“If you’ve never failed, you’ve never lived”
Came across this video, and had to share it. It has a great message, in my opinion.
How to Fall
Here’s what About.com has to say about falling on a skateboard.
The biggest thing is, when you fall, try to NOT use your hands to catch yourself. This might be kind of hard to learn, but if you lose your board and you are going to smash into the ground, you should try and let your shoulder and body take it, rolling with the blow as much as you can. Catching yourself with your hand is a great way to break a wrist, and while wearing wrist guards can protect you from this, it’s dangerous to get used to using your hands, because at some point you will skate without the wrist guards …
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Let me repeat that. The biggest thing to remember when falling is NOT to try and catch yourself from falling. If you try too hard to resist it, you’re more likely to get hurt even more badly. Instead, go with it, try to roll into the fall. Let the momentum of the fall take you where it wants to, and just position yourself so that you’ll be able to get up and move on.
I think that’s great advice for all aspects of life, don’t you?
The Advantages of Shortcomings
Sometimes having shortcomings and failures can be positive. Why? Because it gets people talking. Being “remarkable” (as Seth Godin says) isn’t necessarily about being really good. Sometimes if you’re too perfect, there isn’t much to talk about. Sometimes, the best way to get people talking is to have shortcomings – or rather “supposed” shortcomings – to stir up controversy.
Example: Apple. One of the biggest conversations about the iPhone was how it was locked. Yes, people talked about the revolutionary multi-touch screen and software and all. But people also talked a lot about how it was closed. And when it was broken, it got a whole new round of press. The same is happening with the Macbook Air and its lack of an optical drive. If the products didn’t have these ‘flaws’, they probably wouldn’t have been talked about as much.
The ultimate end result of it all? The products get talked about more. And more people find out about them. Yes, some people will not like what they read. But others will go find out more about it, and might end up buying the product – a product which they might otherwise have never heard of.
As they say, there’s no such thing as bad press, right?
Sunday Shortlist #2
Here’s another Sunday Shortlist, for you. 5 links for today.
Tip: Breaking Schoolhouse Habits – Behance Articles
Behance is a great network, with some awesome articles. This is one of them. 3 habits that formal education teaches us, which in fact set us back. As the article says, “Nothing extraordinary is ever achieved through ordinary means.”
10 mistakes that changed the world – HELLO, my name is Blog
Mistakes aren’t all bad, if we learn from them and make the most of it. Scott provides us with 10 examples of that. I’m really starting to like his blog, and highly recommend that you subscribe to it. Consistently produces great articles.
HomeTips: There’s a Lot to Like – How to Change the World
Guy Kawasaki takes a look at the winner of Google’s Adsense Story Contest. Good lessons that we can all learn, including doing what you love and finding a niche for yourself.
The Age of Microcelebrity: Why Everyone’s a Little Brad Pitt – Clive Thompson from Wired Magazine
In today’s world, with the connectivity of the Internet, personal branding is more important than ever. Everything we do reflects a a message about ourselves. Clive Thompson analyzes this new trend, the age of microcelebrity. Good read.
Young Chimp Beats College Students – Wired News
Just an amusing story that caught my eye. Really goes to show that the important part of intelligence isn’t memory work. Or (if memory work really is that essential) maybe chimps really are smarter than us.
If you’ve come across an interesting page/site that you want to share, feel free to email me or add a comment. I’ll be glad to take a look at it and share it. Self promotion is accepted as well.