You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June 2019.
Even on the worst of days, there’s a reason to praise the people you work with.
Even when they are annoying you, there’s a reason to tell your kids that you love them.
Even when you’re feeling as though life isn’t fair, there’s a reason to be grateful.
It may not be obvious.
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In the midst of the stress and chaos of making the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sir Peter Jackson often said to the people around him,
“One job at a time, every job a success.”
He knew that it was easy to get distracted and intimidated by the sheer volume of work that had to be done, so he encouraged his team to focus on the task in front of them and to deliver it with excellence.
And then move on to the next task.
For most of human history, the vast majority of people couldn’t read.
Literacy was a rare luxury confined to the clerics or the ruling classes, with the rest of society not being able to discern what had been recorded.
Thankfully, times have changed and most of our communities are able to functionally read. It makes the ability to communicate and learn much easier and has broken down a lot of barriers over the generations.
But with this almost universal ability comes an unfortunate complacency.
We forget that reading is a privilege and squander it.
One of my favourite stories to come out of the Toronto Raptors’ NBA Championship is that of their coach, Nick Nurse.
After graduating college in 1989, he worked in a range of coaching positions across Europe, college and semi-pro leagues.
In 2005, he accepted the job to be an assistant coach for the Oklahoma Storm. It paid $43 a day. To earn it, he had to coach, wash the uniforms and drive the team to games.
Now, after 15 teams across five countries and 30 years after his coaching journey began, he is the coach of the 2019 NBA Champions.
Get to work every day.
And while you’re at it, get there on time.
Work hard to meet your targets and deadlines.
Keep calm during a crisis.
Smile.
If you have a big goal, chase after it relentlessly.
If there’s something meaningful that you really want to do with your life, pursue it vigorously.
If you’re genuinely passionate about something, cultivate it daily.
Now is the time for action.
A single locust won’t do much damage, but a plague of them will destroy an entire field.
A single bee won’t collect much honey, but a hive of them will fill up jars.
A single wildebeest seems unimpressive, but watching them migrate in their thousands is one of the great sights of Africa.
A single action won’t do much to get you closer to your goals.
Sow seeds.
Sow seeds.
Sow more seeds.
Sow even more seeds.
Keep sowing seeds.
We’re all just visiting.
We’re not here forever.
One day we’re here and one day we will be gone.
With that in mind, we can act like tourists, creating memories and taking photos.
The rain may be pouring down.
The wind may be blowing a gale.
Perhaps it’s too hot for you.
Or the humidity is too much to bear.
But if you’re under control inside, it doesn’t matter.
