Quotes — “constraints”
“[...] boundaries create a platform for important work.” —Seth Godin on Susan Kare
Rebalance Your Portfolio
One of my favorite authors Dorie Clark shared today that she was invited on Good Morning America two weeks ago to talk about her new book, THE LONG GAME, and why being a long-term thinker is so critical to our […]
Generous Work: because we can, not because we’re owed
“Gratitude isn't a problem. But believing we're owed gratitude is a trap.” —Seth Godin, author of “The Practice”
Differentiate
To do generous work, have all three kinds, i.e., quality that meet specs (technical); give the pleasure and comfort one gets from expensive and beautiful things, elite status (luxury); and manifest art (creative magic). I interpret this as […]
Some Happy (Birdy) Thoughts
In early October last year, I visited the Singapore Jurong Bird Park with my friend and former colleague, Eunis. On the same day, I decided to post the picture of this handsome and fearsome-looking huge bird on Unsplash.com. […]
Celebrate the Opportunity
Model being positive about our practice and the outcome will take care of itself. There is no need to be a pessimist […]
Quotes — “work on it until it no longer prevents your progress”
“Don’t over-improve your weaknesses. If you’re not good at something, work on it until it no longer prevents your progress, but the bulk of your time is better spent maximizing your strengths.” —James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits”
Useful Feedback, Not Reassurance
Reassurance—while it’s calming—never lasts. Godin says:
There’s never enough reassurance to make up for a lack of commitment to the practice.
Reassurance is short-term. It amplifies attachment. It shifts our focus from pursuing the practice to maneuvering it to ensure success. So—useful feedback, not reassurance. For example, in my Swedish language learning, there is little use if my Sfi teacher just reassures me that I will do great in the language without giving me feedback on where I had made mistakes or how I […]
The Best Reason to Say “No”
In 2.5 pages in The Practice, Seth Godin explains how to strike a balance between saying “yes” and “no” to focus on the change we seek to make, the generous work of making our own contribution.
But beware. […]
Quotes — “poking and prying with a purpose”
“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.” —Zora Neale Hurston, American writer and anthropologist
Find the right thing to obsess about
Thank you, Seth Godin, for this wonderful snippet of an article, Very good at a simple game.
The key to playing this simple game is figuring out the how and then committing to doing it again and again. […]
What makes a word “real”?
This TED Talk will improve our understanding of the way language works and our view of dictionaries. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and it’s a good 17 minutes spent.
Language change, according to language historian and English professor Anne Curzan (emphasis mine): "The language is not going to change so fast that we can’t keep up; language just doesn’t work that way. […]
What Should Exist?
I’ve been ‘marinating’ overnight on this question from James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter. “What should exist?” is a question from Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft.
Clear’s newsletter this week focuses on resilience, growth, and new opportunities. I find it most timely as I’ve been revisiting visualization—not in the data visualization sort of way—but more in the way of using one’s imagination to create the life one wants.
Actually, as I write this, I realize we are generating data as long as there is still breath in us, so can we visualize the ‘data’ we are creating in the best possible way? […]
Svenska för invandrare (sfi) - kurs C
Fantastic news! I’ve been bumped up the level to Course C (skipping B)!
I’m currently enrolled in the Introduction class and had formally started my Swedish for Immigrant (SFI) program on Monday, 25 October. Starting Monday, 6 December, I will join the existing Course C group, which is at a higher level of proficiency.