“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
Leonard da Vinci
Do not confuse simplicity with ease.
Achieving extraordinary things is simple, but not easy.
It takes a lot of work and a lot of time. That’s why it’s newsworthy when someone does it.
personal growth
Resolutions
When I was a young adult, I used to love New Year’s Eve. One of my favorite things to do was to sit on the couch with a pen and my journal and write down my resolutions for the year. It was exciting! A clean slate! A fresh start! I got really excited about the possibilities.
I’d usually actualize half of my resolutions.
In time, I learned that achieving life-changing dreams did not simply hinge on writing them down – although that is an important step. I realized the secret to success: My desires had to be matched by my commitment.
The most important day for your resolutions is not December 31st or January 1st. It’s Jan. 2, 3, 4, 5, and all the days after.
Dream Big. Write It Down. And then work your tail off.
Money Is Only a Tool (Ayn Rand)
What are your beliefs about money? That you’ll never have enough? That only greedy people are rich?
Money is energy. You receive it in return for your work. If your work is valuable, you will receive currency. Focus on the giving and the rest will take care of itself.
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. –Winston Churchill
Funds (like people) escape those who squeeze too tightly. Do good work, serve people generously, and wealth will come.
The Practice
One of the 5 ways to increase your grit is practice, practice, practice. By this, Angela Lee Duckworth means to practice deliberately. For example, let’s say you’re a musician. It might be tempting to play that piece that you know so well, the one everyone compliments you on. But you’re not going to get better by doing that. You need to practice that four octave scale you haven’t nailed yet. You need to go slowly, hit each not just right and start over when you get it wrong. Boring! Tedious! But so critical.
This is grit.
It’s hard and it’s boring and you need to do it every single day. You need to be consistent.
That is how you get better.
By the way, you can substitute anything for practicing violin: football, soccer, dance, writing, drawing, painting. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing extremely well.
5 Ways to Increase Grit
Grit – the persevering drive to achieve one’s goals – is identified as one of the most powerful factors for success, even more than talent.
A big part of my job is to preserve perseverance in my students. As a mother, modeling and maintaining grit is central to my parenting style. We can raise talented, very smart children, but without resilience, they won’t create and maintain satisfying, successful careers and lives.
Perhaps you’ve found your own passion and you can relate. “I love writing/painting/coding/etc. but I often fail to complete a project. How can I develop grit?”
Angela Duckworth, a noted psychologist, author and recipient of the MacArthur Genius award for her work on grit, identified 5 research-based ways to increase your grit level:*
- Pursue your interests – obviously, if you’re intrinsically driven to pursue something, you’ll be more apt to stick with it through thick and thin!
- Practice insanely – consistent, deliberate practice not only makes perfect, it also increases your perseverance.
- Find purpose – if your long-term objective is to help your community or others, you’re more likely to stick with the work than if your objective is to save up for that dream Ferrari.
- Be optimistic, have hope – truly believe and expect that tomorrow will be better than today. So if you’re still learning and making mistakes, know that you’re just going to get better and better.
- Join a Gritty Group – Have you heard the saying, “You’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with?” It’s true. Stick with diligent people and you’ll be persevering too.
*Source: http://theweek.com/articles/624204/5-researchbacked-ways-increase-grit
You Be You
What did you find useful today?
What can you discard?
How/what can you add that is uniquely your own?
Can you tell I’m a huge fan of Bruce Lee?
Decide
Decide to be happy no matter what.
Life is a rollercoaster. There will be ups, and there will be downs. But decide to be happy through it all.*
*The Surrender Experiment – Michael Singer
“A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action…”*
No Excuses
I’m grateful for many, many things. I have a very good life: a job I love, two healthy, beautiful children, a husband who loves me, a nice home, an affectionate dog and an enormous “wine refrigerator”.
However, I’m not 100% content. I don’t like the recent spate of racist incidents around the country (KKK). I don’t like that Asians are under represented in TV, film and books. I don’t like the fact that so many in this country (and the world) go hungry each night.
Complaining isn’t going to change anything.
Writing an amazing script, raising money and getting the independent film with Asian actors produced and shown at film festivals WILL change the scene.
Organizing a passionate, savvy group of people to pressure our legislators for gun control laws WILL save lives.
Reaching out to all the different, beautifully diverse people in my community WILL help change racial stereotypes and bring some peace.
Creating programs to help homeless people get job skills and become income earners WILL change their lives.
Inventing affordable solar panels WILL help save the environment.
What can you do today/this week/this month/this year to provide “A little more bite, and a little less bark”?
*”A Little Less Conversation” by Elvis Presley
Melancholy or Merriment?
Yesterday’s blog was about being fierce and how to get there. Today’s post is about the opposite: sadness and lethargy.
2016 was a difficult and painful year for many people I know. The holidays can sometimes lead to funk, not cheer. According to Psychology Today, the anticipation of merriment might lead to pensive gloominess or even depression. We drink too much, eat too much and sleep too little. Some signs of the holiday blues include: “Headaches, insomnia, uneasiness, anxiety, sadness, intestinal problems, and unnecessary conflict with family and friends.” (Psychology Today)
How to beat it?
The article cites 10 tips. I’ll give them to you in a nutshell:
- Be reasonable with your schedule.
- Organize your time.
- Declare an amnesty with your friends and family.
- Manage your expectations. Holidays won’t be for you as an adult what they were when you were a child!
- Volunteer to help others in need.
- Alcohol is a depressant. Drink in moderation.
- Take breaks – especially physical ones, like exercise or just walking.
- Think half-full, not half-empty. The choice is yours!
- Take breaks – exercise, walk around the neighborhood. Get moving!
- Choose to see the glass half-full, not half-empty. You do have a choice.
Workshop Wisdom
I attended a workshop on educational leadership today. I walked away with lots of good stuff but one quote that stuck with me was:
Get what you want. Find a way.
Being a leader means helping others lead, really. Supporting others to be the best they can be is one of the biggest objectives and one of the most challenging. One vital channel to this goal is to make others feel appreciated and help them in their jobs.
Make your staff feel valued by obtaining resources that they need or want for their work. Show them that you appreciate what they do and that you consider it important. “Get what you want. Find a way.”
This is really the secret to success, isn’t it? What do you want? How can you find a way to get it?
Kismet 