Essentialism: The disciplined pursuit of less

Probe: give me an example…

Dig: who, what, where, when, why and how on every accomplishment or project

Differentiate: we vs. I, good vs. great, exposure vs. expertise, participant vs. owner/leader, 20 yard line vs. 80 yard line

Situation- What's the background of what you were working on?

Task- What tasks were you given?

Action- What actions did you take?

Results- What results did you measure?

• The corporate jargon is often described as fluffy, without any real substance and aimed towards the speaker’s self-inflated ego.
• Words are substituted for analogies and references that take longer to process, and have the intention of wrapping, hiding or impeding actual, effective communication.

Corporate speak may not mean anything of value to anyone in a meeting, but like the Emperor's New Clothes, no one wants to point out the inefficiency and mind-numbing nature of the constant use of the jargon. Everyone pretends that they are on the same page as everyone else.

The more information that is available to us, the more we are unable to retain it. Memory means association and most information we consume may be simply buried inside, lurking deep in, and surfacing when the right cue pops up.

Binge-watching or binge-reading serves no useful purpose as we are only holding the content in our working memories. That's why schools space out the chapters and review them, helping us retain the material.

The art and culture we engage our brains in turn into memories which can be unpredictable and fickle.

The books we read, the songs we hear and the movies we watch become interwoven and entangled with everything else in our lives.

When you are in a stressful situation, do not allow your mind to imagine the worst-case scenario. 

Focus your mind on something positive.

The "what if" line of questioning induces panic and lets you focus on imagined situations that escalate the problem.

Focus on the facts and work on a solution.

To give books the attention and time it deserves in your life, you need to make it a higher priority. It means you have to change your habits and routines to allow more reading.

Sometimes, your reading needs only a little encouragement to displace something that should be lower down on your list. For example, to forgo watching television and reading a book instead.

• First consider why you want to read more books. Reading should be enjoyable for you because you find them entertaining, calming, stimulating, and fascinating. Once the habit is set, you can also read other things you "should" read.
• Change your surroundings to make it easier for you to grab a book. Reading apps can be prominent on your phone. Physical books should be in places that you most often frequent.
• Create modest reading goals. Permit yourself to start with reading one page a day. Once the habit is established, you can increase it.
• Once you have laid the foundation for your new reading habit, create an action association, such as reading on the train to work or with your mid-morning coffee or dinner.

• It doesn’t easily allow you to change course.
• It doesn't  believe in growth,  but in right and wrong and any suggestion of change or adaptation is considered a criticism.
• Challenges or obstacles tend activate defensive mechanisms.
• When something goes wrong, it doesn't take responsibility- it blame others because that would be akin to accepting inferiority.
• Believes in a world of hierarchy: where some people are superior and some are inferior. 

• Presenting skills as learnable
• Conveying that the environment values learning and perseverance, not just ready-made genius or talent
• Giving feedback in a way that promotes learning and future success.

It's the easy way to have an original personal brand. Pople can see right through a dishonest act and will call you out for it.

It will also make it much easier to manage your personal brand on a daily basis.

If your personal brand isn’t telling a story, you’ve already lost half of your potential audience.

The most effective personal branding strategy these days is to build a true narrative, a story around your brand that your audience can engage with.

Consistently exceed expectations in terms of your current role and job responsibilities. Take on more than expected, and manage these projects as well as your more senior colleagues.

Share your accomplishments early and often.

• Demonstrate that you have taken on additional responsibilities and provide specific details about your accomplishments. 
• Share examples of projects you have completed and how they’ve positively impacted the business. Was there an increase in revenue? Did you save a customer? 
• If you’ve received positive feedback from colleagues or other leaders regarding your work, be prepared to share that with your manager as well. 
• Identify ways you’ve earned money for the company, for example through sales, upsells or creating efficiencies.

Until two decades ago, the general goal of colleges was for academic pursuits and teaching individuals to become more well-rounded. The general thought was that colleges were not vocational institutions.

Now, and possibly in the future, colleges will have to focus more on training and change their curriculum to meet the demands of employers.

A four-year college education remains the best choice for those who can get admitted to a selective university. But for everyone else, an alternative path might be the best way to go.

In the future, one training path will be company-sponsored apprenticeship programs to cover the skills missing between the secondary system and what employers are looking for.