Category: Life
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How do you decide what’s worth reading?
Travel brings about a great opportunity: to visit local bookstores. On a trip to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Shanghai, my family and I had the privilege of visiting these bookstores: Daikanyama T-Site (my favorite in the world and default recommendation to anyone visiting Tokyo), Ginza Tsutaya, Foreign Language Bookstore in Shanghai, Duoyun Bookstore, Shanghai Book…
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Pausing remains powerful
My friend’s dad had a great saying: to “assume” makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me.” For example, if you misspoke to another person and they assume they know your intentions, you look like an ass to them because they think you are being mean—and they will have made an ass of themselves to…
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Mutual understanding
Take responsibility for understanding other people. Don’t expect people to understand you the first time. They may not want to let you know they don’t understand—and they may not want to hurt your feelings—so it’s your job to make them feel safe enough to speak up. Better yet, reward people for asking good clarifying questions.…
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Define it
Ambiguity makes language wonderful. The same sentence, or even word, could mean something entirely different to another person. A writer may have a specific intention for their words, and yet there could be as many different interpretations as there are readers. This also means that it takes time for people to come together and agree…
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Be the first
If you really want to make a difference in somebody’s life, be the first person to make a contribution. This could mean being their first customer, their first donor, or the first person to leave a comment or share the work. It will make a powerful impression, give them energy, and help them start a…
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Greatness means avoiding stupid mistakes consistently
Shane Parrish writes at Brain Food, “Moments don’t make legends. Consistency does. And the hardest consistency isn’t in doing brilliant things but avoiding stupid ones. Every mistake puts you in hard mode, forcing you to make up lost ground.” In some lines of work, a person must go through an apprenticeship that takes years—even a…
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Find more ways to win
If you play a game of chess well, with the right position, there is more than one way for you to win. If you play a game poorly, your options are few—there is only one way, perhaps even a miracle, for you to win. For any goal you have, it’s worth considering how many paths…
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Everyone makes mistakes
It’s how you respond to the mistake you just made that defines you. Will you let your emotions get the best of you? Will you let yourself get paralyzed? Will you keep digging yourself into a deeper hole? Will you react with defensiveness when somebody gives you painful feedback? Or will you regulate your emotions?…
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Guarding against incentives
Credit card companies make spending money fun by giving you perks. For example, with every dollar you spend, you earn a point that you can redeem for a prize—such as cash, hotels, or airfare. Sometimes, these credit cards offer prizes for you to sign up—such as a free iPad, or enough points for you to…