Note to Self.
> Strive to get better with each passing day.
> Read, attend conferences, meet new people, try something new.
> As little as 1% incremental improvement is still something to be celebrated.
What does 1% daily improvement mean?
On Actions and Words
This will be a very short post, and it's mostly my thinking around a puzzle-me-this notion.
I've recently encountered a number of situations where people acted highly irrationally. In some cases, their behaviour was very clearly against their own self-interest. The behaviour, if continued, would negatively impact their lives in a significant way. And the thing is, most of the time they know this is the case and can't take the steps to remedy their situation.
To what extent does an individual's surroundings influence their judgment? How long is enough for a person to wallow in their misery? How can an external party impact the person who's struggling? What is getting in the way of the individual taking steps to make a change?
The Charity Fund
Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.
- Princess Diana
The above quote by Princess Diana beautifully captures a core facet of how I live life. In this post, I will share with you a personal practice I've named the "Charity Fund," which is an important part of my philanthropic pursuit.
Memorable Advice I've received
The benefit of having amazing mentors, colleagues, and conversation partners has been an absolute blessing in my life. Recently, I've taken the time to do some deep-dive reflection exercises and realized how much crazy good advice I received from these people so far in my journey.
I'm sharing some of the advice* to pay it forward, in hopes that it will contribute positively to your life, love, business, and other pursuits.
Thought-Provoking 'Dinner Table' Talks
Last summer, inspired by the incredible range of topics explored in depth on the Wait But Why (WBW) site, I wanted to start a local, personalized instance of 'Dinner Table'. The plan was to have a 4-hour get together every week with 5-6 people in a private space. At this gathering, we would enjoy a home-cooked meal, discuss a single topic (pre-arranged and agreed on by participants), transcribe the conversation into a summarized post, and then share the post to serve as thinking fodder.
In the end, the level of involvement required to arrange guests, topics, and logistics turned out to be too much for me to take on given my then circumstances. What ended up coming to life was a scaled-down version of this, where people got together weekly at a set location, at a stupidly early hour of the morning, and on a drop-in basis, to share in conversation about whatever they fancied. Throughout the four months of summer sunshine we had in Vancouver, we got together and enjoyed some really great conversations.
Tips To Become An Excel Ninja
To efficiently operate a computer, using only the keyboard.
This was a goal I pursued for the first few years in my early 20s, during my then-search for high levels of personal efficiency. During this earlier phase of my life, I often evaluated software based on whether they had hotkeys (i.e. keyboard shortcuts) available. Along the way, I learned some tricks for navigating the programs I used most often, including a local version of Microsoft Excel.
This post is to share some of the hotkeys I found helpful. As more come to mind, I will include them here :) feel free to bookmark this page if you find it helpful!
Getting The Right People On Board
Getting the right people on board (for whatever type of organization) is a topic I've been wanting to cover for a while now, either via blog or podcast. The problem is that I hadn't found a good way to put it concisely, given my tendency towards long-winded pieces.
A friend recently lent me a copy Jim Collins' book, Good to Great, where Collins describes: (1) how companies transition from being good companies to great organizations, (2) how most companies fail to make the transition, and then (3) offers some practical suggestions to implement these ourselves.
Joshua & Vipassana; FAQ (Part 3)
This is the final of three (3) posts about this experience, detailing my advice/suggestions to people who want to give Vipassana a try. If you haven't already, I suggest first taking a look at Part 1 (general overview, some logistical questions), and Part 2 (specifics about my experience before, during, and after).
My partner did it together with me; here's Part 1 and Part 2 of what she wrote.
Joshua & Vipassana; FAQ (Part 2)
This is the second of three (3) posts about this experience, and it will be written in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) format. If you aren't familiar with Vipassana, I suggest first taking a look at Part 1 (general overview, some logistical questions). If you find yourself interested after reading the first two posts, you can see Part 3 (advice for people who'd like to give it a go).
My partner did Vipassana together with me; here's Part 1 and Part 2 of what she wrote about her experiences.
