Bits of Advice 2

In the past, the press called these days when it should be fall, but the heat is still with us, the "dog days of summer" no news, no energy and so they would print fluff pieces for their readers.  These posts are part of the dog days of autumn for me.            

 1.               Never ask a woman if she is pregnant. Let her tell you if she is.

2.               Three things you need: The ability to not give up something till it works, the ability to give up something that does not work, and the trust in other people to help you distinguish between the two.

3.               When public speaking, pause frequently. Pause before you say something in a new way, pause after you have said something you believe is important, and pause as a relief to let listeners absorb details.

4.               There is no such thing as being “on time.” You are either late or you are early. Your choice.

5.               Ask anyone you admire: Their lucky breaks happened on a detour from their main goal. So embrace detours. Life is not a straight line for anyone.

6.               The best way to get a correct answer on the Internet is to post an obviously wrong answer and wait for someone to correct you.

7.               You’ll get 10x better results by elevating good behaviour rather than punishing bad behaviour, especially in children and animals.

8.               Spend as much time crafting the subject line of an email as the message itself because the subject line is often the only thing people read.

9.               Don’t wait for the storm to pass; dance in the rain.

10.          When checking references for a job applicant, employers may be reluctant or prohibited from saying anything negative, so leave or send a message that says, “Get back to me if you highly recommend this applicant as super great.” If they don’t reply take that as a negative.

11.          Use a password manager: Safer, easier, better.

12.          Half the skill of being educated is learning what you can ignore.

13.          The advantage of a ridiculously ambitious goal is that it sets the bar very high so even in failure, it may be a success measured by the ordinary.

14.          A great way to understand yourself is to seriously reflect on everything you find irritating in others.

15.          Keep all your things visible in a hotel room, not in drawers, and all gathered in one spot. That way you’ll never leave anything behind. If you need to have something like a charger off to the side, place a couple of other large items next to it because you are less likely to leave 3 items behind than just one.

16.          Denying or deflecting a compliment is rude. Accept it with thanks, even if you believe it is not deserved.

17.          Always read the plaque next to the monument.

18.          When you have some success, the feeling of being an imposter can be real. Who am I fooling? But when you create things that only you — with your unique talents and experience — can do, then you are absolutely not an imposter. You are ordained. It is your duty to work on things that only you can do.

19.          What you do on your bad days matters more than what you do on your good days.

20.          Make stuff that is good for people to have.

21.          When you open paint, even a tiny bit, it will always find its way to your clothes no matter how careful you are. Dress accordingly.

22.          To keep young kids behaving on a car road trip, have a bag of their favourite candy and throw a piece out the window each time they misbehave.

23.          You cannot get smart people to work extremely hard just for money.

24.          When you don’t know how much to pay someone for a particular task, ask them “what would be fair” and their answer usually is.

25.          90% of everything is crap. If you think you don’t like opera, romance novels, TikTok, country music, vegan food, or NFTs, keep trying to see if you can find the 10% that is not crap.

26.          You will be judged on how well you treat those who can do nothing for you.

27.          We tend to overestimate what we can do in a day, and underestimate what we can achieve in a decade. Miraculous things can be accomplished if you give it ten years. A long game will compound small gains to overcome even big mistakes.

28.          Thank the teacher who changed your life.