Stuff which I have read and heard recently

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Recipe for an average life.

"A few hours of distraction everyday is the most common recipe of an average life. Assume you don't have much time, and focus. The years are short even when you clearly know what you want to do. Cut the noise and get things done. - Orange Book

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"If you know how hard it was and how long it took to build my little universe of peace and happiness, you would understand why I am so picky about who I allow in my life." - unknown

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Faith in people.

“Better to give talented (unproven) people a chance, and endure a few disappointments along the way than to not believe in people at all. - Jim Collins

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Decision making.

"The more the state plans, the more difficult planning becomes for the individual. - Friedrich A. Hayek, economist

Almost all of life comes down to being able to think independently and make decisions. No governing body can act in the best interests of everyone. If you don't set your own goals, you will be given one.

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The importance of being "pigs".

Lei Jun shares a whimsical anecdote from Xiaomi’s early days:

"90% of success is attributed to luck (being in the right place at the right time). When a typhoon is approaching, even pigs can fly. Xiaomi didn't succeed because it was a great company or that I was incredibly capable. We were merely pigs in a vortex of a typhoon. So if we want to succeed, we must adopt the mentality of being 'pigs'." - Lei Jun, CEO and co-founder of Xiaomi [1]

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The wisdom of Pooh bear.

Pooh Bear, there's one thing we didn't do today. And what thing might that be? Hmm... Nothing. Nothing? Christopher Robin, what exactly is "doing nothing"? Well I'm told it means going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering. It's when people say, "What are you two doing?" and we say, "Oh, nothing"... and we do it! This is sort of a nothing thing we're doing right now.I wish it could last forever. Well then we must do it again tomorrow, and the tomorrow after and the tomorrow following that! - Christopher Robin and Pooh bear from the movie Winnie the Pooh

John C. Maxwell once said in his book, The 360° Leader: "The greatest enemy of good thinking is busyness."

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Are you truly free?

"We are slaves to the opinions and words of others, slaves to what we see, slaves to the work that we do.  Our self esteem is highly dependent on the opinions of others. If others disapprove of us, we are disappointed and become doubtful about ourselves. And that is why we can never be truly free." - Jet Li, actor and martial artist [2]

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A choice of response.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.  Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." - Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and Austrian psychologist

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Use the difficulty.

One of Michael Caine's life philosophies was drawn from a stage rehearsal as a young actor:

“...and they got carried away and started throwing things, he threw a chair, and it lodged in the doorway. And I went to open the door and said [to the producer], ‘I'm sorry sir I can’t get in. There’s a chair in my way.’ He said, "What do you mean?" I said, "There's a chair there." He said, ‘Use the difficulty.’ So I said, ‘W-What do you mean, use the difficulty?’ He said, ‘Well, if it’s a comedy, fall over it, if it’s a drama, pick it up and smash it!’ Now, I took that into my own life. There is never anything so bad, that you cannot use that difficulty. If you can use it a quarter of 1% to your advantage, you are ahead, you didn't let it get you down. That's my philosophy, use the difficulty." - Michael Caine, actor and war veteran [3]

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[1] Excerpt adapted and whimsically translated from - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG2l0X6Ry10/?igsh=bjV1NGc1YWNkeXJo

[2] Translated and slightly adjusted from the Mandarin version. Jet Li's anecdotes are largely influenced by his faith in Tibetan Buddhism. Full video (in Mandarin only) from the Tzu Chi Culture and Communication Foundation - https://www.instagram.com/tzuchicultureandcommunication/reel/DGh6jRhJcPs/Watch

[3] From Michael Caine's interview with Michael Parkinson - https://youtu.be/t-7xyd5_IfY?si=qkx-E_wvwyQizdjB