From Chapter 11 “Perspective” in Ingredients of Outliers. Life is simply about perspective. If ranked, this is the most important of all the lessons I’ve learned. Simply changing your perspective changes everything. For example, I recently had a patient who was in moderate respiratory distress from the pulmonary embolism we diagnosed in the emergency department. He was also dying of colon cancer. When I told him about this latest diagnosis, he said, “Whew, at least I’m still on the right side of the turf.” For most of us—me included—the thought of a pulmonary embolism would be … [Read more...]
The Books You Read
From Chapter 9 “Learning” in Ingredients of Outliers. The Books You Read Reading is another great way to continue the learning process. Back in Chapter 6, I introduced you to the late, great motivational speaker, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones. In addition to his speaking career, Jones was the CEO of Executive Books, a company he founded in 1966. Books were his passion and everywhere he went he’d proclaim: “You’re the same today as you’ll be five years from now except for two things, the people you meet and the books you read.” Over the years, his company, recently renamed … [Read more...]
A Tremendous Example
From Chapter 6, "Imperturbability: Staying Calm" in Ingredients of Outliers The Poet The second nineteenth century figure I referred to earlier was Rudyard Kipling, whose poems have long been staples in English literature classes. They include “Mandalay” and “Gunga Din,” both based on military life in British-colonial India, where Kipling grew up. The latter poem, which ends with these famous words: “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din,” was twice the subject of Hollywood films. Released in 1939, the first one featured such well-known film stars of the day … [Read more...]
Tips for Lifelong Learning! Staying young while becoming wiser in the process:
If there is one thing I’ve found in my life, one piece of advice that I can pass over to you today it is, never stop learning. I don’t care if you have 12 Masters degrees and have written one thousand award-winning books, there is always something new to learn. If you’re wise, the learning process shouldn’t stop the day you bid the campus farewell. That diploma or degree may testify that you’ve been educated, but education and wisdom aren't the same thing, nor are education and learning synonymous. Keeping up with your studies during critical developmental ages, which are actually post high … [Read more...]