Viktor Frankl, from Man’s Search for Meaning:
…success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself….”
Category Archives: business
Leonard Bernstein (and Dilbert), on achievement and deadlines
Leonard Bernstein:
Two things are necessary for great achievement: A plan, and not quite enough time.”
Dilbert image: Copyright Scott Adams, Inc.
How to cure your fear of failure
Trent Nelson:
The fear of failure is nothing more than an irrational panic over the… unknown variables that [you] equate to impending doom. …And disappears completely when you focus on reasonable outcomes.
“When you find yourself distracted by impending failures, it almost always means you have a distorted view of yourself, and what role you play in your own business….
“Falling flat on your face is an essential a part of the job, and without it you’re bound to stunt your growth. …By rejecting the notion that you could-possibly fu– up, you’re restricting your access to one of the most sought-after resources on the planet: Hindsight….
“The best way to overcome failure is to see it for what it really is: A necessary speedbump on the way to success.”
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How to lead: Collaboration vs. control
Reporter Rob Asghar, via a Forbes article on how corporate CEOs could learn a thing or two about leading from college presidents:
As one college president told me, ‘You don’t say, ‘‘Professor Smith, I need you to make this change.’’ Instead, you say, ‘‘Professor Smith, I have a great idea I’d like to run past you. I really need your input in order to make this work, and I wonder if you have any thoughts about how to improve my idea and how to implement it?’’’”
There are always plenty of distractions
C.S. Lewis, in “Learning in Wartime,” a sermon he gave at Oxford in 1939.
There are always plenty of rivals to our work. We are always falling in love or quarreling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, getting ill and recovering, following public affairs. If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want [their goal] so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions may never come.
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Quote via Elise Amyx
Image via Shaaark!
Let’s get to work!
Stephen King, from On Writing:
Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration to come, the rest of us just get up and go to work.
Also from On Writing:
But it’s writing, damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it seriously, we can do business. If you can’t or won’t, it’s time for you to close the book and do something else.
Wash the car, maybe.”
Workaholics aren’t heroes.
Jason Fried and Heinemeier Hansson (co-creaters of Basecamp) in their book Rework:
Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it up. The real hero is already home because she figured out a faster way to get things done.
(The illustration is from their book, too, and my real reason for this post: Just to share that bit of simple but brilliant communication.)
Procrastination, disguised as work
must. sharpen. pencils.
Gretchen Rubin, in a short article titled “Working: One of the Most Dangerous Forms of Procrastination“:
When I have to do something I don’t want to do, any other task seems irresistibly enticing.”
Or as Robert Benchley put it:
Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.”
And John Perry, author of The Art of Procrastination, says:
[To be a procrastinator,] one needs to be able to recognize and commit oneself to tasks with inflated importance and unreal deadlines, while making oneself feel that they are important and urgent. This is not a problem, because virtually all procrastinators have excellent self-deceptive skills also.
How about Thursday? Is Thursday good?
Henry Kissinger:
There can’t be a crisis next week, my schedule is already full.”
Jason Fried, on ideas
Jason Fried, co-founder of 37 Signals:
There are two things in this world that take no skill:
1. Spending other people’s money and
2. Dismissing an idea.
Read the rest of the excellent post, about giving ideas a chance: Give it five minutes.
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