27 Life Lessons

Below is a list of some life lesson I’ve learnt over the past several years. Some relate to personal experiences, some to professional experiences, while others are from books and internet articles I’ve read. All have forever altered my constantly evolving world-view.
  1. Stress is a code word for fear.
  2. Everything people do aims to gain pleasure or avoid pain
  3. Don’t wait for other people permission.
  4. Taking care of the things (and people) you love in your life matters everyday, no matter how busy you are
  5. 3 greatest human fears: rejection, we’r not enough and we won’t be loved.
  6. Sometimes it’s necessary to be unreasonable
  7. I don’t need to be perfect, but people do need to know they can rely on me
  8. People respect you when you admit you were wrong
  9. Relationships are never 100% equal
  10. Fear of loss generally drives more action than desire for gain
  11. We are motivated by our emotions and we then backward rationalize our actions
  12. Pursue passion, not titles and dollars
  13. Focus on the vital few. Ignore the trival many
  14. Making a decision is more important than doing things perfectly
  15. When I think my limit has been reached, take on step forward
  16. Offer solutions when identifying a problem.
  17. Agility matters
  18. There is massive power in simplicity
  19. Systems cannot change culture
  20. Some customers/friends are not worth having
  21. Companies/People can’t help helped until they’re ready to be helped
  22. Raise issues immediately and directly – don’t delay
  23. There is power in persistence
  24. Disorient yourself when life  gets too comfortable
  25. There is a direct relationship between $ and value added
  26. Chose doing over having
  27. Most of the time, it’s not enough to be better. You need to be different. You need to be interesting.