Author: alearningaday

“But a tiny voice whispers in my mind
You are lost, hope is gone
But you must go on
And do the next right thing” | Anna in Frozen 2

There are two lessons here. The first is in the beauty of the lyrics. We’ve all experienced moments when we feel lost. “Do the next right thing” is a beautiful mantra for those times.

The second, however, is a different kind of learning. I wasn’t a fan of the Frozen movies a few years ago. But, after being surrounded by the Frozen universe over the past 2 years and living with a passionate fan, I’ve come to appreciate so many things about them.

Passionate teachers, friends, colleagues, and in this case, kids, can teach you to appreciate things you would otherwise have missed.

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” | James Baldwin

Powerful.

(H/T: James Clear’s newsletter)

A beloved Professor from graduate school used to share a story about a chance meeting with a former student.

They ran into each other at the airport and this former student wasn’t looking well. When he asked him what happened, he learned that he’d been told by his wife that she wanted a divorce. He was surprised.

As they continued talking, the former student shared that he’d spent most of the last few years traveling on the job. So, they hadn’t been spending much time together.

When he was asked for his opinion, our Professor said – “I’m surprised you’re surprised.”

After sharing this story, he’d share his rule-of-thumb. The more someone admits to being surprised by outcomes in their life, the less self reflective they likely are.

Indeed.

Every once a while, we evolve some weekday routine with the kids. This may be a change to a morning drop off routine, an evening pre-sleep routine or something we do over the weekend. When this happens, we celebrate the sheer awesomeness of this new practice and fall in love with it.

Until some variable that made the old routine great changes.

That signals that it is time to change again. The same process follows. Evolve. Fall in love. Realize it is broken again.

The beautiful thing about this evolution is that it reminds me of the importance of continuous evolution. Things change. The best thing we can do is embrace that change and evolve ourselves.

It also helps me appreciate the power of recognizing the impermanence of things.

Change is the only constant.

I was on the bike lane approaching a traffic signal. There was a car well ahead of me about to turn right.

As the traffic signal and turn were still some distance away, the car could probably have completed the turn without any change in my pace. If I had to estimate the odds, my guess is that the probability I would need to brake to allow for the car to turn was 10%.

But, the car stopped to let me through.

That was very thoughtful of the driver.

It made me think about how I might have behaved in the same situation. And, I’d be willing to bet that I’d have just gone through as it was very likely there was going to be no impact on the bike.

But, as I bike a lot more now, I’m more appreciative of these little gestures as it is much easier to accelerate in a car vs. a bike. This driver’s gesture will impact how I behave in such situations going forward.

Walking a mile in another person’s shoes is powerful. Perspective makes us better humans.

My favorite idea from the book on Netflix’s culture – No Rules Rules – is “The Keeper Test.”

Netflix encourages employees to ask their manager this question from time to time – “If I was leaving for another job, would you fight to keep me?”

If the answer is “YES! Of course” – everything is great. If the answer is no, it is time to part ways. And, if the answer is anything in between, it is time for some candid feedback and recalibration.

The candor, transparency, and clarity that the question inspires resonated with me.

Thinking we’ve learnt or even understood something because we read a book is like thinking we can play professional tennis because we saw Roger Federer play.

Learning follows absorption, synthesis, and action.

We only learn something when it becomes part of how we operate.

When we’re reading into a cryptic comment (usually sent via a chat or email app), we can choose one of two interpretations – the kind one or the unkind one.

The kind one assumes good intent and mutual respect. The unkind one assumes the opposite and, on our worst days, can make us feel like we’ve been punched in the gut.

A lesson that I’ve learnt many times over – especially during the past year – is: default to the kind interpretation.

That’s not just because it is true 95%+ of the time (it is). It is also because it helps us respond with optimism and kindness – both of which help us either address the situation constructively and/or diffuse it.

In 2019, malaria killed over 400,000 people. 94% of those deaths were in Africa. The best vaccine available today is only 30% effective.

That may change in the next two years.

Building on mRNA techniques used in the COVID-19 vaccine, researchers have identified a promising candidate. It marks the highest ever protection studied in lab mice.

Malaria is a difficult illness to treat. And, traditional vaccine methods haven’t cut it. RNA based vaccines, however, are promising (this article has more on this). Success with the COVID-19 vaccine has ushered in a promising wave of vaccine research for HIV, Cancer, and Multiple Sclerosis among others.

mRNA technology represents a giant leap forward. I think we’re going to see many more such promising vaccine candidates in the next 3-5 years.

In the long run, it may well be the single biggest positive outcome from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Problems have solutions. That’s what makes them problems. A problem without a solution isn’t a problem, it’s simply a situation.” | Seth Godin in “The Practice”

This articulation made me chuckle.

It reminded me of the serenity prayer “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”