In time, people find that great calamity met with great spirit can create great strength.
– Eric Greitens
Greetings from LA and Oahu!
This week we’re discussing why you might feel like you’re constantly falling behind (and how to fix it), why it’s important to “stand in the rain” (i.e. endure hardship), and we’re sharing some online tools for continued self-learning.
Enjoy!
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Priorities
Ever feel like you’re falling behind?
Like every day you take one step backwards on your to-do list rather than one step forward?
Even when you accomplish a lot, there’s still a lot to do — and you continue to feel guilty about the things you didn’t do.
It’s a frustrating loop.
And it feels like the things that are most important to you are never getting the attention they deserve.
If that resonates, then watch this quick video.
It presents a powerful metaphor for how we should fill our lives up with the most important things first — family, friends, and fun — and then add in the things that are less important to us.
Self-Learning
Do you love learning?
Well, you’re very lucky to live in the 21st century where learning new high-value skills is easier than ever before.
Here are a few amazing resources for learning new skills online…
- Soloelearn — For learning to code.
- Brilliant — For learning about pretty much anything you want to learn: math, physics, astronomy, etc.
- MasterClass — Learn acting, cooking, writing, leadership, and tons more from curated courses by celebrity experts.
- Khan Academy — Continue your academic journey online… for free.
- Duolingo — Learn a new language in a fun and interactive manner.
Standing in The Rain
There’s a funny thing that happens living here in Hawaii.
It’s tropical. And so the weather here is quite temperamental.
It might rain (sometimes, like… torrentially pour)… and then be sunny and beautiful five minutes later.
When we first got to Hawaii, we’d go to the beach (because it’s sunny) but by the time we got there, it might be raining. And so we’d turn around and go home.
By the time we got home, it would be sunny again.
So we learned to just wait it out.
Stay at the beach and see if the rain stops within 5-10 minutes. Usually it does.
Locals know this.
Tourists don’t.
And so you can easily pick out the Hawaii tourists by noticing the first people to leave at the sign of rain — they don’t know it’s going to get better.
Isn’t that a wonderful metaphor for our lives?
We all go through seasons where it’s raining — where things aren’t going well and it feels like it’s never going to get better.
But those who’ve lived through enough hard moments… know that it always gets better…
…with time.
You’ve just got to stand in the rain a bit in order to enjoy a sunny day at the beach. Don’t go home. Don’t quit.
Stay for a while.
And see where things go.
Sometimes, the best way to face hardship is simply to wait it out.
Extra Stuff
Here is some other random stuff we found interesting this last week!
- How to rescue the world’s biggest cargo ships by Chris Baraniuk
- Washington’s Hidden History by Fred Litwin
- Just how important is eye contact between musicians? And what does it signal? by BBC Music Magazine
Books We’re Reading
Here’s what the tribe is currently reading (let us know books you’re loving and we’ll include them in future emails!)….
- Resilience by Eric Greitens — “Greitens shows how we can build purpose, confront pain, practice compassion, develop a vocation, find a mentor, create happiness, and much more. Resilience is an inspiring meditation for the warrior in each of us.”
- Dear Leader by Jang Jin-Sung — “Never before has a member of the elite described the inner workings of this totalitarian state and its propaganda machine. An astonishing exposé told through the heart-stopping story of Jang Jin-sung’s escape to South Korea, Dear Leader is an ‘impossibly dramatic story…one of the best depictions yet of North Korea’s nightmare’ (Publishers Weekly).”
- Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman — “Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives―and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble.”
This Week’s Image
This Week’s Riddle
Here’s this week’s riddle — the answer is at the bottom of the email!
What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?
This Week’s Question
Answer this question — either privately or by replying to this email. If your answer inspires us, then we’ll ask for permission to include it in a future email!
Why is it important to learn to “stand in the rain” as described in the section above?
This Week’s Challenge
Continuing to learn and grow is a critical part of living a happy and well-balanced life. Choose one of the tools in the “Self-Learning” section above (or another tool that you know about) and invest in yourself. There’s no better investment than the investment you make in your own growth.
Until next week,
Mike & Alec
Riddle Answer: A penny.