Prove Me Wrong: All Of Life Is A Game Of Luck
You were born with a functional brain.You were born outside of a warzone.You were born as a human being with opposable thumbs.You were born right here, in this century.You were born with the desire to improve yourself and the world.You were born with enough resources to get the traction to start making things happen in your life.You were born with the opportunities to learn social skills.You were born with the opportunities to work for a living.I could keep going, but I think you get the point.You're lucky. I'm lucky. Most of us are lucky.All those thoughts in your head that tell you the opposite aren't considering the whole context.And without getting into the long explanation of the subtle, nuanced interaction between DNA and environment . . . I think we can all appreciate how much luck we had before we even started.
2 Minute Action
Reframe your thoughts for the next 2 minutes.
- What ways have you been successful?
- What gifts have you been given?
- What opportunities do you have?
Reflect on this and it will turn it into positivity and optimism.That optimism will quickly turn it into your fuel for the day.Go get 'em.
How To Climb A Slippery, 3,200’ Granite Wall With No Ropes
To most people, risk just looks like chance.Luck.Rolling the dice.
But this isn’t how “lucky” people operate.
The reality is, that while chance can play a role, most “lucky” people set themselves up to be that way.They practiced and practiced and practiced until they felt confident in their abilities.They had run the course so many times that doing it on race day just felt like another day.The risk was more visible.
The risk was minimized.
Alex Honnold climbed El Capitan, which is about 3,200 ft of slippery granite, in about 4 hours without any ropes.While there are some clearly dangerous factors, he had climbed the route many times over the course of 8 years and knew every pitch well.When it was time, he already knew he could do it.He had done it so many times already.He was able to believe and trust in himself.
2 Minute Action
What is a risk you could take in your life, right now?Can you rehearse some or all of it?Could you role play with a friend? Could you do it with a safety net until you get the hang of it?Take 2 minutes to break down this risky maneuver into smaller, safer pieces.Stringing them together will feel very different from approaching it all at once with no practice.
How To Survive In The Information Age
We have a TON of information at our fingertips.
Some of it is true.Some of it is not.Some of it appears true but after some training, we can see it's false.Some of it isn't true or false.Some of it was once true and isn't anymore.Some of it requires a lot of time to understand.Some of it requires a lot of intelligence to understand.
Here's the punchline:
We've got a ton of "information" to filter through.The hard part isn't finding data, it's analyzing it.It's what we choose to believe.And if you haven't developed a good information filter, you'll be overwhelmed by the firehose through which it comes.What's important is constantly refreshing your version of reality based on the most up-to-date and the most ruthlessly investigated information.Else, your business becomes less useful, your expertise becomes obsolete, and the quality of your output degrades.That's right. Refreshing your version of reality.Piece of cake, right?
2 Minute Action
Here are 5 questions you can ask yourself to get closer to understanding how to improve your information filter and keep learning.
- What's something you once believed to be true but don't anymore?
- What experiences or people helped change your mind?
- When was the last time you were so surprised because you learned something new?
- What kind of people were around you when you had these experiences?
- Why were you there in the first place?
Take a look at these answers and you might see something emerge--maybe a pattern.Now that you have some insight, it's up to you to put yourself in a position where you're more likely to be lucky.