May 2012
30 posts
“Life is anything but inevitable. But it continually amazes me how when I stop pursuing something that isn’t really right for me that I discover something perfect.”
—Seth Godin (found on a bettermess)
“No one wants advice — only corroboration.”
—
–John Steinbeck
So True…
“History, as we all know, is written by the survivors. And there are certain historical facts that never get covered. And, in graphic design, it’s fascinating how many things don’t get covered until somebody uncovers them.”
—-Debbie Millman
“Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul.”
—
The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffe
When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.
The sand is everything else—the small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
—Steve Jobs
“Just about every great, brave or beautiful thing in our culture was created by someone who didn’t do it for money.”
—Seth Godin
“After negotiating your contracts, you both will surely buy a house in an affluent suburb where no 22-year-old would be happy living. Your new neighbors will be rich as well, facelifted, lipo-sucked, Xanaxed and dripping in diamonds, simply delighted to welcome you to the neighborhood. You will commission an interior decorator, recommended by a neighbor, to furnish your home. This will guarantee it feels nothing like Home. And someday, when all of this is over, you’ll walk through and gaze upon the marble columns and the embroidered drapes like artifacts in a museum, wondering why you ever listened to that woman.”
—Nate Jackson, in a letter to NFL rookies Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin
April 2012
20 posts
“I’ve never met an “expert” that wasn’t dead wrong about something. I’ve never met an “amateur” who couldn’t teach me something.”
—CJ Chilvers
“When you smile at someone, you’re giving them a sign that you’re content, happy and that you have something to give. If you grimace at somebody, you give them the sign “Back off, I’m vulnerable” or “I’m in pain, stay away from me.” That simple gesture can transform a meeting, can transform a human relationship.”
—by Platon regarding “making it”
“Life’s too short and novels are too long to waste time writing stuff for other people. Write the story you want to write. Not least of all because your passion for what’s on the page will bleed sticky onto the reader’s hands. It’s just one more reason to not chase trends — write what gets you geeked.”
—Chuck Wendig, explaining the 25 things he learned while writing his latest (and first) novel, Blackbirds.
“I don’t like the phrase “reinvent yourself”….I think what really heappened is that when Alan got to England, whatever he found there allowed him to discover who he already was.”
—Mr. Rabitto, speaking of the secret life of Alan Z. Feuer.
“It doesn’t just seem simple. It is simple. Life is simple. That is the beauty of it. Narratives define the relevance of antagonistic complexity and the centrality of that which is beautifully simple to us, that which in our universe has become tame to us. There is that which gives us each the kind of strength we need or wish for, and there is that in the world and our world we would do with that capacity if we could. Life is that simple, thankfully.”
—R.E.F. Fishkin
“Some people pay a compliment as if they expected a receipt.” Kin Hubbard”
—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kin_Hubbard
“We are not walking a path, but surfing a sea. Most people look at goal setting as picking a destination, then figuring out a path to get there. That assumes you’re walking on land that will change very little, and that while you will have unforeseen obstacles, you’ll be on stable ground and the destination won’t move. That’s not at all true — life is more like the sea, ever changing with no fixed paths or destinations, with swells and currents and waves that change everything at every moment. The ultimate skill, then, isn’t setting a destination (goal) or a path (plan), but surfing.”
—I think that it is an interesting take on whether you should really make plans or not. And Leo is right here….things change and an evolution occurs in which even the best laid plans look totally different as they move along.
“The extraordinary success of Instagram is a tale about the culture of the Bay Area tech scene, driven by a tightly woven web of entrepreneurs and investors who nurture one another’s projects with money, advice and introductions to the right people.”
—
It’s absolutely amazing to think how important networking is to someone’s success. When it comes to the tech world, this is extremely important.
“Once you’re a prisoner of your audience, you’re toast.”
—Bob Lefsetz
