The best gift I've ever received...

In the convoluted filing system that is my computer I have a file that is simply labelled “sayings” — it is the home of a collection of quotes and sayings. They were curated over almost a year; a dear friend would send them to me and I faithfully saved them. The topics range the motivational and inspirational spectrum: travel, inspiration, life, love, friendship, success, work, adversity, pithy quotes, and pithy insight. The file encompasses the human condition. Over the years I have used these quotes for inspiration, source material, motivation, and fond memories; sometimes I share them and sometimes I keep them for myself.

It’s a very dull day today, and although nothing is going wrong, nothing is really going right either so I found myself scouring my favourite file — as always it invoked grand memories of a deep friendship, and still inspires me to something bigger than myself. It has never failed me.

I settled on this quote today for no particular reason other than it felt right —

The greatest battle is not physical but psychological. The demons telling us to give up when we push ourselves to the limit can never be silenced for good. They must always be answered by the quiet the steady dignity that refuses to give in. Courage. We all suffer. Keep going. — Graeme Fife

As I ponder this I find myself focusing in on the words, “… answered by the quiet the steady dignity that refuses to give in”. A reminder of a strong character trait to be sure, but also a reminder of a cherished friendship that even after all of these years still encourages me be a better man. Innes was always good that way.

I have always cherished my friendships but at this time of the year I honour these gifts even more — some of my friends are no longer with us; some, because of time and distance, have become buried with my past; some are a phone call away — all have shaped who I have become, and I believe they have done a very good job.

A sincere thank you.

iamgpe

I'm working very hard to know nothing...

In one form or another there is a good chance you have seen the following quote if you’ve ever Googled Socrates or surfed for what seems to be an infinite number of motivational quotes —

“And in knowing that you know nothing, that makes you the smartest of all.”

You can’t but get philosophical when you spend some time thinking about this — the vastness of what you don’t know in the context of the universe is incomprehensible, and to think otherwise is at the very least limiting. More realistically though it’s just sorta stupid to believe you can actually know very much of anything; with 225 billion galaxies (and counting) how could you possibly imagine that you do? Of course you need to know things to make it through the day or maybe just to push back the insignificance that comes with 225 billion galaxies. But in the end, what you know is truly insignificant to the point of knowing nothing.

For someone who is always striving to look outside his small bubble and see things differently, I find this quote to be a simple instruction to that end (although I will admit it can be a challenge to execute on) — In knowing you know nothing you are in effect removing the blinders to improve your ability to know. It’s all very counter intuitive if you ask me.

When you allow yourself to know nothing you —

• Tear down preconceived notions

• Push back bias

• Break habits

• Push back fear

• Ask questions to learn more

• Understand others better

• Consider something you have never considered before

• Listen more and interrupt less

• End up knowing more

As I’ve suggested this is something that doesn’t come easily for me, but I have found that if I start the day telling myself that I know nothing or start a conversation from a place where I know nothing, I find that I see and learn much more than I thought possible.

As I like to say though (with a knowing smile), I’m a work in progress.

iamgpe

Energy, a Catch 22, and I suppose a good problem to have.

An opportunity cost is defined as something that is given up in order to acquire or achieve something else, and it’s something we deal with each day as we decide what needs to get done. Maybe it’s just me but I’ve always looked a this as an exercise in terms of time management — I don’t have time to do both so I have to pick one; mix in a little prioritization based on ROI, and “presto”, you have the to-do list to “make all your dreams come true”.

Recently it seems (in fact more and more ) I find myself with the time but literally saying to myself, “I just don’t have the energy”. What is shocking about this is it’s with respect to something I enjoy doing, and more specifically, my blogging and engagement on my social media platforms. And where this gets even crazier, my blogging and social media activity is a crucial component to my plan for success.

I find myself in an interesting situation where the success I’ve seen from my blogging and social media activity is directly impacting the energy needed to blog and engage — what kind of hellish “circular situation” is going on where my blogging leads to success and that success very impacts my ability to blog. I think I am actually experiencing a real life “Catch 22”.

catch-22 [catch-22] NOUN —a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.

By any definition this is what is called a “good problem” and I’ll work through it (with a smile on my face). As I dig into this I’ll need to look at what I’m actually doing to ensure I haven’t fallen into the habit of engaging with “non value added time wasters” (I mean, do I really need to watch that YouTube Top 10 best movie endings video); I’ll also review my time management/and efficiency to determine where I can improve. As I continue to ponder this situation though, what has really had me take pause is the consideration of the Energy to proverbially drive the engine and keep it going. It seems I have completely disregarded this.

A plan + OPEX +Time + Energy = Results *

Although there are some considerations I can come up with off the top of my head (such as getting enough sleep, eating properly, getting enough exercise, being mindful, meditating, not have your smart phone on your night table, et cetera), I realize I’ll need to expand my knowledge and understanding of this topic… as well as break some old habits because as you know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

At the core of this (and I know to be an absolute truism) — if I don’t deal with this good problem it could very easily become a bad problem.

iamgpe

* Yes it could be easily said this is too simple of an equation and doesn’t really illustrate the complexity of getting something done but I believe it’s directionally sound. I should also mention I just included OPEX to keep my finance friends happy.