment about your hair or outfit, to being laid off, when we’re told “No,” it can feel devastating. Believe me, I get the pain. I had a pretty […]
Leadership
I think that most people can get a group of people to a goal if necessary. You can bribe, shout, punish, cajole, deceive, or seduce your way to a short term goal. I don’t think that makes you an effective leader, however, as you’re not really leading anyone, you’re just […]
Fish Climbing Trees, Pt. 2
Money is an easy metric to judge oneself on, because it buys things we need to survive, our society values it, and it’s a zero-sum game – you have X amount of money or you don’t. It’s also an easily-confused metric. We see someone eating at an expensive restaurant and […]
Fish Climbing Trees, Pt. 1
It’s not clear whether or not Einstein actually said anything about judging fish by its ability to climb a tree, but the point is there: Don’t judge anyone’s skills (yourself most of all) based on other people’s metrics. I know someone who recently got laid off from their job as […]