Fight Inertia: 5 More Tips for 2010
Continued from the first 5 tips for the new year.
6. Read about successful people.
Not just big names like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Check out the 40 Under 40 or similar award-winning individuals in your city. Read biographies of people at companies you like. Save and print the bios you’d like to emulate. Pick the qualities you want, the awards you want, the places you want to be. Go there.
7. Don’t let the haters hold you back.
Haters come with the package when you pursue success and push yourself. It’s actually a good sign. Brush the haters off and don’t worry. Don’t define yourself based on what the uninformed say.
8. Expect rejection and let it roll off your back.
In sales, they say every “no” you hear is a good sign. Because for every three nos, you’re likely to gain a yes. So embrace rejection. Figure out what you did wrong. Get better. Don’t forget what a capable person you are.
9. Be intentional.
Don’t go with the flow. You’re wasting your life and missing out on your greatness if you don’t conjure up some intentions. The first time I really thought about this was after reading this post by Steve Rubel, Become an Expert with the Power of Deliberate Practice. An excerpt:
The basic idea isn’t rocket science. Basically, anyone with just even a little bit of natural talent in a given domain can master it in about 10 years by methodically practicing the essence of their craft two hours daily (including weekends) and measuring their progress from one day to the next.
This technique guarantees personal growth. Need more convincing? Read more here: How to Succeed at Anything.
10. Watch TED talks.
You’ll be a better critical thinker and know more about the world outside your box.
What are your thoughts? Where do you disagree? What would you add? What works for you?
Fight Inertia: 5 Tips for 2010
Too many of us fall in this rut: waiting on others to push us forward to full potential. The truth is, if you want to be the best, you have to go out of your way to pull yourself out of directionless space. Fight inertia!
Here’s my recipe for making it through 2010 in a glorious way.
1. Don’t think too hard about New Year’s resolutions.
They’re just for fun. If you’re serious, you write down goals — both learning and performance goals — look at them at regularly, prioritize them and evaluate where you are.
2. Don’t set the bar based on those around you.
You are probably setting the bar too low for your capabilities. You are not them. Whether people around you are overachievers or lazy bums, you should take inspiration from them, but do what’s right for you. Push yourself.
Examples: Middle schoolers should be learning computer science, not waiting for the chance they might study it in college. They should be creating artful masterpieces, not being ingrained with the thought that such is for naturally gifted artists whose talent is already apparent. In middle school, I read about Machiavelli and John Locke and other philosophers that most people don’t touch until college or grad school. Don’t let lack of access to something tell you that you shouldn’t have it or know it. Go get it.
3. Be pregnant with a dream.
We give birth to dreams. And birth means labor and sweat. When your product comes out and your dream is fulfilled, it feels good. It’s a burden lifted and you’re that much stronger for the future. Once on a project, I had to produce a style of writing that was not what I was used to at the time. I spent hours and hours deliberating, writing, crossing out, wracking my brain. Longer than I wanted, but that was how long it takes, and that’s life. It’s a good thing to persevere and not get frustrated.
4. Kick stubbornness to the curb.
The biggest barrier for you and me can be our comfort zone. Our stubborn refusal to be open and experience something new. Think about what stands in the way of what you want. Write down those barriers and attack them one by one. For example, I have a fear of being candid because inappropriate comments often spew their way out of my mouth. I’m working on being more open rather than clamming up completely. This takes studious effort.
5. Don’t feel entitled to genius coming naturally.
When tackling a new project, you may find it’s harder than you think and wonder if you’re not cut out to complete it. Maybe you just don’t have the innate ability, you think to yourself. You may think it comes naturally for people around you, but you only see the surface. Sustained practice is necessary to master anything. More about this in the next post.
In high school, I aimed to study the least to get the best grade. But in my pre-calculus class, the math did not come easily to me. My mind didn’t grasp it immediately. And why should it? This was a new subject. I had to carefully do the homework problems, as expected. But I also had to go back and redo the practice problems we had done in class. I had to reinforce the subject and do as many problems as I could to understand each day’s lesson. That’s what my brain needed. I wasn’t stupid. I wasn’t slow. I just had to study more than others.
In the end, what matters is mastery, no matter how long it takes to get you there. You have to believe in your ability to grasp something with sustained practice.
Street Games and a Dream Deferred
I must have been 9 years old. My cousin in Kerala ran from his house down to the street to play with a bunch of kids. It could have been cricket or something else just as fun, but my memory fails me.
Later on, as I prepared to head back to the states, I told him next time I had to play, too. “You’ll be too old by then,” he said. I scoffed and vowed to do it anyway. But the opportunity didn’t present itself on subsequent trips.
Last week, on Saturday, to be exact, Sajan stood on some property in Eddakara his father is planning to build a home on. A kid jumped the fence, excited to see a foreigner. He happened to know English and started asking questions.
“Do you speak Malayalam? Do you want to play badminton? We can play here in the street, now.”
Other kids started crowding around Sajan, and they communicated in a mishmash of broken English and Malayalam.
Alas, alack. in a few hours we were bound for the states. No time to play.
A dream deferred.
Where were these kids all week when we were hanging out on their street? Perhaps busy with school. Who knows.
But during the week, we did run into some kids outside their school house. I don’t think they get to see non-residents that often because they were really excited to see us. They whispered and giggled to each other, then practiced their English on us.
“How are you?”
(Giggle.)
“What’s your name?”
We told them to sing a song for us on video. They were so shy. We gave them candy and wondered if their mothers had ever told them not to accept candy from strangers.
Psst...hey kid...you want some candy?
Return from Tropical Paradise
It’s 3 a.m.
The earth has moved such that the soil under my feet is American and no longer Indian. I had fooled myself into thinking sleeping on American time again after two weeks would be no sweat. What a joke.
In the meantime, please enjoy this map of our path across Kerala, India to see family, goats, cows, chickens, and tropical paradise. The map may be an utterly boring overview of a completely fascinating trip. Consider it part one in a series of more to come.
Our journeys across Kerala
Long drives in Kerala are not like long drives across Texas. Roads are bumpy and small, so it takes longer to arrive anywhere. Cars don’t have A/C, so you keep the windows down, and the dust and outdoors make their way into your face. After a while, the journeying can really get to you if you are not used to it. But when you are ready to relax, sit and recuperate, you get to breathe the freshest air and take in the view.
Nothing can take away the beauty of the landscape and a million other things to enjoy.
Houston’s Race for the Cure
A co-worker once opined, “Think of all the people that would be alive today if there were a cure for cancer.”
It made me so sad. But that’s the very reason countless people raise money for research and take time out for causes like Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
Some wonder why a fundraiser wouldn’t just raise funds instead of spending money on a labor-intensive 5K walk. But there were so many stories walking around downtown Houston on Oct. 3, the big day of Race for the Cure in Houston. So many people’s memories of their loved ones were kept alive and truly understood that day.
Clever slogans peppered T-shirts among the crowd of more than 30,000.
The race/walk began with announcers peering into the crowd and calling out the names of loved ones being honored.
All along the way, volunteer cheerleaders were stationed, screaming and encouraging the crowd to keep its momentum.
Just before the finish line, Sajan and I ran into my cousin Janie and her friend Mary Ann.
We are very thankful to those who graciously donated to our group to support Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!
Zimuzo Agim
Ed & Rachel Babu
Sam & Ann Chacko
Abey Jacob
Dudley Jacob
Nobel Macaden
Elizabeth Mathew
Jessica Mathew
Wes & Kasey Mathew
Elizabeth Varughese
Alice Wei
Gifts contribute to research, education, screening and treatment of breast cancer. There’s still time if you want to give.
In Pictures: A Weekend at Market Square
If you haven’t explored downtown Houston and been totally mesmerized and enchanted, you need to get out there. It’s that good!
Much of this past weekend, downtown’s Market Square served as our stomping grounds.
According to the City of Houston:
Through the first century of its existence, Houston revolved around Market Square, bounded by the streets Preston, Milam, Travis, and Congress. The square was donated to the city in 1854 by Augustus Allen and was used as an open air produce market, and the downtown business district grew up around it.
My favorite path along downtown is from Bayou Place through Sesquicentennial Park past Mel Chin’s Seven Wonders and across the Preston Street bridge then down to Market Square. Usually, the revolving neon Cabo sign is a star that lights the way.
Sesquicentennial Park is the perfect place for photos.
Friday’s Magic
Del jardín al estómago
Our late summer/early fall garden is an eyesore. Sweet potato vines have successfully crawled over every inch of dirt. The beans should have been mounted on a trellis. But instead they sprawl, wild and tangled like the guts of an exploded bovine.
In spite of these facts, a glimmer of a harvest has manifested.
Fresh backyard onions and basil helped season tuna linguine. Read the rest of this entry »
Drucker On Leadership: Send Charisma to the Dogs
What do you think makes a great leader?
Charisma?
A winning personality?
_(cropped).jpg "Bill White")
Management guru Peter Drucker begs to differ. Leadership is about results, he says in The Essential Drucker.
You’re not born a leader. Anyone can get there with laborious, iterated practice. Leaders give their followers a frame of expectations and a clear path to tread. Read the rest of this entry »
The Burglars
Three weeks ago, Sajan came home to a burglarized house.
They ruffled through our drawers and cabinets.
They raked and pummeled through our sheet rock.
They took stuff.
That’s the bad news.
Good news: lessons learned. The fenced entryways to our backyard are now locked. Sturdy deadbolts secure our doors. We already had good, observant neighbors. Now we’re all taking things a bit further by talking more, asking about strange cars, noticing more.
You’ve got to feel a little violated when people break into your house and touch your hard-earned belongings.
But one thing I won’t let them do is cripple me with fear.
Our house is still a home.
P.S. Read this piece on how to survive if your computer equipment is stolen: My Digital World Nearly Destroyed.
