Rise Again

“Fall seven times, rise up eight.” – Japanese proverb.

…but have you really communicated?

In your relationships, and at work.  Have you really sat down with who you need to and had an honest discussion about that?

If you don’t fully and respectfully communicate, you can’t complain, because it is your fault.

Integrity is a requirement for every job.

Be the same person in private as you are in public.

Do what you say you will.

Be a person others can trust.

Don’t talk people down when they’re not around.

People of integrity are always in high demand.

Congratulations for learning English!

So I have an 8-year-old son, Liam.  This is his picture here.  And I am trying to help him learn English and to read better.  Well, In doing so I see how terribly difficult English is to learn.  You can’t say “Sound it out” on very many words.

Hear. Heard.  What?

Where, wear.  Why?

To, too, two.  Huh?

What sound does a C make?  Really?  Well isn’t that special?

Thought?  Answer?  Silent GH.  Silent W.  Why?  WHY?  WHYYYYYYYY?

How did I ever learn this?

Ok, basically they are all sight words.  Let’s go!  It’s amazing what the human mind can remember.

Ok, (or is it okay?) I’m done.  (If the silent e makes a long O, why is it done?)  Arghhh!  But I just wanted to congratulate you if you have a command of the English language – and choke out the Englishman who came up with it! (Though someone probably beat me to it I am sure.)

Our world was trickle charged for us

Over hundreds of thousands of years, the world was trickle charged with stored sunlight in the form of fossil fuels that power our society today.

The population is now 7.7 billion, and growing by one billion humans every decade.

We are using fossil fuels at 10,000 times the rate it took to create them.

How long do you think fossil fuels that are easy to extract will last?

I am a raccoon femur, a boab tree leaf and an ant

Well, not really, but just a guess.  

The elements that make up our bodies have been other things (maybe even another person) in the past and will be other things in the future.

We are all connected in this and other ways.  We are part of a bigger thing going on here, and we only have this chance to play a part.

The trophy is only meaningful the day you get it

We are goal-seeking organisms.  We want things.  We think the thing we want will make us happy.  But most often, when we get it, the thing makes us happy for a day or so, and then the effect wears off.  

It turns out that the pursuit of things and the anticipation of reward, not the reward itself is what motivates us and makes us happy.

“The journey is better than the Inn”

What quest are you on?

We don't want to lose out more than we want to win

People, including you and me, are wired such that we care more about not losing than we do about winning.  We disproportionately care more about losses than gains.

We are more worried about losing our place in line than finding no line at all.

We are more worried about losing a little game than winning a bigger one.

So, we play not to lose in the game we are in, rather than moving to a different game that will be much better for us.

How are you doing (have you done) that?

Believing in others beliefs

There are many different cultures and beliefs here on planet earth.  The ones we believe in or live by are likely the ones that the people around us did when we were growing up.  

I have talked about large groups of people believing in something that just isn’t so – the “madness of crowds” – and I am part of one of those crowds.  We all are. 

The world is flat, a man can’t fly, phones need cords, and people should be like this or that…

Questioning models of thought honestly without the heavy influence of the myriad of biases and beliefs we all picked up along the way is the basis of real problem-solving and breakthroughs.

DWYSYWD

If you want people to trust you, believe you when you say things, and consider you valuable – 

Do What You Say You Would Do.

The flip side is to not say things in the moment that you aren’t willing to follow through on, no matter how long it takes; to be thoughtful when you speak.

When people know they can count on you, everything changes.