Labels become self-fulfilling, self-effacing prophecies. Alice is an introvert, never let her talk to customers. So, Alice never talks to customers and thus never becomes comfortable talking to customers, and therefore reinforces the “introvert” label. John is callous, he doesn’t think much before speaking. Don’t trust him with any important decisions…
Month: April 2016
For data to matter it has to influence how you feel
Every decision is made intuitively, we don’t act based on data, we act based on how we feel. So even if you have a drawn out process to gather data, a human will have the final say based on how they feel.
Happiness is perception
You can be stubborn about how you look at the world and wait for other people to change, or you can change how you look at the world. I’ll be adding this to the list of Mindsets as “Happiness is a Choice”
You’re not rational, get over it
The one thing that holds back most humans, is that they aren’t even aware that they act based on intuition, based on how they feel. They think they are rational creatures that make calculated, thoughtful decisions. Consequently, they never develop skills to know when their intuition is out of whack. If you can hone your intuition you’ll make many more…
Being concise
I often find myself going into way too much detail. I’m a habitual pedant. One thing that helps stop me is realizing that people aren’t going to remember much of what I say. So, why bother with the details. If I can remember this, in the moment, I often find concision.
Overconfidence is oft inadequacy
Often, I hear people blame overconfidence when self-esteem is the culprit. For example, have you ever listened to someone speak, someone that goes into way too much detail? Some would suggest the presenter is trying to be a know it all. That’s nonsense. The problem is a sense of inadequacy. When you have low self-esteem, you feel like you have…
Quality is a misnomer
Quality is a misnomer. Often what we’re talking about is the status quo. Take for example a book versus an online course (video). Online courses like provided by lynda.com When it comes to books, there’s a high bar. Most books are polished. By and large devoid of typos. When it comes to videos, this is a whole new domain. There…
Inadvertent influence
People are obsessed with how they can control other people and yet don’t realize that every day they inadvertently influence many of the people around them. Instead of wondering about control, ask yourself how you might be inadvertently influencing someone in a negative way. If your attitude sucks, the people around you will be grumpy too. If you smile, other…
It works!
Today I was talking with Jonathan and I mentioned my enthusiasm about a project I’m working on, I said “Tomorrow is the day I find out if it works.” The culmination of quite a bit of work. He seemed bewildered, and asked, “Don’t you already know that it’ll work?” This gave me pause. How perspicacious. Indeed I did already know…