Question to understand your priorities:

What sacrifices are you willing to make to get the things you want?

I recently came across a quote that made me think:

"The real price of everything, what everything really costs to the man who wants to acquire it, is the toil and trouble of acquiring it." ― Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

There is a price tag for anything you want to achieve in life.

Importantly, everything has a List Price (what it costs on the surface) and a Real Price (what you have to give up to get it).

There's the List Price you see, and the Real Price you don't. Before you go after anything, make sure you're willing to pay both.

What I've learned: There are many things in life that look like a great deal based on the List Price, but a ripoff based on the Real Price.

Using the historical example of John D. Rockefeller, the List Price for his success was countless years of hard work and focus, but the Real Price also included loving relationships lost, physical and mental health deterioration from a nonstop schedule, and reputation damage from some of his business practices.

For me, thinking clearly about the Real Price of the things I want has helped create a balanced existence.

I spent most of my life thinking that I wanted to be extraordinarily rich or famous, but as I've matured, I've realized that the Real Price of those things is not one that I'm willing to pay (at least not for now).

It would almost certainly mean giving up these Wednesday afternoon hangs with my young son—and I'm just not willing to do that.

Lesson: Make sure you're willing to pay the Real Price for the thing you're after in life.

Quote on taking control:

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." - Maya Angelou

Rule for Life: Don't complain about anything.

If it's within your control, go do something about it. If it's not, complaining is just a waste of energy.

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Framework to become a world class speaker:

Winston's Star

For many years, late MIT computer science professor Patrick Winston would give an annual lecture, entitled How to Speak, in which he would lay out his framework for compelling public speaking to a packed house of students.

One of his core ideas for becoming a world class speaker was Winston's Star.

Winston's Star is a checklist of five key elements to engage audiences and create a meaningful impact:

1. Symbol: Use a visual symbol to make your idea stick.
2. Slogan: Find and deliver a simple, catchy slogan for the central idea.
3. Surprise: The human brain loves novelty. Make sure to highlight the contrarian, counterintuitive, or surprising details of the idea.
4. Salient: Focus, less is more. Determine the most salient pieces and deliver those succinctly. Avoid unnecessary fluff.
5. Story: People love stories. Use human storytelling to simplify, spark emotion, and make a presentation more relatable and memorable.

As you prepare for your next public speaking opportunity, consider leveraging Winston's Star. How can you incorporate the items from this simple checklist to improve the impact of your words on the audience?

Story on the beauty of impermanence:

This is a Zen story that I love:

A Zen master was given a beautiful crystal cup by a former student.

He loved the cup. Every single day, he would drink out of the cup, show it to his visitors, and tell them of the kindness of his former student who had gifted it to him.

But every morning, he would hold the cup in his hand and remind himself, "This cup is already broken."

One day, a visitor accidentally knocked the cup from its shelf. It fell to the ground and shattered into a thousand pieces. The other visitors gasped, but the Zen master remained calm.

Looking at the mess, he smiled, said, "Ah, yes, let’s begin," picked up a broom, and started sweeping.

To me, this story highlights the beauty one can find in the impermanence of so many things in life.

The Zen master knows the cup is already broken, but finds great joy in celebrating its beauty in the present.

We can similarly find great joy in the present by accepting the impermanence of everything in our lives. In fact, today is so beautiful because it will never exist again. Remember that.

Article on the barriers to long term thinking:

​The Scarcity of the Long Term​

I love this short piece from Kevin Kelly on the challenges of building anything that spans multiple generations (which may be a requirement for solving some of humanity's most pressing challenges).

Perhaps future generations will be compelled to continue our present day missions on the basis of powerful storytelling that will create ripples through time...