How you share is more Important than what you know

"when facts become so widely available and instantly accessible, each one [person] is less valuable. What begins to matter more is the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact."
-P. 103 of "A Whole new Mind" book by Daniel H. Pink

Everybody knows everything. The only thing that's different is how it's shared with other people.
Make it interesting and you're further ahead than most.

Handling Situations

Handle every situation, that are about others, the same way you would like them to be handled if it was about you.

Example: You arrive at your apartment and find your neighbor's car has the lights on. If the situation was revered and your car lights were on, would you like your neighbor to tell you about it? If the answer is yes then go knock at his door to let him know about it.

Growing up Requires Effort

"We're changing everyday but growth is optional." -Tim Marks

When I was younger, I saw adults like a big thing that I could never achieved but I, eventually, got there. However, while I did aged physically ... not much had changed mentally. what I used to see as "another universe" was actually just older bodies.
I realized that efforts, along with time, is required to grow up mentally.

"Getting older doesn't necessarily mean growing up." -Unknown

Part of growing up is taking responsibility and many are still kids in that regard. Trying, instead, to give blame or find excuses for their shortcomings.

"How to win friends and influence people" - Quiz

Answer these questions with the help of "How to win friends and influence people" book by Dale Carnegie (Available here).

1. Name the criminals who did not see themselves as criminals...
2. Why is it a bad thing to criticize other people?
3. What are the fundamental techniques for handling people?
4. What are the six ways to make people like you?
5. Why can't you win an argument?
6. What are the 12 principles to win people to your way of thinking?
7. Why is it important to let another person save face?
8. How do you help someone in a certain area?
9. What are the 9 principles to be a leader?
10. What did you learn from this book?

"How to have Confidence and Power in dealing with people" - Quiz

Answer these questions with the help of "How to have Confidence and Power in dealing with people" book by Les Giblin (Available here).

1. What is the most impressive way ever discovered for impressing other people?
2. How can you have other people enthusiastic over your ideas?
3. What are the 3 big secrets for attracting people?
4. How can you make the other fellow feel friendly instantly?
5. True or False. Our actions determines our feelings just as much as our feelings determine our actions.
6. According to Harry Simmons, what does success depend on?
7. What is a deadly sin in human relations?
8. Is to kid, tease or be sarcastic bad in a conversation? Explain your answer.
9. What are the 6 tested rules for winning arguments?
10. How can you get the other fellow to go all out on your ideas?

Going through tough times? Write yourself a letter!

"Telling someone how much you suffered won't make you a hero. It will only make you a bore." -Les Giblin

We only have a few friends that we can tell our suffering to without being judged. What do you do when those people are busy and you need the emotional release? Write yourself a letter and destroy it!

Use the letter to explain exactly why you're hurt. Get everything out and destroy the letter.
The letter will provide you with emotional release and you'll be able to go on with your day. :)

Personalities and Astrology

My sister started reading and believing in Astrology. She said she could determine someone's Astrological sign based on their personalities (which is pretty impressive).

I'm not a connaisseur of Astrology but I know it's not something I would use to study personalities. We all have a personality and to associate it with astrological sign, or the position of planets, sounds more complicated than it should be.

Some people have done a great job at identifying personalities and they did not use the stars to do so. The below books are worth reading if you have an interest in learning about personalities.

"Positive Personality Profiles" by Robert A. Rohm Ph.D
"Personality PLUS" by Florence Littauer

Hope it helps!

The Real cost of Cheap

"It is unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money-that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot- it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."
-John Ruskin, English critic, essayist, & reformer (1819 - 1900)

"There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. The person who buys on price alone is this man's lawful prey."
-John Ruskin, English critic, essayist, & reformer (1819 - 1900)

In most cases, investing more for quality product is better than buying cheap.
Buying cheap products isn't as comfortable, doesn't last as long and doesn't look as good. It's a lot to sacrifices just to save a dollar.

How to change the World - A Monk's Wise Words

"When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation. I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had change myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could have indeed have changed the world."

-Unknown Monk, A. D. 1100

I was originally looking for this poem for my recent How to change the World post but didn't find it in time. It's a good stand alone post anyway :)

Questions we should be asking about Work

"1. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
2. Can a computer do it faster?
3. Is what I'm offering in demand in an age of abundance?"
-P.51 of "A Whole new Mind" book by Daniel H. Pink

Those overseas are becoming more and more qualified to do the type of IT work we're doing. The change might not happen tomorrow but we can't deny the fact that it's going to happen.

Daniel H. Pink went on to explain that the information age is about to give its place to the Conceptual Age.

What this means is that we'll come up with the ideas that will be worked on overseas. Ideas for a website, for example, could be thought out here and sent to India for development.

Developing the creative side of the brain as never been more important. Lets sharpen our mind now to prepare for the future.

Character is Integrity in Action

Chris Brady is a good story teller and one of his stories was about the difference between integrity and character. He said something like this:

"I want you to go back in time to your school years. You walk to school and you see a girl being bullied. Integrity is doing the right thing of not joining in on the bullying. Character is integrity in action which mean you not only not join in the bullying; you also attempt to stop it."

In other words, character is integrity in action. Now go out there and fix what's wrong with this world!

How to change the World

"If you wanna make the world a better place/Take a look at yourself and then make a change." -Michael Jackson

When most people say they want to change the world, they usually turn to their neighbour and tell them what to do.

We can’t change the world by telling others what they should do. Benjamin Franklin famously said “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still”.

We have to become the change that we want to see. We have to lead the change and become the example for others to follow.

Time Wasters

"... You would be very upset if someone gained access to your bank account and stole all your money. Most people, though, don't blink an eye when all sorts of culprits sneak into their lives and steal their time."
-Quote from "The Ten Natural Laws" book by Hyrum Smith

My art teacher friend said that the biggest obstacle his students had to overcome in order to become great artists are the time wasters.
When we want to get better at something we have to remove distractions such as facebook, games, TV, Cellphones or any other "Beeping Devices" that might make us loose our concentration.

The only way we can go from good to great in anything is by giving all of our attention to it.

Remembrance Day

November 11 1918 marks the end of the first World War (WW1)and was specifically dedicated by King George V the following year as a day of remembrance for members of the armed forces who were killed during the War.

The Remembrance Poppy has been used since 1920 to remember those we lost in battle. The choice was inspired by the World War I poem "In Flanders Fields". These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders, their brilliant red colour makes appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

Thank you for your sacrifices.

The Black, Grey and White of Relationships

Black is who you are. Grey is the middle ground and white is who your partner is.

The grey area is the path we step on when we loose sense of who we are. We go towards the opposing color when our partner is having doubts about the relationship. Grey is the change (or lost in posture) in an attempt to win back our partner.

Our partner felt in love with black, not grey. If we loose the sense of who we are by going into grey, it will push our partner away.
What we need to do is figure out how to be black again. Figure out who we are and stay true to ourselves and pray for the best.

Would you be good in a position of Power?

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." -Abraham Lincoln

Those who aren't blind to the errors in their ways would make greater leaders than those who are fooling themselves into thinking they're perfect.

In order to lead people anywhere, a leader must first know where he's going. The path of the leader becomes clearer the more he reads and meditate.

When the leader learns about the mistakes that someone else made, he can learn from it and apply what he learned in his life.

There will always be a Bully

Bullying isn't going away. It's everywhere in our schools and in the world.

There are bosses who will boss you around, creditors that will knock at your door or layers that will send you letters...
There are business bullying other business with better products, Countries that bully other Countries and big planets that bullies small comets.

"It is only he who has learned to like himself who can be generous and friendly with other persons." -Les Giblin

I want to draw but I don't know what to draw...

If, like me, you have a goal to get better drawing skills, you'll need to practice on a regular basis but what do you do when inspiration is lacking?

I created a little game for when I don't have inspiration, or don't know what to draw, using a dictionary. See the rules below:

-Open the dictionary at a random page
-Draw something related to the first word you see on the page in 1 minute or less
-Repeat as desired

Do this until you feel either ready to start real work or until you want to do something else. Remember that it doesn't have to be pretty, it's just to get the wheels turning and get your training in.

Hope it helps!

Women are NOT attracted to "Bad Boys"

Women are not attracted to "Bad Boys". Who could actually be attracted to someone who steal candies from kids or spit on a old person's face?

"Nice guys do not finish last. Last place is for the cowards and those too full of fear to take action." -Robert Kiyosaki

Women are attracted to someone who's confident and a man who does bad things is often mistaken as being a confident man.

A Simple way for better Memory

Want to have better memory? Get out of your routine by simply using your opposite hand to brush your teeth, eat, etc...

Doing something out of the ordinary creates new pathways in the brain which can help with memory.
Since the left hand is connected to the right hemisphere of the brain (and vice versa), simply changing hands for your daily activities will force the brain to create new pathways on the opposite side of the brain.

Get some new habits in!