Power of focus and striving for excellence
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I love books that teach me something and/or motivate me to go further. I've always liked Brian Tracy's books for those reasons but I just stumbled upon his latest offerring at Barnes & Noble: Bull's-Eye : The Power of Focus by Brian Tracy - amazon[^] It's a short book weighing in at only 116 pages but when I turned to the page that said:
You will oly be really successful and happy when you become excellent at something
I was sold on the book. You become great at things when you strive for excellence. many of you have read this stuff other places but I am really enjoying the book. He also mentions the current belief that the 1-percenters make all the money. He says, actually it's the 20-percenters -- About 20% of people are excellent at what they do and earn the top money. Great stuff. Has anyone else read it?
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You are right. Focus by Goleman is fantastic. I will check out the Flow book. Thanks. And we should have a CP Bookclub. Great idea. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
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I love books that teach me something and/or motivate me to go further. I've always liked Brian Tracy's books for those reasons but I just stumbled upon his latest offerring at Barnes & Noble: Bull's-Eye : The Power of Focus by Brian Tracy - amazon[^] It's a short book weighing in at only 116 pages but when I turned to the page that said:
You will oly be really successful and happy when you become excellent at something
I was sold on the book. You become great at things when you strive for excellence. many of you have read this stuff other places but I am really enjoying the book. He also mentions the current belief that the 1-percenters make all the money. He says, actually it's the 20-percenters -- About 20% of people are excellent at what they do and earn the top money. Great stuff. Has anyone else read it?
newton.saber wrote:
You will oly be really successful and happy when you become excellent at something
Like typing? ;) What about "I strive to excel at being mediocre?" In all seriousness, I would actually disagree with his definition of happiness. It's a cliche, but I tend to be happiest when I'm striving towards, well, if not excellence, at least a decent understanding (for example, I'm working on getting RabbitMQ working on a Beaglebone Black right now.) Honestly, once I achieve some degree of success, I'm usually off discovering something else, and that's where I find happiness, at least one form. I also find happiness in playing with my cats and having a great relationship with my gf, and quite frankly, being "excellent" at a relationship takes two to tango, especially in my less than excellent moments, haha. Marc
Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project!
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I love books that teach me something and/or motivate me to go further. I've always liked Brian Tracy's books for those reasons but I just stumbled upon his latest offerring at Barnes & Noble: Bull's-Eye : The Power of Focus by Brian Tracy - amazon[^] It's a short book weighing in at only 116 pages but when I turned to the page that said:
You will oly be really successful and happy when you become excellent at something
I was sold on the book. You become great at things when you strive for excellence. many of you have read this stuff other places but I am really enjoying the book. He also mentions the current belief that the 1-percenters make all the money. He says, actually it's the 20-percenters -- About 20% of people are excellent at what they do and earn the top money. Great stuff. Has anyone else read it?
I observe that hypothesizing a causal relationship between skills, talents, and achievements, with happiness and wealth, is a frequent activity of those who do not currently embody, or possess, any of those attributes. If I needed motivational drugs, I'd probably look in the section marked "Research Based:" [^], rather than the "Selling Water by the River" section :)
«I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center» Kurt Vonnegut.
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I love books that teach me something and/or motivate me to go further. I've always liked Brian Tracy's books for those reasons but I just stumbled upon his latest offerring at Barnes & Noble: Bull's-Eye : The Power of Focus by Brian Tracy - amazon[^] It's a short book weighing in at only 116 pages but when I turned to the page that said:
You will oly be really successful and happy when you become excellent at something
I was sold on the book. You become great at things when you strive for excellence. many of you have read this stuff other places but I am really enjoying the book. He also mentions the current belief that the 1-percenters make all the money. He says, actually it's the 20-percenters -- About 20% of people are excellent at what they do and earn the top money. Great stuff. Has anyone else read it?
:doh: Those that can do. Those that can't write about it. Then they write about it again. And again. And again. All such books are bollocks dressed up as wisdom in order to empty your coffers and swell the author's pockets. Snake oil is alive and well and just one-click away on Amazon.
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I observe that hypothesizing a causal relationship between skills, talents, and achievements, with happiness and wealth, is a frequent activity of those who do not currently embody, or possess, any of those attributes. If I needed motivational drugs, I'd probably look in the section marked "Research Based:" [^], rather than the "Selling Water by the River" section :)
«I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center» Kurt Vonnegut.
I just know that when I was younger I wasn't any good at anything and then something happened when I got involved with computers and learned that I could actually make something. That's when everything took off for me and I learned what being happy actually meant. Of course that is separate from money. Money doesn't make you happy, but of course not having enough of it can make you very sad. :)
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:doh: Those that can do. Those that can't write about it. Then they write about it again. And again. And again. All such books are bollocks dressed up as wisdom in order to empty your coffers and swell the author's pockets. Snake oil is alive and well and just one-click away on Amazon.
I know there are a lot of slick-oil salesmen out there. I agree. However, I now people who are so bummed out that they can't even take basic steps towards anything resembling success. I was that way long ago when I started computer programming on my own with QuickBasic and QuickC. I knew nothing and I was told by by public school teachers I'd never get anywhere because my math skills were so bad. I needed a plan until I could make my own plan and that is what I see the book as.
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I love books that teach me something and/or motivate me to go further. I've always liked Brian Tracy's books for those reasons but I just stumbled upon his latest offerring at Barnes & Noble: Bull's-Eye : The Power of Focus by Brian Tracy - amazon[^] It's a short book weighing in at only 116 pages but when I turned to the page that said:
You will oly be really successful and happy when you become excellent at something
I was sold on the book. You become great at things when you strive for excellence. many of you have read this stuff other places but I am really enjoying the book. He also mentions the current belief that the 1-percenters make all the money. He says, actually it's the 20-percenters -- About 20% of people are excellent at what they do and earn the top money. Great stuff. Has anyone else read it?
It might make you feel good to say that the top 20% of individuals work the hardest and therefor make the most money but that doesn't make it true http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneywisewomen/2012/03/21/average-america-vs-the-one-percent/[^] The fact is that hard work doesn't always translate into compensation. While it certainly is true that 20% of the workers produce 80% of the output, let's not fantasize that this productivity translates into high compensation.
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It might make you feel good to say that the top 20% of individuals work the hardest and therefor make the most money but that doesn't make it true http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneywisewomen/2012/03/21/average-america-vs-the-one-percent/[^] The fact is that hard work doesn't always translate into compensation. While it certainly is true that 20% of the workers produce 80% of the output, let's not fantasize that this productivity translates into high compensation.
Is your reasoning then that we should confiscate the top 1%'s wealth and hand it to other people? Of course those who work hardest and do the greatest work of all are not always compensated the best. I don't know if you've noticed but the world isn't fair and even the rotten people who claim they will make it fair will generally only make it "fair" for themselves. The things to focus on are: 1. strive for excellence 2. get skills that make you valuable Then, you are more likely to be able to : 1. go to jobs that appreciate you and reward you. 2. leave jobs that are terrible That's all. Nothing more. EDIT: I read over that stupid little article and I see that all it does is further the misery of those who are miserable. It offers them no help. Instead it offers only the journalists (who is making money writing the article) more misery, in it's own words:
If the Occupy movement does nothing else, it has at least introduced a new set of terms into the American vocabulary
Oh, yes, those miserable people need more miserable words to describe their miserable lives. Idiot journalist! Why not do something to help them make a difference in the world? Oh, no they cannot be called upon to actually work to earn their own way.
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Is your reasoning then that we should confiscate the top 1%'s wealth and hand it to other people? Of course those who work hardest and do the greatest work of all are not always compensated the best. I don't know if you've noticed but the world isn't fair and even the rotten people who claim they will make it fair will generally only make it "fair" for themselves. The things to focus on are: 1. strive for excellence 2. get skills that make you valuable Then, you are more likely to be able to : 1. go to jobs that appreciate you and reward you. 2. leave jobs that are terrible That's all. Nothing more. EDIT: I read over that stupid little article and I see that all it does is further the misery of those who are miserable. It offers them no help. Instead it offers only the journalists (who is making money writing the article) more misery, in it's own words:
If the Occupy movement does nothing else, it has at least introduced a new set of terms into the American vocabulary
Oh, yes, those miserable people need more miserable words to describe their miserable lives. Idiot journalist! Why not do something to help them make a difference in the world? Oh, no they cannot be called upon to actually work to earn their own way.
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Is your reasoning then that we should confiscate the top 1%'s wealth and hand it to other people? Of course those who work hardest and do the greatest work of all are not always compensated the best. I don't know if you've noticed but the world isn't fair and even the rotten people who claim they will make it fair will generally only make it "fair" for themselves. The things to focus on are: 1. strive for excellence 2. get skills that make you valuable Then, you are more likely to be able to : 1. go to jobs that appreciate you and reward you. 2. leave jobs that are terrible That's all. Nothing more. EDIT: I read over that stupid little article and I see that all it does is further the misery of those who are miserable. It offers them no help. Instead it offers only the journalists (who is making money writing the article) more misery, in it's own words:
If the Occupy movement does nothing else, it has at least introduced a new set of terms into the American vocabulary
Oh, yes, those miserable people need more miserable words to describe their miserable lives. Idiot journalist! Why not do something to help them make a difference in the world? Oh, no they cannot be called upon to actually work to earn their own way.
No, I didn't say any of those things; you are inferring. I'm merely stating the fact that hard work very rarely translates into high compensation and the idea that hard work leads to success is a myth. Wealth and success have much more to do with who you know and what opportunities you had available to you than all your hard work, effort, and technical skill combined.
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newton.saber wrote:
You will oly be really successful and happy when you become excellent at something
Like typing? ;) What about "I strive to excel at being mediocre?" In all seriousness, I would actually disagree with his definition of happiness. It's a cliche, but I tend to be happiest when I'm striving towards, well, if not excellence, at least a decent understanding (for example, I'm working on getting RabbitMQ working on a Beaglebone Black right now.) Honestly, once I achieve some degree of success, I'm usually off discovering something else, and that's where I find happiness, at least one form. I also find happiness in playing with my cats and having a great relationship with my gf, and quite frankly, being "excellent" at a relationship takes two to tango, especially in my less than excellent moments, haha. Marc
Imperative to Functional Programming Succinctly Contributors Wanted for Higher Order Programming Project!
I think that's satisfying your curiosity. You're an excellent programmer, do you not derive any happiness from that? I'm in the perfect job where I work where I wear multiple hats, but I don't excel at any of them right now. (thanks to this site I pass for a programmer) I miss the days when I worked on the floor where I could refine my more focused duties and work on the precision to make things as efficient as possible.
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No, I didn't say any of those things; you are inferring. I'm merely stating the fact that hard work very rarely translates into high compensation and the idea that hard work leads to success is a myth. Wealth and success have much more to do with who you know and what opportunities you had available to you than all your hard work, effort, and technical skill combined.
Okay, sorry. My point is that the people who tend to try to make things fair also contribute to the problem by inspiring people to do less rather than believe they can actually build a life of their own. It's frustrating since I too was on my own and considered a loser by all measures of society. Then the (almost) universal freedom of learning to program computers actually allowed me to move toward excellence -- though definitely not riches.
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Okay, sorry. My point is that the people who tend to try to make things fair also contribute to the problem by inspiring people to do less rather than believe they can actually build a life of their own. It's frustrating since I too was on my own and considered a loser by all measures of society. Then the (almost) universal freedom of learning to program computers actually allowed me to move toward excellence -- though definitely not riches.
And I have no doubt that your hard work, dedication, and diligence contributed (if not led entirely) to your current success. I'm no social justice warrior myself, but I have a hard time reconciling the fact that many of my peers, who work long hours framing houses or laying brick or wiring commercial real estate earn a tiny fraction of my salary. Ive happened upon great opportunities in the IT industry and I'm grateful for that fact, but I bear no illusion that because my industry pays a substantially better wage that it somehow makes me a better citizen, friend, or human being.
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And I have no doubt that your hard work, dedication, and diligence contributed (if not led entirely) to your current success. I'm no social justice warrior myself, but I have a hard time reconciling the fact that many of my peers, who work long hours framing houses or laying brick or wiring commercial real estate earn a tiny fraction of my salary. Ive happened upon great opportunities in the IT industry and I'm grateful for that fact, but I bear no illusion that because my industry pays a substantially better wage that it somehow makes me a better citizen, friend, or human being.
There are way too many factors to consider to figure out one way or the other. No one said that people who make more money are better people. There are terrible people and good people within every level of the economic hierarchy.
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And I have no doubt that your hard work, dedication, and diligence contributed (if not led entirely) to your current success. I'm no social justice warrior myself, but I have a hard time reconciling the fact that many of my peers, who work long hours framing houses or laying brick or wiring commercial real estate earn a tiny fraction of my salary. Ive happened upon great opportunities in the IT industry and I'm grateful for that fact, but I bear no illusion that because my industry pays a substantially better wage that it somehow makes me a better citizen, friend, or human being.
Wow, having read the entire thread, this one paints the picture. First, understand that how much we get paid = Salary + Rent. Michael Jordan, for example, made a normal Salary, but a huge RENT. Rent in this economic sense is the "additional" you pay for a particular piece of property. In Jordans case, it is how much more you are willing to pay to have his name attached. The same thing works in every career. There is a base amount of salary it takes to put someone in the chair. The additional amount a company is willing to pay is to get the Specific Features and Benefits that a particular PERSON, DEGREE or SKILL SET brings to the table. This is the RENT side of the equation. Everyone's goal should be to make the rent side over the salary side. Big Data, right now, pays a bigger rent! Salary is what you make to show up. Now, your friend, who is a hard working "hard working construction worker" is working a LOW RENT Job. And a series of them. And with PERSPECTIVE, working TOO HARD at it. The challenge is that the Salary portion is beat down from competition, and then there is little left to pay RENT on. Either the framing of the house is decent or not. It is not making/breaking the builder. My father is a Master Electrician. We grew up quite poor. And over time, I realized because he was more interested in being busy, than making a good RENT, and charging more. He would do work so reasonably, he would often lose money on a job, but felt good about it. (He grew up on a farm, and valued hard work over cash. I grew up pretty poor, and valued hard work + cash. I have plenty of both now, LOL). You friend is choosing to do work that does not pay well. Then he is choosing to work harder at it. He needs to change how he charges, or who he works for, or what he wants to do. But I bet he loves what he does, and he is happy probably doing it. But make no mistake about it. You are getting paid RENT for your ability to work with computers. I can't hit a baseball, or shoot a basketball very well. We all have our own talents. Some talents can get paid well, some cannot (think babysitter). But the caveat to your last sentence is that your friend is a good friend, citizen, etc. He probably just wants for money.
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I just know that when I was younger I wasn't any good at anything and then something happened when I got involved with computers and learned that I could actually make something. That's when everything took off for me and I learned what being happy actually meant. Of course that is separate from money. Money doesn't make you happy, but of course not having enough of it can make you very sad. :)
Whatever path led you to feel self-confident, and happy, I am happy you found it ! cheers, Bill
«I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center» Kurt Vonnegut.