A Good Investment of An Hour of Your Time
I just finished watching
an hour-long video
on YouTube of a
panel by authors Marci Alboher -
“One Person/Multiple Careers: A New
Model for Work/Life Success”
and Tim Ferriss
- “The 4-Hour Workweek; Escape 9-5, Live
Anywhere and Join the New
Rich”. It
was part of the Authors@Google series and took
place about one year ago in Mountain View.
Some key takeaways resonated well
with me. Tim Ferriss emphasized time and time again
against focusing on list of items and accomplishing
as much as possible as opposed to focusing on the
effectiveness of the work you are doing. His pareto
analysis approach, i.e. focus on the 20% that
achieves the 80%, is spot on. He also said that, when
forced to do things from 9-5 in a single location,
people will make up things to do to fill the time.
While managing organizations, I have found this to be
very true . The key is getting people to do
innovative, effective things with the extra time.
Marci Alboher talks about “Slash Careers” where you
have multiple jobs/pursuits to your life. I can
certainly relate to her discussion. In addition to
having run a division in a high technology company, I
have specific interests in marketing, sales,
computers, coaching individuals, writing, presenting,
wine and cooking. I am always balancing these
different activities in my life. I am truly a “slash”
individual.
The video offers a new way to look at careers and
life and really reinforces my belief on time
management. Enjoy.
A Bag of Nails
Once upon a time there was a little
boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of
nails and told him that every time he lost his
temper, he should hammer a nail in the fence. The
first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence.
But gradually, the number of daily nails dwindled
down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper
than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the first day came when the boy didn't lose
his temper at all. He proudly told his father about
it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out
one nail for each day that he was able to hold his
temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally
able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to
the fence.
"You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in
the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you
say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this
one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out, it
won't matter how many times you say 'I'm sorry', the
wound is still there."
Source: A Old Buddhist Tale
Quotes to Live By
"To expect defeat is nine-tenths of defeat itself." --- Henry Mencken
"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." --- Winston Churchill
"Tough times don't last. Tough people do." --- Joe Torre
"Every time you spend a dollar, you sacrifice a bit of your future." --- Unknown
"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." --- Thinh Nhat Hanh
"Nothing will be ever attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome." --- Samuel Johnson
"If you laugh, you think and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day." --- Jim Valvano
Road Less Traveled
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
Robert Frost
Welcome to Kangae
Kangae (考え) is Japanese for idea. That is the theme for this blog...sharing my ideas on various items, debates, etc. I hope you will enjoy it. Read More...