97 replies to this topic

[McNulty]

Its not a problem unless there's a solution. 

 

Its what you learn after you know it all that counts.

 

I stick with those two.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Another big thing for me, being raised in the strictest religious household imaginable, is to leave your biases and prejudices at the door. Don't judge. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. That's been hard for me, but with a lot of hard work it's very liberating, and life is quite beautiful when you aren't constantly judging and condemning those who are different than you or who you don't understand.

[SportsGuy]

Best business advice I have gotten is you can't go broke making a profit. Sounds simplistic but in my businesses, many can't grasp that and do stupid things that cost them clients, money, relationships, etc...

In many cases (moreso in the jewelry business), I work on very small margins, while many other people try to rape you without lube. Rather have the relationship and anything else that comes from it than worrying about making the extra money on one transaction. You don't want one transaction, you want that one transaction to turn into 50 transactions.

[Mackus]

A personal quirk of mine that I've learned to manage is that I frequently strongly dislike people upon first meeting them.  Was very prominent in college when I would meet new people all the time, I'd dislike some friend-of-a-friend at first, then after hanging out a couple times would come to find myself really liking the person.  I know that my first impressions of people are often very unfair.  I can't help the reactions that I have, but I've learned to ignore those initial reactions and not draw conclusions about people based on first impressions.

[You Play to Win the Game]

A personal quirk of mine that I've learned to manage is that I frequently strongly dislike people upon first meeting them. Was very prominent in college when I would meet new people all the time, I'd dislike some friend-of-a-friend at first, then after hanging out a couple times would come to find myself really liking the person. I know that my first impressions of people are often very unfair. I can't help the reactions that I have, but I've learned to ignore those initial reactions and not draw conclusions about people based on first impressions.

Was it an increased awareness of the characteristics which annoy you? or insecurity/defense mechanism?

[Mackus]

Was it an increased awareness of the characteristics which annoy you? or insecurity/defense mechanism?

 

It was repetitive occurrences of me thinking "man, I really didn't like that guy/girl at first but now I really enjoy hanging out with them."  I don't think there was any one trait that I disliked and now can ignore and I don't think it was me being insecure around new people.

[glenn__davis]

What Would Jesus Do is probably the best one for me.

 

But to give a non-religious example...

 

I used to work with my Dad in the summer, he was a water well driller.  I remember one time talking to a customer of ours that I came to know fairly well, and we were talking about Dad, and he said something along the lines of enjoy every moment you have with him.  His dad had passed away recently, and how much he'd love to hear from him again.  I really took that to heart, not just with my Dad (who's still with us, for the record) but with everyone that I hold near and dear.  Try to savor every possible moment.  Especially with my kids who are growing all too quickly.  It's those little individual moments that make life so rich and that you miss so much when they're gone.

[The Epic]

Just fucking shut up and listen to people sometimes. 

 

They may be idiots, but let them SHOW you they're idiots. 

[DJ MC]

As a corollary to "control what you can control", don't fall behind on the things you can control.

 

One of my biggest, if not my biggest, flaws is that I have trouble with self-motivation. This manifests itself usually through procrastination. I have a history of putting things off and saying "I'll get to that later", and then when later comes, either things have piled up to the point where the task looks insurmountable and I put it off even further, or worse, the task has become insurmountable and I fail. So one of the things I've been trying to work on is not putting things off any more than can be helped.

 

I'm not there yet. Right now I'm staring at a pile of financial receipts and documents I need to organize and process to gain insight into my current situation and build a new budget. The pile has been building up for weeks, partly due to my move, and partly due to putting off the job, and even now I'm on here writing this instead of going though them But I know what I have to do, and once I do go through them I'll be back on my normal track of working through my finances on a much shorter interval.

 

Basically, my goal is to get things done as I go as much as I can, and then fool around with the spare time I have while finished, or with the spare time I have while waiting for things I can't control to come to me.

[BSLChrisStoner]

5) Concentrate on the behaviors necessary to achieve whatever, not the goal itself.

[SportsGuy]

1) Rely only on yourself to get accomplished what you want done.

2) Whatever you are doing, you only get out of it what you put in it.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Don't be too proud or afraid to ask those closest to you for help when needed, or accept it from them when offered. 

[SBTarheel]

Moments before heading into the car before Senior Week, my father gave me a hug and simply said "Use Your Best Judgment". 

 

It stuck with me always. 

 

"Consider the Source" is another one passed on to me. When someone who is basically an asshole does or says something "asshole like", consider the source. Don't let it get to you. Particularly effective on social media by the way. 

[BSLChrisStoner]

Who's up next Mackus?

[Mackus]

VaTech or 1970!

 

If neither of them see the batsignal, I'll nominate someone else mid-day tomorrow.

[Mackus]

Ok, I'll nominate Gabe.

[GabeFerguson]

I can't think of any singular piece of advice that has been handed down to me, but I will say that from a very young age the concept of the "Golden Rule" - Do to others as you would have them do to you - has been instilled in me and I have found that simply treating others with kindness and respect goes a long way towards building strong relationships, whether it be friends, family, significant others, business related or anyone that you encounter.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Life is all -- ALL -- about connections.  Especially professionally.