My Riffs

Humble pie doesn’t taste good, but it’s healthy. Eating humble pie can be a sign of growth. Growing in the way of admitting when we’re wrong. Of admitting we’ve changed or learned something new.  Eating humble pie really isn’t a horrible thing. It means we’ve leaned from a life experience and are willing to own it.  The real problem is when we are unwilling to admit we made a mistake. That’s a dish must worse for us than humble pie. 

Efficiency is something exclusive to masters. When you master something you become efficient in it. Becoming efficient requires many, many repetitions though. Many give up before they become efficient because it requires too many reps. If you want to master something, make sure you really want to. Make sure you're passionate about it, or else you won't get through the steps to become efficient and a master at it.

It's an old but true statement, united we stand but divided we fall. The statement is as true today as it ever was. We've seen an increasingly polarized society over the last years. This polarizing has just accelerated at an almost inconceivable speed the last year. Divisions over so many issues, it's fragmenting society. But we're missing the big picture. Humanity should be uniting right now and rallying around common things. It's a lie that the things that divide are bigger than the things that unite. You can be friends with someone with a different status, colour, political opinion or medical decision. You can unite with individuals who make different choices from you. You unite around all humanity struggling right now. Everybody is in battles and fighting in their own way. We should be able to unite around the struggle. Around us all being human.  Don't buy into the division narrative. Don't buy into the hopelessness. By doing so, you perpetuate the lie ...

What can be counted on? There's very few things (as we've so learned the last 1.5 years) that we can count on. The life lesson is to learn to ride the things in life we can't change. The more we buck up against the things we can't change the harder we make it on ourselves. Don't count on things that shouldn't be counted on. Life is fluid, but there are things to count on. There are principles and truths to count on. There are often small groups of friends we can count on.

The more we look down the less we see what’s up. What’s down only takes us down. What’s above pulls us up. Looking around is closer to looking down that up. To fly you have to go above it all. When above it all it looks a lot smaller. 

Chasing the wrong things so often leads to sadness and disappointment. Life has these elements in it no matter what you are chasing. However, when you derive meaning from the wrong things it makes for a very shallow and futile existence. I can't list all the wrong things, but I can list a few things I know are right. The right things include relationships, giving, hope and love.

You won't get what you're not aiming for. You may not always get exactly what you aim for, but you will never get something you don't aim for.

The best thing you can offer is of yourself. Of your time, talents and skills. What people need most is what can be given through relationship. 

Tearing down, tearing apart or pointing out flaws is cheap.  Unifying, repairing and pointing out the good is valuable. We can all provide value, but being cheap is the low easy road that too many choose. 

We take guidance from those who went before and give guidance to those who are coming behind. Guidance is a continuous relay race from generation to generation. Ideally we should build off the guidance given and give even better guidance. Guidance should naturally improve. If not, we're letting those coming behind us, down.

Principles are more important that rules. You can’t make a rule to cover every situation. And every rule has an exception. However, principals are north stars. They will guide you to where you need to go. Don’t compromise a principal, it will cost you far too much. 

Your network is your net worth.  But if you enter a network to only receive you will make the network poorer. Enter the network to enrich it. The network is only as strong as the weakest link. Of everybody contributes the network is optimized. 

There's hope for tomorrow because truth does prevail.

You can be as happy as you wanna be. It all depends on how much you want to give away to things that don’t matter. 

We live in divisive times. Division causes weakness. The saying is "divided we fall". So when we give into division, we and making way for failure. Some may want to see division so they can conquer. But those wouldn't be ones with good intentions. Unity is difficult to break. United we can stand. Love is the answer to unifying.

Including people is the best way of handling them. Ostracizing people doesn't do much good. Abraham Lincoln brought on opposition into his cabinet when he won Presidency, which is a very wise decision. So if at all possible include those people, it will help much more than ostracizing.

Pain is a tool to teach you something needs to change. Pain is a tool to teach you wisdom.

I've found the best tactic to fight someone is to love them :) That's the only tactic where both sides can win.

It takes 1000 no's to make a profound, meaningful yes.

Endurance is an underrated skill. In life and in business. This doesn't mean you can just indefinitely live just barely getting by, but it means that those that ensure will make it. Not giving up, not giving in is a skill that will give you a competitive advantage.

Sometimes you have to lead with your heart. Other times you have to lead with your body or sometimes with your head. Sometimes your position of strength is your heart. Sometimes it’s your body. Sometimes it’s your head.  Sometimes you have to follow your head and your heart will follow. Sometimes you have to follow your heart and your head will follow.  If you gave a good conscience you can let your conscience be your guide and lead from heart, head or body. Whichever is your position of strength. 

This has been the year of the mandate. The problem with mandating something is likely you’ve made a lot of previous mistakes. One mandate to undo multiple mistakes usually isn’t the best approach. A mandate is like a bandaid covering a wound larger than itself.  Solving root causes and problems is a much better approach. 

I read a great quote today, it said: Often the easiest way to solve a problem is to stop participating in the problem.  It’s actually surprising how often this is the case. Many problems are self inflicted. We can stop participating in the problem and many of them will stop. 

At the days end it's best to let it all go. When you've given your best, lay your head down and rest.  The moral of this is, once you've done your best, rest and then get up and do it again.

Going to war isn’t a blessed undertaking. But being at peace is. Strive to be at peace with everyone. Going to war likely won’t end up benefiting anyone. Follow peace. 

Who you listen to determines a lot. What you allow in your head isn't inconsequential. What you feed yourself is what you have to either work through or you accept and take on. It's best to shut off negativity at the source. Don't allow toxic and negative voices to even reach you. Lifes too short for toxicity. It's to be avoided at all costs.  Who you listen to determines a lot. So listen to what you want to become.

When we don't understand somebody, we really just don't understand their story. How often have we thought "how could they do that?". Well if we learn enough about their story we will understand why they did that. Getting to know someones story helps us understand and guide them if needed. Know the person and learn about their story.

One of the most basic leadership principals is you can't lead people where you haven't been. Even if they're just one footstep behind you, they're still going where you've been. Everyone is a leader too. So somebody is following at least some of your footsteps. Hopefully they lead to better places for everyone.

Truth will eventually prevail. Nothing can stand up to the truth. Eventually it will prevail. If you stand behind the truth that’s a sure bet. Sometimes the truth may not be popular and it may not be what the majority subscribe too. But it will entirely prevail.