Category: Everything else

An amateur player on a pool table faces one particular choice often – do I focus on just hitting this ball in? Or, do I try to hit it while setting up the next shot?

There are trade-offs either way.

If I focus on just the ball in front of me, I could hit it in a way that makes it impossible to land the next.

And, if I’m focused on landing the next, I could make a mistake with the ball in hand.

There is no right answer to this question. It depends on the context – the state of the game, how confident you feel, how focused you are, and so on.

Either answer could be right – depending on the context.

Much like life.

A close someone who works in a diagnostic lab in India shared a story of a father and a 30 or so year old son who walked into the lab recently.

The son was suffering from breathlessness. Everyone in the lab immediately suspected he was suffering from COVID-19 and suggested they test him immediately.

The father, however, had other ideas. Despite a doctor’s recommendation a week earlier to get a COVID test and X-rays, he decided to dither for an extra week. It cannot be COVID, right? Who knows if it is even real?

After folks in the lab insisted they proceed with a test, he reluctantly agreed.

The test confirmed everyone’s suspicions and the boy was finally rushed to a hospital.

Sadly, it came too late. He died a few hours later.

Then, there was another story from a family friend’s wedding. Even though they tried keeping to family only, someone showed up with a fever. They tested positive for COVID the next day.

A majority of the group then tested positive the following day.

But, somehow, when an elder in the family complained of fever and breathing trouble, they attributed it to something else.

Two days later, they finally took the elder to the hospital. She passed away within an hour of being admitted.

Sadly, I’ve heard many similar stories in the past months. They all involve one or more people in the family refusing to believe it could be a case of COVID-19. Their favorite politician told them not to worry after all.

I feel very bad for the families of these folks. It is a sad consequence of blind faith in leaders who lie about the dangers of what we’re facing for their own personal benefit.

Denying a physical reality is nearly always a bad idea.

Our savings = Our earnings – Cost of essentials – Cost of our ego (all expenses related to looking good)

This equation from Morgan Housel’s book was both funny and on point. :-)

You have made your list of five priorities for the day. There’s a simple question you can ask to make sure the order is right.

If the first task took significantly longer than you expected and you could complete no other task in the day, would you feel the day was successful?

If yes, proceed to priority 2. And so on.

High impact execution starts by getting the order of the priorities right.

A Netflix drama we’ve enjoyed watching over the years is “The Crown.” It does a nice job telling the story of the life of Queen Elizabeth.

There are a few lessons I’ve taken away from the show over the years. None, however, have hit home more often than the idea that things are often not what they seem.

The latest reminder of that idea was in a powerful episode that told the story of the aftermath of Prince Charles’ proposing to the late Princess Diana. The episodes starts with Diana’s delight at her good luck. She describes the proposal as the happiest moment of her life, celebrates it with her friends, and is giddy with excitement.

By the end of the episode, she begins to suspect that there’s little love in the marriage and begins to feel lonely and depressed.

The arc of the episode is beautiful. It is characteristically subtle and understated – a powerful example of great storytelling.

The lesson hits home as well.

Things are often not what they seem.

Diwali, in Hindu tradition, is the festival of light. It was among the most special festivals growing up because it brought together people, good food, and fun in a special way.

On Diwali day, we meet our loved ones, eat delicious food, and light lamps as a collective reminder that light and knowledge triumph darkness and ignorance.

It is a tradition that feels particularly important this year. We’ve all dealt with a vast array of challenges this year and, for many of us, can’t even meet the people we love. Everyone has been hurting in some way.

So, it is worth reminding ourselves that even this will pass. Given time, knowledge and light will shine a way through.

Hope you continue to stay safe and well.

Happy Diwali to you.

After identifying a potential opportunity recently, I wrote an email to a few folks with the phrase – “I wonder if we should do xyz.”

I got feedback from someone who works closely with me that my use of “I wonder” could be interpreted as passive aggressive and inauthentic. Their advice was – “Don’t say I wonder if what you are really saying is This is what I think we should do. Say it as it is.”

It was great feedback because that wasn’t my intention – my subconscious instinct was to try to be polite. But, I could see why the attempted politeness could be perceived as inauthentic. Say what you mean – as often as possible.

Well-timed feedback is a wonderful gift.

I love every reminder I can get about the story of Ronald Read.

Ronald Read worked as a gas station attendant and janitor at JC Penney’s. He was known to be a frugal man. After losing his wife at 50, he lived alone for the rest of his life and enjoyed chopping wood.

After his death, folks in his community realized he had left two million dollars to his stepchildren and an additional six million dollars to local library and hospital.

How? He consistently invested his savings in (an eventual portfolio of 95) blue chip companies whose businesses he understood and held their stock for the most of the rest of his life.

There are many fascinating lessons from his story – making a life by what we give vs. get, the importance of savings rate, time in the market vs. timing the market, etc.

But, to me, one that always stands out is the transformative power compound interest can have in our life. Small consistent investments in all important areas of our life – health, money, learning, relationships – compound in magical ways over time.

Here’s to making one such investment today…

Pay attention now:
No matter how much you know or learn about syntax, grammar, and rhetoric,
This small internal quaver, this inner disturbance,
Is the most useful evidence you’ll ever get.
Someday, you’ll be able to articulate what causes it.
But for now, what’s important is to notice it.
Noticing is always the goal.
Actually, the goal right now is noticing that you’re noticing.
One day merely noticing will be enough.

<a few sentences later>

Soon you’ll know exactly how to find the things that are going wrong
As well as the things that are going right.
But until then – and even long after – you’ll find it easier to detect a problem by the disturbance is causes you.

Verlyn Klinkenborg in “Several short sentences about writing”

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These notes are about writing. But, they could easily have been about decision making .

Much of learning how to make better decisions in our lives is listening for that disturbance within. We may not always know why. But, noticing and listening to them saves us a lot of pain and heartache in the long run.

“Noticing is always the goal.”

Indeed.

A simple way to increase problem solving velocity – disregard the instinct to assign blame.