As defined by Wikipedia, “ an urban legend, urban myth, or a contemporary legend is a form of modern folklore consisting of apocryphal stories believed by their tellers to be true. They are often repeated in news stories, distributed by email…” I got one just yesterday. It was sent by a friend who had received it from a FOAF, a friend of a friend…. that’s how they go.
This legend, “Bill Gates 11 Rules of Life,” was attributed to Bill Gates. It was part of a speech he had allegedly given to a number of high school graduates in 2000. In fact, this was written by Charles Sykes, author of 50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School.
Legend or not, if you have kids or know people who have kids, the 11 Rules pretty well nail it. After you’ve read this, why not email it to a friend……..!
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Drew is a life/business coach, mentor, speaker and author... "inspiring others to look for the best within themselves." For details visit www.drewsimmie.com Follow him on twitter, facebook and LinkedIn.
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( 5 / 1 ) Click a star 1-5, left to right, to rate.So often it happens that we live out our lives in chains and we never know we have the key. From the song, Already Gone, by the Eagles.
We all need to grow. By nature we are creative beings, curious, always hungering for the new. We’re busy setting up the next goal or objective even as we achieve the one we had previously set. The interesting thing about goal setting, though, is not the goal itself, but whom we become on the way to attaining it.
Growing is about advancing, moving ahead. For many of us, growth leads to rewards like money, applause and all the other good things that can make life more fulfilling and easier. The trouble is that we can have all of that and still not be happy. Getting what we want or achieving specific goals can make us feel good, but, paradoxically, it can entrap us. Why is that?
It’s because meeting those goals can inhibit our growth if the actions we took to achieve them begin to over shadow the reasons for our going after them in the first place. Reasons like purpose, performance and contribution. These are the very same values that drove us to achieve our objectives in the first place.
Growing is inextricably linked with our ability to continue to learn, to adapt to change, to see the possibilities and seize new opportunities. But if we stop growing, we can’t see them and the opposite happens. Our life begins to diminish. Fear and doubt raise their ugly heads. Worst of all, we begin to lose our courage and question our own abilities and personal value.
We know we are no longer growing if we have stopped asking questions. If we can’t make allowances for ideas and opinions that are not ours, we’ll know we have stopped growing. Other signs of arrested growth include being critical, judgmental, intolerant and suspicious of others.
Locked in by our inability to change, frozen in time, we are unable to move ahead. In a futile attempt we try to maintain the status quo. We have become risk adverse. Taking risks isn’t only confined to business, though. It applies to everyday life and to our personal relationships as well.
Time waits for none of us. Life is full of risks, but the rewards of being willing to change; to take a risk can far outweigh the challenges. Jumping in, trying something new takes courage but jumping in is the way to start growing again.
The need to grow is nothing less than our love of life. It’s the desire to feel truly alive, to be here and now – each and every day, not in the past, because it’s already behind us, nor in the future, because it’s not here yet, but today. Now.
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Drew is a life/business coach, mentor, speaker and author... "inspiring others to look for the best within themselves." For details visit www.drewsimmie.com Follow him on twitter, facebook and LinkedIn.
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( 2.9 / 8 ) Click a star 1-5, left to right, to rate.
Some of you who are regular readers will recognize thetheme of this short post because I first wrote about it
last February.
I couldn’t resist revisiting the subject because of Conon O’Brien’s interview with the American comedian Louis CK. In the interview captured in this video, he is good naturedly poking fun at our rampant use of Blackberries and how addictive technology can be.
“Give it a break,” he implores us. Yeah, right.
Take a couple of minutes and watch the You Tube Video Everything’s Amazing and Nobody’s Happy. You’ll burst out laughing and may even recognize someone you know! Louis CK on Conan
As an aside, please note that have changed the schedule of my posts and am writing on Mondays and Thursdays.
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( 3.6 / 9 ) Click a star 1-5, left to right, to rate.It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail. Lech Walesa
Whenever you set out to accomplish something it’s good to remember that it’s probably going to take you longer than you thought and that the road to your success is sure to be bumpy.
It’s good to remember, as well, one of life’s old maxim’s that, “nothing that’s worth doing ever comes easy.” I don’t know why that is. That’s just the way life seems to go.
And to what Lech Walesa said, I would add one more thing – courage. Lech knows something about that. He jumped over a wall at the Gdansk shipyard in Poland and was instrumental in forming a movement that eventually brought down the Soviet empire.
Not bad for the son of a carpenter, an unassuming shipyard worker. Wouldn’t you think?
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( 3.3 / 6 ) Click a star 1-5, left to right, to rate.When you’re living in the city it’s not easy to find ‘peace and quiet.’ We’re constantly bombarded by noise and distraction. Both at work and at home, people are literally and metaphorically tugging at our sleeves, vying for our time and attention.
But we need quiet occasionally: To be able, if even for a short period of time, to be alone, to refresh our souls and collect our thoughts.
There are such places of tranquility and most of them are free. Take a stroll in a park, go to the library, sit in an empty church, get in your car and drive out into the country, meditate, take in a yoga class, go to a movie… anything that gives you a chance to ‘catch your breath,’ and slow down.
In our 24/7 world, recharging our batteries is a must.
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