Category: Turning Stories
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Every dollar you save is a coupon on the next thing you buy
Retailers often offer incentives to encourage customers to buy more stuff. This can look like buy two get one free, buy one get one 50% off, flash sales, and free shipping thresholds. Most of these mechanisms are designed to short circuit your brain. They work against clear thinking; they give you a limited time constraint…
Herbert Lui
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Worth the wait
Late is better than never, and it’s never too late. Even if the line is long, and you missed a chance to join earlier. If the best time to start was yesterday, the second best time is today. Being patient is much easier than it looks. Some lines don’t need you to be present, so…
Herbert Lui
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Disorientation
When you first land in a new place, where you don’t speak the language, you’re probably going to make some mistakes. You’ll get in the wrong line at the airport. Queue on the wrong side of the escalator. Realize you’ve unintentionally broken etiquette or convention of some sort. This disorientation is one of the best…
Herbert Lui
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Overmatching the situation
An overmatch happens when one army has an overwhelming advantage than their opponents. Overmatching means bringing the metaphorical gun to a knife fight (or even bringing a tank). When you prepare enough, when you practice everyday, and bring enough firsthand experience (or partner up with leaders who can being that experience), you are setting yourself…
Herbert Lui
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Business is about making dreams come true
Derek Sivers reminded me of something. In Anything You Want, he writes, “Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and for yourself.” That’s exactly why I started doing business, and somewhere in the day-to-day operations—the grind of it all—I lost this sense. I had worked with a friend on…
Herbert Lui
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A spreadsheet is a creative tool like a whiteboard is
Whenever I saw a spreadsheet, I used to think that my life was heading in the wrong direction. I had associated spreadsheets—and by extension, numbers and analytics—with soul-sucking corporate work. Whenever I saw a whiteboard, though, I would think that my life was heading in the right direction. I associated whiteboards with creativity and brainstorming.…
Herbert Lui
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When you save money, you buy freedom
I used to think the opposite. While I grew up with a family that saved a lot of money, I also saw that we procrastinated on buying things we needed. We didn’t do a lot of travel or experiences. Both of my parents’ very normal cars are over 10 years old—one is approaching 20. Later…
Herbert Lui
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Have you disappointed enough people lately?
When you look back at yourself six months from today and don’t feel like you’ve disappointed anybody, there’s a problem. It means you’ve made other people’s plans and projects a priority over your own. You’ve been holding back your own stories, ideas, and opinions because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or because you’re…
Herbert Lui
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Tuning the guitar
Before you can play a guitar, you’ll need to check its strings to see if they’re in tune first. Guitar strings go out of tune for all sorts of reasons—new strings may need time to break in and settle into their proper tension, playing the guitar changes the temperature of the wood and strings, the…
Herbert Lui
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What to think vs. how to think
Recently, my wife and I were booking a trip. While it was within our budget, it was definitely pushing it, and I started experiencing discouragement. Then, my brain suggested one option that I’d learned a few months ago: the best way to save money on a trip is to be flexible in timing or in…
Herbert Lui