#go pursue and achieve something greater but fail to have any actual desire driving you towards it

[batteriesandflashlights]

Thinking about Clerks 2 prison scene. Inconsolable.

"It's weird, man. I thought you were the only guy in the world who got me and had my back. The only person who'd take a bullet for me 'cause I assumed you felt about me the same way I feel about you. And all of the sudden, one day, you're like 'I'm moving, bye!' ... do you know what that's been like for me? I'm looking at a future that just sucks because you're not gonna be in it anymore. And you're not even throwing me over for a life that means something to you, it's just a stupid hollow existence you think you should embrace because you're getting old or something, because it's the kind of life everyone else goes after. You're a fucking drone, dude." GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!

[vayankb-blog]

“Is it enough”

IS IT ENOUGH” -Vayank Bhatia. We humans since our existence struggle to make things happen our own way , work our asses off to fulfil our desires but somehow it just doesn’t seem enough. Be it a multi-millionaire or a normal 9-5 job person, its just not enough . With all the luxuries in hand, sufficient money that can last from generations to generations, its just not “enough”. So when is it enough? Ever given it a thought? Will it be enough when u get that dream job? Will it be enough when u have abundant money? But what about everything in between ? Fighting all Odds to get that job , working hard all day , making all the sacrifices. But when we think about it, it scares us. We feel good about thinking of the destination whereas we forget how the journey is going to be. In todays world, where everything can be delivered to our doorstep, where science and technology is growing day by day, we still lack in the ability of feeling happy and satisfied. You must have read this everywhere “ be satisfied with whatever u have, thank almighty for what all he has given to u”. But do u really feel that way?. According to a research, there are more people now suffering from anxiety and depression than they did 30 years ago. Seriously? U must be thinking. A world where u can open ur phone and get to know what your friends are up to, talk to ppl miles away , all the stuff u require no matter from which part of the world , can be in your hands in a matter of days. Shouldn’t life be easier with all this?, but isn’t. Me, I am a teenager from India and by gods grace I have a very loving family who has provided me with the best of both worlds. The best of education, and now being able to pursue a career I always wanted to, without any questions asked. But somehow, I sometimes feel that I am not happy. Is it basic teenage life struggles? Maybe. But is it necessary to feel like that? Maybe not. Problems will never have an end. either small or big. They don’t end. And we always look at problems as if something really bad has happened to us or we question our fate that of all the people in the world why me? But never think of looking it from a positive perspective. We fail to learn from it, instead we cry over it. Sometimes being at the rock bottom can teach us what the mountain peak can’t. You must be thinking ‘Yes we all know that, but how to inculcate all these thoughts and be happy forever’. Sorry, you can’t. Ask yourself, when were you last satisfied, happy and felt you were happy with your life? Got you thinking right?. Thinking of all the pain you have been suffering no matter what is the cause or who was to be blamed to make u feel that way.But think, who is actually responsible now for making things right and living a healthy lifestyle?. It’s you. For how long will u hold onto something that will only bring out the worst of you? it may not be your fault, but it’s you, who is responsible for making things right and lead a happy life. What we ignore is a very important step.Acceptance. Accepting your pain plays a major role, if u want to move on. Sounds difficult?. Well, it is.But it hurts less.Accepting your current situation, will help u in making things clear that what you really want. Wishing for things to be different is not going to help, because that’s what it is. It has happened. What now?. you and only you know what’s bothering you. Knowing your inner self, your thoughts can help you recognise the extent of your wound and help you heal it, as you accept your authentic self. There is a concept which I would like to share,that is the 5/5 rule. Something’s bothering you? Think of it and see if it’ll matter to you 5 years from now, it doesn’t? Then don’t spend more than 5 seconds thinking about it. We all have problems in our present that seem too big and feels so difficult to just move past it, but as it’s said that ‘time is the biggest healer’ over time, when we look back it just doesn’t seem so huge. And it makes us think , then why did we make such a fuss about it then? Why did we waste our time?. What seems huge and painful today, might turn out to be one of the lessons life has taught you.Whatever painful situation you are in, stay strong, know you have what it takes to get through all of it. Just keep going. :) Struggle: often a misinterpreted term, what I think struggle in itself is beautiful. It makes u realise what you want and what you don’t. It tells you your strengths and weaknesses. But Something which is that beneficial be perceived so wrongly? Today struggling and failing are often treated similar. Struggling to make a career out of your passion ? People will already consider you as a failure because you aren’t doing what they want you to be doing for the rest of your life. What the actual fuck?. Ever seen a baby starting to walk at his first attempt?. No he falls and falls but one day succeeds. Improvement comes from failing multiple times before finally succeeding. if Someone’s better than you chances are that he/she has failed more than you until he got the task right. our education system is such that it judges the ability of a student on the basis of their success and failure. Whereas, one who has tasted failure has acquired more knowledge and discovered his/hers true potential. And in our society people are like what the critics are towards a film. They will screw you over what wrong you did and overlook the facts that you did try and gave your best.But u failed , and there’s absolutely nothing wrong about that, it does hurt and pain. But that pain is the part of the process, which eventually acts like fuel to fire and makes you thirsty for what you haven been searching for your whole life, SUCCESS. Me, I am writing for the very first time in my life. I would definitely get some critical judgements , but that shouldn’t stop me from writing if I really want to write . If I do, I would just prove them right and be stagnant at my position and not improve. The idea is to not please anyone but to satisfy one’s own self. Always try and bring out the positive from negative, because being positive all the time is being negative in itself. Quoting Mao Zedong “ once all struggle is grasped, Miracles are indeed possible”. So put your heads up, look at the world as your playground and do whatever you want. There will be downfalls, criticism, and a lot of pain. But savour it, and learn from it. Keep moving and achieve greater heights, because it is never enough. Life: A matter of choices. Whatever happens with you in your life is basically a consequence of a choice u make. Exam around the corner ? But u chose to go for parties instead of sitting at home and Studying your ass off. Consequence? Failure. And then crying that why did it happen to me?!? Everyone is struggling, somehow or the other. Some people accept their mistakes and move forward and those who deny, keep complaining. Failure is the only way to move forward in life. Well, it tells you where u lack , what is it that u need to improve. It’s well said that “ someone who thinks he knows everything, actually knows nothing”. We mortal beings are not scared of working hard, what scares us the most is that what if we work hard and still fail? And due to that fearful thought we don’t even give it a shot. Failure, success Is all part of the journey you and I are on. It’s based on a “consequence” of the choices you have made .What is in our hands is working towards it, keeping our goals clear. Success is just the bi-product of our work. With each and every step we should learn. The driving force should be so intense inside you that no matter how many times you fall, u should have the energy and strength to get up and get back at it, and if you fail, still. Ask yourself, that what you’re doing, is it enough?

[getoffthesoapbox]

* In your spec on VKM 11 you mention PBs being unhappy because of running away from responsibilities and refusing to accept their duties. What are those responsibilities and duties? And how could they help prevent Pureblood Depression? Also, loved your little section on Ichiou: Evil or Misunderstood? Would you go more into him?

Oh these are great questions, my friend! =) You’ve probably been sitting on them for awhile, so I’m sorry I took so long to reopen my askbox!

Okay to answer this one properly, we have to go into a bit of philosophy. To live a productive and good life, you have to accomplish two things: 1.) find purpose and 2.) embrace the suffering in your life willingly to escape the inevitable the descent into nihilism. Finding #1 helps you bear #2. If you can’t find #1, #2 will consume you.

This is the foundational problem with purebloods. Because they are infinite beings, they’re not bound by the rules and limitations of finite beings like humans. As such, their suffering and potential descent into nihilism is potentially limitless because they cannot escape it. So if they are to bear their suffering and avoid nihilism, it’s incumbent upon them to find a purpose great enough to be worth enduring endless eternal suffering without becoming destructive. This is a tall order, I know, but unfortunately it’s the only option they have if they want to live in the world in a meaningful way. 

So this brings us to how on earth people find purpose in this world. I’m going to expand on this idea in a future post, but the long and the short of it is that purpose is found by searching for whatever it is that is worth suffering for. The answer to this, unfortunately, is individual to every person–for some, love is what is worth suffering for, for others a great cause, for others a creative endeavor. Whatever it is, finding it is the first step. The second step is to think of what is best for you now, and you in the future, and your loved ones now, and your loved ones in the future, and your community now, and your community in the future, and your world now, and your world in the future. The greatest, hardest, most difficult challenge you can think of that will make the world a better place if you accomplish it should be the responsibility you willingly choose to bear in your lifetime. 

The problem with purebloods is that they want to skip the “bearing the suffering” step and zip right on over to the “having purpose and meaning” step. This simply isn’t possible for anyone who exists in the world. What we see purebloods do time and time again is the same cycle: obsess over one dimension of reality (usually a failed love interest), fail to actualize themselves as individuals, fail to form a sense of community with other purebloods or nobles or humans, perceive themselves as higher/greater beings, isolate themselves, fail to find happiness or meaning because of the isolation, and then descend into nihilism, leading inevitably to destruction, chaos, and a failure to bring any good into the world. Purebloods become myopically self-interested, and that’s exactly the wrong way to find meaning and purpose–meaning and purpose are found outside of oneself, within a life of service to others. 

We can see this easily by comparing the Hooded Woman to the other purebloods.

The Hooded Woman holds a lofty goal as her life’s purpose (protecting humans while also finding a way for purebloods to live freely), but it is built on solid foundations rather than her own hubris. She has good self-esteem, she loves her parents and her friends, and she wants to form a community where both purebloods and humans can live freely and happily. When we see her in Kaname’s flashbacks, she’s not despairing or bemoaning her plight–she is taking it head on as a challenge and is cheerfully bearing the brunt of a grueling battle for a higher goal. She does not waste time whining about her fate or the lack of love in her life–instead her life is full to the brim with activity and purpose and love because she chooses to offer her love without thinking about what she’s getting in return. 

Contrast this with all the other purebloods we see after her. All of them fail to accomplish what she does because they only focus on one solitary dimension of life, usually a child or a love interest. Just take a look at all of them:

Rido is miserable because he tries to make Juri the end-all-be-all of his life and loses his grip on himself.

Juri fails to find lasting happiness because she makes freeing her child from being a pureblood more important than making a life worth living for her and her family.

Haruka fails to accomplish anything meaningful in his life because he’s obsessed with Juri at the expense of all else. 

Kaname fails twice to accomplish anything meaningful first because he’s ignoring his own feelings in order to pursue his desire to die (so he loses his opportunities with the Hooded Woman) and second because he tries to make Yuuki the end-all-be-all of his existence, which was too much of a burden for her to bear, and descends again into nihilism like Rido when Yuuki’s feelings for Zero don’t magically disappear like he wants them to.

Shizuka tries to make a human she turned into her slave the source of meaning in her life. 

Sara fails to find any meaningful connections with anyone and merely drifts around in chaos.

Isaya `just gives up on life entirely and lives like a dead man.

None of these purebloods learned the lesson the Hooded Woman’s life taught. None of them learned that the only way to truly find happiness as an eternal pureblood is to aim for the highest good you can conceive of and work tirelessly to achieve that good. This is a goal that can span lifetimes and eons, something easily worthwhile for a pureblood. But instead of picking up their crosses and bearing them, the purebloods just lazily sit in their mansions and play politics and fight over petty issues or make pathetic attempts at causing chaos. They’re overgrown children who throw tantrums because they’re not getting what they want.

Does it suck that humans and lower level vampires worship them and they can’t easily form true connections with them? Of course it does. Does it suck that all the people they love who aren’t pureblood will eventually die while they live on? Of course it does. Does it suck that they may fall for someone who won’t love them back? Of course it does.

However, none of this is an excuse to shirk their responsibility to their communities to work toward the highest good they possibly can. Instead, what we see (and we see this in Haruka and Juri as well) is that purebloods have all this power and ability, and rather than do any good in the world or help solve the large problems of the world, they sit around in their mansions accumulating wealth and being of no use to anyone while they whine about how unfortunate they are. We never see purebloods doing productive things like starting building projects or writing or making music or engaging in scientific enquiry or working on finding ways to solve their dilemmas. Kaname’s the only one who even gives a half-hearted attempt at this, and even he fails in comparison to the effort the nobles put in. Juri’s “productive” activity is to run around waving her scythe at people, which is hardly meaningful or useful. Haruka doesn’t do anything productive at all other than stalk Juri. 

Purebloods are gifted with charisma and beauty and wealth, but they apparently have no drive or intelligence or discipline. They’re all too busy being the largest babies on the planet to use their considerable gifts for the good of the communities of people who depend on them. Their “despair” is simply because they’re too self-absorbed to look outside of themselves and see that life is bigger than they are. Perhaps this is the price for immortality, but the Hooded Woman’s example indicates that the failing is within the purebloods themselves rather than anything exterior. Regardless, if they truly wish to find happiness, they’d shoulder their suffering willingly and find ways to be helpful and useful to the people around them in spite of their suffering, even if those people can’t help but fawn over them due to their charisma and power. Maybe if they’d try to do that rather than whining on couches about how tough they have it, they’d find avenues that lead to meaning for them. 

Okay, I’ve sort of rambled on and run out of space for Ichiou, but I honestly don’t have too much to say on him. I think he was a misguided old man who came to the same conclusion most of the hunters and even Kaname and Yuuki came to–purebloods were a menace and should be eradicated. I can appreciate that Ichiou wanted to be free of pureblood control, but the way he went about it was a.) hardly effective and b.) reprehensible. But Ichiou didn’t exactly care about humans, so he wasn’t a particularly great person anyway. 

Anyway, this became a bit of a ramble, but I hope ! Thanks for dropping by!

[newvibesupply-blog]

A Simple Dream Doesn’t Cut It

Blog I: While having a dream and vision is a good start, it’s not always enough. In this blog we dive in to how to take your dreams, your aspirations, the greater desires you have in life, and actually construct it into something tangible. We will dive deeper into finding happiness, fulfillment, and joy in life. While this article may focus on how these things relate to entrepreneurship and business more specifically, the ideas behind these concepts apply to just about every aspect of life. Enjoy.

The American dream of starting your own company is a desire many people have, however the dream is often where it all begins... And, unfortunately often enough, ends. This is not because Americans are too “lazy” or do not know how to “execute on their dreams,” however it is often hindered by something that is more crippling than laziness or the ability to execute. The fear of failure. The fear of not meeting the standards people think are set for them by their parents, friends, a spouse, society, or whatever other barriers cripple them. As I stated in the introduction, while I am specifically relating the fear of failure to the business world and entrepreneurship in this instance, this topic can relate to just about any aspect of life that applies to you personally, so read on. So many times, day in and day out, people are crippled and sell themselves short of making dreams a reality and aspiring to be something greater in life because they fear the repercussions of failure. This fear outweighs the possibility of happiness, enjoyment, fulfillment, and many other collateral beauties that surround the opportunity of taking a chance. Doubts and fear surround the minds of people because they value what others think of them more than they value what they define of themselves in their head. What will my parents think of me if I try and I fail? Will my friends make fun of me? Who will be there to catch me if my dreams crumble? The thoughts of what people think is an expectation of them holds them back from doing something greater, leaving them only dreaming of making it a reality.

“Let me tell you what’s way scarier than failure, regret.” -Gary Vaynerchuk

See, so many people want to do something bigger than themselves. They want to travel. They want to start that business. They want to reach out to that old friend to catch up. They want to apply to that dream job with lofty requirements. Hell, they want to ask that life long crush of theirs on a date. But, they don’t.

They don’t because they fear the potential outcome of the situation more than they love the process of trying to create or begin something that would bring them true happiness in life. The process, in my eyes, is the key. If you learn to love the entire process of something, then you are not dragged down by a result that was shortcoming to their expectations or a bump in the road along the way. Rather, these set backs simply create more challenges and more obstacles that are present to overcome. This provides more opportunity to prove the “haters” wrong once again. Get up one more time when no one thought you would. Even prove to yourself that you can do more than you once thought you could (or couldn’t). Once you learn to love this process as a whole, failure becomes something that creates a greater drive to succeed, rather than crippling the ability for you to start trying. As Gary Vaynerchuk says, “Let me tell you what’s way scarier than failure, regret.”

So many people hinder their self-perception on what other people think of them. If you try to start that business right now and fail, but know you gave it your best at bat, doesn’t that make you way more comfortable with this one chance at life we are given, than living with the regret of never trying? When you are 98 years old and can’t move your legs anymore, do you want to look back and say, “I took some wins, took some losses, and gave it one hell of a ride.” Or do you want to look back and say, “Damn, when I had the chance to start that business I should have just taken the risk to pursue something I was truly passionate about, but now it’s too late.” 

Something I recently have adopted is the mindset of “That’s my L.” The basic reasoning behind this approach is that if I try something, it happens to fail but I know I gave it my best shot, then that means that is my “L.” Gary Vaynerchuk, who you all will realize I will be quoting quite often, created this quote. What Gary is saying is that if I attempt something, whether in business or in your own niche of life, and you fail, that is your “L.” That is your loss. That’s not your mom’s loss, not your dad’s loss, not your friend’s loss. It’s yours. You tried, and you failed. Not only does this give you a sense of ownership over the losses you take, but it also applies to the flip side of thinking in that your parents, your friends, anyone else, has no place to care about whether you win or lose. That’s your problem to focus on. They have enough of their own problems in life to focus on, however if they choose to focus on yours it’s because they are avoiding all of their own losses in life.

“Probably some of the best things that have ever happened to you in life, happened because you said yes to something. Otherwise things just sort of stay the same.” - Danny Wallace

So often people live life like we are guaranteed another chance. Another shot at all of this. Now, I am not going to get religious, spiritual, or try and change anyone’s beliefs. But at the end of the day, no one knows for sure or can guarantee that there is more to come after this. Today could be any one of our last days to make our dreams a reality. Think back on your past, when did the best things happen to you in life? Was it when you took a chance and extended your comfort zone? Or was it when you played it safe and took no chances at all? Danny Wallace is quoted in Yes Man saying, “Probably some of the best things that have ever happened to you in life, happened because you said yes to something. Otherwise things just sort of stay the same.” The mindset I am speaking of in this post is not something that will change overnight for any of you. Many of you will probably even be instinctive to resist the change, think this mindset and way of thinking is unrealistic or unachievable. That’s okay. I thought it was too at first, until I took it upon myself to take my own happiness, my own mental health, and my own perception of an ideal life that I will be happy one day leaving behind into my own hands. I adopted many of these beliefs and ideas because I wasn’t necessarily miserable or super unhappy with my life, rather I knew there was something more out there for me to pursuit and attain. There was additional opportunity for greater happiness and fulfillment in life that I knew I had not yet grasped. 

With all of this being said, it is also an interesting concept because if you are completely happy in life and have no part of your life to apply to this article, then you have won. If you’re happy and do not complain at all about how things are going for you or where you are at on a personal happiness level, you have won the ultimate blessing that so many unfulfilled individual’s are looking for. However, the problem comes in if you complain about your undesirable nine to five job or your horrible boss you can’t stand to go work for every day, or any other aspect of this life just not meeting the standards you would like to see it fulfill, this article is for you. Read it once, read it twice, read it until you can get it to your mind that at the end of the day, you are in control of your successes, failures, and everything in-between. My problem does not lie in those who do not go through life trying to achieve extraordinary things, it’s those who complain about their situation, but are doing nothing to improve it.

So, if there is one thing you take away from this article, here it is. Read this closely, read it again and again if you have to. I personally would like to challenge you. Don’t wait for success to find you, go find success and define what that means to you in life. Step out of your comfort zone. Take that chance. Pursuit something YOU are passionate about. Fulfill YOUR dreams. You have one chance to make your thoughts and ideas of what success, happiness, and fulfillment look like come to life. Don’t let it slip by and before you know it you are that person I was talking about in the nursing home wondering what happened to the past 80 years of your life. Also love those you surround yourself with, they are precious cargo in your life. Remember, your legacy cannot have a currency put on it, so make it last. Pursue your dreams, capture that vision, and PUT IT TO ACTION.

[2whatcom-blog]

How America’s Obsession with Early Success Is Hurting Late Bloomers

Wealthy Karlgaard was, as he put it, a late bloomer. He instructed Healthline he spent a lot of his 20s "incapable of holding a job greater than dishwasher or security guard." Nevertheless, issues started to alter for him after he took a job with an organization as a brief typist. It was there he started exercising after work with a number of of his colleagues, a bunch of engineers and venture managers who would go on early night runs collectively. Whereas on one in every of their group runs, an engineer requested Karlgaard if he aspired to do something greater than being in a temp typing pool. "I said I did, but I had no clue what. I felt like I'd never figured out the whole job thing," he stated. Although Karlgaard could not give his co-worker a lot of a solution on the time, the engineer noticed potential in Karlgaard and provided him some work doing technical typing. That is when one thing modified for Karlgaard. "It was like a lifeline from heaven, working with engineers and project managers, that opened my brain up to a world I'd never been exposed to," he stated. Right now, Karlgaard is the writer of Forbes journal, a famous writer, tv commentator, non-public investor, and board director. He believes he would not have completed any of this stuff if the chance he was given by that engineer had been provided to him when he was "21 or 22." "I wouldn't have made any use of it," he stated. "I was lucky in a sense." Karlgaard is aware of his story is not as distinctive as some might imagine. Many individuals bloom later in life after they're given the room they should develop. That is why he is made it his mission to assist folks perceive that late bloomers merely have totally different paths of discovery. In truth, a brand new guide titled "Late Bloomers," written by Karlgaard, is because of be launched by Penguin Random Home on April 16, 2019. It chronicles Karlgaard's personal late-blooming trajectory and compiles years of analysis to debate the psychology of late blooming.

How early blooming turned the gold commonplace

"The conveyor belt we've created that drives kids and teens to get great test scores rewards a different set of skills. There are so many more different kinds of human gifts that will flower in their own time. I want to start a national conversation around that," Karlgaard stated. As Karlgaard sees it, the issue is that our present society nonetheless views early achievement as a marker of success. "I have a theory about why that is," he defined. "If you look at the two most lucrative fields, they have been software and financing -- the Googles and Goldman Sachs of the world." Whereas he acknowledges there are clearly different paths to success, he sees these fields as essentially the most profitable and steady -- the fields which have minted essentially the most millionaires and billionaires. "These two industries are really quite ruthless about who they screen for and the kinds of employees they want. They want people coming out of elite colleges with STEM backgrounds. The kid who may have had latent brilliance doesn't get discovered," Karlgaard stated. As these industries have taken over, so has the stress youngsters face to realize as a lot as attainable, as early as attainable, to have one of the best choices for the longer term. Most of that stress comes from their dad and mom, deliberately or not, as they're additionally feeling the stress to see their youngsters succeed. This could typically be as a result of they both see that success as a illustration of how they carried out as dad and mom or just wish to know their kids are going to be able to taking good care of themselves later in life. Simply how far are some dad and mom prepared to go? The latest faculty admissions scandal, through which celebrities like Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin have been charged for paying massive quantities of cash to bribe their youngsters into elite colleges, proves some dad and mom will go to nice (and unlawful) lengths. Tales like these spotlight simply how immense the stress to be an early bloomer is right this moment.

The downsides of early achievement

John Mopper is an adolescent therapist with Blueprint Psychological Well being in Somerville, New Jersey. He additionally occurs to think about himself a late bloomer. After bouncing round between jobs in his 20s, he instructed Healthline it wasn't till he was 30 that he determined to pursue turning into a therapist. Mopper referred to as that call a recreation changer and stated, "Every day I'm having these conversations with my clients about what it means to be successful, and how society's version of success right now really boils down to a career path and money. But there are a lot of people who are 'successful' who aren't actually happy with their lives." He desires dad and mom to acknowledge that almost all youngsters aren't able to make long-term profession selections. "I think a very small percentage of 18-year-olds actually know what they want to do with their lives. Then there are some who think they know, but who will change their minds several times. And the majority don't have a clue," he stated. Mopper stated he was just lately having a dialog about this matter with a shopper who occurs to be a highschool pupil. His recommendation to that shopper, and to all excessive schoolers who could also be battling with uncertainty about their subsequent steps, is to go to neighborhood faculty and simply take 4 or 5 lessons they're actually eager about earlier than committing to a level. "I think a lot of people get stuck in the failure," he stated. "They go to college too soon, before they're really ready, and it doesn't work out. They've tried, and going to school now comes with a negative consequence. They feel like they've failed, and that really becomes a part of their identity. They don't want to experience those feelings again, so they can't bring themselves to try again." By permitting teenagers the time to actually uncover what it's they're eager about, what it's they wish to do, his hope is that extra can discover the sort of success that extends far past a paycheck.

Escaping the stress cooker

Dr. Margaret Stager is director of the Division of Adolescent Drugs at MetroHealth Medical Heart in Cleveland. She's additionally a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. She instructed Healthline, "The pressure is great for teens to not only succeed but also super-succeed. That pressure has moved down from college to high school and now even a little into middle school." She stated that youngsters are being anticipated to realize at youthful and youthful ages. "I'm seeing kids taking AP classes their sophomore year. That used to be something that didn't happen until senior year. It's really taken the fun out of high school for these teenagers who are having to accept that it's just a lot of hard work." She stated she typically tries to speak to oldsters about pulling again from these AP lessons and rounding out the lecturers with one thing the scholar loves, whether or not that be sports activities or music or one thing to do with their church or favourite nonprofit. "That's just as important to their development as AP chemistry," she stated.

Redefining success and failure

For his half, Karlgaard merely desires dad and mom to know that it isn't the tip of the world if a baby does not know what they wish to be at 18 years outdated. In truth, he'd like to see our society begin to acknowledge the advantages of other paths for younger adults, to incorporate neighborhood schools, expert commerce colleges, hole years, and even perhaps the adoption of nationwide service packages and necessities. "I really feel fortunate that it was easier to be a late bloomer when I grew up," he stated. "Today we are typecasting kids earlier and earlier and putting extraordinary pressure on them to get great grades and make great test scores, and when you look at the price we're paying for that -- the rise in student debt, depression, and suicide rates -- we've created this early-bloomer pressure cooker that I think has gotten really out of hand." Although it could appear that society's definition of success is shrinking, there are numerous examples of profitable adults who, like Karlgaard and Mopper, discovered success later in life. By telling their tales, maybe we are able to start to shift perspective and understand that what many in society see right this moment as a failure to launch might merely be a late bloomer who wants extra time to develop into the success they're meant to be. Read the full article

[talabib]

How To Discover Your Hidden Potential.

People tend to equate success with getting more. It’s taken for granted that bigger is better. As a result, we spend our lives chasing rewards, trying to accumulate resources and desiring what others have.

There are obvious drawbacks to this outlook when it comes to happiness and peace, but the truth is it’s not even a recipe for success. In reality, you’re much better off focusing on what you can accomplish with what you’ve already got.

That’s why you should adopt a new perspective. This post explains why you should forget about chasing, and start thinking about stretching.

It’s easy to get lost chasing what others have.

If you saw your neighbor driving home in a shiny new car, how would it make you feel? For most people, the sight might cause a pang of jealousy. After all, the entire human conception of success is based on having better stuff than others. This habit is called chasing and it pushes us to pursue things we don’t actually need.

For instance, researchers at Vanderbilt University found that people literally tend to perceive their neighbor’s lawn as greener than their own.

It may be a cliché, but, in the popular imagination, a healthy green lawn means success and prosperity. The desire for such status symbols is in fact so powerful that people work tirelessly to have the best lawn in the neighborhood. However, the results are often for naught: Meticulously manicuring your lawn necessarily means diverting resources from what makes you truly happy!

So what’s the solution? Well, on the other end of the spectrum from chasing is what’s called the stretcher mindset. In a nutshell, it refers to focusing on what you want to accomplish with the resources at your disposal.

In order to have a stretcher mindset, the first step is to feel assured that you’re in control. For example, say you work in a clothing store. Retail can be soul crushing, but by simply imagining yourself as the owner of the store you can boost your confidence in an instant.

Just thinking that you’re in charge of the circumstances will help you seize the reins and tap into your creativity.

Beyond that, staying mindful of the situation at hand and the resources at your disposal will compel you to be creative with what you’ve got. In other words, you’ll have to recognize your limits and, once you know what you can and can’t do, you’ll be able to creatively pursue the options before you. That’s why studies have found that teams with a deadline or budget produce better results than those with more open-ended parameters.

Outsiders are often more innovative than experts.

When making an important decision, whether it’s choosing a new IT system at the office or a medical treatment for an illness in the family, people tend to place their trust in experts.

However, experts aren’t always the most reliable people. In fact, traditional experts often don’t have the best perspective. For instance, in 20 years of analyzing political issues, the psychologist Phil Tetlock found that experts aren’t any better at predicting future events than your average person, regardless of their professional experience. Whether people were liberal or conservative, optimistic or pessimistic, the results were the same. In most cases, the experts and non-experts offered comparable prognoses.

In fact, professional experience can actually be a hindrance. As people gain experience, they also become stuck in their knowledge, unable to move past conventional approaches.

As a result, outsiders tend to overshadow experts. Outsiders are newcomers to a field, people who lack deep experience. Naturally, you can’t be a newcomer at all times, but you can think like an outsider. It’s as easy as following four steps:

First, explore the world and experience new things that help you see them from a different angle. For example, if you’re a political expert, you might go to a musical, watch a cartoon or do something that’s entirely unrelated to the political world.

You also need to stay in touch with what you already know, which is the second step. Of course, you can’t know everything about your field, so work to share your ideas with others, seeking feedback and learning as you go.

From there you can move on to the third step: looking for solutions outside of your own domain. The design company IDEO offers a good example. They have an open office in which employees hear about the problems and innovations of other departments, thereby inspiring them to find solutions to their own problems.

And finally, whatever ideas and innovations you do develop, it’s key to constantly test your assumptions, expecting that most of them will fail.

Planning may make us feel safe but it can also block out valuable information.

Whether it’s for a summer vacation or a work project, most people love having a plan. Planning offers a comfortable roadmap to follow, ensuring that we’ll achieve the best results. But there’s a downside, too. Planning can also cause us to miss out on all kinds of beneficial things.

Often, people learn more by acting than by planning. For instance, the Stanford professor Kathy Eisenhardt found that executive teams who make more rapid-fire decisions tend to collect more information and generate more alternatives than those with long and detailed plans. That’s because quick-acting teams focus on the present, working with real-time information about their work and competition. Planners, on the other hand, tend to spend most of their time and energy trying to figure out what the future might look like.

Beyond that, planning can cause us to miss valuable information that’s right in front of our eyes. After all, burying your head in project planning can make it difficult to notice your surroundings.

Just take an experiment by the psychologist Malcolm Brenner. Brenner asked participants to speak and listen simultaneously. He found that, as it came time for a subject to speak, it was common for her to block out outside information. She directed her energy to what she was planning to say. The same thing happened as participants finished speaking. They would reflect on what they had said, missing how others were reacting to their words. Simply put, whether it’s for a project or for what to say next, planning causes us to miss out on the world unfolding around us.

That’s why, instead of planning, you should embrace improvisation as the key to progress. After all, when we improvise, we free ourselves up to move and use resources in the most efficient way. We can bend, stretch and position ourselves relative to challenges in the world; making the actions we take all the more effective.

Low expectations can hamper your relationship to others and yourself.

People often act as we expect they will – a fact that can have a major effect on our interpersonal interactions. Expectations influence experience, and they can define relationships, too.

Our expectations are essentially images of people or things that we haven’t yet encountered. Just imagine a new employee joins your company. You haven’t so much as spoken to him but your coworker assures you that he’s a jerk. When you do meet this new colleague, you’ll likely treat him differently than if you hadn’t heard anything about him.

However, expectations shape more than just first impressions. They also direct feelings in ongoing relationships. Consider the example above. Now that you have a bad impression of your new officemate, you might send him signals that express these negative feelings. As you ask him rude questions or adopt a cold tone when speaking with him, you’ll eventually lead him to view you as a jerk as well.

So expectations can damage your relationships with others, but the expectations you hold about yourself can also affect the way you handle challenging situations. That’s because having lower expectations about your abilities will lead you to see challenges as threats, making it harder for you to rise to the occasion.

Such a mindset can have a pretty bad effect. Being scared or mistrusting your ability will lead to hesitation and passivity. As a result, when faced with a challenge – say, the chance to give a speech at a conference – you’ll shrink away from the opportunity. Instead of welcoming a new experience, you’ll block yourself and choose to remain passive instead.

You can overcome such obstacles by developing positive self-expectations, leading to a transformation that allows you to see challenges as opportunities. If you regard that speech as an opportunity to demonstrate your skills at the podium, you’ll not only take on the task, you’ll also gain new skills and open up greater resources for future growth.

A dose of creativity and a willingness to collaborate can boost your success.

Whether it’s a morning coffee ritual or an evening stroll, everyday routines give you a structure that helps you accomplish more things in a shorter time. That being said, people also tend to see routines as boring and inflexible.

So how can you get the most out of your routine without letting it bog you down? It’s simple, actually: add a touch of creativity. This will help you transform the way you understand your routine and the way it functions. You can achieve this by mixing up combinations in their routine work. In other words, you can do the same exact things every day and, as long as your individuality shines through, always feel that your work is new and exciting.

For instance, you could probably get your kid’s lunch ready for school on autopilot. But if you adopt a stretcher mindset, you might think to add a little note to your son’s lunch, wishing him a great day. This little touch of creativity will make him happier and get you out of your routine without disrupting your day.

Injecting a dose of creativity can do wonders and a similar approach can be used to challenge your assumptions about competitors. For most people, competitors are there to be beaten. But this outlook isn’t necessarily conducive to coexisting with competitors. A better strategy is to treat them like friends.

Working to beat the competition may be a great motivation, but it’s not as good as working together. Just take the professors Paul Ingram and Peter Roberts, both of whom studied hotel managers. They found that managers who were friends with their competitors brought in 15 percent more revenue than those without other manager friends.

These friendships positively impacted the work of the managers by giving them greater access to knowledge about their field and prospective clients. It’s just one more reason to break down mental barriers, get creative and focus on building relationships.

A mental workout is part of maintaining a strong and focused mind.

As people age, they start to learn that working out is necessary to avoid injuries. But instead of hitting the gym, the ticket here is to work on balance, specifically between your existing resources and your exploration of new things.

Look around and identify the resources you have at your disposal but haven’t used. This can turn up all kinds of gems. For instance, a recent Indiana University study found that the most important scientific papers were “sleeping beauties,” papers that were published but forgotten.

Identifying your own sleeping beauties is crucial. You’ve got to ask the right question, namely, what personal resources; skills, connections or ideas have you left unused? Make a list of all these resources along with their potential to help you advance an objective and you’ll have a good sense of where to focus.

Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to explore new things. Just set aside a few hours each week to read something new, go to a workshop or spend time working with new colleagues. You never know what kind of ideas you’ll stumble upon.

Flexing those balancing muscles won’t be effective if you don’t also take breaks to be grateful for all the hard work you’ve done. After all, too much concentration can be a disaster for creativity.

If you feel overwhelmed by your work, you should take a breather. Get out of the office. Spend some casual time with a client. Take an afternoon stroll. This last one is great because it’s simple and effective. A group of Stanford University psychologists even found that people who take a walk during their breaks are 81 percent more efficient compared to those who sit.

Another great way to decompress is by spending time reflecting on what you’re grateful for. This can be as simple as setting aside time once a week to write down five things in your life that make you feel gratitude. This will help you see the overall picture, and remind you what it is you’re stretching toward.

You have all the resources you need to be successful right in front of you, it’s just a matter of identifying and prioritizing them. So, rather than chasing after what other people have, focus on what you’ve got and expand from there. Look at things like a newcomer, beware the pitfalls of planning, get creative with your routine, and engage in some mental workouts. And when you need a breather, remember what you’re grateful for.

[robertbassweb]

Think and Grow Rich – Best Self Help Book of All Time

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Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich

Written in 1937 after a 25-year study on some of one of the most financially successful individuals, “Think And Grow Rich” is one of the globally acknowledged individual advancement work of arts (greater than one hundred million copies marketed worldwide, according to recent estimates).

The book’s viewpoint facilities around the suggestion that success, in any kind of undertaking, can be gotten to through mental visualization as well as creative imagination.

To place it in easy terms, you can come to be anything that your mind considers possible; consequently, your mind comes to be the one point that can either quit you or move you towards ending up being the very best variation of yourself.

  Think and Grow Rich Greatest Lessons

Below, we’re going to detail and also talk about guide’s most noteworthy lessons:

  Ideas are powerful points.

In the first paragraph, Hill argues that reasoning is more conducive to success than any other feature, consisting of cash, education and learning, or specific expertise concerning something.

The man that “believes” he can achieve something is currently an advance toward the goal. But thinking by itself may be an also general term. That’s why Hill converts believing as a mix of initiative, belief, desire to win, as well as durability.

Failure is also considered, being taken into consideration a necessary part of the discovering process, yet it obtains us closer throughout objective just if we take it properly and choose to persist nonetheless, whatever it is that could appear on our journey.

Now, there’s one more prerequites that need to be beared in mind: being clear about the objective that we wish to accomplish.

George Harrison as soon as said “If you don’t recognize where you’re going, any roadway will take you there”; even prior to ensuring that you’re figured out sufficient to take the high road, make sure you properly lead the way.

    Wish.

Exactly how bad do you want it? Obviously everybody has different objectives and dreams for ourselves, however have you ever before asked yourself this question?

It could seem unneeded in the beginning, but it is just when we really, truly want something, that we’ll do whatever is needed to attain it. Therefore, in an hypotethic, overall scheme, need is the one phase that links thoughts and activities together:

Ideas → Committment (or Desire) → Action

Bear in mind that Columbus dreamed of an unidentified coast, the Wright siblings imagined a maker that can fly with air, and also Henry Ford imagined a carriage without steeds.

These individuals had 2 points alike: initially, they were durable enough to overcome other individuals’s critiques and also duplicated failings in their attempts.

Second, they had a vision that was clear sufficient which, with the combination of a burning need, unavoidably led them to success.

Consequently, it is only when you totally melt all the bridges that are holding you to the past as well as begin believing differently that you can win in life.

You can have either justifications or outcomes, not both. Hence, be willing to reduce them off prior to they come to be a real obstacle to your individual growth.

    Belief.

Confidence, in Hill’s words, means convincing yourself that your goal is achievable.

And belief can be trained and also enhanced through self-suggestion.

If you believe in something or have a specific end in mind, practice convincing your mind of the opportunity to understand that objective, as well as after a while, your mind will begin to unconsciously act upon part of your belief system. In a nutshell, you become what you consider.

Faith is the excellent equalizer; in a lot of situations, it is the reason for anguish and also failing, however becoming aware of its power and also steer its force toward purposeful objectives most of the times makes all the distinction in the world.

Actively prevent negative feelings and focus all of your energy on positivity; this globe is currently much more plentiful than ever before, as well as we have no reasons– none– for not realizing our maximum capacity.

Hill likewise mentions the significance of creating your goals down, duplicating them everyday for half an hour a day, as well as appealing yourself that you’ll be ruthless in their pursuit.

Really, he suggests a comprehensive process for infusing both passion and belief right into your goals. This procedure consists of:

– Entering into a relaxing area, where you know you won’t be disrupted. Shut your eyes as well as repeat aloud your affirmations; – Repeat the affirmations each day and also night; – Place a duplicate of your affirmations in a location where you can see them daily, as well as read them both before going to bed and when you awaken.

Nonetheless, half-heartedly duplicating your affirmations doesn’t make any type of feeling; see to it that, while you do repeat, you can feel and sense your goals as already accomplished.

Stretch your creativity to the max, as well as put emotion right into your ideas.

    Specialized understanding.

Hill declares that there’s 2 types of expertise:

– General expertise, which is certainly much more popular, specifically among college professors.

It is, though, not really useful for the buildup of wide range (that’s why professors, for the most part, are extremely intelligent yet not especially abundant).

Hill himself states that there’s no such thing as “Expertise is power”. Instead, he calls it prospective power. It becomes actual power just when intelligently directed with certain plans of action as well as a distinct objective.

– Specialized knowledge, required for success. If you’re not specialized concerning the products or services you offer, opportunities are you’re never mosting likely to be wealthy or effective (or perhaps delighted?) in any endeavor.

This kind of expertise can be obtained extremely quickly via various sources: not only colleges as well as universities, however additionally libraries, field of expertise training courses, on the internet materials; also some type of collaboration with others stands for a higher type of knowledge.

Education does not quit on graduation day, and also those who think that are eternally condemned to mediocrity.

    Creativity.

If there’s one quote that entirely shows the concept whereupon this books is based, it would certainly be that of Albert Einstein:

” Imagination is more important than understanding. Expertise is restricted. Creative imagination encircles the world.”

As men, we can translate ideas into things. We can create anything that our mind conceives as well as regards possible.

It comes down that our mind can be both a true blessing and also a curse; our greatest ally or our worst adversary.

While, if appropriately directed, our mind can work as a catalyst for development and development, a contaminated one will undoubtedly damage us and make us targets of our very own existences.

Creativity Shapes

Hill states that creativity can take the shape of:

– Artificial Creativity → With synthetic imagination, our mind works mostly through our past: experiences, successes, failures, and the like. Its work is just limited to locating new combinations with “past material”;

– Imaginative Creative imagination → This is the form of imagination in which perceptions as well as motivation take place, and it functions only when our mind shakes at a greater rhythm.

Imaginative imagination can be promoted by a solid wish and a clear and also well-concocted strategy (ideally written).

When we think about the future in regards to chances, sketching the different end results that our activities may drive us towards, we uncover a source of internal energy that will certainly virtually instantly make us even more prone to work the strategy and also persevere through and through.

As this quantity continually explains, concepts can be turned into wealth pretty conveniently if accompanied by great approaches and also carefully arranged strategies.

Hill goes as far as saying that effort doesn’t also matter when there’s a great strategy in position, but that’s a different story (which does not entirely get my authorization, incidentally).

    Are you a decision-maker or a slow starter?

Laziness is most likely one of the major factors lots of people aren’t satisfied with their lives.

Laziness suggests quiting on yourself, it implies paying too much attention to other’s opinions regarding you and the opportunities in your life, it indicates checking out effective individuals as well as asking yourself “What if?” when it will possibly be too late to alter something.

Well, I’m right here (delay, Mr. Hill is right here) to tell you that doing something about it equates to making decisions.

What you desire your life to look like?

Go out there, draw your excellent life on a piece of paper, and, after contrasting your possible life with your present one, provide yourself what’s presently lacking, be it a lot more sources, more positive organizations or even more powerful routines and also habits.

Spend the rest of your natural life waking up as well as pursuing your goals.

Remember that every person has opinions, also people who shouldn’t, and the sooner you grasp this, the much faster you can decide to not bear with people whose aim is just that of bringing you as well as your dreams down.

” Well done is well said.”

Head out there and do something, then reason yourself. Not the other way around. Listen to everybody’s point of view; damn, be respectful to them. But remember they’re just viewpoints.

Take them with a grain of salt: smile, say thanks to the people that shared them, and do your things no matter. Choose and also stick to those decisions whatever (besides, transform them by yourself if you truly require to).

    Mastermind Partnership.

So you have vision, need, faith, understanding, and creative imagination: what’s following?

Now is pivotal that you surround on your own with like-minded individuals, people whom you know you can trust on an intellectual point of view which can provide you notable understandings and triggers which you can draw ideas from.

The synergy of several, high-performing minds, is what enabled brand-new ventures as well as once-upon-a-time garage businesses to grow as well as become recognized realities in today’s world. Hill claims that once two or even more minds get together, a 3rd, means extra powerful mind is produced; one that can press itself way better than any type of individual’s could do by itself.

Clearly, you should evaluate your toughness before developing or thinking of developing a mastermind partnership. What could you give the table?

Do you have the understanding, influence or resources to accomplish completion goal?

If not, ensure you put on your own in a position where you can in fact make your contribution to the cause.

Remember that a Mastermind Partnership is not regarding entirely outsourcing your concept, awaiting its resolution as well as taking credit history if it is successful; you need to do the grueling as well as tough job, which includes assuming obligations for your own and your team’s efforts.

    Subconscious mind.

The subconscious part of your brain is like an archieve: it obtains and also contains your ideas and also impacts, despite their nature. It signs up every little thing, as well as it acts based on your predominant reasoning patterns.

So if you feed your brain with the vision of wide range as well as success, it’ll function its method via making those purposes a physical reality, as well as it works just as extremely with negative ideas and sentences: it simply does what you inform it to do.

Make it a practice to dental implant favorable ideas into your mind and blend them with vision as well as belief. Then, “interact” these plans to your subconscious with self-suggestion.

Knowing that cynical impulses are a lot easier to develop and a great deal more challenging to ruin, attempt (as long as you can) to shut them off nevertheless, or a minimum of sidetrack your mind whenever you locate it straying around them.

Once again, do not expect it to be easy: if you grew up in the same setups the huge bulk of the present human populace did, chances are you have actually been persuaded for years with a great deal of false beliefs such as “money profanes”, “the economic situation is aggravating”, “having goals is egoistic”, and the sort.

Understand that people who chat this way never ever experienced a purposeful and also rich presence, as well as they most likely never will; do on your own a support and also secure your mind from them; shield your spirit from contamination in all prices.

    Fear and Anxiety.

Right here comes the hardest of your opponents in the road to financial, mental, and also spiritual success. Anxiety stops a lot of individuals from becoming their finest selves, and also it will attempt to stop you also– if you let it.

Concern has several facets, and Hillside mapped a list of the seven which he thinks about the worst ones:

– Worry of hardship → Hardship and wealth can’t exist together. You either desire one or the other, so if your need is that of becoming rich (and even solvent), choose how much treasures you would love to build up and make it an indicate totally refuse destitution in your mind.

– Fear of criticism → History accustomed us to turn our nose up at criticism. In the past, contrary viewpoints meant penalty; because I’m italian, it’s sufficient for me to remember the Fascism period, which took place between 1922 and also 1945 in Italy. During that time, any type of opposing sight was casted as inappropriate, and the one who revealed it was highly likely to be killed.

Years later on, luckily, the scenario is completely various, yet when it pertains to sharing our viewpoint, be it different or not, our minds are just as frightened as they would have been back in the day.

Critics can have a profound effect if conveyed in an exaggerated quantity, especially to younger individuals; it can rob them of power, self-confidence and independent thinking.

– Fear of ill health → This fear, in my opinion, stems from two sources: the first one is represented by the opinion of those negative people that surround your life.

It seems like they enjoy being cynical and pessimistic just as much as they hate living life to the fullest, and this spread negativity, sooner or later, will affect you and your thought pattern, making you increasingly likely to constantly overthink about negative outcomes in your own existence.

The second one is embodied by the media: now, I’m not on some wich-hunt here, but have you ever heard a newscast that talked about something in a positive light? For more than five minutes? Yes, me neither.

Nowadays, with the excuse of “making us aware” of what happens, the media tries to make matters worse by emotionalizing every single bit of event. And this, of course, makes us more pessimistic and ill-minded.

– Fear of loss love → Fear of losing a loved one is one of the most common– yet most terrifying for some– feelings that can be experienced.

It stems from personal past experiences, and even going further back, from our ancestors also: in the primitive era, males got used to stealing women from other men, and they did that through brute force.

Today, while the “crime” remains, the manners have changed: violent behaviors have been replaced by different baits, such as expensive cars, houses, and clothes.

However, the fear of loss love is more common among women, since men, by their nature, are more inclined to be polygamous: a trait that makes them unworthy of trust most of the time (especially when in presence of rivals).

– Fear of old age → Less sexual attraction, more likelihood of getting ill, less mobility and strength; these are all natural consequences of old age. Instead of taking the elderly years of our lives as a chance to gather more acuity and life experiences, some of us refuse to acknowledge the positive side of aging, living in constant fear of its arrival as a result.

Just like birth and growth, aging is part of life, and it is something that we’re all going to go through (major happenings apart).

If you’re already in that stage, take that as a chance to be a fantastic parent, grand-parent or just a beautiful human being, spreading your wisdom and knowledge with those you care about the most.

– Fear of death → The last one, and one of the most dreaded, is the fear of death, which is related with the fear of the unknown.

What does death mean? Where am I going to end up? Will there be any “heaven” or “hell”?

These are all legit questions, but we can’t and will never know the answers. Death is a mysterious, unpredictable event, and unpredictability scares us.

At the same time, though, being afraid of death is useless (just like it’s useless to be scared about any of the fears described above): death is necessary, and like aging, no one ever escaped from it.

Maybe it’s not even as bad as many people make you believe. Maybe it’s just a transition. Maybe that transition is toward something better.

Who knows?

    Video: Think and Grow Rich

Date: 2015-10-22 21:08:54

Think and Grow Rich By Napoleon Hill The Best Self-Help Book EVER!

Are you ready to change your life? Are you ready to make more money? The godfather of the Law of Attraction brings you the greatest manifesting abundance book of all time, Think and Grow Rich.

If you are looking for one self-improvement book to read that will change your life forever, this is it. I have read this 10 times and I learn something new each time.

If you can understand and apply the teachings in this book it will change your life forever. Whether you are interested in making a million dollars, meeting women, or just growing as a person this is the book you need to read.

Hope you enjoy this video about Think and Grow Rich.

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Think and Grow Rich

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Inspiration From Frustrations in Career

By Ruyi, Taiwan

Since a young age, my parents always taught me, “You must study hard and get into a good university like your cousins.

 We look forward to your making a distinguished name for yourself and bringing honor and glory to our ancestors.” For this, my parents entered my name for many classes of supplementary schooling and found great teachers to teach me. In order to achieve their desires, I studied very hard. However, no matter how diligent I was in my studies, my grades were still unfavorable. So my parents were disappointed in me, my teachers despised me and my classmates also jeered and sneered at me. I felt miserable and depressed. Then I established a resolution: When I grow up, I must distinguish myself and become a rich man. And I must prove it to all of you that I’m not born losing.

After graduation, I took up business and made a little success.

After I finished my studies, with lofty ideals, I decided to go all out in work. I thought: Only people who have money are successful and respectable. As long as I make good money, I can also achieve a lot. Then I got into the insurance industry, an admirable fast-buck business with high bonus and welfare at the time. But in that fiercely competitive industry, one needed not only courage but even more connections. At that time, there was a word prevailing in the industry: Having connections means having money. You get the rich, you get large orders.

In order to achieve my desire to distinguish myself, I began to attend in-house business trainings such as: “How to be silver-tongued,” “How to get acquainted with the rich,” “How to broaden your connections,” and so on. I also actively participated in all kinds of parties organized by my company so as to acquaint myself with more rich people. Besides, my colleagues gave me many tips and told me I should learn to humble myself, stoop, and play tricks. At first, I didn’t approve of their actions, but when I saw they could earn hundreds of thousands of NT dollars in a month and drive nice cars and buy new houses, I was a little shaken: Though I work very hard, I can merely get a low base salary. There’s a great difference between us. Thereupon, I began to use some of their tips and follow some of their actions. Before long, I became familiar with the business and meanwhile grasped some dirty tricks in the financial industry. Thus, not only did I have a comfortable income, but our family also lived a better life. Every time my relatives or friends cast gazes of admiration upon me, I felt very proud and thought: Finally I’ve stood up for my parents and become a useful person.

Good things didn’t last forever; I failed over and over again.

Just when I was feeling proud of my success, in 2008 a financial crisis had a great impact on the financial industry. Thereafter, my sales dropped off badly, my incomes sharply diminished and our company crashed in an instant. The business that I’d worked hard for went up in smoke in the space of just a month or so. In the face of this sudden blow, my heart was in great pain but meanwhile I was not resigned to defeat. In order to strike it rich, without consulting my family, I invested all my savings of more than a million NT dollars and another 2 million borrowed from my friends in other projects. However, in a few months, I lost everything I owned. When my family knew I was deeply in debt, the family was almost ruined. However, I didn’t draw a lesson from it. For the sake of becoming a successful man, I still tried every means to find ways of getting rich. In 2009, I got an investment opportunity from a friend—acting as agent for a well-known European supplement, which was said to sell very well in Europe. Carried away by the desire to make a lot of money, I ignored my family’s opposition and borrowed four or five million NT dollars from my friends. Then through connections I obtained from the leaders the chance to make a big fortune—the agency of Chinese market. When thinking I could do something awesome in the market of China’s mainland, I couldn’t hold back my excitement. I thought to myself: When God closes a door, He opens a window for me. Mainland China is a bigger market. This is a good opportunity to achieve my dreams and turn my career around.

Only after I entered the market of China’s mainland that many countries had been dreaming of, did I find that I didn’t know about it, for there were many factors we couldn’t control. Besides, the lack of capital incapacitated us from opening up such a big market; limited by the parent company, we had no control over many operating plans. Due to kinds of reasons, my funds were gradually tied up, my debts became greater and greater, and I sank deeper and deeper. I struggled for seven years there. During that period, my family and friends many times tried to persuade me to stop, but I was so longing for success that I ignored their advice. At the end of 2015, I had no money in my hands and my debts totaled over ten million NT dollars. Facing such huge debts, I completely fell apart. Overwhelmed by the pain and desperation, I walked alone in the streets of Shanghai and suddenly I felt I was so helpless and weak. Previously I faithfully promised everyone that I would make lots of money, but in the end I was rewarded with this outcome. At the time, I was crushed and didn’t know how to walk my future path. Many times I thought about killing myself, but when I thought of my old parents as well as my wife and children, I couldn’t bear to do so. After thinking it over and over again, I ended up all the investments and went back to Taiwan. Confronted with the setbacks and failures, I was wrapped in depression and hopelessly sunk in the pain.

At my most miserable, God’s gospel came to me.

When I was in black despair, one friend I’d known for twenty years bore witness to God’s work of the last days for me. I read God’s words, “People’s desires are so perfect, but when people take their first steps in the journey of their lives, they gradually come to realize how imperfect human destiny is, and for the first time they truly grasp the fact that, though one can make bold plans for one’s future, though one may harbor audacious fantasies, no one has the ability or the power to realize his or her own dreams, no one is in a position to control his or her own future. … What occupation one pursues, what one does for a living, and how much wealth one amasses in life are not decided by one’s parents, one’s talents, one’s efforts or one’s ambitions, but are predetermined by the Creator.”

At the time, I was filled with all sorts of feelings and felt the words were saying exactly my circumstances. Indeed, everyone has his own plans, ideals, and dreams for the future and strives for them; however, whether our dreams can come true or not is not decided by us. In retrospect, after I entered into the society, for the purpose of achieving my desires to rise above others and glorify my ancestors, I sought various ways to make money, but every time I couldn’t succeed and in the end I got nothing but great debts. These failures and setbacks allowed me to deeply realize: One is incapable of controlling his fate, nor can he change it by his own hands. How much wealth one can own in life and whether he is rich or poor are predetermined by God.

Afterward, I read God’s words, “In fact, no matter how lofty man’s ideals are, no matter how realistic man’s desires are or how proper they may be, all that man wants to achieve, all that man seeks for is inextricably linked with two words. These two words are vitally important to the life of every person, and these are things Satan intends to instill in man. Which two words are these? One is ‘fame’ and one is ‘gain’: They are fame and gain. Satan uses a very subtle kind of way, a way very much in concert with people’s notions; it is not any kind of radical way. In the midst of unawareness, people come to accept Satan’s way of living, its rules of living, establishing life goals and their direction in life, and in doing so they also unknowingly come to have ideals in life. No matter how high-sounding these ideals in life seem, they are just a pretext that is inextricably linked to fame and gain. Any great or famous person, all people in fact, anything they follow in life relates only to these two words: ‘fame’ and ‘gain.’ Is this not so? (Yes.) People think that once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them to enjoy high status and great wealth, and to enjoy life. Once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them in their pleasure-seeking and unscrupulous enjoyment of the flesh. People willingly, albeit unknowingly, take their bodies, minds, all that they have, their futures and their destinies and hand them all over to Satan in order to attain the fame and gain they desire. People do this without ever a moment’s hesitation, ever ignorant of the need to recover it all. Can people still have any control over themselves once they go over to the side of Satan in this way and become loyal to it? Certainly not. They are completely and utterly controlled by Satan. They are also completely and utterly unable to free themselves from the quagmire they have sunk down into.”

The word of God allowed everything to become clear to me: The reason why I lived in pain was that I chose a wrong way. Educated and influenced by the thoughts of standing out and being an important person, I mistakenly believed that only when people win fame and fortune, lead an aristocratic lifestyle, and obtain the high regard of others, will their life be valuable and significant. Only such is the true life. On the surface, seeking fame and gain is a positive pursuit, but actually it is a means for Satan to corrupt man. Thinking about myself, in order to pursue fame and gain, I lost my original sincerity and conscience, and learnt to suck up to and curry favor with others, and I became hypocritical and did some things against conscience and morality. Although I felt uneasy after that, due to the temptation of fame and gain, I repeatedly disobeyed the prompting of my conscience and continued seeking to gain more fame and fortune. Even when my dream was shattered, I couldn’t bring myself to quit and still tried every possible way to make money and paid a great price. In the end, I was heavily in debt, and my family almost broke up. It was then that I realized that Satan uses fame and gain to blind my eyes, making me strive for them so that it can afflict me and tempt me to walk on a road of no return. This is the evil intention of Satan.

Afterward, through having meetings with my brothers and sisters and reading God’s words, I realized: Seeking fame and gain isn’t the true and correct path of human life, but instead it is one of the ways Satan corrupts people. Only when people seek the truth and obey God’s orchestrations and arrangements, can we break free from the affliction of Satan. So I decided to believe in God properly, follow Him and walk the right way of human life.

Facing temptations, I was in two minds.

When I wanted to cast off the bondage of fame and gain, I came up against Satan’s testing. One of my old friends suddenly called me and said, “I have a good friend, who manages a large Wealth Management Company in Hong Kong. And he has branch offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. Now he is preparing to expand the business, so he wants an experienced account director. I think you should have a try. You can’t miss such a good opportunity.” After hanging up, I was wild with joy and thought: This is indeed a good opportunity. If I get this job, I can pay off my debts straight away. After that, I specially spared three days and flew to Hong Kong and Guangzhou to inspect the company. Before I went back, the superiors invited me to have a dinner with them and we talked about our rosy prospects together. They invited me to take this job with an annual salary of 2.5 million NT dollars.

After returning to Taiwan, I felt very conflicted inside: Should I go or should I not go? If I go to work in China, where the atheist CCP persecutes religious beliefs, I may give up believing in God and then I would miss this precious opportunity to be saved. However, I also couldn’t bear to give up such a high salary. Therefore, I lived in torments.

One day, on my way home I took a call from a debt collector and so my mind was disturbed and I was distracted. When crossing an intersection, I almost hit someone. Thanks to God’s protection, at the very moment I turned the wheel sharply. In order to calm myself down, I pulled over to the side of the road and kept calling out to God. Then I played a recitation of God’s word. I heard God’s words saying: “The question of most concern to Me is to whom your hearts are loyal. I would also like each of you to organize your thoughts and ask yourself to whom you are loyal and for whom you live. Perhaps you have never given careful consideration to this question, so let Me reveal the answer to you.

“All those with memory will confess this fact: Man lives for himself and is loyal to himself. I do not believe that your answer is entirely correct, for you each exist in your respective lives, each are struggling in your own distress. Therefore, what you are loyal to is the people you love and the things that please you, and you are not entirely loyal to yourselves. Because you are each influenced by the people, occurrences, and things around you, you are not truly loyal to yourselves.”

On the way, I listened to this recitation of God’s word for three times. After I arrived home safely, these words had deeply been branded on to my heart. I kept asking myself: Whom am I loyal to? Whom do I live for? These questions kept me up all the night. Through reflecting on myself, I realized I wasn’t loyal to God, for I didn’t lay aside my pursuit of fame and fortune. In the face of this temptation, my faith in God was revealed: Between the truth and fame, I preferred fame to the truth. I thought that as long as I took that job, I could rise again. If God hadn’t reminded me in a timely manner, I would have possibly betrayed God and returned to Satan’s camp. Being exposed by God’s words made me deeply ashamed.

Then I saw God’s words saying, “When one has no God, when one cannot see Him, when one cannot clearly recognize God’s sovereignty, every day is meaningless, worthless, miserable. Wherever one is, whatever one’s job is, one’s means of living and the pursuit of one’s goals bring one nothing but endless heartbreak and irrelievable suffering, such that one cannot bear to look back. Only when one accepts the Creator’s sovereignty, submits to His orchestrations and arrangements, and seeks true human life, will one gradually break free from all heartbreak and suffering, shake off all the emptiness of life.” “After you recognize this, your task is to lay aside your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for you, try only to submit to God’s orchestrations and guidance, to have no choice, and to become a person who worships God.”

God’s words gave me a direction in my life and the way of practice: I should entrust everything to God and submit to His orchestrations and arrangements. Only in this way, can I live freely and without restraints. God used this temptation to test me in order to see that in the face of fame and fortune, what I would choose: to satisfy God or to satisfy my fleshly desires and betray God. I also thought of Job’s experience. He had no personal ambition or desire for fame and gain, because he knew how much wealth one could have does not depend on his own struggles but is predetermined by God. When Job was possessed of great wealth, he didn’t make more money through his efforts but faced God’s blessings with calmness; when he lost his fortune, he still praised God’s name. Because of his true knowledge of God’s authority and true reverence for and obedience to Him, whether he was possessed of vast wealth or had nothing, he was able to face them calmly. At the time, I was greatly encouraged. I was willing to imitate Job, to be a person who truly submitted to God, and to live for satisfying God.

After a struggle, I politely declined the good intentions of my friend and the leaders and told them, “I don’t want to take this job because I have more important things to do in the rest of my life.” Hearing my words, my friend couldn’t understand me, but I knew clearly what I should pursue—contributing my own tiny effort to God’s work in the last days and living a meaningful life. After I arrived home, I felt as if a heavy burden was unloaded from my heart.

After casting off the bondage of fame, I saw God’s deeds.

In the following days, I committed the matter of finding a job to God and ask Him to lead me and guide me. Afterward, I found a night job as well as a part-time job on financial transaction during the daytime. That way, apart from our daily expenses, I could have some extra money to pay my debts. Besides, in my life I saw God’s wondrous deeds and His blessings to me. Once, as our company folded, I needed to go to Mainland to take care of some procedural tasks, but I didn’t have the budget of travel expenses. Just as I was fretting over this issue, one of my old customers suddenly called me and wanted to buy some financial products from me. What he paid me was exactly enough to buy the round-trip ticket. Afterward, every time I met difficulties, God would provide a way out for me. There was an unspeakable feeling that moved my heart and I could only keep thanking and praising God in my heart.

Although I lead an ordinary life now, I live by God’s words every day and so I feel very released and free. Thank God for His salvation toward me. It is God who gives me a significant life and it is He who allows me to fulfill my duty as a created being. I’m willing to pursue the truth properly to repay His love. Thank Almighty God. All the glory be to Almighty God.

[marcusssanderson]

10 Best Business Books That Will Develop Your Success Mindset

We had a lot of fun creating this reading list of best business books for our fabulous readers at Everyday Power Blog.

It was my 6th-grade teacher, Mr. Bryan Devine, who was the first to instill a love of reading in my psyche as a young child.

Fast forward a few decades, and we’ve built a culture at Red Stag Fulfillment that not only encourages, but requires consistent reading within our management team.

In the same way that our company aggressively pursues continuous improvement in our fulfillment operations, we equally value improvements for the individual.

Here are 10 best business books whose concepts reach far beyond the boardroom.

Business Books That Will Develop Your Success Mindset

1) Great by Choice, Jim Collins

Great by Choice, Jim Collins

Great by Choice, How to Manage Through Chaos outlines a scientific, data-driven approach to discovering and proving how some leaders thrive through—not on—chaos. In the book, chaos is defined by instability—particularly in the first decade of this century when terrorists attacked, wars ensued, markets crashed, and technology powered forth with relentless advances we had to catch up to. Some of us, including companies, didn’t just survive all this—we thrived on it.

My favorite concept explained in the book that we can all apply to tough situations is “bullets before cannonballs.” It’s strikingly simple: “wise leaders take small steps before making giant leaps.” Bullets are cheap, easy to make, and easy to shoot. By testing out “bullets” or ideas in a low-risk way, you will lose less in desperate times. You also get the chance to see what worked and what didn’t before you break out the big guns—or cannons. Use this in business and life to leverage more out of tough situations, and know when it’s time to fire a big investment.

Quotes from this business book:

“When [what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be best in the world at and what drives your economic engine] come together, not only does your work move toward greatness but so does your life. For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is complicated to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then, you might gain that rare tranquility that comes from knowing that you’ve had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on this earth has been well spent and that it mattered.” ― James C. Collins

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” ― James C. Collins

“Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” ― James C. Collins

2) The 4-Hour Work Week, Tim Ferris

The 4-Hour Work Week, Tim Ferris

This is a book that’s been touted as a life-changer because it does more than explain how the “new rich” are doing it. This book takes you by the shoulders and shakes you—waking you up from your 9-to-5 nightmare—and shows you how you can live your financially stable dreams.

Quotes from this business book:

“Being busy is a form of laziness–lazy thinking and indiscriminate action” might be one of the best takeaways from this read. Ferris explains that it’s about getting away from the busywork and maximizing your time and potential by focusing on the bigger picture. I think we could all use this reminder in our daily business and personal lives.

“For all of the most important things, the timing always sucks. Waiting for a good time to quit your job? The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time. The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it doesn’t go out of its way to line up the pins either. Conditions are never perfect. “Someday” is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it’s important to you and you want to do it “eventually,” just do it and correct course along the way.” ― Timothy Ferriss

“But you are the average of the five people you associate with most, so do not underestimate the effects of your pessimistic, unambitious, or disorganized friends. If someone isn’t making you stronger, they’re making you weaker.” ― Timothy Ferriss

“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” ― Timothy Ferriss

3) Good to Great, Jim Collins

Good to Great, Jim Collins

Good to Great, Why Some Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t is the summation of a major scientific study incorporating 1,435 companies. However, this book isn’t just analysis—it’s groundbreaking research that’s tearing down barriers and debunking myths. What Collins figured out is that money can’t buy greatness.

Instead, it’s: “Disciplined Thought, Disciplined People, and Disciplined Action” that leads to not just successful, but truly great companies. Collins explains that it’s not extraordinary moments, but down-to-earth pragmatics and commitment from everyone on the ladder that makes a company great. So, get your head out of the clouds, because the answer to greatness is right here in front of you.

Quotes from this business book:

“Think of the transformation as a process of buildup followed by breakthrough, broken into three broad stages: disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action. Within each of these three stages, there are two key concepts, shown in the framework and described below. Wrapping around this entire framework is a concept we came to call the flywheel, which captures the gestalt of the entire process of going from good to great.” ― James C. Collins

“Perhaps your quest to be part of building something great will not fall in your business life. But find it somewhere. If not in corporate life, then perhaps in making your church great. If not there, then perhaps a nonprofit, or a community organization, or a class you teach. Get involved in something that you care so much about that you want to make it the greatest it can possibly be, not because of what you will get, but just because it can be done.” ― James C. Collins

“The good-to-great companies made a habit of putting their best people on their best opportunities, not their biggest problems. The comparison companies had a penchant for doing just the opposite, failing to grasp the fact that managing your problems can only make you good, whereas building your opportunities is the only way to become great. There is an important” ― James C. Collins

4) Think & Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill

Think & Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill

This book is an inspirational powerhouse. Packed with sharp points and secrets to success, Think & Grow Rich helps you realize that you’ve actually had the power inside you all along. So pick it up and read it; then reread it, because the principles of this book are timeless and sure to help you out of any rut.

“If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don’t. If you like to win but think you can’t, it’s almost certain you won’t.” Take this advice to heart, and then run with it.

Quotes from this business book:

The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.” ― Napoleon Hill

“You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.” ― Napoleon Hill

“Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do. More than five hundred of the most successful men this country has ever known told the author their greatest success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat had overtaken them.” ― Napoleon Hill

More amazing business books

5) Seven Laws of Higher Prosperity, Cecil Kemp

Seven Laws of Higher Prosperity, Cecil Kemp

Set in the inviting tone of a story, rather than a manifesto, the Seven Laws of Higher Prosperity challenges you to examine the characters at hand to figure out which one you are, and why success may be eluding you. This book captures the heart, intrigues the soul, and ignites the mind.

Inside the pages, you’ll be inspired by lessons on life and finance that will change your outlook, and hopefully your actions. This book is a mixture of your spiritual guru and your wise, accountant friend telling you how to pull it together, in an inspirational way, of course.

6) The Science of Success, Charles Koch

The Science of Success, Charles Koch

If you enjoyed your socioeconomics classes, then you’re sure to enjoy The Science of Success. Renowned businessman, Charles Koch, introduces and explains his principles of Market Based Management (MBM) to help readers develop a new way of thinking that will help them make good decisions in life and business. Business books such as this one are always instant classics.

Based on the “Science of Human Action” (vision, virtue, knowledge, decision rights, and incentive), this is by no means a how-to book. Koch instead takes his readers on an observational and philosophical journey to see what has fascinated him and shaped his mindset. This is the guy whose mind you want to get into.

Quotes from this business book:

“Those who favor a “grand plan” over experimentation fail to understand the role that failed experiments play in creating progress in society. Failures quickly and efficiently signal what doesn’t work, minimizing waste and redirecting scarce resources to what does work. A market economy is an experimental discovery process, in which business failures are inevitable and any attempt to eliminate them only ensures even greater failures.” ― Charles G. Koch

“My lessons weren’t specific to business, but they were fundamental values—integrity, humility, responsibility, work ethic, entrepreneurship, a thirst for knowledge, the desire to make a contribution, and concern for others—that profoundly influenced the way I do business and live my life to this day.” ― Charles G. Koch

“To succeed, a business must not only develop profit and loss measures, but also determine their underlying drivers, in order to understand what is adding value, what is not, and why. This knowledge informs its vision and strategies, leads to innovations, creates opportunities to eliminate waste, and guides continuous improvement.” ― Charles G. Koch

7) Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki

Kiyosaki’s book provides a unique perspective that will help you think differently about your finances, and education itself. You’ll walk away from this book still gripping the last pages, and clutching onto the new, but simple idea that: “The poor and middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them.”

You’ll soon learn that it’s all about assets and letting your money work for you, instead of working for it. You’ll also put it down cursing not just our education system, but our society, for putting the value on the now rather than the future. Okay, I’m not giving any more away. Pick up this best-seller and see for yourself.

Quotes from this business book:

“In school we learn that mistakes are bad, and we are punished for making them. Yet, if you look at the way humans are designed to learn, we learn by making mistakes. We learn to walk by falling down. If we never fell down, we would never walk.” ― Robert T. Kiyosaki

“Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.” ― Robert T. Kiyosaki

“You’re only poor if you give up. The most important thing is that you did something. Most people only talk and dream of getting rich. You’ve done something.” ― Robert T. Kiyosaki

8) Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing, Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing, Robert Kiyosaki

A real guide, and the third in Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad” trilogy, this book aims to guide readers to financial freedom with active investing.

Once again using the stories of his main protagonists, Rich Dad and Poor Dad, Kiyosaki helps readers realize their full potential by understanding the basic rules for investing.

Not a guarantee, but definitely a guide to achieving financial freedom, this book helps us laymen understand how and why the rich are getting richer.

Quotes from this business book:

“He said it was better to work years at creating an asset rather than to spend your life working hard for money to create someone else’s asset.” ― Robert T. Kiyosaki

“As Winston Churchill said, “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Robert T. Kiyosaki

“It’s not what we say out loud that determines our lives. It’s what we whisper to ourselves that has the most power.” ― Robert T. Kiyosaki

9)

[illustir]

Highlights for The First 90 Days

To transition effectively, first identify the risks you face as you move into your new role using the Transition Risk Assessment.

No matter where you land, the keys to effective delegation remain much the same: you build a team of competent people whom you trust, you establish goals and metrics to monitor their progress, you translate higher-level goals into specific responsibilities for your direct reports, and you reinforce them through process.

They attribute the high failure rate of outside hires to several barriers, notably the following: Leaders from outside the company are not familiar with informal networks of information and communication. Outside hires are not familiar with the corporate culture and therefore have greater difficulty navigating. New people are unknown to the organization and therefore do not have the same credibility as someone who is promoted from within. A long tradition of hiring from within makes it difficult for some organizations to accept outsiders.

Transitioning leaders should use this checklist to help them figure out how things really work in the organizations they’re joining. Influence. How do people get support for critical initiatives? Is it more important to have the support of a patron within the senior team, or affirmation from your peers and direct reports that your idea is a good one? Meetings. Are meetings filled with dialogue on hard issues, or are they simply forums for publicly ratifying agreements that have been reached in private? Execution. When it comes time to get things done, which matters more—a deep understanding of processes or knowing the right people? Conflict. Can people talk openly about difficult issues without fear of retribution? Or do they avoid conflict—or, even worse, push it to lower levels, where it can wreak havoc? Recognition. Does the company promote stars, rewarding those who visibly and vocally drive business initiatives? Or does it encourage team players, rewarding those who lead authoritatively but quietly and collaboratively? Ends versus means. Are there any restrictions on how you achieve results? Does the organization have a well-defined, well-communicated set of values that is reinforced through positive and negative incentives?

Table 1-2 is a simple tool for assessing your preferences for different kinds of business problems. Fill in each cell by assessing your intrinsic interest in solving problems in the domain in question.

Like many new leaders, he failed to focus on learning about his new organization and so made some bad decisions that undercut his credibility.

Ask them essentially the same five questions: What are the biggest challenges the organization is facing (or will face in the near future)? Why is the organization facing (or going to face) these challenges? What are the most promising unexploited opportunities for growth? What would need to happen for the organization to exploit the potential of these opportunities? If you were me, what would you focus attention on?

Specifically, you must establish priorities, define strategic intent, identify where you can secure early wins, build the right leadership team, and create supporting alliances.

The performance of people put in charge of start-ups and turnarounds is easiest to evaluate, because you can focus on measurable outcomes relative to a clear prior baseline. Evaluating success and failure in realignment and sustaining-success situations is much more problematic.

Negotiating success means proactively engaging with your new boss to shape the game so that you have a fighting chance of achieving desired goals. Many new leaders just play the game, reactively taking their situation as given—and failing as a result. The alternative is to shape the game by negotiating with your boss to establish realistic expectations, reach consensus, and secure sufficient resources.

You might simply say that you expect to notice differences in how the two of you approach certain issues or decisions but that you’re committed to achieving the results to which you have both agreed.

By the end of the first few months, you want your boss, your peers, and your subordinates to feel that something new, something good, is happening.

keep in mind that your early wins must do double duty: they must help you build momentum in the short term and lay a foundation for achieving your longer-term business goals.

You cannot hope to achieve results in more than a couple of areas during your transition. Thus, it’s essential to identify the most promising opportunities and then focus relentlessly on translating them into wins.

Addressing problems that your boss cares about will go a long way toward building credibility and cementing your access to resources.

Close personal relationships are rarely compatible with effective supervisory ones.

Effective leaders get people to make realistic commitments and then hold them responsible for achieving results. But if you’re never satisfied, you’ll sap people’s motivation. Know when to celebrate success and when to push for more.

Accessible but not too familiar.

Early in your transition, you want to project decisiveness but defer some decisions until you know enough to make the right calls.

Effective new leaders establish authority by zeroing in on issues but consulting others and encouraging input. They also know when to give people the flexibility to achieve results in their own ways.

It’s never a bad thing to be seen as genuinely committed to understanding your new organization.

Simply blowing up the existing culture and starting over is rarely the right answer. People—and organizations—have limits on the change they can absorb all at once. And organizational cultures invariably have virtues as well as faults; they provide predictability and can be sources of pride. If you send the message that there is nothing good about the existing organization and its culture, you will rob people of a key source of stability in times of change. You also will deprive yourself of a potential wellspring of energy you could tap to improve performance.

Strive, where possible, for clear lines of accountability. Simplify the structure to the greatest degree possible without compromising core goals.

The most important decisions you make in your first 90 days will probably be about people. If you succeed in creating a high-performance team, you can exert tremendous leverage in value creation. If not, you will face severe difficulties, for no leader can hope to achieve much alone.

Who defers to whom when certain topics are being discussed? When an issue is raised, where do people’s eyes track?

You will also begin to recognize the power coalitions: groups of people who explicitly or implicitly cooperate over the long term to pursue certain goals or protect certain privileges.

Over time, the patterns of influence will become clearer, and you’ll be able to identify those vital individuals—the opinion leaders—who exert disproportionate influence because of their informal authority, expertise, or sheer force of personality.

The work you’ve done to map influence networks in your organization can also help you pinpoint potential supporters, opponents, and persuadables.

Keep in mind, too, that success in winning over adversaries can have a powerful, symbolic impact. “The enemy who is converted to the ally” is a powerful story that will resonate with others in the organization. (Another example is the story of redemption—for example, helping a person who has been marginalized or labeled as ineffective prove himself.)

People are motivated by various things, such as a need for recognition, for control, for power, for affiliation through relationships with colleagues, and for personal growth.

The power of active listening as a persuasive technique is vastly underrated. It can not only promote acceptance of difficult decisions but also channel people’s thinking and frame choices.

The art of effective communication is to repeat and elaborate core themes without sounding like a parrot.

People asked to engage in behavior inconsistent with their values or beliefs experience internal psychological dissonance.

Decision-making processes are like rivers: big decisions draw on preliminary tributary processes that define the problem, identify alternatives, and establish criteria for evaluating costs and benefits. By the time the problem and the options have been defined, the actual choice may be a foregone conclusion.

You do this by setting up action-forcing events—events that induce people to make commitments or take actions. Meetings, review sessions, teleconferences, and deadlines can all help create and sustain momentum: regular meetings to review progress, and tough questioning of those who fail to reach agreed-to goals, increase the psychological pressure to follow through.

via English – alper.nl https://ift.tt/2rhrO7f

[screechingrebelhottub-blog]

Business Motivational Video

Determine Your Business Motivation Level

As a small business proprietor, it's easy to become frustrated and start to lose a few of that preliminary enterprise motivation you had in the beginning. The drive in the direction of success can put loads of pressure on you, sporting you down to the purpose the place you want to throw in the towel.

Keeping up your business motivation is necessary for protecting in your private path to success. Here are seven ways which you can give your waning motivation a boost:

Set objectives you'll be able to measure and hold track of progress.

If you wish to run a winning business, you need to set clear targets and then work to realize them. Holding observe of the progress you make along the best way will assist to ensure that you're staying heading in the right direction. You want each long run and short term goals to keep shifting forward.

Set up rewards for your entire achievements.

A rewards system is one of the best ways to keep up business motivation for yourself and your staff. For every aim that's met, have a particular reward. This may preserve everyone pushing forward to meet the next targets.

Set a timeline to your targets and maintain revisiting them. Stay on top of your objectives and what is being executed to perform them. Make any adjustments as wanted and keep targeted on crossing each one out of your listing.

Discover businesses to network with often.

Search for other small enterprise owners in your space or online whose businesses complement yours. You'll be able to flip to each other for business motivation and share concepts and ideas for working your firms. It's a good way to maintain your ideas fresh.

When you have got another person to talk to, who has been by the identical struggles and issues, it may possibly help preserve you in your path.

Be part of together with your native chamber of commerce or look online for small enterprise groups, like on MeetUp.com. These are nice for meeting new people and sharing concepts with fellow business owners.

Remind your self why you started in the first place.

What was is that made you decide to start your own business? Reawaken the eagerness you had on your product or enterprise that was such a robust motivator. Spend a day or two getting yourself back to the beginning. Possibly you began a landscaping enterprise since you liked to design the layouts, but now you solely deal with the day-to-day office work. Choose to tackle one of the new challenge designs yourself so you can keep in mind what got you began in the first place.

Stay organized.

When you can persist with a transparent every day routine, you'll really feel motivated to finish your duties every day. A messy schedule and workspace can depart you frazzled and it is hard to concentrate on what needs to be performed.

To avoid feeling overwhelmed, keep your self organized and develop a routine that is simple to stick with from one day to the next.

Look for motivational aides.

Attend seminars, learn business books or listen to recordings from motivational speakers. These are good at rising your curiosity and getting you pumped up for tackling any obstacles and accomplishing your targets.

If these issues do not enchantment to you, maybe just inserting a motivational quote in a focus of the office will help to get you motivated. Once you create a positive environment round you, you'll maintain an upbeat angle.

Type profitable habits.

Develop habits that may lead to success. If a morning walk helps to clear your thoughts and prepare for the day, do it. Sit down initially of daily and plan your schedule so that you recognize what to anticipate. Make time to ship personal thank-you notes to shoppers.

Do things each day which are going to extend your motivation for the business and lead to success. Get rid of stress and preserve issues easy. The extra sophisticated issues get, the extra wired you may be and stress can kill your motivation rapidly.

There are numerous business managers who're in no way conscious of the function enterprise motivation plays in the development and development of a company. If these individuals can be taught what determines motivation, it will be extremely beneficial in realizing the target of the group they kind part of. But before proceeding any additional, it must be noted that the dimensions of the organization or the business is under no circumstances relevant in determining enterprise motivation. Then what are the elements that decide motivation? Let's examine for ourselves:

Need: This is the truth is a very powerful factor that determines motivation. Only if there's a spark within you, you can be interested to pursue the need further; or in other words, be motivated to take the future course of action.

Time: That is one other essential ingredient that determines the extent of business motivation. Once you really feel that you just do not have enough time in hand to pursue something that you needed since a very long time, you'll feel motivated to take it further and achieve it by any means. There lies another supply of motivation.

Ease: Motivation is loads about ease. We are always tempted by simpler duties and people which comparatively pose lesser possibilities of failure. Also, after we see our targets appear in nearer proximity, we feel that the duty may be completed with relative ease. This once more accounts for another factor that affects motivation stage.

Again, there are some factors which decide motivation in a adverse method. They can be summed up as follows:

Laziness: Opposite to need, laziness is crucial factor that affects enterprise motivation in a unfavorable method. You'd relatively feel like lying down within the posh leather-based sofa than have the determination and will to do something that will not be value your efforts.

Contentment: If you're quite contented along with your actions, you'll lose the willingness to learn and progress additional and that can immediately or not directly affect your motivation.

Concern: The concern of failure and ambiguity is the biggest hindrance to enterprise motivation.

Thus far we now have analyzed the elements that may positively or negatively have an effect on motivation. Some of the most convincing methods that will provide help to obtain business motivation are given under:

- Strategic planning

- Incentive schemes or packages

- Motivational events

- Achievement recognition awards or applications

- Target-oriented coaching

- Proper know-how

- Multi-faceted communication

In spite of the importance of motivation, there are a lot of organizations that fail to realize appropriate levels of motivation. Nonetheless, the fact stays that there's a deeper and more intense hyperlink between business motivation and enterprise development.

Enterprise motivation is about motivating employees and customers alike. According to a latest analysis, these organizations which are successful take care of the emotional nicely-being of their workers and hence score higher on the business motivation issue.

But like every single concept or plan, motivation also involves some basic guidelines. Let's have a look at for ourselves 10 enterprise motivation rules that you should know:

Formulate an goal - To formulate an objective, is the first rule of motivation and then progress additional. If a agency desires its employees to achieve greater levels of productivity and fetch them extra revenues, it ought to first check how contented their employees are with the present ranges of motivation.

Accomplish your aims -The second rule of business motivation is to perform your plans and targets. That you must work on something and the whole lot that crosses your approach. In business, there's nothing very small or too big.

Provoke discussions with like-minded folks - Once you mingle with folks with big ideas and high aspirations, a positive angle is more likely to take higher maintain of you. You might as well create a business group to keep the spark of motivation ignited in each your heart and mind.

Be desperate to be taught - The willingness to be taught goes a great distance in paving the path of enterprise motivation. Once more, learning alone does not enable you to succeed. It is advisable apply in actuality no matter you learnt in the due course of time.

Combine your expertise with personal curiosity - This ought to be carried out in such a approach that can allow you to grow to be empowered. For instance, you want browsing internet and your pure expertise lies in writing. Go forward and enroll in some writing applications that may let you browse cyberspace and earn some additional bucks by writing articles. All the time do not forget that motivation is non permanent, but empowerment lingers round for a protracted whereas.

Enhance data that motivates - You might simply go ahead and read a e book to enhance your motivation stage. Generally when you talk to people who share comparable views on topics of your curiosity assist achieve enterprise motivation.

Never be afraid to take dangers - 'Do not fear failure' is another widespread rule of motivation. The extra you turn out to be afraid of failure, the extra you will free your chance to succeed. So take dangers and remain motivated.

Really feel responsible - Take onus and complete the duty assigned to you. It will undoubtedly assist you achieve increased ranges of business motivation.

Make your contribution meaningful - Whatever you do to keep the motivation ranges going robust in your office or enterprise, you need to make sure that they pay in the long run somewhat than simply fetch futile outcomes.

Let's cut to the brass and tacks: you've received a business to run. That means the bottom line is essential. Certain, you need someone who can encourage, inspire, persuade, and all that great stuff, however general, you need anyone who can increase revenue by fostering a lot better worker performance.

With that being said, business motivational speakers are massive-scale strategists and coaches. These people provide an abstract of their very own expertise and share what they've seen do the job of their area of expertise. By doing this, they can assist your organization embrace a chunk of their attitude and magnificence of considering. They may also help the business by supplying information and powerful messages of motivation, management, and enlightenment.

Even so, you possibly can't merely grab anyone off the streets who calls himself or herself as a professional speaker. One remedy is to shell out the massive-bucks and pick a high-profile corporate speaker to your occasion. This can be worth it to a whole lot of teams as the superstar-draw by itself can be well worth the added admission gross sales, attendance, and buzz around an event.

For many teams, they are trying to find the perfect bang for their finances and need someone who can provide a wallop of a chat and never bust the bank. Listed here are some recommendations on how to decide on the ideal enterprise motivational speaker on your occasion.

Business Motivational Speaker Tip #1: Consider Your Marketing Materials

Should you've been a gathering planner for any period of time, you've gotten nearly actually received the advertising and marketing materials of motivational audio system who would prefer to speak at your occasion. Go through them and use this actually easy filter:

"Does this person inspirational bug me?"

If there's something about their technique that bothers you, toss 'em! This is your time to NOT be nice and weed out the no-go's. Give a call or ship an inquiry e-mail to people that stay, and put the method on repeat. In the event that they bug you in their response, do away with 'em!!

Business Motivational Speaker Tip #2: Ask for suggestions from dependable sources.

You've got obtained plenty of people who've been in your footwear ahead ofyou. Ask co-staff or of us in your position in different corporations for his or her recommendations. Chances are you'll simply keep away from a catastrophe with this method... and similarly you can uncover your dream-speaker with just a few transient telephone calls.

Enterprise Motivational Speaker Tip #3: Consult with a audio system bureaus.

Getting in contact with a reliable speakers' bureau can be a real delight in case you work with the suitable firm. They'll help you with just about nearly the whole lot regarding your occasion.

They will offer you numerous audio system you'll be able to choose from who they represent, and after that the bureau might take a lower of the speaker's price. If you strategy them, just be sure you comprehend what that you must accomplish by holding your event. Any first price bureau could make the whole process clear and simple.

Know before you take into account this feature, however, that they are commission-based, so they'll normally try to charge you the most that they will; they're in business to earn cash as effectively. Most meeting planners have had better luck with pricing when they've done their own speaker searches. It should be famous that it is sleazy to get all of the information you need from a bureau and then bypass the bureau by booking the speaker straight. This isn't solely unprofessional but it causes issues between bureaus and audio system.

[firehawk12]

Hot Docs 2017

I didn’t expect to watch as many films as I did during the festival, but the student pass certainly helped encourage watching films that I may have otherwise simply passed on otherwise. This is a couple of weeks late, but here are the films I watched in chronological order of screening date.

Raise Your Arms and Twist — Documentary of NMB48

As someone who follows Japanese culture mostly through the lens of it’s otaku fair — anime, manga, jdrama, and variety shows — it’s almost impossible to avoid the AKB phenomenon. Artificially constructed or not, the influence of this idol franchise simply branches out to other forms of entertainment, making them synonymous with Japanese popular culture.

The NMB documentary is in an interesting look at the idol industry because of both its subject matter and the behind the scenes production issues. There have been several varnished AKB documentaries that have been released previously (at least two have been fan-subbed and are available in places where you would watch fan-subbed content), but there is something interesting about following what amounts to the “farm team” in NMB. Whether this depiction of NMB is true or not, the film wants us to believe that of the four main AKB groups, NMB is the least popular — and that even the popularity of the star of NMB pales in comparison to the regular AKB members. The fact that the film is directed by Toda Yoshihisa, who is a legitimate filmmaker, and not by an insider (for example, the HKT48 documentary was directed by a former member and present manager Rino Sashihara) allows for a unique perspective to the film that makes it more than just a marketing tool.

Yes, the film is promotional — there are countless clips of concert performances, perhaps in an attempt to try to push album sales — but there the film shows some of the less glamorous aspects of being an idol, even for one of the biggest idol franchises/factories in Japan. A couple of stories emerge to help paint an interesting picture of being a member of NMB. Ayaka Okita’s struggle to be given the opportunity to appear in one of “senbatsu” songs (what I take to be the Japanese idol equivalent of summer song), only to be told that she has “behavioral problems” that prevent her from being selected. Ririka Suto, whose Nietzsche-filled monologues frame the film for the audience, reveals to the audience that the idols themselves see their role is constructed, that they have no opportunity to self-actualization because they must perform and conform to the roles assigned to them. We also get to see Sayaka Yamamoto, the captain of NMB and the group’s most popular member, toil in the relative obscurity of sister group AKB’s shadow. We also get to see one of the least popular members, Saki Kono, eventually give up her career as an idol when she realizes that she will never have any fans. The documentary provides a very broad spectrum of the idol experience, exposing it to the audience warts and all. That’s not to say that the girls don’t know what they’re getting into — when the film follows Fuuko Yagura, we see that she wants to be an idol because she sees it as a way to earn an income to help support her family.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this documentary, but it gave me a glimpse into a world that I’ve been curious about but haven’t had the chance to access on my own.

Also, I still can’t get this song out of my head. Durian as a metaphor for love that goes beyond physical appearance, who would have thought?

Tokyo Idols

I was a bit surprised that there were two idol documentaries at Hot Docs this year, but this film ended up being a nice companion piece to the NMB documentary. Tokyo Idols follows the smaller, lesser known, underground idol groups that dot Japan. There are several idols that are documented for the film, but the film’s primary subject is Rio Hiiragi, an Akihabara idol who struggles to get mainstream attention.

Unlike the girls at NMB, Rio has to do everything on her own. In that respect, watching her basically hustle to get fans, I’m reminded of the Western phenomenon of “Twitch stars” (or even Instagram stars), where people have to continually grind out content to keep viewers happy and subscribed to their feeds. One of Rio’s stunts to try to drum up more fans was to tour Japan on a bike, while constantly livestreaming in order to keep her “home” fans updated. It’s not just about looking pretty, because based on the work that Rio puts into her career, it’s very much about her personality and drive as well.

Indeed, the film also follows several fans — including Rio’s fan club — and you see how these people have essentially placed all their hopes and dreams on the success of the girl that they are choosing to follow. It’s both innocent and also somewhat sad, since for these (mostly) male fans, they’re treating these idols as surrogate daughters or sisters to dote on. Rio’s main fan admits becoming an idol fan because he sees her as a second chance — he might not be able to live out his dreams, but maybe he can help Rio achieve her dreams. There’s an implicit understanding that the relationship they have with her will always be platonic — in a Q&A with the director after the screening, she spoke about an incident when a fan tried to pursue a romantic relationship with Rio and how her fan club had to essentially restrain him from coming to any of her shows.

The documentary also provides some more social context to explain the idol phenomenon, it’s suggested that it grew out of the economic recession and people’s desire to try to find something positive in their lives. The film also critiques it examining the model of femininity the idol industry projects to society. It actually reminded me a lot of the controversy surrounding the notion of the beauty pageant in the West, and how commentators have suggested that perhaps a contest where women are judged on their appearance may help project negative expectations of femininity into society as a whole.

One thing that isn’t really discussed in this film is the actual “profession” itself. Since Rio and the girls featured in this documentary are essentially independent, it’s not clear if they write their own songs or choreograph their own dances. In the climax of the film, Rio gets a measure of success when she is discovered by music producer Hyadain who writes a song for her:

But there’s no real indication of where her previous songs come from. I can’t imagine that all of these girls write their own songs, so it would have been interesting to see what it takes to actually perform as an idol.

Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent

Although not part of the festival, I watched it in the same week and it IS a documentary, so… I’m going to count it!

I’ve been moderately interested in modern cuisine ever since I started watching various cooking competition shows. I’m not really qualified to make any judgments about food — I think deconstructed dishes are asinine and I was glad that in a Q&A after the film, Tower himself was fed up with the smears and dabs that you see in fine dining restaurants now — but it was interesting to see where the biggest part phenomenon of modern cuisine came from.

Although the origins are contentious, the film suggests that Tower is the first chef to really celebrate local ingredients. So while he is classically trained, he took his skill and applied it to fresh Californian ingredients rather than simply dole out the same old French and English dishes cooked with frozen ingredients that were expected of chefs at the time. The legacy of that simple revelation can be felt today, as even Chinese cuisine is being reinvented by Chinese chefs with Western training who want to feature Chinese ingredients.

The film also tries to be a biography of the man himself, but it is mostly a surface examination of his life. We get an understanding of his troubled childhood and how he found refuge in food, but for a man who famously dropped off the face of the Earth after restaurant failed, the film almost chooses not to explore this troubled time in his life. Instead, the film simply jumps forward to the time when he randomly came back onto the scene by taking over Tavern on the Green, the famous Central Park restaurant that has struggled to be relevant in the face of the contemporary restaurant scene.

I appreciated the film for enlightening me on a subject I have an interest in, but I’m also not sure if this wouldn’t have just been better off as a TV special or an episode of Bourdain’s show instead.

Living The Game

Admittedly, my initial interest in the film was based on the still above, making the assumption that the film would be about Daigo Umehara. I wanted to get a glimpse of the Japanese competitive gaming scene, but also get a glimpse into the life of a man who is fairly reserved in the public appearances that I’ve seen him participate in.

So at first I was disappointed when I saw that other players were profiled in the film — this includes Luffy, Justin Wong, and Gamerbee — but my doubts were quashed when I saw his footage of Momochi and his girlfriend/partner ChocoBlanka. That’s not to say the other stories weren’t interesting — we get to see Luffy try to juggle his life as an officer worker after winning Evo 2014, Gamerbee giving us a glimpse into his life and the troubled relationship he had with his absent father, and of course Justin Wong’s story (which has already been covered in greater detail in another documentary The King of Chinatown) and his infamous loss to Daigo.

But Takao Gotsu crafted an arc with Momochi. Perhaps it was easier to follow a Japanese player over the course of a year that led to Momochi being the focus of the film, but whatever the reason, it’s clear that he saw some interesting human drama in the brief glimpses of Momochi’s private life that are on display. We see Momochi evolve from a short-tempered, extremely serious player whose dedication is rewarded by the infamous win at Evo 2015, to a humbled man who loses the Capcom Cup title by the end of the year. In his loss, he learns that trying to chase down Daigo shouldn’t be his focus, and begins to focus on the relationship he has with ChocoBlanka — we see a scene where he yells at her and makes her cry because she isn’t properly executing her moves in a practice game of Street Fighter, before getting a scene where he publicly proposes to her and becomes a supportive husband.

Daigo serves mostly to provide context for Momochi’s arc. Daigo is the wall that Momochi must climb, but he can never quite make it over. So while we get some glimpses into Daigo’s life, we don’t really learn anything about him. He practices a lot at home, he practices in an arcade, he practices in a game room with other Japanese players… and that’s about it. But that’s fine, because Daigo serves to make Momochi’s story more interesting. Yes, it’s a film about the Fighting Game Community, but in this documentary you can see a bit of Moby Dick, as Momochi continually tries to catch the white whale that is Daigo. Thankfully, we see that he has a happier ending after he learns to let go of his ambitions and become a better person instead.

(The relationship between the two, even though it’s not hostile, reminds me very much of the big conflict in The King of Kong between Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell)

Ramen Heads

I was sold on this film based on a mild interest in the process of making ramen. The film itself admits that it’s a simple dish — born out of post-war poverty — that is made complex due to the particularities of each chef. The comparisons to Jiro Dreams of Sushi are perhaps unavoidable, since part of the film features Osamu Tomita, one of the best ramen chefs in Japan. We get to see his entire process, starting with his work in his prep kitchen in creating the broth and noodles, and ending with how he “plates” each bowl of ramen for the customer. We also get brief snippets of his life outside of the restaurant, with an explanation of his first apprenticeship and a look at his family life. But while Jiro was focused on trying to explore the man behind the food, Ramen Heads only makes perfunctory gestures toward trying to discover Tomita’s philosophy.

Admittedly, perhaps one reason for that difference in portrayal is due to Tomita’s age. He doesn’t have a complicated relationship with a son who is constantly living in his shadow, for one, and neither does he have a (comparatively) hard past to reminisce on. To make up for that though, the film compensates by giving audiences much more context about ramen as a uniquely Japanese cuisine.

The director and crew travel across Japan, finding chefs who are famous for other types of ramen. For most of these chefs, there’s a dedication to the craft that one might expect, but for me the surprise was the oldest chef who didn’t look at ramen as some kind of art. He treated his work as a business and just wanted to sell as many bowls as he can in order to make a living, which is something that can be a bit lost when it comes to cuisine-based documentaries.

The film ends with Tomita teaming up with two other ramen chefs to make the “ultimate” bowl of ramen, and we’re given the impression that it’s a special sight to see the three of them work together. This part was a bit lost on me, but seeing the reactions of some patrons to seeing them together in one place was enough to sell the importance of the moment for me.

It was interesting watching this after the Jeremiah Tower biopic, because I think this is probably more what I was looking for — yes, some insight on the man cooking the food is important, but some emphasis on the food itself is important too.

Hobbyhorse Revolution

The programmers mentioned that theme of this year’s selections was obsession, and of the films that I’ve seen, I think this film fits the bill the best. It reminds me of a contemporary version of Trekkies, a documentary that followed the lives of various people obsessed with Star Trek and the influence that their fanaticism had on their lives (I still remember the woman who chose to wore her Star Trek uniform to jury duty).

The subjects of the documentary treat their hobbyhorses much in the same way that the Trekkies treated Star Trek — it’s something that allows them to escape, however momentarily, the painful aspects of their lives and be consumed in a subject that has strictly defined rules and a seemingly open and welcoming community. For example, one of the girls in the film was bullied and sought solace in horse riding, but when her horse died, she discovered the hobbyhorse and used that to help cope with her depression instead.

The interesting thing is that, at least at the time of this writing, the media seemed to have picked up stories of the popularity of the hobbyhorse in Finland. I’m not sure if this documentary is responsible, or if it just became an interesting news story for people to talk about, but with more than ten thousand practitioners in Finland, it’s certainly more than just a passing fad. That’s probably the one criticism I have of the film — that there isn’t any examination as to why girls in Finland have embraced the hobbyhorse, and in particular, hobbyhorse competitions. It is apparently a uniquely Finnish phenomenon, but it’s something that isn’t addressed in a meaningful manner.

The Silent Teacher

The film is an exploration of the process of donating a body to medical research in Taiwan. We see how these cadavers, referred to as “teachers” (laoshi) by the medical students, are treated — starting with the embalming processes all the way through to cremation after the students are finished studying the body.

It’s an interesting cultural document, since donating bodies to science is an issue surrounding death that is rarely addressed (even in North America, there are many drives to try to get people to become organ donors, but not that many to get people to donate their bodies to universities to be dissected and studied). We also get to see how the family of the donated body copes with delaying putting their loved one to rest, as they must wait a year before the body can even be used in a classroom and then another year before the body is returned to them after cremation. That the family is Catholic also adds a unique dimension to the process of grief, as we see a combination of Catholic and Chinese rituals to help the family process the nature of death.

Sunday Beauty Queen

One of the issues I remember reading about during my time teaching in Women’s Studies is the problematic nature of modern feminism in the current economic client. While women in First World countries are given more rights and are encouraged to enter the workforce, a gap is left in the homes of families with dependents. This is true in Canada, where many of my students had Filipino nannies who took care of them while their parents were out of the home, and it’s certainly true in Asia as well, as more affluent nations import Filipino women to run their households.

This film follows the life of Filipino women in Hong Kong, and the difficult life that they lead as they slave away for their employers. While some of these workers are treated with some form of respect and dignity, it’s clear that many are not — they are expected to live in the home of their employer, and in many cases, forced to sleep in whatever spare space is available. One worker relates a story about how her employer forcibly cut off her hair because she refused to pay for a trip to the salon, while another is fired simply for missing their curfew. We see one of these women eat her dinner, but tucked away in a different room than the family, because the “help” doesn’t share the table with her employers.Their jobs are precarious, because they can get fired for any reason, and if they lose their jobs they must find another employer within 14 days or face deportation.

While they slave away for the entire week, Sundays are their day off. It’s on these days that these women choose to become beauty queens, entering pageants organized by Leo, a domestic worker who has been in Hong Kong for over two decades. We see these pageants are more than just a contest between women, but as the one day a week that these women who are isolated by the difficult nature of their jobs are able to become a part of a shared community. Yes, the pageants they are competing in may be trivial, but it’s a day in their dreary week where they are allowed to focus on themselves and be with friends.

Admittedly, the Chinese employers that do appear on film are thoughtful about the nature of the relationship they have with their Filipino employees. Reminiscent of the reality of illegal immigrant workers in the United States, one Chinese employer acknowledges that Filipino workers are a big factor in keeping Hong Kong a functioning society.

The film also doesn’t shy away from the economic realities of the situation. Many of the women documented in the film are college graduates who might otherwise be white collar professionals in the Philippines. But when they can make twice as much money living in Hong Kong as a nanny than they would as a teacher, nurse, programmer, etc. back home, the choice isn’t that hard to make. We also get to see these women bond with their charges, taking the children under their care to school and making them meals, while their own children are left at home with relatives. While mothers anywhere else might have a tearful moment sending their child off for the first day of school, these women can only send their own children off to school through a shaky Skype connection.

The film is very much about trying to find dignity in a series of indignities, and the strength that these women have to have in order to find a way to live their lives in Hong Kong and raise their families back home.

32 Pills: My Sister’s Suicide

This film follows Hope Litoff as she struggles to make sense of her sister’s suicide by going through her possessions many years later. What begins as a project that is presumably meant to allow Hope to finally come to term with why her sister Ruth committed suicide slowly spirals out of control as Hope becomes consumed with reliving Ruth’s life.

It’s at this point that the documentary turns its lens on the documentarian, and Hope becomes the subject of the film. We see her obsession with her sister made manifest through the ways she handles her sister’s possessions, culminating with a scene where she papers the walls of a room with the pages of her sister’s day planner. More frighteningly, we see the psychological toll the project takes on her as she dives deeper into her sister’s life, resulting in a scene in which she films herself breaking her many years of sobriety with a shot of vodka.

While this project may have started as a documentary about Ruth Litoff and her troubled life, it quickly evolves into a film about processing grief and how one must learn how to let go of a loved one let it destroy your life. Thankfully, Hope learns this lesson, as she checks into rehab and ends the film by honoring her sister’s memory with an exhibition of her photography at Bellevue Hospital.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World

The festival ended with a free screening of the Canadian audience award winner, which turned out to be a crowd pleasing film about the influence of Native musicians on the American Rock music. The film starts with Link Wray, going through the many sounds that Native musicians introduced to Rock, and how many early musicians had to hide or deny their Native heritage due to the institutionalized racism of the time. We get to see many other musicians, including Jimi Hendrix and the influence that his grandmother had on his music and the way he presented himself on stage, and Randy Castillo, suggesting that his heavy metal drumming was inspired by his childhood experiences.

There’s not much to say about the film itself. It’s a documentary that serves to educate audiences about an aspect of music history that is ignored, doing so in quite an entertaining manner. The directors suggested that they had hours of footage that they cut for time that they could use, and I could certainly see this film expanded with a sequel or through a television series.

There were many films that I wish I could have seen, but Netflix picked up a couple of them which saved me a trip to the cinema — Chasing Coral and Joshua — and I’m looking forward to watching them when they’re available.

[thekimbasingertoplesshpt-blog1]

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You can build up your forearm energy by crumpling a paper. Lay down a sheet of newspapers on to the ground, crumple it in a soccer ball for 35 seconds, and then repeat with all the contrary. Though using a excess weight buckle is perfect while in over head presses, squats, and also other maximal raises, it ought not to be worn on a regular basis. By instruction frequently while using the body weight belt, you may actually reduce the effectiveness and sculpt of your respective abdominal and minimize again muscle tissue, as a result giving up your tough-acquired muscle power. When you are eating at restaurants, take some time together with the menu. Several restaurants now give you a healthful variety of foods that are packed with nutrients and vitamins and so are lower in energy. When you can't get something that appears to be it is going to assist you, don't be frightened to speak up and they also might be able to cause you to one thing. To develop your rate when jogging, consider increasing the pace of your own stride instead of the duration of your stride. Your foot should be in-line below your system when working, not in front of it. Proper propulsion needs to be accomplished by forcing off with the feet of your back end foot. Try out putting together various workout routines so as to make up an exercise program that meets your needs. You want to attempt to strike all the different muscle groups together with the activities that you simply do. Engage in Cardio workouts, lift weight load, and expand to produce a total software that may maximize your durability and agility. Be sure to don't go crazy so you continue to have vitality kept when you are completed. Exercise when your frame of mind is vibrant. While you are in an excellent frame of mind, take time to go exercise. The more effective you will be experiencing, the greater you will likely push oneself. 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An incredible physical fitness idea for including some size in your quadriceps is usually to start off undertaking package squats. If you wish intense strength for performing leg squats, try container leg squats. They can be outstanding! You just need a pack that you could spot right behind you. You perform the squat while you typically would, nevertheless, you pause if you are seated in the container. You will find that the more you happen to be exercising, the more comfortable and dynamic you sense. This is perfect for your output in your house, with the family, with your work. Having much more energy that is a result of working out and getting a lot more match positive aspects you in a variety of approaches, so make sure to get moving now. Obtain your entire family involved with health and fitness with a family fitness time once weekly. Take a hike, go swimming or bike drive. Get involved with a soccer, baseball or soccer game with some other buddies and nearby neighbors. Just ensure that you and your family take a working day off at least once weekly to have exciting and play tough. To summarize, there is quite a little bit to learn about physical fitness. Will not be confused although, due to the fact there is a lot to adopt in. Dependant upon your circumstances, either your carried on achievement or the beginning of a fresh obstacle is dependent only on your own determination to learn and also the individual responsibility that you simply make investments. More Post: Who Else Wants To Lose 20 Pounds With The Diet That Works To Losing Weight After 50 And Lose 20 Pounds?! Here's A Quick Way To Lose 20 Pounds With The Diet That Works To Losing Weight After 50 In Less Than 21 Days

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Nói chung là đang đọc đống này =))

Book Summaries: Popular Books Summarized in 3 Sentences or Less - by JAMES CLEAR

10% Happier

by Dan Harris

The Book in Three Sentences: Practicing meditation and mindfulness will make you at least 10 percent happier. Being mindful doesn’t change the problems in your life, but mindfulness does help you respond to your problems rather than react to them. Mindfulness helps you realize that striving for success is fine as long as you accept that the outcome is outside your control.

The 10X Rule

by Grant Cardone

The Book in Three Sentences: The 10X Rule says that 1) you should set targets for yourself that are 10X greater than what you believe you can achieve and 2) you should take actions that are 10X greater than what you believe are necessary to achieve your goals. The biggest mistake most people make in life is not setting goals high enough. Taking massive action is the only way to fulfill your true potential.

A Short Guide to a Happy Life

by Anna Quindlen

The Book in Three Sentences: The only thing you have that nobody else has is control of your life. The hardest thing of all is to learn to love the journey, not the destination. Get a real life rather than frantically chasing the next level of success.

A Technique for Producing Ideas

by James Webb Young 

The Book in Three Sentences: An idea occurs when you develop a new combination of old elements. The capacity to bring old elements into new combinations depends largely on your ability to see relationships. All ideas follow a five-step process of 1) gathering material, 2) intensely working over the material in your mind, 3) stepping away from the problem, 4) allowing the idea to come back to you naturally, and 5) testing your idea in the real world and adjusting it based on feedback.

Adapt

by Tim Harford

The Book in Three Sentences: Seek out new ideas and try new things. When trying something new, do it on a scale where failure is survivable. Seek out feedback and learn from your mistakes as you go along.

Anything You Want

by Derek Sivers

The Book in Three Sentences: Too many people spend their life pursuing things that don’t actually make them happy. When you make a business, you get to make a little universe where you create all the laws. Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers.

Are You Fully Charged?

by Tom Rath

The Book in Three Sentences: There are three keys to being fully charged each day: doing work that provides meaning to your life, having positive social interactions with others, and taking care of yourself so you have the energy you need to do the first two things. Trying to maximize your own happiness can actually make you feel self-absorbed and lonely, but giving more can drive meaning and happiness in your life. People who spend money on experiences are happier than those who spend on material things.

The Art of Possibility

by Rosamund Zander and Benjamin Zander

The Book in Three Sentences: Everything in life is an invention. If you choose to look at your life in a new way, then suddenly your problems fade away. One of the best ways to do this is to focus on the possibilities surrounding you in any situation rather than slipping into the default mode of measuring and comparing your life to others.

The Art of Profitability

by Adrian Slywotzky

The Book in Three Sentences: There are many ways to make profit and it is unlikely that your business does all of them. People will pay different prices for the same thing in different situations (think: Coke in the grocery store vs. Coke in a nice restaurant). Good profit models are easy to brainstorm and hard to execute.

The Art of War

by Sun Tzu

The Book in Three Sentences: Know when to fight and when not to fight: avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak. Know how to deceive the enemy: appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak. Know your strengths and weaknesses: if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

Bird by Bird

by Anne Lamott

The Book in Three Sentences: To become a better writer, you have to write more. Writing reveals the story because you have to write to figure out what you’re writing about. Don’t judge your initial work too harshly because every writer has terrible first drafts.

Born Standing Up

by Steve Martin

The Book in Three Sentences: Steve Martin was one of the most successful comedians of his generation. In his words, his career involved “10 years spent learning, 4 years spent refining, and 4 years spent in wild success.” This fantastic book provided beautiful insights not only into the details of his comedy act, but also into his early life and career development.

The Compound Effect

by Darren Hardy

The Book in Three Sentences: The compound effect is the strategy of reaping huge rewards from small, seemingly insignificant actions. You cannot improve something until you measure it. Always take 100 percent responsibility for everything that happens to you.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

by John Perkins

The Book in Three Sentences: The United States is engaging in a modern form of slavery by using the World Bank and other international organizations to offer huge loans to developing nations for construction projects and oil production. On the surface this appears to be generous, but the money is only awarded to a country if it agrees to hire US construction firms, which ensures a select few people get rich. Furthermore, the loans are intentionally too big for any developing nation to repay and this debt burden virtually guarantees the developing nation will support the political interests of the United States.

Fooled by Randomness

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Book in Three Sentences: Randomness, chance, and luck influence our lives and our work more than we realize. Because of hindsight bias and survivorship bias, in particular, we tend to forget the many who fail, remember the few who succeed, and then create reasons and patterns for their success even though it was largely random. Mild success can be explainable by skills and hard work, but wild success is usually attributable to variance and luck.

Free Will

by Sam Harris

The Book in Three Sentences: We do not have the freedom and free will that we think we do. Yes, you can make conscious choices, but everything that makes up those conscious choices (your thoughts, your wants, your desires) is determined by prior causes outside your control. Just because you can do what you want does not mean you have free will because you are not choosing what you want in the first place.

The Goal

by Eliyahu Goldratt

The Book in Three Sentences: Doing work and making money are not the same thing. Simplify your problem to the point where you understand the true goal of your organization. With your goal in mind, identify the constraints within your system (i.e. bottlenecks) and focus on improving the output of that constraint without worrying about the productivity of all related processes.

Guns, Germs, and Steel

by Jared Diamond

The Book in Three Sentences: Some environments provide more starting materials and more favorable conditions for utilizing inventions and building societies than other environments. This is particularly notable in the rise of European peoples, which occurred because of environmental differences and not because of biological differences in the people themselves. There are four primary reasons Europeans rose to power and conquered the natives of North and South America, and not the other way around: 1) the continental differences in the plants and animals available for domestication, which led to more food and larger populations in Europe and Asia, 2) the rate of diffusion of agriculture, technology and innovation due to the geographic orientation of Europe and Asia (east-west) compared to the Americas (north-south), 3) the ease of intercontinental diffusion between Europe, Asia, and Africa, and 4) the differences in continental size, which led to differences in total population size and technology diffusion.

Ignore Everybody

by Hugh MacLeod

The Book in Three Sentences: Nobody knows the best way to deliver your unique idea, no matter how smart they seem. Every artist has to find a way to make a living and share their work, preferably in a way that doesn’t ruin both. Finding your own voice and sharing that voice with the world is the most important thing.

Incognito

by David Eagleman

The Book in Three Sentences: Conscious thought has a surprisingly small impact on your life and most of your behaviors are driven by the unconscious mind. There are competing beliefs within your unconscious mind that are all battling for the single output of your conscious behavior. The complex interactions between your genetics and your environment determine the trajectory of your life.

Intimations of Paradise

by Christopher Burkett

The Book in Three Sentences: A book of 73 photos by master landscape photographer Christopher Burkett.

Just Mercy

by Bryan Stevenson

The Book in Three Sentences: The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned. Simply punishing the broken only ensures that they remain broken and we do, too. Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

The Lessons of History

by Will and Ariel Durant

The Book in Three Sentences: Over the course of history, human behavior has changed, but not human nature. No matter who is in power, the rewards gradually accrue to the most clever and talented individuals. Ideas are the strongest things of all in history because they can be passed down and change the behavior of future generations—even a gun was originally an idea.

Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son

by John Graham

The Book in Three Sentences: This book is a series of letters written by a successful entrepreneur, John Graham, to his son offering various pieces of advice throughout the boy’s college years and early career. For example, 1) It isn’t so much knowing a whole lot, as knowing a little and how to use it that counts. 2) Putting off an easy thing makes it hard, and putting off a hard one makes it impossible. 3) A good wife doubles a man’s expenses and doubles his happiness, and that’s a pretty good investment if a fellow’s got the money to invest. And many other insights.

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It

by Kamal Ravikant

The Book in Three Sentences: Everyone has a truth that they need to live and share. For the author, that truth was committing to the daily practice of repeating the phrase “I love myself.” When you love yourself, life loves you back.

Manual for Living

by Epictetus

The Book in Three Sentences: Some things are in your power and some are not—do not confuse the two and do not desire the things that are not in your power. It is our opinion of things that determines how we feel about a particular event, not the event itself. Think carefully about how you spend your life because people often spend their lives chasing things that are neither as desirable nor as important as they seem.

Marcel Duchamp: The Afternoon Interviews

by Calvin Tomkins

The Book in Three Sentences: This book is a collection of transcriptions from a series of interviews between writer Calvin Tomkins and artist Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp believed strongly in doing work that was free from tradition and starting with as much of a blank slate as possible. He was also quite playful, worked slowly, and saw laziness as a good thing.

Mastermind Dinners

by Jayson Gaignard

The Book in Three Sentences: Hosting dinners with like-minded people is one of the most powerful way to build fantastic relationships in business and in life. You should think carefully about who you invite to these meals and look for uncommon commonalities that make it more likely the guests will resonate with one another. Be the gatekeeper of your network and assume responsibility for the people you surround yourself with in life.

Mastery

by George Leonard

The Book in Three Sentences: The most successful path to mastering anything is to practice for the sake of the practice itself, not for the result. All significant learning is composed of brief spurts of progress followed by long periods of work where if feels as if you are stuck on a plateau. There are no experts–only learners.

Not Fade Away

by Laurence Shames and Peter Barton

The Book in Three Sentences: It is more important to live fully than to live in a straight line. The surest gauge of the impact a life makes is how many other lives it touches. Nothing in life looks the same once you truly understand that you are not exempt from death.

The Nurture Assumption

by Judith Rich Harris

The Book in Three Sentences: The two classic drivers of human development are nature (genes) and nurture (environment). Many people mistakenly believe nurture only refers to how parents raise their children. Although children do learn things from their parents, they learn far more from their peers. The world that children share with their peer group is what shapes their behavior, modifies the characteristics they were born with, and determines the sort of people they will be when they grow up.

On the Move: A Life

by Oliver Sacks

The Book in Three Sentences: Oliver Sacks was a brilliant physician and a fantastic writer. He lived a full life that included dealing with criticism over being gay, attending medical school at Oxford University, experimenting with heavy drug use, traveling the United States and Canada by motorcycle, suffering life-threatening injuries, squatting a California state record of 600 pounds, and being honored by the Queen of England for his many books and storied career as a physician. Sacks is a symbol of the importance of writing, the power of exploration and inquisitiveness, and the need for empathy.

The Power of Fifty Bits

by Bob Nease

The Book in Three Sentences: The human brain is wired for inattention and inertia. As a result, many people already have good intentions, but don’t follow through due to forgetfulness, procrastination, or a general lack of awareness. We can bridge the gap between our intentions and our behavior by using strategies to lock in our future behavior like active choice, pre-commitment, good design, reframing, and simplicity.

The Practicing Mind

by Thomas M. Sterner

The Book in Three Sentences: All of life is practice in one form or another. Actively practicing something is very different from passively learning. You will never reach a level of performance that feels complete, so learn to love the art of practicing your skill.

The Reason I Jump

by Naoki Higashida

The Book in Three Sentences: This book is an autobiography written by a 13-year-old boy from Japan about what it is like to live with autism. The way autistic people view the world is very different than the way we may perceive them to view the world. This disconnect between how we view and treat people with autism and how they actually view the world makes living with autism even more difficult.

Resplendent Light

by Christopher Burkett

The Book in Three Sentences: A book of 68 photos by master landscape photographer Christopher Burkett.

The Richest Man in Babylon

by George S. Clason

The Book in Three Sentences: Save at least 10 percent of everything you earn and do not confuse your necessary expenses with your desires. Work hard to improve your skills and ensure a future income because wealth is the result of a reliable income stream. You cannot arrive at the fullest measure of success until you crush the spirit of procrastination within you.

Rules for a Knight

by Ethan Hawke

The Book in Three Sentences: This book contains a number of “rules for a knight,” which are lessons on how to live better. For example, 1) never announce that you are a knight, simply behave as one and 2) the only intelligent response to the ongoing gift of life is gratitude, and 3) how a knight lives is what is important, not on which particular afternoon he was born or on which specific morning he might die. Along with many other insights.

Sapiens

by Yuval Noah Harari

The Book in Three Sentences: Human history has been shaped by three major revolutions: the Cognitive Revolution (70,000 years ago), the Agricultural Revolution (10,000 years ago), and the Scientific Revolution (500 years ago). These revolutions have empowered humans to do something no other form of life has done, which is to create and connect around ideas that do not physically exist (think religion, capitalism, and politics). These shared “myths” have enabled humans to take over the globe and have put humankind on the verge of overcoming the forces of natural selection.

Strangers to Ourselves

by Timothy Wilson

The Book in Three Sentences: We do not realize how much the non-conscious mind impacts our behavior and personality. In many cases, the non-conscious mind influences our behavior more than our conscious thoughts do and the two minds will often conflict with one another, which can make it difficult to keep our desires and our actions in alignment. The first step to bringing our non-conscious inclinations into alignment with our conscious desires is to act more like the person we want to be.

Stumbling on Happiness

by Dan Gilbert

The Book in Three Sentences: What makes humans different from every other animal is that we think about the future. However, our brains fall victim to a wide range of biases that cause our predictions of the future (and our memories of the past) to be inaccurate. Because of these mental errors it is remarkably difficult to predict what will make us feel happy.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

by Mark Manson

The Book in Three Sentences: Finding something important and meaningful in your life is the most productive use of your time and energy. This is true because every life has problems associated with it and finding meaning in your life will help you sustain the effort needed to overcome the particular problems you face. Thus, we can say that the key to living a good life is not giving a fuck about more things, but rather, giving a fuck only about the things that align with your personal values.

Superhuman by Habit

by Tynan

The Book in Three Sentences: You can do just about anything if you break down the task into habits. You are more likely to stick with good habits over the long run if you start with tiny habits that are incredibly easy in the beginning. When you miss a habit once, getting back on track and sticking with the next occurrence of that habit should become the top priority in your life.

The Tell-Tale Brain

by V.S. Ramachandran

The Book in Three Sentences: Humans are unique among the animal kingdom because of their brain. The human brain evolved through two methods: biological evolution, which takes a long time and cultural evolution, which is incredibly fast by comparison. These evolutionary processes have resulted in the development of mirror neurons, which contribute to our remarkable levels of creativity, ambition, communication.

This is Water

by David Foster Wallace

The Book in Three Sentences: Learning “how to think” really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It can be easy to spend our entire lives accepting our natural default ways of thinking rather than choosing to look differently at life. The only thing that is capital-T True is that you get to decide how you’re going to try to see life and how you construct meaning from experience.

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

by Marshall Goldsmith

The Book in Three Sentences: Behavioral problems, not technical skills, are what separate the great from the near great. Incredible results can come from practicing basic behaviors like saying thank you, listening well, thinking before you speak, and apologizing for your mistakes. The first step to change is wanting to change.

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Inspiration From Frustrations in Career

By Ruyi, Taiwan

Since a young age, my parents always taught me, “You must study hard and get into a good university like your cousins.

 We look forward to your making a distinguished name for yourself and bringing honor and glory to our ancestors.” For this, my parents entered my name for many classes of supplementary schooling and found great teachers to teach me. In order to achieve their desires, I studied very hard. However, no matter how diligent I was in my studies, my grades were still unfavorable. So my parents were disappointed in me, my teachers despised me and my classmates also jeered and sneered at me. I felt miserable and depressed. Then I established a resolution: When I grow up, I must distinguish myself and become a rich man. And I must prove it to all of you that I’m not born losing.

After graduation, I took up business and made a little success.

After I finished my studies, with lofty ideals, I decided to go all out in work. I thought: Only people who have money are successful and respectable. As long as I make good money, I can also achieve a lot. Then I got into the insurance industry, an admirable fast-buck business with high bonus and welfare at the time. But in that fiercely competitive industry, one needed not only courage but even more connections. At that time, there was a word prevailing in the industry: Having connections means having money. You get the rich, you get large orders.

In order to achieve my desire to distinguish myself, I began to attend in-house business trainings such as: “How to be silver-tongued,” “How to get acquainted with the rich,” “How to broaden your connections,” and so on. I also actively participated in all kinds of parties organized by my company so as to acquaint myself with more rich people. Besides, my colleagues gave me many tips and told me I should learn to humble myself, stoop, and play tricks. At first, I didn’t approve of their actions, but when I saw they could earn hundreds of thousands of NT dollars in a month and drive nice cars and buy new houses, I was a little shaken: Though I work very hard, I can merely get a low base salary. There’s a great difference between us. Thereupon, I began to use some of their tips and follow some of their actions. Before long, I became familiar with the business and meanwhile grasped some dirty tricks in the financial industry. Thus, not only did I have a comfortable income, but our family also lived a better life. Every time my relatives or friends cast gazes of admiration upon me, I felt very proud and thought: Finally I’ve stood up for my parents and become a useful person.

Good things didn’t last forever; I failed over and over again.

Just when I was feeling proud of my success, in 2008 a financial crisis had a great impact on the financial industry. Thereafter, my sales dropped off badly, my incomes sharply diminished and our company crashed in an instant. The business that I’d worked hard for went up in smoke in the space of just a month or so. In the face of this sudden blow, my heart was in great pain but meanwhile I was not resigned to defeat. In order to strike it rich, without consulting my family, I invested all my savings of more than a million NT dollars and another 2 million borrowed from my friends in other projects. However, in a few months, I lost everything I owned. When my family knew I was deeply in debt, the family was almost ruined. However, I didn’t draw a lesson from it. For the sake of becoming a successful man, I still tried every means to find ways of getting rich. In 2009, I got an investment opportunity from a friend—acting as agent for a well-known European supplement, which was said to sell very well in Europe. Carried away by the desire to make a lot of money, I ignored my family’s opposition and borrowed four or five million NT dollars from my friends. Then through connections I obtained from the leaders the chance to make a big fortune—the agency of Chinese market. When thinking I could do something awesome in the market of China’s mainland, I couldn’t hold back my excitement. I thought to myself: When God closes a door, He opens a window for me. Mainland China is a bigger market. This is a good opportunity to achieve my dreams and turn my career around.

Only after I entered the market of China’s mainland that many countries had been dreaming of, did I find that I didn’t know about it, for there were many factors we couldn’t control. Besides, the lack of capital incapacitated us from opening up such a big market; limited by the parent company, we had no control over many operating plans. Due to kinds of reasons, my funds were gradually tied up, my debts became greater and greater, and I sank deeper and deeper. I struggled for seven years there. During that period, my family and friends many times tried to persuade me to stop, but I was so longing for success that I ignored their advice. At the end of 2015, I had no money in my hands and my debts totaled over ten million NT dollars. Facing such huge debts, I completely fell apart. Overwhelmed by the pain and desperation, I walked alone in the streets of Shanghai and suddenly I felt I was so helpless and weak. Previously I faithfully promised everyone that I would make lots of money, but in the end I was rewarded with this outcome. At the time, I was crushed and didn’t know how to walk my future path. Many times I thought about killing myself, but when I thought of my old parents as well as my wife and children, I couldn’t bear to do so. After thinking it over and over again, I ended up all the investments and went back to Taiwan. Confronted with the setbacks and failures, I was wrapped in depression and hopelessly sunk in the pain.

At my most miserable, God’s gospel came to me.

When I was in black despair, one friend I’d known for twenty years bore witness to God’s work of the last days for me. I read God’s words, “People’s desires are so perfect, but when people take their first steps in the journey of their lives, they gradually come to realize how imperfect human destiny is, and for the first time they truly grasp the fact that, though one can make bold plans for one’s future, though one may harbor audacious fantasies, no one has the ability or the power to realize his or her own dreams, no one is in a position to control his or her own future. … What occupation one pursues, what one does for a living, and how much wealth one amasses in life are not decided by one’s parents, one’s talents, one’s efforts or one’s ambitions, but are predetermined by the Creator.”

At the time, I was filled with all sorts of feelings and felt the words were saying exactly my circumstances. Indeed, everyone has his own plans, ideals, and dreams for the future and strives for them; however, whether our dreams can come true or not is not decided by us. In retrospect, after I entered into the society, for the purpose of achieving my desires to rise above others and glorify my ancestors, I sought various ways to make money, but every time I couldn’t succeed and in the end I got nothing but great debts. These failures and setbacks allowed me to deeply realize: One is incapable of controlling his fate, nor can he change it by his own hands. How much wealth one can own in life and whether he is rich or poor are predetermined by God.

Afterward, I read God’s words, “In fact, no matter how lofty man’s ideals are, no matter how realistic man’s desires are or how proper they may be, all that man wants to achieve, all that man seeks for is inextricably linked with two words. These two words are vitally important to the life of every person, and these are things Satan intends to instill in man. Which two words are these? One is ‘fame’ and one is ‘gain’: They are fame and gain. Satan uses a very subtle kind of way, a way very much in concert with people’s notions; it is not any kind of radical way. In the midst of unawareness, people come to accept Satan’s way of living, its rules of living, establishing life goals and their direction in life, and in doing so they also unknowingly come to have ideals in life. No matter how high-sounding these ideals in life seem, they are just a pretext that is inextricably linked to fame and gain. Any great or famous person, all people in fact, anything they follow in life relates only to these two words: ‘fame’ and ‘gain.’ Is this not so? (Yes.) People think that once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them to enjoy high status and great wealth, and to enjoy life. Once they have fame and gain, they can then capitalize on them in their pleasure-seeking and unscrupulous enjoyment of the flesh. People willingly, albeit unknowingly, take their bodies, minds, all that they have, their futures and their destinies and hand them all over to Satan in order to attain the fame and gain they desire. People do this without ever a moment’s hesitation, ever ignorant of the need to recover it all. Can people still have any control over themselves once they go over to the side of Satan in this way and become loyal to it? Certainly not. They are completely and utterly controlled by Satan. They are also completely and utterly unable to free themselves from the quagmire they have sunk down into.”

The word of God allowed everything to become clear to me: The reason why I lived in pain was that I chose a wrong way. Educated and influenced by the thoughts of standing out and being an important person, I mistakenly believed that only when people win fame and fortune, lead an aristocratic lifestyle, and obtain the high regard of others, will their life be valuable and significant. Only such is the true life. On the surface, seeking fame and gain is a positive pursuit, but actually it is a means for Satan to corrupt man. Thinking about myself, in order to pursue fame and gain, I lost my original sincerity and conscience, and learnt to suck up to and curry favor with others, and I became hypocritical and did some things against conscience and morality. Although I felt uneasy after that, due to the temptation of fame and gain, I repeatedly disobeyed the prompting of my conscience and continued seeking to gain more fame and fortune. Even when my dream was shattered, I couldn’t bring myself to quit and still tried every possible way to make money and paid a great price. In the end, I was heavily in debt, and my family almost broke up. It was then that I realized that Satan uses fame and gain to blind my eyes, making me strive for them so that it can afflict me and tempt me to walk on a road of no return. This is the evil intention of Satan.

Afterward, through having meetings with my brothers and sisters and reading God’s words, I realized: Seeking fame and gain isn’t the true and correct path of human life, but instead it is one of the ways Satan corrupts people. Only when people seek the truth and obey God’s orchestrations and arrangements, can we break free from the affliction of Satan. So I decided to believe in God properly, follow Him and walk the right way of human life.

Facing temptations, I was in two minds.

When I wanted to cast off the bondage of fame and gain, I came up against Satan’s testing. One of my old friends suddenly called me and said, “I have a good friend, who manages a large Wealth Management Company in Hong Kong. And he has branch offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. Now he is preparing to expand the business, so he wants an experienced account director. I think you should have a try. You can’t miss such a good opportunity.” After hanging up, I was wild with joy and thought: This is indeed a good opportunity. If I get this job, I can pay off my debts straight away. After that, I specially spared three days and flew to Hong Kong and Guangzhou to inspect the company. Before I went back, the superiors invited me to have a dinner with them and we talked about our rosy prospects together. They invited me to take this job with an annual salary of 2.5 million NT dollars.

After returning to Taiwan, I felt very conflicted inside: Should I go or should I not go? If I go to work in China, where the atheist CCP persecutes religious beliefs, I may give up believing in God and then I would miss this precious opportunity to be saved. However, I also couldn’t bear to give up such a high salary. Therefore, I lived in torments.

One day, on my way home I took a call from a debt collector and so my mind was disturbed and I was distracted. When crossing an intersection, I almost hit someone. Thanks to God’s protection, at the very moment I turned the wheel sharply. In order to calm myself down, I pulled over to the side of the road and kept calling out to God. Then I played a recitation of God’s word. I heard God’s words saying: “The question of most concern to Me is to whom your hearts are loyal. I would also like each of you to organize your thoughts and ask yourself to whom you are loyal and for whom you live. Perhaps you have never given careful consideration to this question, so let Me reveal the answer to you.

“All those with memory will confess this fact: Man lives for himself and is loyal to himself. I do not believe that your answer is entirely correct, for you each exist in your respective lives, each are struggling in your own distress. Therefore, what you are loyal to is the people you love and the things that please you, and you are not entirely loyal to yourselves. Because you are each influenced by the people, occurrences, and things around you, you are not truly loyal to yourselves.”

On the way, I listened to this recitation of God’s word for three times. After I arrived home safely, these words had deeply been branded on to my heart. I kept asking myself: Whom am I loyal to? Whom do I live for? These questions kept me up all the night. Through reflecting on myself, I realized I wasn’t loyal to God, for I didn’t lay aside my pursuit of fame and fortune. In the face of this temptation, my faith in God was revealed: Between the truth and fame, I preferred fame to the truth. I thought that as long as I took that job, I could rise again. If God hadn’t reminded me in a timely manner, I would have possibly betrayed God and returned to Satan’s camp. Being exposed by God’s words made me deeply ashamed.

Then I saw God’s words saying, “When one has no God, when one cannot see Him, when one cannot clearly recognize God’s sovereignty, every day is meaningless, worthless, miserable. Wherever one is, whatever one’s job is, one’s means of living and the pursuit of one’s goals bring one nothing but endless heartbreak and irrelievable suffering, such that one cannot bear to look back. Only when one accepts the Creator’s sovereignty, submits to His orchestrations and arrangements, and seeks true human life, will one gradually break free from all heartbreak and suffering, shake off all the emptiness of life.” “After you recognize this, your task is to lay aside your old view of life, stay far from various traps, let God take charge of your life and make arrangements for you, try only to submit to God’s orchestrations and guidance, to have no choice, and to become a person who worships God.”

God’s words gave me a direction in my life and the way of practice: I should entrust everything to God and submit to His orchestrations and arrangements. Only in this way, can I live freely and without restraints. God used this temptation to test me in order to see that in the face of fame and fortune, what I would choose: to satisfy God or to satisfy my fleshly desires and betray God. I also thought of Job’s experience. He had no personal ambition or desire for fame and gain, because he knew how much wealth one could have does not depend on his own struggles but is predetermined by God. When Job was possessed of great wealth, he didn’t make more money through his efforts but faced God’s blessings with calmness; when he lost his fortune, he still praised God’s name. Because of his true knowledge of God’s authority and true reverence for and obedience to Him, whether he was possessed of vast wealth or had nothing, he was able to face them calmly. At the time, I was greatly encouraged. I was willing to imitate Job, to be a person who truly submitted to God, and to live for satisfying God.

After a struggle, I politely declined the good intentions of my friend and the leaders and told them, “I don’t want to take this job because I have more important things to do in the rest of my life.” Hearing my words, my friend couldn’t understand me, but I knew clearly what I should pursue—contributing my own tiny effort to God’s work in the last days and living a meaningful life. After I arrived home, I felt as if a heavy burden was unloaded from my heart.

After casting off the bondage of fame, I saw God’s deeds.

In the following days, I committed the matter of finding a job to God and ask Him to lead me and guide me. Afterward, I found a night job as well as a part-time job on financial transaction during the daytime. That way, apart from our daily expenses, I could have some extra money to pay my debts. Besides, in my life I saw God’s wondrous deeds and His blessings to me. Once, as our company folded, I needed to go to Mainland to take care of some procedural tasks, but I didn’t have the budget of travel expenses. Just as I was fretting over this issue, one of my old customers suddenly called me and wanted to buy some financial products from me. What he paid me was exactly enough to buy the round-trip ticket. Afterward, every time I met difficulties, God would provide a way out for me. There was an unspeakable feeling that moved my heart and I could only keep thanking and praising God in my heart.

Although I lead an ordinary life now, I live by God’s words every day and so I feel very released and free. Thank God for His salvation toward me. It is God who gives me a significant life and it is He who allows me to fulfill my duty as a created being. I’m willing to pursue the truth properly to repay His love. Thank Almighty God. All the glory be to Almighty God.