success

An Alternative to Pooled Ignorance

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what is wisdom?

There’s an old(er) guy at the coffee shop with whom I often indulge in solve-the-world’s-problems bull sessions.

He knows a lot about a lot of things, but as with any far-ranging morning chat with the boys, topics always come up that some or all of us know nothing about.

Most of us just bluff and offer our comments based on something we think we mighta heard somewhere.

The old guy often says “I really don’t know” and sits silently while we keep spouting off and pooling our ignorance.

But when he speaks, we all listen.

I consider him one of the wisest people I know.

Photo by Andre Benz on Unsplash

What You Need to Do

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Delayed GratificationA multiple Grammy award winning solo musical artist once let slip that the reason he did a certain album was so he’d be free to do the kind of music he really wanted.

“I had to do that…so I could this.”

It’s not that the make-money album was a bust. The related performance drew one of his many Grammy nominations.

But it really wasn’t the music he wanted to do. Yet he did it so he could be free to run with his artistic preferences in the future.

This reminds me of a Ziglarism: “If you do what you need to do when you need to do it, the day will come when you can do what you want to do when you want to do it.”

Delayed gratification, a foundational principle for all kinds of success, isn’t just about NOT doing something now. It’s also about DOING the right things in the present as a setup and preparation for the future.

Step away from the donut…and go for a walk.

Worst. Gig. Ever.

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The Power of a Team. Daren WrideThe Setup:

  • They wanted a team talk, and my teambuilding keynote was solid and proven. I wanted to do a talk that related to my new book which was more about personal development. But the talk was not as polished as the team talk. But they agreed.
  • The evening before, I had resigned as pastor from a church I’d served for over five years and was stepping out of a career I’d been in for almost twenty.
  • As soon as the talk was finished, I would need to get in the car and drive for several hours to get ready to give a talk the next day to a very demanding audience. I was more concerned about the second talk than the first.
  • The day before the event the organizer informed me they wanted 90 minutes instead of the contracted 60 minutes. I foolishly agreed to deliver.

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Saving vs Investing

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Release, A Wilderness Adventure of the Soul, by Daren Wride
My First Book: Release

Came across an article on savings and compound interest. The author’s intent was to encourage savings by showing the power of compound interest.

The chart in the article showed how a $200/month investment at 3.5% would lead you to save $24,200 over ten years, and gain an extra $4853 in interest, for a total savings of $29,053.

Underwhelming.

Didn’t make me want to save any more.

How about this:

  • Write a book
  • Self-publish
  • Print 1000 copies for a total cost of about $5 bucks each. That includes cover design and layout and editing. And probably delivery to you.
  • Sell 250 books at $20 to cover your costs

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Ziglar

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Back in the late ’90’s I went to a daylong event full of motivational speakers, marketers, health experts and some famous but not so profound individuals who were clearly there for their name recognition, not their content.

However most of the speakers were outstanding.

One of the highlights of the day was Zig Ziglar. I’d heard about him, but didn’t know much about his story or personality.

In addition to his famous pump story which I’ve linked above, he shared insights into relationships, forgiveness, success and faith.

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