One of the best ways to kick off the New Year, besides goal-setting, is to practice thankfulness for the positives in your life. What better way to put that into action than by giving thanks to the mentors who have influenced personal and professional growth? January is National Mentoring Month and, more specifically, January 21st is Thank Your Mentor Day. Mentoring has been proven to have positive effects, especially on young people. According to Mentoring.org, young adults who were at-risk for falling off track but had a mentor are: 55% more likely to enroll in college 78% more … [Read more...]
Look on the Bright Side
From Chapter 10 “Optimism/Enthusiasm” in Ingredients of Outliers. I imagine that, at one time or another, you’ve read or heard various definitions comparing optimism and pessimism. Perhaps the oldest and most familiar one involves a glass of water (or other beverage), which the optimist describes as half-full, and the pessimist as half-empty.Well, I recently heard of a young boy who turned that comparison upside down. After drinking half of his glass of milk, he set it down and announced: “I’m an optimist. My glass is half-empty.” Told that his view was pessimistic, he replied: … [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...]
The Secret to Learning = Curiosity
From Chapter 9 “Learning” in Ingredients of Outliers. A Key Ingredient Fair enough! But what’s the secret, the primary ingredient, to being a lifelong learner? The answer, of course, is curiosity! The 18th century English author Samuel Johnson called curiosity “the thirst of the soul.” Two centuries later American author William Arthur Ward described it as “the wick in the candle of learning.” And the late, great Walt Disney claimed that it “keeps leading us down new paths.” If asked to nominate one person who, perhaps more than any other, might epitomize the word “curiosity,” it … [Read more...]
Lessons We Learned from Kindergarten
From Chapter 9 “Learning” in Ingredients of Outliers. "Clean up your own mess." Nothing worthwhile is ever easy or without some messy situations. In business, making a mess of things occasionally is expected and probably necessary to move the business forward. There’s one caveat, however. You need to stick around and clean up the mess. In other words, don’t “pull a seagull”—swooping in, pooping all over everything, and flying away. Good leaders and good parents roll up their sleeves, as opposed to wringing their hands, and get dirty. Picking up the pieces helps you determine the root … [Read more...]
Learning: A Lifetime Pursuit
From Chapter 9 “Learning” in Ingredients of Outliers. I’m always amazed by the myriad of personalities encountered on any given day in the urgent care center or emergency department, at the office, or even when I’m simply out and about. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to learn a few things from the thousands of patients I’ve treated and the remarkable individuals I’ve met along the way. How is it that some people with serious acute or chronic diseases seem to accomplish so much, are very serene, and always upbeat? Why are some extremely accomplished individuals the most … [Read more...]