Arbitrary Deadlines

“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.” -Jerzy Gregorek Most of us loathe deadlines. But when they’re put upon us by someone else (i.e. work or school), we suck it up and make our deadlines. Because we don’t really have a choice. Arbitrary deadlines are so much harder. Because we can choose. They’re arbitrary.Continue reading “Arbitrary Deadlines”

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“It Is What It Is”

I’ve uttered this phrase a lot in 2020. Not sure the derivation. Not sure the why. I just say it. Out loud. And it’s strangely comforting. My guess is that its related to what the Stoics termed “The Art of Acquiescence.” Letting go. Acknowledging that while things are not what we want them to be,Continue reading ““It Is What It Is””

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Don’t Calculate

“Nobody knows anything.” -William Goldman We don’t get to decide how or if our art will be remembered. If it’ll have staying power. If we’ll have any kind of legacy. It’s not up to us. Thus, we should spend zero time calculating. Zero time trying to please. Zero time trying to reach a certain demographic.Continue reading “Don’t Calculate”

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Checklist

The surgeon and writer, Atul Gawande, recently did an excellent “Armchair Expert” podcast episode. He discussed, among many interesting topics, the power and results from having a simple checklist prior to operations. One amazing stat: the number of surgery-related deaths was reduced by nearly 50% in hospitals that employed a checklist. 50%! The checklist containsContinue reading “Checklist”

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Meaningful Work

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.” -Colossians 3:23 Sonya: “Well. Uncle! Now. What shall we do?” Vanya: “Work.” Sonya: “Yes!” -Excerpt from the play Uncle Vanya, by Anton Chekov The Vietnamese Thien Buddhist monk and pease activist, Thich Nhat Hanh, once wrote, “There is no way to happiness, happiness is theContinue reading “Meaningful Work”

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Not A Commodity

Information is a commodity. It didn’t use to be the case. But thanks to the internet, it is now. What’s not a commodity and never will be? The application of that information. Synthesis. Understanding and communicating the information. Deciding to take action. Even if you don’t have all the information. Even if things might notContinue reading “Not A Commodity”

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