Debates over terminology and semantics are for archivists and academics. If you’re interested in the living heart of what you do, focus on building things rather than talking about them.
You have to understand: most people were scared around Bezos because they were waaaay too worried about trying to keep their jobs. People in high-level positions sometimes have a little too much personal self-esteem invested in their success. Can you imagine how annoying it must be for him to be around timid people all day long? But me — well, I thought I was going to get fired every single day. So fuck timid. Might as well aim high and go out in a ball of flame.
That’s where the “Dread Pirate Bezos” line came from. I worked hard and had fun, but every day I honestly worried they might fire me in the morning. Sure, it was a kind of paranoia. But it was sort of healthy in a way. I kept my resume up to date, and I kept my skills up to date, and I never worried about saying something stupid and ruining my career. Because hey, they were most likely going to fire me in the morning.
It’s a brick wall, not a balloon. This is a hard one for many people. We try to build something quickly and get it totally complete all in one go. If we can’t, we get frustrated and give up. But great blogs and lenses are built brick by brick, a little at a time. You learn what works and do it more.
We do not wish to be ruled; we wish to rule nobody. We do not wish to serve; we do not wish for others to serve us.
You could be hit by a bus tomorrow despite all the wealth and power and influence you have in the world. How important are any of these things in the end?
Work on your character, let life fall into place.
Ambitious people are rare, so if everyone is mixed together randomly, as they tend to be early in people’s lives, then the ambitious ones won’t have many ambitious peers. When you take people like this and put them together with other ambitious people, they bloom like dying plants given water. Probably most ambitious people are starved for the sort of encouragement they’d get from ambitious peers, whatever their age.
The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson (via thelittlephilosopher)
(via thelittlephilosopher)
Most of all, we need to remember — in between texts and e-mails and Facebook posts — to listen to one another, even to the boring bits, because it is often in unedited moments, moments in which we hesitate and stutter and go silent, that we reveal ourselves to one another.
I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (via thelittlephilosopher)
(via thelittlephilosopher)
When I like people immensely, I never tell their names to anyone. It is like surrendering a part of them. I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvelous to us. The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it.
— Oscar Wilde (via housewifeswag)
(via housewifeswag)
Build A Life …
It’s easy to do nothing, but easy doesn’t really get you much. It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and watch, but there is so very much more you can do.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Get in the habit of seeking new and meaningful challenges.
Don’t just give lip service to the things that matter most in your life. Invest yourself fully in building and growing and supporting those things with your time, your effort, and your passion.
A life that is easy and predictable is a waste of your best possibilities. Get out there, jump in, get involved and make the commitment to your highest vision of what life can be.
Don’t merely care about what you care about. Do something about what you care about, in a way that is positive, substantive, and makes a lasting difference.
Move beyond observation, curiosity and empty wishes, and do what it takes to manifest your vision and your dreams into magnificent, rock-solid reality. Every moment is your opportunity to build a life that’s rich and full, so take a deep breath, aim for the stars, and make it happen. Daily Motivator. Blessings, jtb
(via parkstepp)
If you’re itching to make your life something amazing, consider spending less time daydreaming about defying the status quo and answering the critics of your decision, and spending more time gearing yourself up for the challenge of becoming so good that they can’t ignore you. Ultimately, it will probably be the latter that generates the remarkable results.
The confluence of business and life is work.
Beliefs are just thoughts that you keep thinking, which keeps them active in your mind.
