> whether existence itself is all that different from nonexistence
Now that’s an interesting proposition.

Nice quotes.

I’m a fan of changing the game through effective thinking techniques. I’m really a fan of test-driven results and measuring against effectiveness.

Information is easy to share, but knowledge, experience, and wisdom are tough. I think the key is remembering that learning goes through stages: intellectual, emotional. and physical … so just knowing isn’t the same as doing, isn’t the same as hindsight.

I continue to be a fan of leadership skills because I think leading a life of action and lifting others up through skills for thinking, feeling, and doing radically changes the game (or at least it’s a fun ride.)

@ Jimmy

It sounds like the book was great for improving your self-awareness. It sounds like you’ve been able to use changing focus to break up rumination. That’s one way. I think the other key way is disputation (arguing against your automatic negative thoughts.)

@ Chris

You highlighted a very interesting pattern that I’ve hit myself. Sometimes I have to remind myself to look at “what is” vs. what things should be or shouldn’t be. Resistance is an interesting lens and it reminds me that what we resist, persists.

@ Jannie

Sounds like you found the sunny side of life. For me, I find the key is looking at problems as challengs and taking action. I have a bias for action that serves me well.

@ Nadia

I think you’re right. It’s a skill thing. I think people do the best they can with what they’ve got and if they don’t know a better technique, they’ll just use whatever they grew up with.

I have a new lens on negativity. What I used to think was negative was potentially healthy argumentation in disguise. The way some people argue though ends up negative. It’s another area where skilled argumentation can make arguments a pleasurable exploration instead of a battle of the witts, egos, or personal attacks.

I have noticed the same thing too. Some people do dwell on the bad things in their life to such an extent that is paralyzes them. That said, I do think that many people who do ruminate on the negative do not know any better. If people knew better, they would do better. I think what is more important is that people should become aware of the fact that anything in life is possible.

In our world, the negative is always endorsed whether it is on the news or in a movie or in a song. Negativity is more respected than being positive in our world. I speak from experience. As an optimist, I am constantly made to feel that I am weird or not with it. While those who are cynics tend to be viewed as being intelligent.

So I think one way to stop the rumination of the negative is for our world to start focusing on the positive that is out there.

Hope all is awesome!

In business articles, the words manager, leader, executive, and administrator are often used as if they were more or less interchangeable. Yet people with business experience recognize the vast difference in talent implied between calling someone a “real leader” or “just a manager.” But what is it that determines such a distinction, and could it help identify critical competencies and clarify vital responsibilities? Based upon many years of observing management practice in a wide range of institutions, we believe there are some important and useful distinctions between the capabilities and talents needed by administrators, managers, executives and leaders in order to be successful.

An administrator is one who directs others in the pursuit of ends by the use of means, both of which are determined by a third party.
For example, those who supervise a group of clerks processing orders, bills, or payrolls, are generally administrators because a higher authority specifies what they are required to do and how they are required to do it. They are responsible for seeing that the job is done right, but not for doing the right job. They are the lowest level of management.
A manager is one who directs others in the pursuit of ends by the use of means that he or she selects.
Managers are higher in an organization’s hierarchy than administrators and often include them among their subordinates. Managers, of course, may also have subordinates who are not administrators. Managers who manage other managers are “executives.” Managers’ primary responsibility is to ensure that jobs are done right, but in a dynamic business environment they would be remiss in their duty if the didn’t call attention to emerging opportunities and discontinuities that could change whether their teams were doing the right job. Managers and executives lead the people who report to them and they need to possess and cultivate qualities and skills that foster a productive culture – collaboration, teamwork, ethical behavior, creativity, and continuous learning.
A leader is one who induces and guides others in the voluntary pursuit of ends by the use of means that they, the followers, select or approve of if they are chosen by another.
All four – administrators, managers, executives and leaders – may have authority which they can use to coerce others into doing what they want done. However, in the case of leaders who may also be managers, they use influence rather than authority to get others to do what they want them to if the followers do not do so willingly. Those who are directed by administrators or managers may not follow them voluntarily but out of necessity. The exercise of authority involves the ability to reward for compliance and punish for noncompliance to the authority’s will.
Administrators are responsible for efficient operations. Managers are primarily responsible for effective tactics. Leaders are primarily responsible for competitive strategy. The problem managers have when they try to formulate new strategy is that they must compete with existing operations for new resources and attention. Unless they can convince their organization’s leaders to invest in their proposals for new initiatives they must make do with current resources. In contrast, organizational leaders have full authority to develop a strategic plan and to dispense the resources to implement it. Unlike plans prepared by or for administrators and managers, strategic plans are more concerned with transformations – new business models, new competitive arenas, changes in scale, alliances, mergers and new product innovation – than reformations. Transformations involve a change in an organization’s function or structure. Tactical and operational plans do not. They can reform an organization but not transform it.

Leadership involves two functions: (1) the formulation of a vision that the organization is willing to pursue even if doing so requires short term sacrifices; and (2) a formulation of the way to pursue the vision that will be both rewarding and satisfying. A vision is a non-existing state of the organization that is strongly desired. It may or may not be attainable, but it must be approachable even if unattainable. Visions can change over time but they tend to have relatively long lives.

Administrators and managers require identifiable skills to be effective. Leaders require a high level of talent – qualities such as imagination, persuasiveness, integrity, adaptability, and collaborativeness – as well as skills. It is for this reason that leadership cannot be taught; many of the critical talents are innate. However, it can be enhanced. So-called “executive development” courses are generally devoted to developing managers rather than to enhancing leadership. Leadership skills can be transmitted but talent cannot be.

-Psychologist (n.) a man who, when a good-looking girl enters the room, looks at everyone else.;
-Psychiatrist (n.) a person who owns a couch and charges you for lying on it. ;
-Parliament (n.) where a man / woman gets up to speak, says nothing, nobody listens – and everyone disagrees. ;
-Patience (n.) a minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue –Ambrose Bierce. ;
-Perfectionist (n.) a person, who, on getting to heaven, finds he doesn’t like God.;
-Persuasion (n.) operating on a donkey at both ends, with a carrot and a stick.;
-Pedestrian (n.) there are two types: the quick and the dead.;
-Advice (n.) something we test on others to see if it really works.

Thank you. The book will rock your world.

@ Alik

Good distinction between activities and outcomes. Yes, focus on results, but enjoy the process.

@ Jenn Z

Thank you. I actually know some action-oriented pessimists and they’re pretty effective. They’re quick to call out or focus on the bad, but they’re also quick to take actoin and do something about it. It’s refreshing.

@ Juliet

It was a Tony Robbins recommendation from a long time ago, that I’m finally getting around to.

Action-oriented is the way to go. We all have our moments. It’s about getting up again, each time we get knocked down.

@ Oscar

Turning problems into opportunities and lessons is a very healthy practice.

@ Eduard

Yes he is. I’m amazed by his stories and how he challenged his peers and changed the industry.

@ JB King

Great personal reflection.

I like the proverb. It’s similar to the one from Kung Fu Panda:
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift, and that is why it’s called the present.”