Category: Turning Stories
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Some teachers show you what to avoid
Scott Adams, famous for creating Dilbert and endorsing Trump in 2015, passed away last week. Several years ago, I found his book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, useful, particularly his idea of “talent stacking,” which is to get good enough to be at the top 25% of two different disciplines.…
Herbert Lui
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You can either learn or be judgmental
You can’t do both at the same time. When you ask questions, with a desire to understand, and listen, you are learning. Questions like: What assumptions am I making? How else can I think about this? What is the other person thinking, feeling, and wanting? When you’re mindful, you can catch yourself being judgmental and…
Herbert Lui
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Reflecting on my failure to write a NYT bestselling book
Over a decade ago, I attended a charity gala at The Spoke Club in Toronto. I was wearing a tailored suit, having a great time with friends, and, after a couple of glasses of bubbly, feeling celebratory. My career was off to a strong start. My articles went viral at Medium and were picked up…
Herbert Lui
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Remember the idea now, not later
What if an idea mattered more now, than it did later? What if the process was more important than the result? A notemaker scribbled his thoughts on the corners of newspapers and envelopes. He would, inevitably, always lose them. When his grandson asked him why he did this, he replied, “I’m not writing this down…
Herbert Lui
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Miracleless growth
A good friend of mine had recently pivoted their career, from growth marketing in tech to the culinary arts. In their exploration, they’d realized they didn’t want to work as a chef or start a restaurant. Instead, they introduced their dishes through self-initiated supper clubs. They found their first customers by inviting friends and their…
Herbert Lui
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Make your dream something you can’t fail at
Some children have dreams of winning awards; they practice their speeches in front of mirrors, speaking into their toothbrush as if it was a microphone. Tilda Swinton’s dreams were much more ordinary. Her ambitions were to live by the sea, with a garden she could grow vegetables in, somewhere in Scotland, where she was born…
Herbert Lui
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Stop exploiting yourself
One of the friends you grew up with is now a popular YouTuber. When they visit your city, they ask if they can stay with you, and you oblige them. You get a glimpse into their life. An employee might get a lunch break, but not a YouTuber; lunch is for filming. They constantly are…
Herbert Lui
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It’s always worth spending time up front to make the process smoother
A lumberjack once said, if his life depended on cutting down a tree in five minutes, he would spend three minutes sharpening his axe. More and more, I’ve appreciated this approach to life. Here are some ways I’ve applied it: A few days ago, I wrote about how cleaning the dishes and kitchen before I…
Herbert Lui
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Whatever you struggle with is a great place to start writing
“A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people,” goes a quote attributed to Thomas Mann. The difficulty is, precisely, why you’d want to write. There’s something you need to make sense of, that you can’t avoid, and you need somewhere to put everything you think and feel.…
Herbert Lui
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Maybe promotion isn’t about making money, it’s about helping your work find other people
A few years ago, I republished my post on longcutting at Forge, with the headline asking readers, “What are your favorite anti-shortcuts?” “Clean the kitchen before you start cooking. Empty the drain rack and dishwasher, clear and wipe down the counters. You might not get something [on] the table as quickly, and you will feel…
Herbert Lui