Category: Expectations
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Memory, reliability, trust, and confidence
People need time to learn. You and I are constantly in the role of a teacher, and in the role of a student. A teacher might go over a set of facts, an example, or a standard operating process once. That isn’t enough. Knowledge transfer happens over time, with application and practice. If you’re in…
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Whose task is this?
Is it a child’s task to study? Or is it a parent’s task to get them to study? “There is a simple way to tell whose task it is. Think, Who ultimately is going to receive the result brought about by the choice that is made?” Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi write in The Courage…
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“Why is this important to me?”
When you know why you’re doing what you want to do, you do it better. You can prioritize clearly, adapt when you need, and endure the inevitable setbacks. More importantly, you’ll know when you’re heading in the right direction. This sense of clarity doesn’t just magically happen to you. Fortunately, it’s pretty straightforward to get…
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Professionalism and pressure
The person who holds the world record for basketball free throws shot over 2,000 consecutive baskets in a row. But if you put them in a stadium and a tight score between the teams, they might not have been able to shoot two. The main difference between playing basketball in a rec league and playing…
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The time will pass anyway
There’s something meaningful that you want to do. The only problem is it’s going to take a long time to do it. Maybe it’s schooling of some sort, or chipping away at a big project. Yes, it’s going to take a time horizon of years, maybe even decades. The time will pass anyway, though. Or…
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Surrender, control, and anxiety
What do you think you’re in control of? What’s not in your control? Where do you decide to draw the line? “You are afraid of surrender because you don’t want to lose control,” Elizabeth Gilbert writes (via Oliver Burkeman). “But you never had control; all you had was anxiety.” When you can clearly accept what’s…