You have got to give yourself the chance to be surprised.
Not because you are unprepared. Not because you had not thought about something enough. Not because someone is trying to get ahead of you. Not because you have lost the bigger picture.
Just because people are surprising, and you got to give them credit for it as well as allow yourself to feel positively about it, without feeling in any way diminished.
In order to set your mind to giving, you have to rid yourself of the expectation to get something in return.
Of course, mixed motives will play a role. But it’s eternally unsatisfying to keep a ledger of what goes and what comes.
Give freely and you will be ready to welcome any reward.
We can’t keep assessing productivity in terms of quantity.
The amount of emails we reply to.
The number of meetings we have scheduled.
How many conversations we are in.
How late we are leaving from work.
The quantity of leads, presentations, or projects we deliver.
Productivity needs to be a function of a goal we set and of the actions we take towards that goal.
If within a measure of work (an hour, a day, a week) we complete something that takes us closer to the goal, that’s where we find meaning.
The rest is just a poor proxy. Just faked busyness.
It turns out anger spreads faster than joy, because it does not need strong ties – and most of our relationships are weak, particularly nowadays and particularly on social media.
If you share something negative or enraging, it gets picked up more likely by people who don’t know you or are mere acquaintances. While if you share something positive or joyful, it most likely will stop at your closest ties.
The idea that something liked, shared, commented, viewed is good is fundamentally faulted. We need to change that before we can actually look at the future of social media.
A kind thought is nice, but it’s not enough. A thought stays in your mind and unless you do something about it, you are the only one who is going to know of it.
A kind word is nice, but it’s not enough. A word is a superficial manifestation and not necessarily a truthful one.
A kind act is nice, but it’s not enough. An act is immediately visible, it can be used to hide an intent, to pursue an unkind agenda.
The only way is to be kind with thoughts, words, and acts. To yourself first, and then to others.
Because candid kindness is contagious.
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