Archives for January 2020

Get outside of your information vacuum

Posted on: January 30, 2020, in:

These days the world is divided and people are either with you or against you. This is bad in so many ways. On the news today I heard a reporter say that it is a negative that so many people live in their own “digital citadels of confirming information.” He, of course, was mainly referring to politics. I think it’s more than that, and speaks to people only reading news and speaking with people who they agree with.

You shouldn’t have to agree with those you spend time with. You need to like and respect them, not agree with all of their beliefs. This doesn’t mean there may be some topics to avoid, whether a family issue or, obviously politics or religion. If you are unwilling to speak with people who think differently than you, you are doing yourself a disservice.

I love music, and especially live music. When I am at a concert, I sometimes think about the people in attendance and the differences between us. Then I think about how music brings us together. It serves as a bridge to something that connects us. The point is that despite our differences, which may be vast, there is something we could connect on and start a conversation.

And that’s all it takes, an entrée to converse with another. It may go somewhere. It may go nowhere. But real learning comes from listening to others who are, think and believe differently than you. If this happened more often, the majority of people wouldn’t change their thinking, but the lines of communication would be open, and the chance for understanding and compromise would exist.







Digital citadels of confirming information.

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Acknowledge and celebrate wins

Posted on: January 14, 2020, in:

What constitutes a win depends on you and what you value. It could be your kid making the sports team or you landing a big client. Either way, what do you do to acknowledge these types of victories? Do you take your kid out for ice cream? Do you take you team at work who supported you out for a celebratory lunch or round of drinks? If not, you should.

Life moves fast. It’s easy to congratulate someone. But many “victories,” even some small ones, deserve something more. Which wins or achievements deserve more is up to you.

At the same time, it is a different question and analysis regarding whether and how you should acknowledge your own victories. There is a fine line between celebrating your wins and tooting your own horn a bit too much. Most, if not all, wins involve the support of others. Make sure to acknowledge those who lifted you up.

So win with grace and then celebrate! https://youtu.be/3GwjfUFyY6M

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Be relentless about continuous improvement

Posted on: January 06, 2020, in:

This is part of my firm’s culture. We have a fundamental that says: Be a lifetime learner and continually invest in your own education, both formally and informally. Be curious and never stop improving your legal, technical, and personal skills. Embrace change. Look for a better way.

No matter your role, you are constantly learning and change is constant. You should strive to learn and adapt to and embrace change. Part of this is realizing and accepting that you don’t know everything, there always is more to learn, and that change is happening whether you want it to or not.

William Butler Yeats said “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” He is right because there is no way to fill up your brain with too much learning or new information. There always is room for more. On Wikipedia, lifelong learning is defined as “is the ‘ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated’pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons.”

Note that lifetime learning is voluntary and requires self-motivation. When we were younger and in school, the motivators were teachers and parents. As adults, we may have similar figures in our lives pushing us to continuously improve, but many people don’t. This is why being a lifetime learner requires self-motivation. You should challenge yourself to always be learning. In our world it could be learning about a change in the law or maybe you want to learn to paint. Whatever it is you should follow the muse because it will improve the quality of your professional or personal life.

Another part of this fundamental includes embracing change. As Heraclitus said, “Change is the only constant in life.” This is true and your attitude towards change makes a difference. When change happens you either are influencing the change or not. If not, you likely will feel out of control and like you are being dragged along by the change. To avoid this, you need to be pro-active. This may require you to acknowledge your fears and take action anyway. It is okay to be scared of change, but don’t let that stop you. If it does, change will happen anyway, but without you being in the driver’s seat.

Someone named David Mann explains it well in a few minute video: https://youtu.be/Vae0Cm_VFI8. He explains that change happens and you can see it as a disruption or an opportunity. I urge you to view change as an opportunity. It could be an opportunity to learn or to improve yourself or your surroundings. Many times you don’t know where the change is going to lead you, but wherever it is will be better if you are pro-active and face it head on.

As we head into a new year, it’s a great time to be pro-active about the change you want to drive in your life. Instead of making a resolution and hoping you follow through, you should make smart goals related to whatever you want to learn or change. The point is to take control of your evolution, because with change being constant, so is your evolution as a person. Be the driver of your life, not the passenger.

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