Know the Best Decision then MAKE It

There's a great interview with investor, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, and founder of Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio available online. While promoting his new book, Principles: Life and Work, Dalio reveals the fundamentals that made his company, which oversees $150 Billion in assets, such a success.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz_PzdVJxB0 

"Most importantly, you have to know what the best decisions are and then you have to have the courage to make them."

His point is there is a profound divide between knowing what to do and doing it. The two are not binary. 

Creative Expression Matters

Today, the remarkable advances in how the world communicates has given birth to an overabundance of ways for us to share our stories.  There is a global platform that allows people everywhere to tell us who they are and what defines them.  Human rights movements have been energized on Facebook.  Millions of people hang on the 140-character thoughts of their favorite TV personality, entrepreneur, or author on Twitter.  Artists of all mediums can better publicize their work through social media resources, many of which are free.  We are living during an exceptional time of opportunity, bold ideas, and collaborative potential.  
     

If you doubt that art has played a role in this Renaissance of innovation and think that creative expression only belongs in drab black box theaters, fine art galleries, or exhibition halls, I encourage you to take a closer look.  If for example, you own a MacBook, you are the proprietor of an idea, not a product.  Many are already well versed with how a small calligraphy course at Reed College in 1974 influenced the creative vision of Steve Jobs, or how a stylized stencil image of then presidential hopeful Barack Obama conceived by street artist Shepard Fairey galvanized a call for change.  The truth is that art, which is to say the expression of imagination, has profound importance in our world.

It's the Little Things

Last night I went home to visit my dad who'd just returned from a long trip. I hadn't seen him for 6 weeks and could tell he was happy to see me.  

As we get older our lives get busier, our priorities change, and sometimes important relationships get overlooked. It is for precisely these reasons why making a little extra effort can have such a profound influence.

It may be handwriting a letter instead of sending an email. Calling to check on someone instead of texting. Putting in another hour of rehearsal, or driving a few miles out of your way to check on a loved one.

You may not realize it, but the quality of your attention can have enormous value.

Think Like Toni Erdmann

Last night I saw a terrific movie called, Toni Erdmann. I thought the film was actually quite profound making me consider the “bigger picture,” without hand-feeding me a message; a true testament of excellent writing.

Strangely enough, I found myself losing that perspective almost instantly when I returned home. My furniture was everywhere because of renovations and I thought for a moment I'd overlooked my flight schedule.

I wondered how everything could be going swimmingly one minute and than be in complete disarray another. How much of it was self-imposed, I later thought to myself.

I suppose the lesson was to know that life can change on a dime and we have to have the flexibility to think flexibly when it does. 

As a result, we’re more likely to keep our poise and think clearly. At least that’s how I think Toni Erdmann might approach it.

Lessons Learned Traveling the World

Last summer, I had the great fortune of traveling to several countries in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It was an opportunity to re-connect with friends, see parts of the world I hadn't visited before, and much needed reflection.

I wrote each day about my journey, while asking someone in each new place for the best piece of advice someone had ever given them. The insights were profound, while refreshingly simple.

http://www.worldambler.com/ 

On the very last day of my journey I found myself in Warsaw, Poland. My final discovery was perhaps the most poignant -- at least at the time:

Living life on your own terms, which is to say, an existence of nonconformity is like any other meaningful pursuit. It takes practice and time to hone your craft. But in time, you slowly get better and better, eventually skilled at shooing away the chatter and noise of those who project their own fears and failures upon you. The notion that you must live a certain type of life wanes in its ability to ruffle you because you have become a master craftsman in living life the way you see fit.