The Sun will come up tomorrow!

The sun is the reason we are all alive and it’s not going anywhere soon.

It’s the star closest to the earth and 110 times the size of the earth.

Its core temperature is 15 million degrees celsius!  So I am glad it’s 93 million miles away – just right!

It takes light 8 1/3 minutes to reach the earth from the sun.

It provides heat to the entire solar system and is how life is sustained here on Earth.

The good news is that no matter what happens in the economy or politics and our little world, it has enough nuclear energy to burn for another 5 billion years!

Good news indeed.

A lion masters himself first.

“The lion who breaks the enemy’s ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.” – Rumi

People who are not doing well are probably doing destructive things..bad habits and behaviors, even though they may seem tough.  They cannot overcome the need for immediate gratification, to feel better than others by bringing them down, flaws in their character, or deficiencies in their knowledge and understanding.

It’s the people who can conquer themselves and develop self-control and self-discipline, exhibit good character and act to make others’ lives better that are the most successful.

If you can't manage a little, you won't get a lot.

Careless with a few dollars?

You say “I will be more careful when I have more dollars”.

But you will never get more dollars because you can’t manage a few well.

Careless with a couple relationships.  You’ll never have more of them, because you’re careless with the few and they ended.

Careless with an opportunity?  You aren’t likely to get more of them.

If we care for what we have well, we will get more.

What's your plan for getting better?

What is your personal development plan?

Most people don’t have one.

But how are you going to get better this year?

What do you want to get better at? 

What’s your WHY?  What will that do for you that you feel is important?

What and how are you going to learn?

What’s the plan to make YOU better?

Do more than you are paid for.

Someone told me about “The Quiet Quit” recently – that’s where people do the bare minimum and go home.  Of course, if you did that you can’t complain that your career is going nowhere and others are doing better.

It’s also good news for those who want to “get ahead” – it’s easier than ever!  

With the whole working-from-home revolution going on, it’s the people who come into the office who can get noticed more, especially across departments and levels in the company, and put themselves in positions to be more valuable.

Do more than you are paid for.

Many people think if they do, they are getting ripped off by the company.

But what comes first effort, or reward?  Cause, or effect?

Many people do less than they are expected to do by virtue of distraction from their cell phone.  Just look around and you can see that.

Doing more than is expected has always been a formula to get more opportunities and more rewards.

Is it still ok to tell the truth?

There are a lot of opinions out there and they seem to be getting stronger and more divisive.

It can have you wondering if it’s ok to say things anymore.

Of course, if you have a bias or thinking problem, then maybe that is warranted.

But I think we need more people standing up and saying what we know to be true.  Because when you say it, others feel that it’s still ok to say, and they will speak it too.

Here are some examples.

We should work and make a contribution to society in the process.

Hard work is noble and admirable.  Sloth is not.

At the very least, good behavior should not be punished and bad behavior should not be rewarded.  

Families should stay together. A child needs a loving Mom and a Dad, or good substitutes.

Being a Dad is a responsibility that should not be avoided.

We should manage our finances well, and so should our government.

Character counts and should be taught everywhere – from the man in the street to the leader in the palace.

Drugs for recreation are bad.  

Free market capitalism is the best system for prosperity and bringing out the best in people.

Opportunity should be given based on merit.

People should be free to live as they wish (so long as they don’t hurt anyone and don’t take their stuff) – and accept the consequences.

I know that all these statements may be inflammatory to some these days.  I guess that’s my point.  I believe they are still true.  And because someone else doesn’t, it doesn’t make them not true.

What’s the definition of truth?  We all may have a little different version.  But why don’t we stick to “what works and what doesn’t”?

Nobody can convince everyone else of all their positions.  But being a voice for what we know for sure and have evidence for, is important.  Be nice, be kind, but be a voice.  Otherwise, other ideas will prevail.

Capitalism eradicates poverty

The poverty level has gone down in the US and all over the world.  

Today, you can’t tell a rich person from a poor one in many cases.  IPhone, sneakers, clean clothes, roof over their head and enough to eat.  And let’s not forget access to the world’s information.  

Only self-destructive behaviors can stand in the way of such a life.  

Sure, the rich have more expensive cars and bigger houses, but these bigger and better things don’t make the difference between human suffering and early death.

Our system of pursuing your own self-interest by helping others get what they want (in a free market), called capitalism, is one that is working quite nicely for all of us.  Some benefit from the rewards of doing this well, and we all benefit from the higher and higher standard of living we can have at such a cheaper and cheaper price (less and less of our labors to purchase things).

Businesses compete with each other, and all of us consumers win.

Let’s not mess it up with other ideas that are proven to fail over and over again.

Equal Opportunity. ?.

There are a lot of “equal” words flying around today.  “All men are created equal”, “equal opportunity”, “equity”, “equal outcomes” and various other forms of “equal”.  I think many people just get behind anyone using any combination of these words automatically.

Of course, “all men are created equal” comes from the Declaration of Independence. These must have been pretty groundbreaking words back then when the world was much different.

But let’s take “equal opportunity” in this post and unpack it.  We are all born with equal rights.  But whether we get equal opportunity depends on what the value you can bring to a situation, job or appointment.  That depends on your parents first, your schools, and the individual to learn, prepare and get experience. 

Diedre Hansen McClosky puts it this way.  I have paraphrased for brevity. “If we try to get other equalities we don’t get them at all.  Robbing Peter to pay Paul turns out to make us all poorer by driving Peter out of business, corrupting Paul, and giving Helen, the bureaucrat who runs the redistribution, such powers that she is tempted to misuse them in a very nasty fashion.  

And equality of opportunity, which also sounds nice, is impossible to achieve if you take it literally.  You had better parents than Tommy, say, should we forbid your parents from being better, or should we intervene to coerce Tommy’s parents to be better – or at least be better in the opinion of Helen the bureaucrat?  

Say one person is smarter than another and speaks Spanish as well as English.  So to make them equal at the starting line, should we drive nails into that first person’s head until they are as stupid as the second person, and they forget Spanish?

You see the problem.  The metaphor of an exactly equal starting line for a foot race is not the sensible, practical, doable, fair proposal.  The sensible proposal is to let people race as they will.  That way you get more runners and immense innovation in the economy.”

Ok, now it’s me again.  I think we can look at the words “equal opportunity” in a number of ways.  Certainly, as it is related to discrimination of any kind, I feel that issue is so far behind us it’s not worth discussing on Think Daily.  That argument is over and anyone who doesn’t realize it is a millennium behind.

Equal opportunity to choose your own path and make of oneself what one chooses is something I believe in and is a meaning of the term I think we should all support.  But if I show up for tryouts for the New York Yankees and have an equal opportunity to make the team as the men, or women for that matter, who are prepared, experienced and naturally gifted, I don’t think the Yankees would get very far.

This is because I am 58 years old, I can not run fast anymore, I can’t hit a major league pitch, I have not been in the game getting better, and I simply don’t deserve to be on the team.  They are trying to win, and they don’t want me.

It’s the same for a company.  They are trying to win with their customers and they want the best people they can get for the job.  Fortunately, there are thousands of types of companies that need people of all skills at all levels, and there is a place for most anyone.  But we all don’t have an equal opportunity at any job.  We must be judged on merit.

And that’s where we all start – with equal rights and an equal opportunity to pursue what we wish, learn to create value or not, and accept the consequences of our decisions and the compound interest of how we have spent our days, whether it be positive or negative.

You are (most likely) controlled by fear

Don’t believe it?

Then why aren’t you shooting higher and going for more/better/greater and using more of your potential?

Fear – overcome it, eliminate it or use it – and you are on your way up!

You will never rise above your highest expectations

What do you expect for yourself?

Where do you see yourself in one year?  Five?  Ten?  Twenty?

What do you think is possible for you?

Whatever it is, that is your limitation.  

You will never exceed your highest expectation for yourself.

Believe higher.