At lunch, Lily was sitting by herself. Kevin looked over at Minji and Carlos. They were talking and laughing and ignoring him.
So Kevin sat next to Lily.
“Hello,” Lily said.
“Hello,” Kevin answered.
They chewed in silence.
*From my next book, Kevin the Complainer
“When you’re grateful, you can’t be angry.
When you’re grateful, you can’t be worried.
Anger and fear are what screw people up most…in their relationships and in their business.”
Tony Robbins
“If you had everything in the material world (ambition, power, money), would that bring you happiness?
Go back in time when you got something you really wanted. Were you happy? How long did it last?
You can be happy without anything achieved through ambition. So why not skip that step and just be joyous?”
-Byron Katie
I’m a teacher and I’m usually loathe to listen to any non-teacher who criticizes education. However, Seth Godin is a teacher in his own right and what he has to say makes perfect sense.
Godin published an education manifesto and I think everyone should read it. It’s made a deep impression on me and I’ve made immediate changes to my teaching. Rote memory is ridiculous. Deducting points off for trivial things is dumb. Let’s teach students how to learn and then CREATE things and take ACTION!
Please, read some of his manifesto or watch his podcast (Stop Stealing Dreams) if you care about education.
Just because it’s hard to make change doesn’t mean we should give up.
We attended our daughter’s concert tonight. She’s a member of the Youth Symphony of the Southwest (members are aged 15-20). They played Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor and it was 45 minutes of absolute bliss.
I learned something new: Brahms so admired Beethoven and wanted so badly to create something in the same caliber that it took him fourteen years to complete this concerto. Fourteen years.
He toiled and created on one project for fourteen years. That’s some serious perseverance.
So if you’re working on a masterpiece of any kind and you’re stressed about how long it’s taking you to create it, don’t sweat it. Just keep at it and pay no mind to time.
If you’re “climbing a ladder” in your work and you feel tired and discouraged, I recommend giving Seth Godin’s podcast a listen. If you have children who are considering a career in music (as I do), have them listen to it as well (click the link below):
Seth Godin’s Akimbo Podcast: You’re It
With echoes of James Altucher’s “Choose Yourself,” philosophy, it’s a must hear. Always a little ahead of his time, Godin offers sound advice regarding “going for it” and not working to “pay one’s dues.” Don’t buy into outdated and ineffective advice.
“Be ambitious for the work and not the reward.”
Jeanette Winterson, writer
My optometrist told me about his Corvette Stingray. He got it from a couple who purchased a brand new car and needed space in their garage. Everything in the Corvette was shot: the engine, upholstery, paint, some of the body was dented. They had it towed to his house.
Two years later, his Stingray is on the road. He fixed the engine himself. The upholstery still needs to be replaced, but the car has come back from the dead. The doc worked on it every weekend for two years.
Sometimes, our dreams might take years, because we “only have the weekends” to work on them. But with diligence and consistency, they WILL actualize.
I installed and started using Google Keep yesterday. I love it! I like the options (changing color, archiving, check boxes, adding to Google Docs) and the simple layout.
This is a great way to keep your notes connected to Google. You can also connect a collaborator on projects, send it to your email, and add drawings and pictures.
Doing deep, meaningful work requires a lot of time in quiet solitude.
I’ve been procrastinating and distracting myself from my deep work (National Board Certification, writing and illustrating Book 2).
So, I shall remove the distractions: posting and reading feeds in social media (FB, Twitter) and checking (and re-checking) the news. Honestly, reading the news and getting upset is not helping anyone. But somehow, I believed that being up to date on current events was being good citizen. As long as my vote is informed, I’m good.
Now, on with the deep work…will you join me? What are your distractions and excuses?
*Cal Newport
Kismet 