Each week, I highlight ten things each week that inspired me to greater financial, personal, and professional success. Hopefully, they will inspire you as well.
1. Epicetus on blame
It’s easy to get angry at others. It’s much harder to look at ourselves for solutions.
“When we are offended at any man’s fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.” – Epictetus
Every time I look at myself for an explanation for the problems in my life, I find something I can improve.
2. Sunni Brown on the power of doodles
I keep a notepad on my desk for random thoughts. Sometimes, I find myself doodling on it. Weirdly, there are times when that doodling will cause me to put together some idea in my head.
Something that seems like a time waster isn’t really a time waster.
3. Chogyam Trungpa on the fear of facing ourselves
We are who we are. We can’t change that.
“We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot of people. A lot of people turn to something that they hope will liberate them without their having to face themselves. That is impossible. We can’t do that. We have to be honest with ourselves. We have to see our gut, our excrement, our most undesirable parts. We have to see them. That is the foundation of warriorship, basically speaking. Whatever is there, we have to face it, we have to look at it, study it, work with it and practice meditation with it.” – Chogyam Trungpa
We succeed when we accept who we are and think about how we can use that in the world.
4. Autumn leaves
The evenings are getting very cool here and the leaves are just starting to turn.
Thanks to Yves Cosentino for the picture.
5. John Bogle on impulsiveness
Impulsiveness is our biggest opponent in life. It’s exciting, but it’s also quite capable of sinking our ship.
“Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy.” – John Bogle
Patience, on the other hand, keeps our ship headed the right way.
6. Baseball
The reason I love baseball so deeply was rekindled this past week with perhaps the single best evening of sports I’ve ever seen in my life.
I would have given anything to watch all of those games with my father and my grandfather there.
Thanks to Sean Winters for the picture.
7. Will Rogers on life
Whenever I struggle with time management, I come back to this quote.
“Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.” – Will Rogers
The entire reason for thinking about time management is to have more time for the stuff you want to do. Nothing more, nothing less.
8. Louis Armstrong performing Mack the Knife
Something about this puts a big smile on my face every time.
This is just an amazing performace.
9. Twosides
This is just an amazing site. If you’ve ever wanted to understand the perspectives that others have on an issue, particularly those that disagree with you, this is the place for you.
I’ve met people on both sides of the political spectrum who seem to not fundamentally understand what the other side thinks or wants (or else abstracts it to the point of nonsense). I wish I could send this to every one of them and that they’d actually take a moment to use it.
10. Jonathan Swift on the value of money
Money isn’t what you want.
“A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart.” – Jonathan Swift
Money is a tool to achieve what you want.
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