Thought-Wise: Taking Action

The Tree Climbing Fish

Just like any seemingly profound thought embellished with fancy graphics and double the dose of lilac hues, the following quote, often attributed to Albert Einstein, has become a pet meme for facebookers around the world. Regardless of whether or not Einstein actually said that, we need to be careful when trying to understand the true nature of the tree-climbing fish. "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." If this is taken out of context, we run the risk of bereaving our educators and our future generations of the passion to impart and receive real education. The analogy is not intended to undermine the growth mindset . Einstein, or whoever the heck it was, didn't mean to promote the thought that we are all predisposed with a fixed supply of abilities. That would have meant that fish cannot (and should not) learn to climb the tree. On the contrary, the idea of r...

For That Reason I'm Out - 9 Ways to Deal with Rejection

Rejection could be a real bummer for most of us, until we figure out it doesn't have to be. For those of us who've been watching ABC's Shark Tank – or its Canadian twin, Dragon's Den – the statement "for that reason I'm out" is all too familiar. I would guess it is one of the most widely broadcast statements in the history of electronic media in North America, after may be "you’re fired.” As soon as the pitch ends, almost everyone is sure to get a "no" from at least one of the Sharks right off the bat. Some aspirants are out of luck to the extent of being yelled at by Kevin right in middle of the pitch. The fact that the statement is so common points to the uneasy reality of life; it is impossible to completely avoid rejection. I'm afraid that's the way life works. But then, the good news is, rejection is a sign of progress. It helps you uncover areas of personal growth you never focused on. The best way to make sure you...

My 200 Meetings Over Coffee

Who would have thought that coffee would come to be recognized as the Swiss Army knife of professional (and not so professional) networking? Centuries ago, when the first of Kaldi's goats nibbled on the nameless red berries, I'm sure the poor goatherd had no clue that the serendipity would eventually give birth to a whole new way for people to build real-life relationships with each other. Fast forward many centuries; today we are all familiar with what "let's meet over coffee" means. Well, for one it doesn't mean you have to drink coffee. It is just an invitation to have a casual conversation about things that might be of interest to both parties. In not too distant past, many conversations that started with that phrase ended up becoming admirable success stories for businesses and individuals. 200 Coffee Meetings Later This realization came to me a bit late in life. I do not recall considering my first coffee meeting as a chance to offer or rec...

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