Forecasting the Future


03

Monday, October 3, 2011 | 7:10 AM


We have two classes of forecasters: Those who don’t know — and those who don’t know they don’t know.

— John Kenneth Galbraith, economist

Destiny’s Quite “Psst”


12

Monday, September 12, 2011 | 8:54 AM


Both destiny’s kisses and its dope-slaps illustrate an individual person’s basic personal powerlessness over the really meaningful events in his life: i.e. almost nothing important that ever happens to you happens because you engineer it. Destiny has no beeper; destiny always leans trenchcoated out of an alley with some sort of Psst that you usually can’t even hear because you’re in such a rush to or from something important you’ve tried to engineer.
— David Foster Wallace

Listen to that still, quite voice in the back of the mind. It might be your destiny trying to get your attention.

A Sense of Urgency


07

Wednesday, September 7, 2011 | 5:15 PM


ur•gen•cy
1. importance requiring swift action
2. an earnest and persistent quality; insistence

The difference between a productive day and a non-productive day is a sense of urgency. Today was a good day.

 

It’s a good time to be an introvert …


04

Sunday, September 4, 2011 | 1:33 PM


… in the last ten years or so, there’s been a major economic resurgence for introversion—the “geek” economy. The prototypical geek is really good at thinking, has superb powers of concentration (which tends to be an introvert trait), and works very well independently. They’re often pretty awesomely brilliant people, and they’re fairly defiant about being geeks. They’ve turned this word “geek” into a term that’s almost romantic in some ways, and through the Silicon economy, they’ve been massively innovative and economically important. A lot of them are running circles around the extroverts who are selling shoes. So I think part of what’s happened lately is that the digital economy is giving introverts a new place in the sun.

In 2003 Jonathan Rauch wrote a short essay for The Atlantic called Caring for Your Introvert: The habits and needs of a little understood group. The reaction was overwhelming.

In 2006, The Atlantic followed up with Jonathan in an article and interview titled Introverts of theWorld, Unite!

In 2011 it is as true as ever. It’s a good time to be an introvert.

If You Want To Build a Ship …


02

Friday, September 2, 2011 | 9:20 AM


If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

— Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author and aviator (1900-1945)

 

Via Wordsmith.org

Here’s To The Crazy Ones


01

Thursday, September 1, 2011 | 9:05 AM


Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

This is from an Apple ad shortly after Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the mid 90′s. It always brings a tear to my eye. Adweek has paid homage by adding Steve Jobs to his rightful place amongst these crazy ones.

Here’s the original ad:

“The Market” vs “The Economy”


18

Thursday, August 18, 2011 | 8:49 PM


With all the volatility in the stock market lately it is a good time to remind ourselves that “the market” is not the same as “the economy.” The best that I can tell — at least as of the last few years — “the market” has contracted to a relatively small group of:

This tight-knit circle trades amongst itself with very little relevance to what we think of as ”the economy.” In contrast to this closed group, the economy is the vast sum of the creation and delivery of the goods and services we want and need.

It seems to me that the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 bears little connection to these things these days.

Don’t be afraid. Now is the time to be bold. If you don’t like the economy, let’s go out and make one of our own.

Time without attention is worthless


02

Thursday, June 2, 2011 | 10:16 AM


The worst of states is when you experience neither relaxation nor productivity. Be focused on work or focused on something else, never in-betweeen. Time without attention is worthless, so value attention over time.

— Timothy Ferriss, 4-Hour Work Week.

I am on the final chapters of 4-Hour Work Week. As hard as it is for me to imagine enjoying his company, Ferriss is nailing it.

Stepping Stones


02

Thursday, June 2, 2011 | 9:49 AM


Whatever you’re doing now is just a stepping-stone to the next project or adventure. Any rut you get into is one you can get yourself out of.

— Timothy Ferriss, 4-Hour Work Week

The Only Substitute for Time is Focus


06

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 | 9:44 AM


There is an inescapable setup time for all tasks, large or minuscule in scale. It is often the same for one as it is for a hundred. There is a psychological switching of gears that can require up to 45 minutes to resume a major task that has been interrupted.

— Timothy Ferris, 4-Hour Work Week

Of course, I interrupted the book I was reading to post and Tweet this.

Focus is hard.

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