Author: alearningaday

No amount of wealth can buy good health, strong relationships, wisdom, and peace of mind.

All of these are earned with intention, attention, self awareness, and effort.

Sport has seen many miraculous moments over the years that has seen teams come together and defy seemingly insurmountable odds. Ice Hockey fans might remember “The Miracle” game. Soccer fans might remember Leicester City winning the Premier League or Manchester United or Liverpool winning the Champions League with stunning comebacks.

For Indian cricket fans, the first such miraculous moment was when the Indian cricket team beat the mighty West Indian team in the 1983 World Cup finals. I relived these moments in a well-made movie titled “83.”

One of my favorite memories from the movie was around a quote that the team rallied around. It came from the legendary captain Kapil Dev who barely knew how to speak English. He said – “Like people says, taste the success once… tongue want more.”

The quote is the subject of some hilarious and then emotional moments (1:57 in this clip) in the movie.

Story aside though, it is a good quote. Notching up wins early in our time on any team lifts everyone’s game.

“Taste the success once” indeed.

We’re allowed to feel bad, sad, disappointed, annoyed, or out-of-it.

It helps to take the time to accept what we’re feeling and to even sit with these emotions for a while.

The only accompanying requirement is that we timebox it.

That constraint forces clarity and progress.

“I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.” | Blaise Pascal

There is no amount of love or money that can help us if we’re unable to enjoy the time we spend with ourselves.

Our ability to make peace with ourselves, to find comfort in solitude helps us act from wholeness instead of our wounds.

I heard two stories recently of folks we knew who were suffering from severe health conditions. One of these is brain-related and the other is lung cancer. They’re both in their late 40s/early 50s.

Every time I hear one of these stories, I’m reminded of the sheer randomness that defines this life and this universe. Today, we hear of things happening to someone else. Tomorrow, we might be the subject of these stories.

More than ever, these stories drive home a simple idea. If you wake up tomorrow with a reasonably functioning body, make the most of that blessing.

Do good work, be kind, laugh, do what you said you would, be generous with hugs, and, most of all, be grateful for what you have.

Life might be shorter than you think.

Love = our continued willingness to do things that do not scale.

The challenge with doing something purely for some reward is that the rewards for doing something are often different from what we expect.

These rewards can be better – but no amount of better can make up for rigid expectations.

As you think about typing out that quick reply on a topic that looks to be charged with emotion, pause.

Give it a few hours.

Sleep on it if you must.

The response will be better tomorrow.

Robert Boice, a psychological professor, spent his career studying the writing habits of fellow academics.

His conclusion was that the most productive and successful among them made writing a smaller part of their daily routine than others. They wrote in brief daily sessions – sometimes as short as 10 minutes and never longer than 4 hours – and religiously took weekends off.

They cultivated the patience to tolerate the fact that they probably wouldn’t be producing very much on any given day, with the result that they produced much more over the long term.

(H/T – Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks)

Average service providers can get the job done.

Good service providers get the job done well – in a way that minimizes rework and potential issues.

Great service providers, however, stand out thanks to a mix of positive attitude and responsiveness.

After a threshold amount of skill, it is the soft skills that make the difference.