Focus on the Keys to Success
If I had all the answers, I probably wouldn’t be living in an apartment in New York City. I’d be governor or senator or the creator of Google or something. But I don’t. Not many of us do. But one thing I know is how to not find the answers.
What’s the key to success? I believe 37 Signals, a brilliant cloud-based apps designed to assist in collaboration, information sharing and making decision for people and businesses, has that answer.
Useful is forever – Bells and whistles wear off, but usefulness never does. We build useful software that does just what you need and nothing you don’t.
It works for them (and by the way, I am a business and personal user of their Basecamp app), and I believe it works for life too. I have made no secret that I have a lot of passions and sometimes that has gotten the best of me. I like do put my time into a lot of different things. I love sports and politics and education and art and exercise and the study of life. But there is not enough time in the day for me to do all those things. Therefore I have had to pair down what I do.
Sports. I used to watch a lot and know all the pertinent stats. Now, if you ask me, I couldn’t tell you who won the NCAA Men’s Tournament last year. I have changed that value. I still love sports, but I don’t devote my limited resources to as much of the game and facts. This has given me more time for …
Politics. I have always cared and always will about politics and policy. Election years are always fun for me especially as a past candidate but with my recent addition of an iPhone to my life, I am able to read more about current news than ever.
Education. This can be taken one of two ways. I love learning and I love learning about learning. The latter is new to my life so I have had to change my devotion to …
Art. I used to do a fair amount of photography and painting. Since moving to New York City, I have done a bit of photography, but no painting. Whether it is an energy, or a time thing, I just haven’t felt the desire to pick up a brush. But that’s okay because I need that time to …
Exercise. Obviously I am training for a marathon. And if you have never done that, it takes a lot of time to do so. But I’m enjoying that journey. But that still leaves …
Life. I need to live and so do you.
That’s why you need to know what your life is going to be about so you can cut out the things that don’t fit into the core of your app; your life. Once you strip the bells and whistles, you will be able to make more possible in your life.
(photo credit: jayneandd)
Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird
I am happy to say that I am no longer someone who hasn’t read Harper Lee’s
To Kill a Mockingbird. I can now talk to my former English teacher without shame. Of course, I’m sure she has another book for me to read, but I finished this assignment!
While it may have taken me 28 years to pick this one up, I’m glad I did. It’s been on my list for awhile and perhaps it was a good idea to wait. I say that because when I was speaking recently with a friend about it, she responded that she should probably read it again as she has grown a lot since the last time she read it. I didn’t understand that at the time, but now that I have finished it, I do.
The book, if you haven’t read it, it very well written. The writing is superb. It kept me, a mind wanderer, focused on the characters. It included great foreshadowing and while I wasn’t around in the 1930s in the South, it felt like I was there. It felt like I was living with Jem and Scout and Atticus.
“[...] librarians across the country gave the book the highest of honors by voting it the best novel of the twentieth century.” While I don’t agree with that statement, I am glad I read this.
The book showed how three people can not only have a certain image of the world they live in, but also have an image of each other and over the course of time, the events in their lives change who they are. Or perhaps, it helps them become who they were meant to be.
I can’t say for sure and I have never been one to interpret literature properly, but I do believe that Lee created a world of change. Of growth. A situation where bad things happen and through the experience of life in the South, Jem, Atticus, Boo and Scout all become new, and perhaps better people.
To Kill a Mockingbird is definitely a classic and I will always recommend it, if for no other reason then you can identify with someone in this book. Try it. Sit in the courtroom while every waits with baited breath … you’ll feel the tension and yourself changing right along with the characters.
FOCUS: Love Always!
Selected Life Lesson
Life is too short so make sure to tell the people you care about what’s on your mind and that you love them.
-Kim S’ Life Lesson from Hiawatha, Iowa
Richard’s Thoughts…
Since this week’s lesson is about life being short and encouraging you to tell the people around you that you care about them and love them, that is all I am going to say. Go. Tell them. Now.
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