Intensity Vs. Extensity; Identifying What Works For You

NAPOLEON Bonaparte, one of history's greatest generals, is remembered for his discipline and unparalleled courage. His most invaluable strengths were a very high level of grit, focus and intensity of purpose. He is famously known for saying, "Intellect is a magnitude of intensity rather than extensity".  

That strategic mindset may have served him very well. But my question is this, does everyone function this way? Do we all require 101% tunnel vision on every task to become the best our potential permits?

On the other hand, some of us just can't focus on one task for more than an hour. We prefer to multitask, know a little bit about everything and dip our little fingers in as many pieces of cake as possible. Of course, there's nothing bad in that... As long as we always wash our hands after right?

Bottom line, we're all unique and despite our all so similar human characteristics and limitations, there are  some rules that just don't work for everyone. 

I grew up with the old school rule book for success. I was taught to spending long, arduous hours reading books and rote memorizing pages upon pages of scripts. I reckon a lot has changed over the last two decades and kids of today have the opportunity to learn through a diverse array of mediums. 

This is the age of the ipads, laptops, Blackberrys, web 2.0, cloud computing, online degrees... I could go on but I think you get the point. There's so much cool stuff out there and it takes quite a lot of effort to focus on one thing and develop the discipline to consistently ignore everything else.

In Paulo Coelho's literary masterpiece, The Alchemist, he shares a short story that I believe sheds more light on how to maximize our effort and get results without turning into a zombie; 

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A merchant sent his son to learn the Secret of Happiness from the wisest of men. The young man wandered through the desert for forty days until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain. There lived the sage that the young man was looking for.

However, instead of finding a holy man, our hero entered a room and saw a great deal of activity; merchants coming and going, people chatting in the corners, a small orchestra playing sweet melodies, and there was a table laden with the most delectable dishes of that part of the world.

The wise man talked to everybody, and the young man had to wait for two hours until it was time for his audience.

With considerable patience, the Sage listened attentively to the reason for the boy’s visit, but told him that at that moment he did not have the time to explain to him the Secret of Happiness.

He suggested that the young man take a stroll around his palace and come back in two hours’ time.

“However, I want to ask you a favor,” he added, handling the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops of oil. “While you walk, carry this spoon and don’t let the oil spill.”

The young man began to climb up and down the palace staircases, always keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. At the end of two hours he returned to the presence of the wise man.

“So,” asked the sage, “did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining room? Did you see the garden that the Master of Gardeners took ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?”

Embarrassed, the young man confessed that he had seen nothing. His only concern was not to spill the drops of oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

“So, go back and see the wonders of my world,” said the wise man. “You can’t trust a man if you don’t know his house.”

Now more at ease, the young man took the spoon and strolled again through the palace, this time paying attention to all the works of art that hung from the ceiling and walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around the palace, the delicacy of the flowers, the taste with which each work of art was placed in its niche. Returning to the sage, he reported in detail all that he had seen.

“But where are the two drops of oil that I entrusted to you?” asked the sage.

Looking down at the spoon, the young man realized that he had spilled the oil.

“Well, that is the only advice I have to give you,” said the sage of sages. “The Secret of Happiness lies in looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting the two drops of oil in the spoon.”       

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

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In essence, we must learn to balance our ability to employ intensity and extensity of our intellect, as the situation permits, in order to get the best out of life and teach others to do the same.

Photo Courtesy:
http://futuretick.com/Lenovo-cell-phones/wallpapers-mobiles-phones/Genious-brain-Free-Wallpaper-Download-for-mobile-phone-cellphone-360-x-640-Resolution-Nokia-Samsun-4719

http://tlcbooktours.com/2010/10/paul-coelho-author-of-the-alchemist-a-graphic-novel-on-tour-novemberdecember-2010/

Steve Jobs - A Classic Example of Grit, Passion and Vision

1955 - 2011
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I've always loved reading biographies, studying people, learning and adopting successful strategies of the greats and applying them in my daily routine. I read a piece on Steve jobs a little less than a decade ago and what I admired most about his story was his ability to bounce back from "adversities" and return with bigger, better and stronger concepts with an unmatched drive to become better...


Personally, I thought it was most ridiculous for someone to get fired from a company he created. This was the situation Mr. Jobs found himself in the summer of 1985. I believe it is a very common trend in history for trailblazers, like Mr. Jobs to hit major stumbling blocks in their lives before finding true success. How Mr. Jobs handled that situation is a challenge to anyone who wants to live a life just a little bit better than ordinary...


Given that we're currently in the internet start-up craze, I think this is a befitting inspirational story to the millions of entrepreneurs out there still looking to get their ideas off the ground.


Look at it this way, your start up is like a baby… Your baby... An idea that you have nurtured and dreamed of for a good amount of time and you have the spine to bring those dreams to reality. Of course, there are quite a number of  bumps on the road for start-ups. The most common are constrained finances, naysayers, legal issues and bureaucratic bottlenecks. However, successful entrepreneurs welcome these challenges and they bring forth their revolutionary concepts to reality regardless. No excuses, no exceptions…


That's where Mr. Jobs found himself and instead of wasting his creative genius in fighting his coworkers or publicly making a fool of himself in the media, he started another...


He founded Next, and later on Pixar... and what I admire most about him is this: Even with Pixar's astronomical success, Mr. Jobs never forgot about Apple... He was relentless, tenacious, and persistent. He proved that Apple was not just a fluke, but was part of who he really was... Apple was his baby... and with a remarkable turn of events, he rejoined the Apple team and Apple rode on this giant visionary's wave of influence to become the game-changer it is today.


This beautiful love story doesn't just hold lessons for entrepreneurs, but for anyone who has ever had a dream of making a true impact in the world. It's for visionaries and super achievers... We're all witnesses to a life well lived and it's our duty to emulate Mr. Jobs’ drive and work ethic to become a little bit better, everyday.


Here are a few quotes attributed to Mr. Steve Jobs: Learn whatever you can from them and remember that, "Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do".

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Do Great Work:

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

– Stanford commencement speech 2005

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Death and motivation:

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

– Stanford commencement speech 2005

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Vision:

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

– Stanford commencement speech 2005

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Innovation:

"Innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10.30 at night with a new idea, or because they realised something that shoots holes in how we've been thinking about a problem. It's ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.

"And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We're always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it's only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important."

– Business Week 2004

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Design:

"In most people's vocabularies, design means veneer. It's interior decorating. It's the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service."

– Fortune magazine 2000

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Internet Start-ups:

"The problem with the internet start-up craze isn't that too many people are starting companies; it's that too many people aren't sticking with it. That's somewhat understandable, because there are many moments that are filled with despair and agony, when you have to fire people and cancel things and deal with very difficult situations. That's when you find out who you are and what your values are.

"So when these people sell out, even though they get fabulously rich, they're gypping themselves out of one of the potentially most rewarding experiences of their unfolding lives. Without it, they may never know their values or how to keep their newfound wealth in perspective."

– Fortune magazine 2000

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Life and what matters:

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful … that's what matters to me."

– Wall Street Journal 1993

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Simplicity:

"That's been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."

– Business Week 1998

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Helping people:

"There's nothing that makes my day more than getting an e-mail from some random person in the universe who just bought an iPad over in the UK and tells me the story about how it's the coolest product they've ever brought home in their lives. That's what keeps me going. It's what kept me five years ago [when he was diagnosed with cancer], it's what kept me going 10 years ago when the doors were almost closed. And it's what will keep me going five years from now whatever happens."

- AllThingsD Conference, 2010

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Photo Credits: Apple Website

Social Facilitation: How to Empower the Audience of Self

Respect the Guy in the Glass

In 1908, Psychologists, Robert M. Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson stated that, "Performance increases with psychological or mental arousal, but only up to a point. When levels of arousal become too high, performance decreases." 

The concept of social facilitation is relatively simple: When you are good at a task, in the presence of an audience, you excel. Subsequently, the mere presence of an audience, while performing complex, or less familiar tasks, inhibits your execution.

I believe, social facilitation is way more than just an academic term. As we attempt to live a deserving life of influence and integrity, we must be able to understand what motivates us and what could potentially hinder us.

The essential variable in this equation is understanding how we react in the presence of others. Do we live each day worrying about meeting other people's expectations or have we chosen a path that will truly give us fulfillment at the end of the day? It is most important to remember that, we are our most important audience.

My favorite poem, "The Guy in the Glass" by Dale Winbrow, holds true with the following stanza: 

"

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,

And get pats on the back as you pass,

But your final reward will be heartaches and tears

If you've cheated the guy in the glass. 

"

          

The following help us harness our motivation to succeed and refocus our energies on the right influence as we move forward in our quest for greatness: 

1. Master your craft: 

Achieving a certain degree of mastery over your craft negates, the influence of an audience and augments yours abilities to minimizes errors. A seasoned professional masters his craft and demands the highest quality in herself than even her worst critics. Eliminate childish "eye-service" and people pleasing facades for a professional work ethic. Hold yourself and your brand by that standard and only then can you overcome the limitation of externally influenced ineptitude. Remember, intensity beats extensity every time.

2. Maintain the highest integrity and honesty to yourself: 

Be true to your standards, regardless of who may be watching. Of course, as humans, we inherently possess the beautiful skill of self awareness and it would be fallacious to discount completely all external influences. So in as much as we strive to defend our reputation, our character - The true you - must not suffer for it.

3. Never Let Anyone Else Do Your Thinking for You: 

Indeed, Crowd Psychology is dangerous. In as much as we can learn so much from others and may feel more comfortable in a well established group, it is important to retain our individuality as well and cherish what makes us unique.  Social Scientists have established the fact that the psychology of a crowd differs significantly from the psychology of individuals within it. So the next time you're in a group and facing a unanimous decision, don't forget to question yourself and follow your true opinion.

4. Respect The Guy in The Glass: 

Never discount your ideas just because they didn't come from someone else. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best in his essay, Self Reliance: "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till." Nothing more needs to be said. A word, for the wise, is enough.

5. Adjust your awareness of potential evaluation: 
This is it! Here and now... Today, not tomorrow... It's like we postpone our happiness, plans and gratification for some later date... For some later time when we can say, "I've arrived, let me now rest". We say, "I'm not that much of of an influence yet, let  me get my degree first"... "I'm still too young, no one will listen to me"... "Oh! there's no money for that now, maybe ten years down the road"... 

I could go on but I guess you get the point. These are all just silly excuses... Someone once said, "If you really want to do something there's always a way. If you don't, there's always an excuse"... What's most important is how you see yourself today... right now... The show is already on... This is the already stage is set... The audience have been seated since day one... 

Remember, a superstar will always give the crowd a great show. No exceptions, no excuses... Do not cheat yourself by thinking you are not your most important audience. 

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“As a born actress, she instinctively understands that the world is more than a stage - its an audience.” R. Z. Sheppard. 

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Photo Courtesy: http://youmerugby.com/post/6519134437/how-poetry-and-recovering-alcoholics-can-help-your

INTERNAL QUEST: Our Quest for the best within

Mathematician, Alfred North Whitehead said, "Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them." A first order condition for safety, peace and functionality, in any society, is ensuring that the necessary parameters for progress are in place - justice, freedom and sovereignty.

Take a good look at ultra-successful individuals in our society today; you’ll notice that they live their lives according to a strict set of personal principles more defined than their more average counterparts. Individuals, who choose to be something other than just ordinary, also require a similar “code of conduct” concerning their affaires.

In our quest to become the best version of ourselves, it is imperative we construct a blueprint to live by. Of course, nothing is set in stone and as we move forward and our experience builds up, we assess our performance and tweak our creeds accordingly. As the common saying goes, “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”.

To achieve that higher level of performance, we need to consistently inquire, search, and be willing to learn, grow and adapt to the sea of unforeseeable circumstances lying ahead. Remember, this is a journey, not a destination; a marathon, not a sprint; a process, not a single step.

I like Shiv Khera's quote that says, “Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently” How do we know what to do differently and what to copy from others? How do we figure out what works best for us and what doesn't? How do we find our zone and stay within its boundaries to best harness our potential? Bottom-line, if we are not improving, then what are we doing?

Here are a few reminders on how to get back on the fast track to becoming a little better, everyday.      

1. Understand Yourself:

"Ben Franklin wrote, “Three things are very hard; diamonds, steel, and finding our unique, individual abilities. You have to discover, essentially, who you are to best understand how to reach the apex of your capacity.

Exercising the natural instinct of self observation and taking mental notes - sometimes even literal ones - on how we respond to different circumstances may be a good way to start the road to self realization. It’s a personal assignment we cannot delegate. We note when our energies are highest? The best times to work, play, rest and recuperate.

Learning new things about yourself and your potential should be a lifelong quest… It’s fun… your destiny is in your own hands so why not mold yourself - as clay - and create that ultimate version of yourself. I believe that there’s nothing we cannot achieve. N/B: “Whatever a man thinks about day and night, everyday will surely come to pass. You attract the world you live in”.

2. Understand Your Goals:

Running at the fastest speed in the wrong direction will not get you to the finish line. It is your duty to decide what you want to do with your life. Decide your goal, understand the implications and figure out how to get there.

Above all else, what do you believe is your sole purpose? What do you believe you were born to do? If at the end of the day you only have this single act done, will you be satisfied? Intensity beats extensity every time… The earlier you begin the better…

I personally believe there’s always a better way of getting things done. For every path you choose, come consequences and it’s up to you figure out how to get to the Promised Land. Hey, aggressive action is not effective action – Settle down, decide then commit.

3. Read Biographies;

“Nothing is new under the sun”. For every path you choose or decision you make, you can almost, always be sure that someone, somewhere has tried it and failed, or succeeded before you… So it’s up to us to learn from that experience. Why reinvent the wheel? Why repeat their mistakes when we can stand on the shoulders of giants and begin from there. I often tell my younger brother that, "old literature never dies"… I don’t believe in old news, there’s always a lesson to learn…

4. Encourage Grit:

“Bend but don’t break” – That was the slogan for the 2009 NBA Champions, Los Angeles Lakers. Coach Phil Jackson – a.k.a. Zen Master calls this the “bamboo philosophy. To become better you have to keep trying… It’s as simple as that… For every milestone reached in our quest for success, I believe there’s this virtual turning-point whereby, it’s quit now and forget about it or, take one more step and here it is…

The beautiful thing about this journey is, most times we never know when we get to that point. Thomas Edison, one of the world’s greatest inventors said, "I have not failed 1,000 times.  I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb." My father once told me, “Don’t change the winning formula”. You’ve got to keep trying…

5. Have Faith:

Ask anyone who has ever knocked down a buzzer-beating jump-shot if while they were pulling up to shoot, they were thinking of missing? Do we wait for all the lights to become green before we leave the house? That initial fuel behind our decision to take a step towards any given venture is faith – “The evidence of the unseen, the substance of things hoped for”.

You may be thinking, I don’t think I have what it takes… Hey! Who knows?!? But remember this: “A ship is safe at harbor but that’s not what ships are for”.

6. Execute: 

The recently retired coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson - a.k.a The Zen Master - reminded his guys that all their practice sessions we led to naught if they couldn’t execute their plays down the stretch. You can have the best thought out plan, with the most cutting edge technology, but without execution, it is nothing but paperwork…

As we practice being the best version of ourselves, and renew our quest to become a little better every day, it is imperative we enjoy the ride.

Enjoy the challenge of trying again, regardless of the odds… Checking our tools… Checking ourselves… and doing our homework…

You might have your own set of rules, rituals, or personal standards you hold yourself by. Please feel free to share in the comments section below.

Management Tip of the Day: Be a Great Finisher

Seeing a project through to completion is difficult for many people. Even those with the best intentions get bogged down in other projects, procrastinate, or lose steam. Reaching a goal is mostly a matter of mindset, rather than innate skill. When you focus on how much you've accomplished rather than what you still have left, you undermine your motivation to finish rather than nourish it. If you find yourself struggling to get a project done, focus on how much work remains. This "to-go" thinking helps sustain and heighten motivation by triggering the brain to dedicate attention and effort to the task.

By Grant Halvorson

Courtesy HBR

http://web.hbr.org/email/archive/managementtip.php?date=090211

You Don't Give From The Top of Your Wallet But From The Bottom of your Heart

What makes life worth living? Having a passion for humanity and helping others in need is one of the most fulfilling things a person can do. The beautiful thing about altruism is that you don't need to be a high profile civil servant, a founder of an international nonprofit, or an owner of a  milti-million dollar business to do this. One grain of rice may not fill a sac, but it helps.

More often than not, we postpone the help we can give others mainly because we believe we don't have enough for ourselves or we think we can render aid at some later time. I laughed when I heard this old Economics joke that says, "The marginal utility of money is constant". So if you're waiting to be 100% financially stable before you look to help others, you might be waiting a long time my friend. Indeed, the importance of effectively managing our budget cannot be over emphasized, but there is always something we can to do shed a positive light on those within our sphere of influence. 

It helps if we understand our budget as a stream. If you dam up your stream, in an attempt to save all the water you possibly could for yourself, it becomes stagnant and ends up stinking. One the other hand, a river or stream that is left undamed has the opportunity of renewing itself, abrasing its bed and becoming bigger and stronger. 

I'm not talking about karma or doing this just for show, but  it helps to put this responsibility in perspective. Helping others in need teaches us empathy and helps us understand how others handle crisis and we never know when we would need this knowledge to save ourselves someday. Random acts of kindness really do go a long way to living a fulfilling life. The reverberations of such actions go on long after you could ever imagine.

One day, I was having coffee with a friend and a homeless woman approached us. She was carrying a child and she asked us for some change. I felt obligated to help her but my friend immediately chided me for "falling for" such a classic con. Saying, "These are professional beggars and no matter how much you give them today, they will be back tomorrow". Of course we are not all so naive to believe that those who are on the look out for unsuspecting, altruistic individuals do not exist. We went on to discuss this dilemma and I decided that I would rather help a "professional beggar" who was pretending, than ignore someone who was genuinely in need of help because I thought they were spoofing.

Some people believe that true altruism does not exist. The only reason someone will want to help another is for their own self interest. To feel good about themselves and get the compliments and fame they deserve. I respect their opinion and everyone has a blanket principle concerning how much of their resources they can give to others. Never the less, remember, there are two sides to the story. You're not being altruistic alone. The beneficiary of such actions has an entirely different perspective on how you've impacted their life. That intangible, "warm glow" feeling you've provided by supporting them and doing this act independent of future benefits is the essence of life.

Here are a couple of quotes that enlighten us on living a life of service:

• "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can". John Wesley
• "I shall pass through this life but once. Any good therefore that I can do, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it. For I shall never pass this way again". Etienne de Grellet
• "We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love". Mother Theresa
• "If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things". Albert Einstein
• "I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver". Maya Angelou 
• "The giving of love is an education in itself". Eleanor Roosevelt 
• "I don't think you ever stop giving. I really don't. I think it's an on-going process. And it's not just about being able to write a check. It's being able to touch somebody's life". Oprah Winfrey 
• "When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous". Wayne Dyer 
• "Time and money spent in helping men to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving". Henry Ford

Statistically, We Don't Hang On Long Enough...

Grit, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is firmness of mind and spirit. That unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger. Grit is a compulsory independent variable, a key ingredient, that completes an equation for success. Sometimes, hard work, preparation, and all the luck in the world will not get us to the promised land the first time we try. It takes hanging on and sticking to our guns, despite the odds. The Sales & Marketing Executives Club of Los Angeles provided the following statistics showing how many calls it takes their sales reps to successfully close deals:

• 2% close on the 1st call
• 3% close on the 2nd call
• 4% close on the 3rd call
• 10% close on the 4th call
• 81% close on the 5th call

These statistics alone shows that for anyone willing to be a top salesman and a "big-time closer" there must be persistent effort. The following statistics show how soon salesmen from Dartnell Corp were  willing to throw in the towel.

• 48% quit after the 1st call
• 24% quit after the 2nd call
• 12% quit after the 3rd call
• 6% quit after the 4th call
• 10% quit after the 5th call

A staggering number (48%) give up after the first failed attempt of trying to close a deal. 42% quit after the second, third and fourth call. Only 10% kept trying after the fourth attempt had failed and that's the percentage that was responsible for the 81% success rate - after the fifth call.

It's as simple as this... The longer we hang on... the higher the odds for success. As an avid sportsman and student of the game of basketball... I understand that, at the start of  every game,  there's a 50-50 chance of hitting a wide open jumper (that depends on how good the player is). But one thing I know for sure is that, for every shot missed, there is a higher likelihood of making the next shot. Every player, who is worth his salt, knows that they aren't going to just keep missing shot after shot. A true champion will always say, "the next one will surely going in". The man I call NBA's G.O.A.T, Michael Jordan said, "I've failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed". 

Maximizing the Currency of Human Potential

"The true value of money is not in its possession but its use". In the same way, our quality of life must be anchored on a set of values independent of how much we earn. Whether we are millionaires or minimum wage earners, the most important matters must be kept in perspective. Our families, close relationships, fulfilling occupations, our religious beliefs and how much more we can contribute to humanity are the most important variables that factor into the quality of life one attempts to lead. Of course, it is understandable to occasionally lose sight of these intangibles, as we focus on running the ineluctable rat race, but having the ability to pull back and put things in perspective may sometimes be our only saving grace.

If we measure ourselves or others based on financial standing alone, there is only so much we can appreciate. Regardless of how important we think finances may be, on the grand scale of things, money is nothing but a means to an end. How much we earn does not even begin to describe the scope of our potential. Little wonder, there are innumerous examples of people who, at one point in time, had nothing other than the wealth between their ears and they went on to influence millions of people. The Thomas Edisons, Abraham Lincolns, Oprah Winfreys, J.K. Rowlings, Ingvar Kamprads of the world understood that winners don't do different things, they do things differently. They understood that no matter how big their dreams seemed, it was nothing compared to the content of their human potential.

I am very passionate about Economics and I understand that its application bears results that supersede way beyond the strict disciplines of microeconomics and macroeconomics. Everyone requires some degree of economic acumen as well as a decent amount of experience in earning, spending and investing money in order to be a fully functioning member of the society. I wonder why we don't always exploit these economic capabilities in other areas of our lives. How about managing our intangible assets, like the mind, energy and time, in the same way?

In this economy, we are no strangers to maximizing benefits and minimizing costs. In the same vein, we can focus our energy on the matters we are most passionate about. The currency of our human potential expands into infinitude, way beyond the figures in our bank accounts. So the question should not be, "Can I afford this?", but, "Is this what I really want to focus my resources on?" Just as in archery, you can only hit one target at a time. So also the road to maximizing our human potential begins with focus. 

The law of conservation of energy states that, "energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but  transferred from one form to another". Whatever success one experiences in one area of life can be channeled to other areas. All that is required is a change of focus. I really appreciate Governor Schwarzenegger's quote: "the mind is the limit". The psyche  is the right starting point for any achievement we're looking to attain. Just as in Physics, it all begins with potential energy. Our human potential is limitless and the earlier we begin to employ this  ever eluding dormant energy, the closer we are to living that higher quality of life we all deserve.


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Photo: Courtesy The Movie; "Limitless". Directed by Neil Burger

Quotes That Keep My Grit-ometer Running 100%

At the age of four, my sister and I got our very first library, "The Young Children's Encyclopedia". It consists of 16 volumes and a diverse array of topics ranging from Sciences to Literature/History/fairy tales and much more. This was my version of today's internet and it marked the beginning of my voracious appetite for abstract reading. Of course, it took us only about 3 years to memorize every chapter, word for word and then we moved on to what other stochastic knowledge the world had to offer. Since then, I've always taken note of quotations that are centered around grit, persistence, tenacity, and resilience. Here are my top 20:

1. "The heights reached by great men were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while other companions slept, toiled upward in the night". Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
2. "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us". Ralph Waldo Emerson
3. "On the lands of hesitation lay the bones of countless millions, who on the dawn of their victory lay down to rest and while resting, they died". Adlai E. Stevenson 
4. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Don't give up keep trying"! Wayne Gretzky
5. "Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out". John Wooden
6. "Success is 1% perspiration and 99% inspiration". Thomas Edison.
7. "We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey", Kenji Miyazawa.
8. "It ain't about how hard you hit, but how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done". (The Italian Stallion)
9. "Never, never, never give up"! Winston Churchill
10. "If you're going through hell keep going". Winston Churchill
11. "Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about." Anonymous
12. "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move". The Holy Bible
13. "You must do the things you think you cannot do". - Eleanor Roosevelt
14. " Wherever there is danger, there is opportunity; wherever there is opportunity there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together". - Earl Nightingale 
15. "Sometimes all you have left, to keep pushing yourself forward, is heart... Most times that's all you really need"... "IQ".
16. "My belief is stronger than your doubt"... Dwayne Wade
17. "You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else". - Albert Einstein
18. "It's always too early to quit." - Norman Vincent Peal
19. "Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit". Wilma Rudolph
20. "Stick to the fight when you're hardest hit. Its when things are tough that you must not quit". Anonymous

Socrates: "An Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living".

The most beautiful thing about knowledge, apart from it being a decision making tool, is that it humbles us. I don't mean academic knowledge or that which we gain from our professional background. I'm talking about that instinct you adopt as you examine yourself, as your experiences are painted on that elusive idiosyncratic canvas. The type of self taught knowledge that makes you unique and goes a long way to define your individuality. This kind of knowledge teaches us to reflect. The more we reflect and examine our selves and our lives, the more we realize that we need to be humbled by all the knowledge / wisdom in the world. Believe me, no one has a monopoly of knowledge. 

Socrates said it best, "The more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know". Of course, over the last 24 centuries, Socrates, the legacy, has somewhat become synonymous with knowledge. He proved the need to examine our lives by living his the same. He said, "All I know is that I know nothing". This may be the most humble statement that, I think anyone could ever make. That, I believe, extensively describes, his character and therefore boosted his quest for the ultimate truth.

Psychologist gave us the perfect analogy in the word: Tabula Rasa - meaning Blank Slate. It is up to us to figure out how exactly we can make our experiences shape our idiosyncrasies and ultimately define the person we are today. This is what Socrates advocated for when he said, "An unexamined life is not worth living". The earliest part of his life was spent following the instruction of his tutors, mentors, parents and other notable guardians in his life. However, he understood that at one point in time one has to begin to think for one's self. Question authority, not out of defiance, but out of the quest for truth and that ultimate self. Do not get comfortable with the status quo. Keep searching... My father often joked that, "Getting a BA degree means to Begin Again, an MA degree means there's 'More After', and a Ph.D. degree means we have to 'Push Harder Daily'."

I think it is most interesting to note that, Socrates lost his life just to prove this point. He had a choice between denouncing all his teachings (Doing your own thinking and questioning authority) and be exiled (or given life imprisonment) or he could stick to his guns and be sentenced to death by a jury of 500 of his fellow Athenians. He decided that if living meant all his teachings would be stigmatized then life itself is not worth living. Interesting! I find this ridiculously fascinating. The perfect example of a man preferring to die on his feet than live on his knees.

To have this much conviction that life is not worth living if you are living on someone else's terms, one must have a very solid grasp of  these quintessential questions: how to live, who am I, what am I? etc. We cannot afford to just exist, beckoning to the call of circumstances and situations beyond our control. The only answer to such a conundrum is to do a constant, daily self examination of my purpose in life and what I want to accomplish at the end of the day. Understanding that if I should die today, I would be happy knowing that I lived my life, I did not just exist on earth.

Reference:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

WHY I SUCCEED

I SUCCEED BECAUSE I AM WILLING TO DO THE THINGS THAT YOU ARE NOT.

I WILL FIGHT AGAINST THE ODDS.

I WILL SACRIFICE.

I AM NOT SHACKLED BY FEAR, INSECURITY OR DOUBT.

I FEEL THOSE EMOTIONS – DRINK THEM IN – AND THEN SWALLOW THEM AWAY INTO THE BLACKNESS OF HELL.

I AM MOTIVATED BY ACCOMPLISHMENT, NOT PRIDE.

PRIDE CONSUMES THE WEAK – KILLS THEIR HEART FROM WITHIN.

IF I FALL – I WILL GET UP.

IF I AM BEATEN – I WILL RETURN.

I WILL NEVER STOP GETTING BETTER.

I WILL NEVER GIVE UP – EVER.

THAT IS WHY I SUCCEED.

Anonymous