Picky ideas directly from the bookshelf: bet you can’t read just one!

Choosy about books??? Choose wisely!

1. BUT
There are times when we need to correct others or criticize. Always start this process with sincere and honest praise. The problem then occurs when we follow that praise with the dreaded word “BUT”. For example, ” I’ve got to say bro, you’re looking muscular, but your legs look skinny.” So, what started as really nice praise totally collapsed by using the word “but”. The good thing is with some minor tweaking these same words can be said without any negative consequence. Just replace the word “but” with “and” tweak the last sentence. We could say, ” I’ve got to say bro, you’re looking muscular and if you work on your legs a bit more, it will be perfect!”. The book that can give such master lesson is “How to win Friends and Influence people” by Dale Carnegie.

You can buy the book from the link below and start influencing people today!

https://amzn.to/370Vl98

2. Embrace Constraints

We often think, ” If only I had more more time, I could make more money or get in shape or spend more time at home.” To manage this problem we can shift our focus from wishing we had more time to embracing time constraints. For example, assuming I can only work from 9 to 5, how can I make the most money possible? Assuming I can only write for 15 minutes a day, how can I finish my book? Assuming I can only exercise for 3 hours each week, how can I get in the best shape possible? This line of questioning pulls your focus towards something positive ( getting most out of what is available) rather than negative (worrying about never having enough time). This insightful is from the book “Atomic Habbit” by James Clear.

https://amzn.to/2UfvTHR

3. Expectation Adjustment

Expectations have everything to do with happiness and motivation. A hungry teenager in a poor country will have an extremely difficult time understanding why a perfectionist student in a developed country would be depressed for 3 weeks simply because he received a “B” in school. On other hand, a student who expects to fail celebrates for a week when he obtain “B”. The easiest way to become happy may be to adjust our expectations and appreciate what we do have, instead of becoming upset because of things we don’t have. This bog idea is from the book “Actionable Gamification ” by Yu Kai Chou

https://amzn.to/3gWq4sD

4. Question of discovery

The common question we ask is “So what you do (for a living)?” Depending on the answer, an invisible status comparison is established which determines who will dominate the rest of the conversation. Instead we should ask questions like “What is your passion?” “What are you reading these days?”  When we ask one another “What are you reading?”sometimes discover the ways that we are similar ,sometimes the ways that we are different. Sometimes we discover things we never knew we shared, other times we open ourselves up to exploring new worlds and ideas. “What are you reading?” isn’t a simple question when asked with genuine curiosity; it’s really a way of asking, “Who are you now and who are you becoming?” This idea is result of book “Good Leaders Ask Great Questions ” by John Maxwell.

https://amzn.to/2Y92NLi

5. Someday Syndrome

How many young college graduates have taken demanding jobs in high-powered firms, vowing that they will work hard to earn more money that will enable them to retire and pursue their real interests when they are thirty five? By the time they reach that age, they have large home loans, children to school, credit card Bill’s, house in the suburbs that necessitate at least two cars per family, and a sense that life is not worth living without really good wine and expensive holidays abroad. What are they supposed to do, go back to digging up the roots? No, they double their efforts and keep slaving away with the hope that Someday they will work on their passion. But there is only Monday and Tuesday on the calendar with no room for ‘Someday’. 90% of the people suffer from Someday syndrome. From the book “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari

https://amzn.to/2UdE0Vq

6. Four capacities

Study of the lives of all the great achievers, those who have made significant contributions reveal a pattern. They all have expanded their four human capacities- Mental (vision), Physical (discipline), Emotional (passion) and Spiritual (conscience). Vision is seeing the world that does not exist. Seeing with mind’s eye what is possible in people, in projects, in cause or in enterprise. Discipline is the price we pay to bring that vision into reality. Passion is the fire, the desire, the strength of conviction and drive that sustains the discipline to achieve its vision. Conscience is the inward moral sense of what is right and what is wrong, drive towards the meaning of contribution. The guiding force to the vision, discipline and passion. From the very insightful book “The 8th Habbit” by Stephen Covey

https://amzn.to/30eb978

7. Too many Fucks

Advertisements want you to believe that the key to a good life is a nicer job, a stylish car, a prettier girlfriend. You are bombarded with message to give a fuck about everything. Give a gmfuck about new TV. A better vacation than your co-workers. Why? Because giving a fucks about more stuffs is good for business. Thaugh there’s nothing wrong with good business, problem is that giving too many fucks is bad for your health. It cause you to become overly attached to the superficial and fake, to dedicate your life to chasing a mirage of happiness and satisfaction. The key to a good life is not giving a fuck about more, its giving fuck about less, giving fuck about only what is true and immediate and important. From the book ” The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” by Mark Manson.

https://amzn.to/3cB25Mi

8. Talk like TED

When the top 500 TED Talk speakers were interviewed, their #1 secrete was “passion”. They do it for love, they dont do it for money. Passion leads to mastery and your presentation is nothing without it. Science shows that passion is contagious. You can’t inspire others unless you are inspired by yourself. The most popular TED speaker dont have job a “job”. They have a passion, an obsession, a vocation, not a job. These people are called share their ideas. Invite passionate people into your life. Identifying your passion is one step, but you must share it and talk about what motivates you with other people. Most important link yourself with the others who shares your passion. Thanks to the book ” Talk like TED” by Carmine Galo.

https://amzn.to/3eOVVJG

9. Being Creative

Being creative sounds like a hard and abstract task. But creativity isn’t limited to writing, painting and singing. Everytime you make a decision,you have engage in creative thinking. The easiest way to practice creative thinking is come up with more options for a decision. For example,take the task of buying packaged milk. Most of us have our favorite brand, so we run straight to section and grab a box of Amul skimmed milk. But what if you considered a new option? How will Almond milk feed my nutritional needs? You’re thinking creatively! Instead of looking for the only option, think about how you can find the best out of many. That’s creativity. This wonderful idea is from book ” How Successful People Think” by John Maxwell.

https://amzn.to/3eOVVJG

10. I Dont know

The more uncertain people are, the more they defend their ideas. When less sure about the situations or subject, they should ideally become flexible. But they don’t. They argue extra hard to convince themselves when they are unsure about the subject. We should honestly define what we do know and stick to those areas. Warren Buffet says, “Know your circle of competence and stick within it. The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital. Never be afraid to say ‘I don’t know.’ Learned this idea from the book ” The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life” written by Alice Schroeder.

https://amzn.to/3cCUuMU

11. Small Wins

Life us just a lot better if you feel you’re having 10 small wins a day rather than a big win in 10 years. Breakdown your goals so as to create a consistent feedback loop of small wins. Our subconscious mind doesn’t understand the difference between big achievements and small achievements. It can only differentiate between achievement and failure. It’s the frequency of wins that motivates us, not the size. Says Chris Hadfiled in his book “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth”. A goal to finish 200 pages book will give us a win-state only after a month. If we broke the goal in 6 pages a day, we win every day. This gives almost 30 positive feedbacks in a month to the subconscious mind.

https://amzn.to/3cCuSzY

12. Long term vision

If something is important enough you will even if odd are not in your favor, this inspiring line quoted by visionary entrepreneurs Elon Musk. Irrespective of what our aim is unless we have decided to be in it for a long time it is difficult for us to scale the heights that we are capable of. 2008 was tough year for Musk. Both Tesla and SpaceX was running out of money but this man was in it for long haul. He didn’t care about short term setbacks. He always looked for the future with the hope and was over optimistic in most cases. He pays an obsessive attention in details. For spaceX he wants to reduce the cost of launches and fir Tesla he made it work staying in the game for the long time even though, for years Tesla looked like a disaster. And next is all history. Dont give up. Keep your goal in mind and set long term vision. The lesson I learned from his autobiography book ” Elon Musk” by Ashlee Vance

https://amzn.to/3eUC3VC