A Learning a Day

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time.” | Leonard Bernstein

I love a good quote and this one was particularly good.

Enough time might not be what we need after all.

H/T: Jonathan DeYoe

One way to improve the quality of our decisions is to pose a simple question any time we find ourselves receiving a recommendation – “What are the trade-offs?”

It doesn’t matter what the recommendation is – but if it involves a significant investment for some great predicted benefit – it is worth explicitly understanding what the trade-offs are.

Because they always exist – nothing is perfect.

And the sooner we understand them, the quicker we’ll be able to gauge if something is great for us.

We’ll also quickly understand the compatibility of a recommender as well. Good recommenders tend to be disciplined about consistently calling out trade-offs.

To build strong children, reinforce their sense of belonging to a family by articulating exactly what is distinctive about your family. They should be able to say with pride, “Our family does X.”

“Instead of asking your child what they learned today, ask them “who they helped today.”

I’ve been working my way through my bookmarks on Kevin Kelly’s book. The fun thing about these bookmarks is that I often land on my page and take a second to figure out which of the 2 or 3 pieces of advice I’d bookmarked it for. So many of these are so good.

I’ve now begun aggregating them in themes – today’s was about family and parenting.

Of course, it is just as much about teams and culture.

One way to predict the amount of joy during any given season of our lives is to divide the number of thank you’s we convey by the number of thank you’s we need conveyed to us.

Power reveals character.

Uncertainty and ambiguity reveal leadership.

I visited the emergency room the other day. We ended up spending little time and went out almost as quickly as we went in.

The emergency room has a way of immediately inspiring appreciation for the many things that are working in my life that I take for granted – starting with my health. Good health can do that to you – it can easily foster a sense of complacency.

Everything in this life, however, is built on good health. The moment that becomes a problem, everything stops. And while any current run of good health may be largely due to a mix of youth, genetics, and good luck (whichever applies), in the long run, the decisions we make today determine the frequency and gravity of our visits to a hospital.

Hence the note to self – don’t take good health for granted – do the work to earn it.

And take inspiration from the stoic practice of negative visualization to regularly appreciate the parts of/people in your life that you would miss if they weren’t present/working as they are today.

“When you forgive others, they may not notice, but you will heal.

Forgiveness is not something we do for others; it is a gift to ourselves.” | Kevin Kelly

Forgive often.

In the long run, we have to answer two questions about the work we do –

(1) Did we have a strong narrative for our work?

(2) Did the numbers/results match the narrative?

Narrative and numbers function like personality and character.

The narrative opens the door. The numbers keep it open.

Everything else is gravy.

#OurWorldIsAwesome – Edition 3

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My biggest reflection with Grand Teton National Park was that we didn’t spend enough time. A day – long as it was – wasn’t enough to do it justice.

The landscape at Grand Teton is exactly as you draw landscapes as a kid. Triangular mountains, trees, and water.

That image is by an unknown professional photographer.

Here’s one from my phone camera. Check out those beautiful triangles.

The Grand Teton National Park is a beautiful advertisement for the importance of the National Park system. The views of the Teton range are breathtaking, the hikes are picturesque, and the air smells fresh. We experienced a magical moment when we were on the banks of one of the lakes. A family of otters began swimming around. With the gorgeous mountains and glaciers as the backdrop, bright green waters, and beautiful trees, it felt surreal.

We went to the Grand Tetons as part of our trip to Yellowstone. As many do. One day wasn’t enough – we’ll fix that next time.

The simplest way to get or stay fit as an adult is to maximize the amount of physical effort per action.

Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Stand instead of sit.

Take the scenic route to the bathroom.

Play more sports than you watch.

Squat.

Maximize the amount of physical effort per action.