Personal Development

  • Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – February 21st, 2021

    Click here to see some cool photos and videos from the Perseverance rover. 

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    Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

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  • When Texas Freezes Over

    As I write this, Texas has already cleared up and is warm again … but the effects of a week spent below freezing (with temperatures reaching below zero) will be felt for a long time. 

     

    210221 Texas Freeze_1via Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    Even though it had not snowed here in for several days, the Rolling Blackouts continued through the end of the week.  It is hard to believe Texas does not know how to handle six inches of snow.  Having grown up near Boston, I recognize that with no plows, no sanding, and no salt … you stand little chance of keeping the roads clear. At some level, it is just idiots slipping, sliding, and waiting for the sun to come out.  But who would have thought that would describe top leaders of the State and its ability to provide basic human needs like power, water, and heating (let alone WiFi and battery power)?

     

    210221 WiFi and Battery Power on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

    The ice storm and cold snap weren’t so bad for me (compared to some of the stories I’m hearing from other people in our office). Yes, we lost power, water, and the Internet … but only for a few isolated hours.  I was lucky (and so was our data center), but millions (including several Capitalogix employees) suffered due to lack of water, electricity, or heat, and to add insult to injury – burst pipes. 

    Despite the fact that the temperature is back in the high 50s, here is a photo I took at our local supermarket this weekend.  Let's say things aren't quite back to normal yet.

     

    210221 Empty Store Shelves

    I've seen a lot of political mudslinging from both sides trying to avoid blame.  The reality is that this mess is a disaster that doesn't need to be politicized (and should be used as the raw material to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again). While Texas rarely sees weather like this, this wasn't the first time we have, and it won't be the last. 

    Two major factors came into play.

    First, Texas chose to stay off the national grid to avoid federal regulation. The Texas grid is called ERCOT, and it is run by an agency of the same name — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. We joke about Texas seceding from the Union, but the reality is that many Texans are fiercely independent and crave less federal regulation (which is a discussion for another day) so the choice resonated with constituents.  Especially since Texas is a very energy-rich state.  Unfortunately, not being on the national grid means that when our grid is overtaxed, we're mostly on our own. In the winter of 2011, when our power sources couldn't keep up with needs we imported energy from Mexico to keep up, but this year much of Northern Mexico was struggling as well. 

    Second, Texas chose not to winterize its power sources. After 2011, a proposal was floated to winterize energy plants by adding insulation, heating pipes, etc. but it was very costly and wasn't adopted.   Many Texans (including politicians) were quick to blame it on the underperformance of renewables, but in this case, according to ERCOT,  natural gas, coal, and nuclear were affected. 

    All of these energy sources can be winterized, and renewables work fine even in Antarctica. This isn't an argument for renewables or for joining the national grid. Just an acknowledgment of the current situation. 

    ERCOT claimed that they were ready for the storm, and warned their plants to "winterize" how they could, but clearly, it wasn't enough. With more preparation locally and on the state level, Texans should be fine to handle these types of episodes in the future. With that said, it shouldn't take episodes like this to enact change. 

    Regardless, crises like this are opportunities to come together, and I've been very happy to see how many people have offered food, water, and their homes to people in need.

    Thank you to all who reached out to check in on us. 

     

  • Gong Xi Fa Cai & Happy Valentine’s Day

    Friday was the Lunar New Year. Normally, Jen and I would travel to Indonesia to spend it with her family, but it didn't happen this year. 

    Regardless, Gong Xi Fa Cai … which translates to "Best wishes for a prosperous New Year!"

    It's interesting to think about how many New Year celebrations there are.  In addition to Chinese New Year, Muslims have Hari Raya Idul Fitri; Jews have Rosh Hashanah; Persians have Nowruz; and of course, there is January 1st (and there are many others).

    Regardless of your chosen New Year, it provides an opportunity to celebrate, share, reflect, plan, and commit to the right actions.

    And how fitting for it to be Valentine's as well, so I can celebrate, share, etc. about Jen as well. 

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    I met Jennifer in April of 2004, and we got married in January of 2008. So, last month we celebrated our 13th anniversary. 

    On one hand, I can remember the day I met her like it was yesterday.  On the other hand, time feels like it's moving faster every day.

    Throughout these years, and especially in 2020, I remain thankful for her care, insight, presence, and patience. 

    As an entrepreneur, I have a "tense" problem.  For me, the future and present are often blended.  The present is my tool to create the future I imagine and desire.  Meaning, I imagine the future I want – and then I find the path to create (or manifest) that destiny. 

    Not surprisingly, some of the things that were easy to imagine were hard to bring into reality (in a reproducible, efficient, and effective manner or process) … And these things seem to take forever.  Yet, as long as you continue to make progress, the result is inevitable.

    I am consciously trying to be more mindful and grateful for the progress (and even the minor moments, wins, or curiosities) before me.  The truth is that if you fail to notice them, you don't experience them (even though they happened).

    Here is to experiencing all that you need or want.  And, as for the rest, I hope it serves as the raw material, learning, or fuel to get you there faster.

    Onwards!

  • Why Is Tom Brady So Good?

    In 2017, I wrote an article "asking" why the Patriots were so good. 

    It's now 2021 … Tom Brady and the Patriots have parted ways. The Patriots had a middling season – while Tom Brady, who is now the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, made it to his 10th Super Bowl appearance. 

    There is a difference between 'luck' and 'skill'.

    Both exist … yet, luck favors the prepared.

    In life, as in sports, hard work often beats talent (especially if talent fails to work hard).

    Don't get me wrong – all the commentary about the Patriots in 2017 is true. Bill Belichick is an amazing coach with a storied career (even without Brady). 

    But, when you see this picture from the 2000 NFL Combine, it's hard to believe that Tom Brady would be a 6-time Superbowl MVP taking the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl in his first year with them. All at the geriatric (for an NFL player) age of 43. 

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    via CBS Sports

    When I talked about the Patriots, I focused on the fact that they were a well-oiled machine with a powerful framework of success that allowed individual greatness to shine. 

    I think Brady's continued success is emblematic of that. 

    Tom Brady is a paragon of culture, process, and hard work. Much of his approach was molded by his time with Belichick, but of course, he gets enormous personal credit as well. 

    He expects the best of himself and brings out the best in his teammates. That's enabled him to stay a top-level competitor despite not being the strongest, fastest, or most mobile QB (and that was when he was young). 

    The System is the 'system'; but, within it, you can measure what works, who contributes, and use it to identify the best things to try next.

    Win, lose, or draw … some things speak for themselves.

  • Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – January 31st, 2020

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    Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

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  • Using Lenses To Create Finer Distinctions

    Wisdom comes from making finer distinctions … but that only happens after bringing some order to the chaos.

    I find myself relying on those ideas often because they have proven themselves in so many different situations. 

    There are many ways to create finer distinctions.  I shot a video that shares a couple of examples of how "changing the lens" you use to look at a problem helps you see and solve things differently and better. 

    Enjoy the video here.

    Learning to ask the right questions, change timeframes, and assess how you can best use emotions to identify key opportunities and challenges are all ways that will help guide you through uncertain territories.  The video goes through these (and a few other techniques) that you can use as a catalyst to your thinking and planning.

    It is easy to underestimate the value of a good idea.  Sometimes, it only takes one to change everything.

    Hope this helps.

    Let me know what you think.

  • Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – January 24th, 2021

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    Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

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  • Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – January 17th, 2020

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    Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

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  • Language Is A Limitation

    Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man. - Martin Heidegger

    Words are powerful. They can be used to define reality, obscure reality, or create reality. Words can be constructive or destructive … uplifting or demoralizing. 

    In a sense, the power of words is seemingly limitless.  But that power cuts both ways. Language is also the cause of many of our problems. 

    We created language to aid social interactions and to facilitate our understanding of the world.  However, language also remains a constraint in how we perceive the world and a limitation on our understanding of new things (e.g., ideas, advances in technology, etc.).

    Before I go into where language fails us, it’s important to understand why language is important.

    Language Facilitates Our Growth

    Because without our language, we have lost ourselves. Who are we without our words? – Melina Marchetta

     

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    Language is one of the major keys to advanced thought. As infants, we learn through watching our environment, reading faces, and learning to infer things from body language. As we begin to understand "language," our brains develop faster.  In this context, language isn't limited to the spoken word – intelligence grows with the catalyst of language, whether it's vocalized or not.

    It's this ability to cooperate and share expertise through language that has allowed us to build complex societies and advance technologically – but it is becoming an increasingly inadequate tool as the world becomes more complex.

    Language as a Limitation

    When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images. -Niels Bohr

    In Buddhism, there's the idea of an Ultimate Reality and a Conventional Reality. The Ultimate Reality is the objective nature of something, and the Conventional Reality is tied inextricably to our cognition – heavily influenced by our language.

    Language conveys cultural values and biases, personal values and biases, and influences how we perceive “reality.” Linguistic differences create a wedge between various political groups – even when people probably want similar things.  In these cases, differences in language and perception create strife (rather than define it). 

     

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    We use language and our past to sift and categorize existence into heuristics instead of exploring the true nature of things (in part because if you're trying to survive in the jungle, shortcuts increase your chance of survival by saving time and energy … and accuracy is secondary to survival). 

    On the other hand, when you're trying to expand the breadth and depth of humanities' capabilities, those same heuristics become shackles (or at least blinders). Ultimately, they can lead to issues like groupthink and echo chambers that limit not only innovation but communication. 

    Look at groups like Democrats v. Republicans or Israelis v. Palestinians. In reality, there are more similarities than differences. Nonetheless, on a day-to-day basis, each of them focuses more on their differences than finding collaborative solutions for life's tougher problems (or focusing on the things they do agree upon).

    Throwing rocks at our enemies also counterintuitively makes us feel better and promotes in-group unity. The problem is it comes at the cost of progress and true unity. 

    This is not to say that there aren't real (and important) differences between those groups. It simply recognizes that part of the problem is our willingness to accept "get-to-next" compromises rather than seeking understanding and committing to coming up with real and complete solutions.

    Humans Are The Real Black Box

    But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought - George Orwell

    People often refer to Artificial Intelligence as a "black box" – because the complexity and coding of the algorithms, etc. make it mysterious to a layman. But, Artificial Intelligence is programmed; it is precise and predictable. It is only influenced by the coding used to create it and the data fed to it; this creates its own form of transparency (and bias). 

    Meanwhile, humans are nuanced and (to some extent) non-rational creatures. We’re prone to cognitive biases, fear, greed, and discretionary mistakes. We create heuristics on previous experiences, and we can’t process information as cleanly or efficiently as a computer. 

    When humans explain their own behavior, they’re often inaccurate – what we hear is more likely a retrospective rationalization or confabulations than a summary and explanation of the choices they made.

    All-in-all, it results in a lot of confusion in trying to understand world events, each other, and even ourselves. 

    Conclusion

    I have friends on both sides of the political divide in America, and once you get past the rhetoric – there's a lot more in common than it seems. Excluding extremist groups, most are looking for unity, the "truth", and solutions to the problems in front of us.

    Conflict is often a symptom, not the disease.

    On a smaller scale, inside my company, I focus on creating a universal lexicon for our "intellectual shortcuts" because alignment starts with shared understanding.  If the language I'm using means something else to another team member, even if we think we're moving toward the same goal, we'll slowly stray further and further apart. 

    As a practical matter, spending too much time moving away from each other (or measuring the distance we are from each other) creates a self-fueling irritation that becomes increasingly annoying, and ultimately caustic. 

    Today's problems can't be fixed purely with semantics and semiotics, but they are not bad places to start. 

    If we start from a place of agreement and common desire to pursue something worthwhile, the distinctions will call us forward rather than pull us apart.

    I hope this helps.  Let me know what you think!

  • Changing Your Definition of “Resolution”

    Planning for 2021 is going well here.  How about for you?

    When doing this in a group (or with a team) a common challenge is "alignment".   This is tricky because you have to consider time frames, what you are optimizing for, and also for which "who" you optimizing (you, your customer, some other stakeholder, etc.).

    In other words, it's easy to seem like you agree (or are talking about the same thing) only to find out that you don't have the same target or that different factions want to walk different paths. 

    This year was the start of a new decade – even though it probably wasn't the start anyone asked for or had in mind. Nonetheless, 2020 is over and we can all agree that we want to make 2021 better than 2020.  To start that process, I want to focus on personal resolutions (separate from business resolutions).

     

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    Hopefully, you can use some of these concepts.

    • Focus on What You Want.
    • Focus on Why You Want It.
    • Focus on Ways You Might Get it.
    • Focus on Evidence of Progress.

    Below, I'll take you through an example of each of the four steps.

    Moving Towards a Solution, Rather Than Struggling with a Problem.

    In 2020, I made good strides towards being healthy, fit, and vital.  I started a health coaching program that helped me lose weight, gain muscle, and eat more intentionally.  In addition, I exercise smarter and more consistently, and many of my "labs" show marked improvement.  But, before I started making that progress, there was a trigger … someone who regularly gives me a massage told me I looked fat.  It hurt my feelings but it didn't meaningfully change my habits. 

    Frankly, knowing that "you're fat" isn't helpful … even translating that to something a tad more positive, yet generic, like "I choose to be healthy" isn't really helpful either.

    Blah, blah … They are just words. 

    What I needed was something specific, measurable, and actionable.  How about: "I will lose 15 pounds and stop eating after dinner."  OK, but that isn't inspiring, and there isn't much for me to do. I knew I could do better than that.

    Figure-Out a Big Enough WHY, Rather Than Worrying about the HOW's.

    This post isn't about health and fitness, it is about the mindset and techniques you can use to set empowering goals and plans in any situation.

    So, while I could list a lot of ways to lose weight; and I might even remember to do some of them … when you create a driving force, the momentum takes care of itself.  The first step in doing that is knowing WHY you want something.

    I really do want to be healthy, fit, and vital (it sure beats the alternatives), and I want to have the energy and confidence to live and enjoy my life fully.  The world is my playground, and I want to take advantage of more opportunities to play with family and friends.  In order to do those things, I must find better ways for me to live a healthy lifestyle.

    Of course, the "WHYs" are just as important for business goals too.

    Focus on Potential Solutions, Rather than Problems or Challenges.

    Obstacles Exist. The bad news: I don't eat fish and I don't like vegetables (unless French Fries are vegetables).  My joints aren't close to healthy from years of violent contact sports. I rarely get 7 hours of sleep, and my daily life is naturally stressful.  The good news: is none of those things matter … and even if they did, it just would mean that I have a lot of room for progress.

    It is natural to focus on obstacles. But most obstacles are surmountable – with a big enough WHY, even I'll start to eat vegetables. Instead of dwelling on the limitations,  use them as a reminder to focus on potential solutions instead. They are beacons, pointing the way.

    How do you do it?  To focus on solutions, you can make two action-based lists: one is of things To-Do … and another is of things Not-To-Do.

    Here are some of the sample To-Do Items:

    • I will drink more water than coffee.
    • I will stretch (or do basic calisthenics) on days that I don't go to the gym.
    • I will make a healthy shake as a meal replacement rather than as a meal supplement.
    • I will focus on relaxation and meditation as much (or more) as I focus on strength & physical exercises.

    Here is the actionable list of Not-To-Do Items.

    • I will not rely on stretchy pants (or buy new ones with a larger waistband) for comfort.
    • I will not eat snacks out of their container and will portion-out what I want first.
    • I will not compare my current level of fitness to what I used to be able to do. Instead, I will focus on my actions and improvement.

    Create Healthier Habits.

    It is easy to follow your routine.  So, make your routine better.  Here are some examples of things you could do to make being healthier happen with less effort.

    • Pre-sort your vitamins into daily doses, and keep them by the coffee machine.
    • Buy healthy snacks, like fruit, raw nuts, or organic energy bars (instead of chips).
    • Make "exercise time" the time you enjoy listening to music or listen to a book/podcast. Dedicating time to something doesn't mean you can't be multitasking.
    • Park at the end of the parking lot (so you get to walk) rather than trying to find the closest space.
    • Meet with friends at the gym, park, or at a hiking spot (rather than a bar or restaurant).

    You get the idea.  Get in the habit of looking for ways to create better habits.  What habits could you alter slightly, to make a big difference? 

    What things can you automate or outsource?

    One helpful tip I learned this year from Tiny Habits, is to start with something small and easy to do, and then build on it. After you've gotten good at creating the habit – you can change the frequency, duration, etc. 

    Focus on Your Progress.

    In this case, it really is about the journey.  Instead of keeping track of how far you have to go … notice how far you've come. Utilize an internal locus of control. It is about creating energy, momentum, and a sense of possibility.  You may have a big, hairy, audacious goal in mind.  That's fine, as long as you realize that reaching each milestone along the way is still an accomplishment.

    • Find shoes that don't hurt your feet.
    • Pick a gym or a personal trainer.
    • Run more than two laps without stopping.

    It doesn't matter what they are… they all count, as long as you know that you are moving in the right direction.

    Summary

    The point of this post was not really to focus on fitness. These techniques and goal-setting tools work in any situation. The principles are:

    1. First, figure out what you want, and why it is important to you. 
    2. Second, find something you can do, right now, which moves you in the right direction.
    3. Third, notice which things create (rather than take) energy. Spend your time on those, and automate or create routines to take care of the rest.
    4. Fourth,  plan forwards, but measure backward. Set milestones so that you can recognize and celebrate your progress.

    In business, this translates to Capitalogix having a mission and vision – it's what we want, and why it's important to us. I then create a yearly "Big 3" goals that move us toward that long-term vision. My team creates SMARTs (goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely) and KPIs (key performance indicators) so they know where to spend their time, and what milestones tell them they're on the right track.

    Hope this helped.