We don’t need to lower the bar for everyone to get over the top.
No one wants to have open heart surgery from someone who didn’t finish medical school.
The alternative is, you can provide a clear path.
Clarity offers the surest path of enrolling the people you seek to change.
Until there’s a happy ending.
It turns out the key to controlling a free fall is very simple: You have to relax.
The problem is, it’s not in our human nature to jump out of airplane at 13,000 feet falling 120 miles per hour.
We tense up when the stakes get high.
That’s the moment.
We can learn to manage the risk we face, the uncertainty life presents by loosening up and going along with the ride, not fighting it.
Fighting gravity is a losing battle.
In Delhi, honking your car horn is used for directions rather than alerts.
In Japan, cities are labeled by district/block/house number (in the order it was built). Streets are not actually labeled.
In China, doctors are paid every month for you to be healthy. When you are sick, you don’t pay.
In Russia, people don’t put eyes on smileys when typing. They use ) or ))) but not :).
It’s neither good or bad, just different. Different cultures with different histories.
We get so used to doing things our way, we forget there is a whole world of possibility—as long as we don’t ride off the weird, the different and the strange as distasteful.
Better yet, why do it for money?
It’s only recently in history that someone got paid for writing a book or painting a picture or playing the guitar.
For centuries, you didn’t make art for money, you did it because it made you happy. As a result, you shared that experience with others.
Art is about connection. A labor of love. To make change happen. Not for clicks or for popularity.
We do what we do for free not because we want to. Because we must.
No catch. No angle. No “this for that.”
Whatever it is you do, do it. Do it well. Do it for free. Again and again.
Only 39% of Americans say that they would be able to pay for $1,000 unplanned expense.
Yet, one and five experienced a $2,500 emergency this last year.
Operating this close to the edge changes our decision-making.
We can’t focus on others if we are preoccupied with ourselves.
We spend a tremendous amount of time waiting…
Waiting for a promotion.
Waiting for a raise.
Waiting for a new boss or a new job.
Waiting for the call back.
Waiting for conditions to be just right.
Waiting for customers.
Waiting at the stop light.
Waiting for class to dismiss.
Waiting for an offer you can’t refuse.
Waiting for things to get better.
Instead of waiting to be picked, what if we decided to take our turn?
(Hint: It’s always your turn.)
The moment where you saw someone at their worst?
Or the shortest they have been today?
Maybe you can choose to see the whole history.
Of course, you can’t actually see it.
But you can assume it’s there and give them the benefit of the doubt.
People are generally not that bad.
Just occasionally filled with bad moment.
Avalanches are extremely unpredictable.
Factors include:
Aspect
Temperature
Elevation
Slope angle
Snow pack
Snow density
Wind speed and direction
You could be the first rider or tenth.
The good news is in 92% of avalanche accidents, the avalanche is triggered by the victim or someone in the victim’s party.
In other words, most avalanche accidents happen by choice, not by chance.
Most of the challenges we face in our everyday lives are also triggered by choice, not chance.
There are elements we can observe but not necessarily control. Sure, it’s frustrating to operate under ambiguity. Instead of fighting it, learn how to embrace it. Safely.
You can’t change someone’s behavior without first changing someone’s mind.
Until we change the internal narrative, until the person or group we seek to change sees a clear path, they’ll remain still.
Because not knowing what is going to happen next really terrifies us. So much so that we rather stay with what we know. Even if what we know is painful to stay with.
