#unsolicited wisdom

[underestimated-heroine]

"You can't help someone unless you're willing to meet them where they're at" changed my life. It's amazing how many people are more interested in proselytizing and setting up "I told you so's" than actually helping someone fix their problem or change their self-damaging behavior.

[monicaruminates]

On doing things that make you interesting

Our minds have a depth of field, much like the lens on a camera.  When we think about one thing, everything else becomes unclear or temporarily ‘forgotten’. To pay attention to a thing means we must ignore everything else, if only briefly. The more complex a thing is, the more uninterrupted attention is required. Do the things that make you interesting. There are many things vying for our attention, and while some of them are a good use of time, many of them are only keeping us from what we *should* be doing. Our time and headspace are the most valuable things we have, and what we can do with them is virtually unlimited. I am learning (or perhaps re-learning) that cutting out distractions can be more valuable than any to-do app or time in front of a screen. We need to spend less time looking to others for interesting things, and start spending more time doing the things that make us interesting. Perhaps you need to dedicate more time to that thing that got you where you are or that thing that will get you where you want to be. --@ableparris, "Focus Means Ignoring"

[monicaruminates]

On wanting to know more than 'one' thing

How many people do you know that want the “simple” solution? It may not even work, but they prize simplicity over everything else. These are the kind of people who ask questions like, “What’s the ONE thing you’d recommend…” HEY IDIOT. TOP PERFORMERS DON’T WANT TO KNOW “ONE” THING. THEY WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING. --Ramit Sethi, "When Dumb People Want Nice Things"

It's a little angry, but yes, this is totally a consistent factor in the people I admire, regardless of what field they are excellent in.

[monicaruminates]

Things you can fake and things you can't

You can fake 'smart'. You can fake 'nice'. But you can't fake interesting.

[monicaruminates]

Probably the secret of life

There are smart decisions and wise decisions. And one form of wisdom is the ability to judge when to let luck disrupt our plans. Not all time in life is equal. The question is, when the unequal moment comes, do we recognize it, or just let it slip? But, just as important, do we have the fanatic, obsessive discipline to keep marching, to push the opportunity to the extreme, to make the most of the chances we’re given? Getting a high ROL [return on luck] requires throwing yourself at the luck event with ferocious intensity, disrupting your life and not letting up. --Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen, "What's Luck Got to Do With It?"

[monicaruminates]

On how much money one needs to be happy

Definitely don't have the same baseline 'need', but this is probably a good rule in the long run:

"How does it feel to make what you make?" I ask her. I notice a strange tone in my voice. The usual chirpy sense of inquiry isn't there. Instead I sound weirdly tense, as if the true reason for our meeting is for me to discover what I'm missing out on. "Good," she says, nodding. "Happiness is having 20 percent more than you imagine needing. The trick is not to be too rich." "Why not?" I ask her. "People want to go on your private plane," she says. "You fall asleep in the middle of conference calls. There's a certain discombobulation when you have too much." --Jon Ronson interviewing a multimillionaire, who makes "$1.25 million in a bad year, up to $3 million in a great one"

Incredibly interesting read on class, feelings of entitlement and work in America, by the way.

[foxchin-blog]

Ask me no more questions and I'll tell you no more lies. But seriously, what should we talk about?