“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.
Lessons from a long walk
So, a couple of days ago I walked home (I stay in Tampines) from Victoria Concert Hall. More specifically, I walked from Victoria Concert Hall to the Singapore Flyer, to Kallang MRT, then along the MRT track to Bedok MRT, then through Bedok Reservoir and to Tampines and home. For those of you not from Singapore and have no idea what I’m talking about, it was a walk of slightly over 11 miles (based on Google Maps).
And well, the walk reminded me of two lessons.
Firstly, at a point during the walk (in Bedok), I made a wrong turn. I could have turned back, retraced my steps, and gone the original path. And it would have taken me just as long (or even longer). Instead, I went on, kept in mind the big picture (the rough direction I was headed), and adjusted my route accordingly. Eventually, I did make it back, and I learned more about the area because of that.The same lesson applies in life. We’re human, we’ll all make mistakes. If you’ve got the big picture in mind, if you know the general direction you’re headed, you’ll be able to readjust your plans accordingly when you do.
Secondly, and more importantly, the walk started out as just a short stroll, because I didn’t feel like going home yet. But after a while, it became a challenge, to see how far I could push myself. Honestly, I wouldn’t have expected to be able to walk all the way back home. I just wanted to see how far I could go, and in the end, I managed it.
Just goes to show that you never know how far you can go until you push your limits – and more often than not, it’s further than you’d expect.
Are you pushing your limits and stepping out of your comfort zone? Are you really going as far as you can?
Making Decisions for Yourself First
A few days ago, John from 37signals blogged about why they disagree with Don Norman. Don had criticized them for designing for themselves, instead of other people. John responded by saying that “Designing for ourselves first yields better initial results because it lets us design what we know”, among other things (read the post for more).
I agree with John on this one, and I think it can be expanded to a greater theme, and one that raises an interesting question.
In your life, in the choices you make, who are you making the choices for? Are you making decisions for yourself first? Or are you making decisions trying to please others?
Personally, I do think that others are important. But I do also believe that you’re better of making decisions for yourself, living your life according to what you think is best.
Golf – Lessons for Life
Jon Percepto from Eclectic Commons shares with us the Philosophy of Golf in 95 Words.
I’m not particularly a fan of golf, but I have to admit, Jon’s post got me thinking.
Most of the challenges are against the environment. It’s not a direct competition to try to stop and defeat another, but more a competition to see who deals with the situation better. And as Jon said, it’s about reading the terrain, adapting to deal with the situation.
Resembles life quite a lot, doesn’t it?