Saying of the Week
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Short Written Pieces Inspired by Jim Rohn Quotes
“Embrace the opposites > Embrace balance”
Life comes with its polar opposites: up and down, positive and negative, high and low, success and failure, right and wrong, good and bad, strength and weakness, hiring and firing, raise and drop, increase and decrease, hot and cold, friend and enemy, love and hate, angel and devil, triumph and tragedy. Trust that one opposite will always leadthe other opposite, follow the other, precede the other, and pursue the other. Wherever you are in between the opposites, embrace your direction, be mindful of the other direction, sustain movement, and be in balance.
“Be a Student of Life”
Study how you want to live. Study how to live this life. Be a student of life.
“Self Education is the best education”
Take time to learn about other things. Take more time to learn about yourself. The more you know about yourself, the more you’ll get out of these other things.
Inspired Leadership
Reflections on Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action
I am a “quiet leader”. You must be thinking contradiction, how can a leader be quiet? I have taken the concept of a leader and have transformed it to something that represents something beyond the conventional “loud leader” we all know.
I believe a quiet leader is someone who leads by action; one that leads by action first and words second, and at times, strategically, one that does not even require words. I have been inspired by Simon Sinek’s TED Talk called “Inspired Leadership”. He provides information on marketing and managing tactics that go above and beyond the no-holds-barred, profit pushing, dog-eat-dog styles we tend to adopt. Below are his quotes, my notes on his quotes, and his unique approach to leadership and how it can inspire you to become a better leader, whether loud or quiet.
“Think and communicate from the inside out.” Think beyond the numbers, results, profit margins, and measureable outcomes. Instead, think value, reason, depth, and purpose. “People don’t buy what you do but why you do it.” WHY first, WHAT second.
“Your goal is to do business with people that believe in what you believe. If you hire people just because they can do a job, they will work for your money, but if you hire people who believe what you believe, they will work for you and your purpose.”
Without followers, how can we be leaders? As leaders, how do we find our followers? Answer: the Law of diffusion of Innovation. Innovators 2.5% > Opinion Leaders 13.5% > Early Adopters 34% > Late Adopters 34% %> Laggards 34%.
How do you narrow in on your target market? Not just people who want to buy your service, but buy into your belief, purpose, and vision? There will always be 10% of people who “just get it”. You don’t have to work your magic on these people. They are those crazies who arrive 48 hours in advance, camp out, just to purchase the newest Apple products or simply enter a new Apple store.
The goal is to hit the tipping point for market penetration and success, which is the 15-18% on the law of diffusion of innovation scale. Once this tipping point has been reached, we can claim the largest percentage crowd called the Early Adopters (34%). Answer: Convince the Innovators and Opinion Leaders (CHANGE AGENTS) of your belief!
Gladiator says “Win the crowd, win the war.” Win the crowd, one member at a time. Choose your crowd members strategically: one innovator and opinion leader at a time. Develop the ability to communicate your cause, belief, and vision. Influence with grace, class, and enthusiasm. Never compromise your confidence. Talk about your product purpose and benefits, not your product specs and sales. Talk about your WHY’s, not about your WHAT’s. Then you will attract those who believe in what you believe.
To further Simon Sinek’s philosophy on leadership, Derek Sivers, another TED talker, provides us a different look on leadership. He says that Leadership is over-glorified: “Aim not to be leader, aim to be a follower and show others how to follow, not how to follow the leader, but how to follow the movement in which the leader himself follows”.
Make the movement about the movement, not you. Nurture your followers as equals. A movement is about participation, sharing, and courage. “Have not the courage to lead, but the courage to follow”. Martin Luther King Junior presented the ‘I have a dream speech’, not ‘I have a plan speech’. He spoke about sharing this dream, having the courage to dream, and participating as a whole in achieving our dreams. He never once dictated how to achieve this dream with a plan of his own. Although King Junior was one of the greatest orators in American history, he was a follower first, a leader second. He followed the likes of Howard Thurmin, Bayard Rustin, and Mahatma Ghandi. He followed the belief of non-violent resistance and civil rights. He embodied these principles. He was a leader who led by action. He was a quiet leader.
Clicking: Mentally, Physically, and Emotionally
Here are my notes from the book CLICK by Ori and Rom Brafman
Magic matters – clicking requires magic, serendipity, and perfect timing – we simply need to put ourselves out there and open up to these opportunities.
The power in vulnerability – our willingness to risk being vulnerable can deepen the quality of our relationships and make us more likely to connect with others.
A few feet make miles of a difference – the smallest distances play a major role in determining who we click with, we need to recognize this and focus not on what is in the distance and future, but what is right in front of us and the present.
Being in the zone helps us create resonance and allows others to be drawn to us. Pay attention, listen, observe, reach out, and take their emotional temperatures.
Similarity: quantity trumps quality – find similarities like you find eggs during an easter egg hunt. It’ll help create a bond and intensify it.
Environmental factors – overcoming challenges or adversity can help to stimulate or encourage clicking.
“Self-monitors” are people who instinctively modulate their emotions to match and meet others emotionally – be a self-monitor and be aware of others and take mental notes, it will pave way to deeper connections.
Being with people we click with makes us perform at a higher level – increased willingness, openness, honesty helps increase productivity.
Clicking can be magical. It can change the nature of a relationship not only in that moment, but forever. It can help us achieve our best selves.
Exercise: Don’t just think outside the box, think beside the box
Exercise is simple and straightforward. We must not think inside the box; by seeing exercise as a chore, as another item on the “to-do list”, as a fallback priority, as something to do “if” I have time, as a luxury, and as a financial investment. We must not overextend ourselves and go above and beyond to think outside the box either; by seeing exercise as the end all and be all, an item that we make too much time for, make an obsession, become OCD over, place on a pedastel, and become unnatural about.
Think beside the box.
Work within your limits, create balance, foster enjoyment, play to your strengths, work on your weaknesses. Be resourceful, use what is within reach, ask for assistance, value the tools you already have.
The Divine Destroyer
She killed me with kisses
She hurt me with hugs
She beat me with blessings
She attacked me with affection
She angered me with adoration
She scarred me with smiles
She controlled me with caresses
She manipulated me with money
She played me with pain
She lured me with love
She left me with lust.
Guilt-laced embraces, Careless caresses, Lame games and shame names.
A glass half empty with scotch. A glass half full with tears.
A frown forced to smile. A heart filled with emptiness.
Scarring smiles, Hurtful hugs, Killer kisses.
Note: It's nothing personal—just a piece of creative writing that I lost myself in!
Movie Review: 127 Hours
Based on the true story of Aron Ralston, this dramatic thriller by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) encapsulates the mental and physical challenges one is faced with during survival. James Franco gives us a great depiction and performance that convey all arrays of the emotional spectrum. With such a simple but bizarre scenario; being trapped by a rock in a cave corridor struggling to survive for 127 hours, the cinematography and flashbacks sequences add dimension and depth to such a simple plot of which the end is already known. When directors make movies based on true events, it puts them at a disadvantage from the start. The ability of the movie to keep the audience engaged is not on how the story unfolds, but on how the story is told – this is what divides the good from the really good. Hats off to Boyle for a job well done.
Overall, the movie makes you laugh, choke up, nail-bite, hold your breath, grip, jaw-clench, teeth grind, and smile. Not for the faint of heart or weak stomach. Honestly, I came in with high expectations which unfortunately takes a tiny chip off my concluding review. It was inspiring, gripping, creatively shot, a seat-edger, with a solid lead performance, but just couldn’t live up to Slumdog. I guess an unfair shadow was cast upon Boyle’s follow up with 127 Hours. I was not blown away but I was entertained. Would not see again, but would recommend, but only for DVD or on demand.
2.5/5
Timing: A Love & Hate Affair
Timing is everything: from patience stems maturity, and from maturity stems experience.
Time is our foe, time is our enemy
Time makes us wait, time makes us rush
Time is too short, time is never enough
Time takes too long, time takes up space
Time brings us impatience, time brings us anxiety
Time is always ticking, time is always counting down
But time is our friend, time is our love
Time makes us patient, time makes us virtuous
Time is maturation, time is progression
Time makes growth, time makes experience
Time nurtures, time develops
Time is natural, time is evolution
Time is always wanted, time is always needed
Believe
Believe.
Believe to see.
Believing in someone when they don’t believe in themselves.
Believing is seeing.
Seeing me believe in them makes them believe in themselves.
See to believe.
Seeing is believing.
Feel Goods
Went on a long run today, thought up happy thoughts and thought I’d share them with you guys. Feel free to add more "feel goods". There can never be enough!
Smiling Strangers – especially cute ones with dimples
Kids with Glasses – think jerry maguire kid
Crisp Clean Air – think mountain air, not the don valley
Fireworks – especially with someone special
Soul/Motown Music – on a sunday morning
Fresh Towels – out of the dryer
Double Rainbows – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI
Pocket Money – especially when you discover it after a wash
Cool Accents – south african, aussies, proper brits, and jamaican
Completed To-Do Lists – that “ahh, I feel like an accomplished human being for the day” feeling
Warm Breezes – when you are lacking a sweater you were going to wear but thought you’d Canadian-it-out
Runner’s High – you have to feel it to believe it
Goal Assists – the glory of a goal is something, but knowing that you made it even possible is something else
Heartfelt Hugs – especially when both huggers are closing their eyes
Sun Rains – shows you that in life, even in nature there is irony, but ultimately it’s all in your perspective: happy sun on the outside, but rainy dark on the inside….or…..sad rainy on the outside, but truly sunny bright on the inside
Sunsetting Sky – monet like skies (vanilla sky), the end can be just as beautiful as the beginning and vice versa
Sunrises & Coffee – especially when the morning is cool enough to see the hot coffee steam in the sunlight
S’mores & Bonfires – especially with a smokeless fire and a friend with a guitar
Cool Room and Warm Bed – makes the bed that much warmer and yet inescapeable
Full Tank of Gas – especially when you thought it was empty….one less task to think about
Random High Fives – shows you the universe it rooting for you
Flowers in Bloom – the moment of true beauty
A Hockey Deke-out – all your skills amounted to one moment, executed to perfection, another moment of true beauty
The Smell of Sauteed Onions – after the laborous peeling, suffering, chopping, crying; the sweetness of something so bitter finally reveals itself and makes you think….it was truly worth it…
The Perfect Golf Swing – paired with the contact of a golf ball and a sweet on the green landing just shy of the cup…..drool
The Smell of Freshly Baked Bread – especially when it was your creation
Being the first to jump into an untouched pool – it is always exhilerating being the first, being #1, starting a trend, even if it’s just you and the water
Catching the gaze on you from a beautiful stranger – makes your head bigger in ego but your soul blush in flattery
An unexpected compliment – makes you realize that all the little things that you do that you thought no one would notice, are actually noticed and enjoyed by others
A photo opp too beautiful for a photo – you are in awe, your breath is truly taken away, your knees buckle, you just have to sit down
A blast from the past – whether friendships, old flames, or acquaintances-hoped-for-friendships, they show you that you can time travel and live in the past, present, AND future
The moment you remember something that’s been nagging you – moment of clarity where you feel like you have suddenly evolved into a higher being….hehe
Old Couples – shows you that love can last a lifetime
Pillow Talk – so comforting and intimate, shows you how close you can be with someone at your most natural state (think of people in your life that you can pillow talk with, these people are the people you truly trust and love)
Basketball Swoosh – especially when it is for the win or when your team really needs it to boost morale
Midnight – a crazy cool time of day; it’s neither night or day, evening or morning, dark in sight but bright at night with the moon.Post Teeth Brushing mouth – so fresh and so clean, so fresh and so clean!
Sharing a Breathtaking view – these are the best photos you can take….with you mind, that will last forever
Sea Breeze – being seduced by the sea, spiritually sexy (if that makes any sense…)
Starry Skies – “shoot for the moon, and if you miss, it’s okay, because you will still be among the stars”
Hearing the wind blow – feeling it is one thing, but hearing it is truly spectacular….not mind-blowing, but senses-blowing
A tennis Ace – accumulation of power and precision, the essence of athletic giftedness
The sound of a path crunching under your boots when hiking – makes you feel like you are on a mission towards something big
Car Seat Warmers – especially when it has been unexpectedly preheated for you and it is freezing outside
A Hot Shower – especially after a day of cleaning or a hard days work, the cleansing is almost therapeutic
Catching/Cooking/Sharing your dinner – The process of creating something out of nothing and having the ability to share it with others….this simple procedure can be an allusion to many bigger things in life that make you feel significant. You just have to make the time to think about it and reflect.
Dedicated to Kapeli & Co.