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Author Archives: AJ Kessler
Questions
Spend any time with a 7 year old and you’ll enjoy a never ending series of whys and hows. Â Why does that happen? How does that work? Â Why can’t we do this? Â How can that be? But somewhere around 13 … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Self-Improvement
Tagged Advice, How, Question, Success, Why
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It’s The People Who Realize “I Don’t Know Anything” Who Succeed
In every good piece of legal writing, there is a narrative. Â It’s a plain, easily digestible story that the writer wants you to follow. Â It cuts through jargon and pomp and circumstance and clues the judge in to what the … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Quotes, Rationality
Tagged Dan Ariely, Narrative, Rationality, Story Telling, Success, Tyler Cowan
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Can You Live Without Regret?
“Live your life without regret.” Â A common refrain from advice givers. Â It’s a tempting attitude to adopt. Â There seems to be two ways to go about it: If you define regret merely as sadness or disappointment over something that has … Continue reading
Success and Failure: You’re Thinking About It Wrong
We dream that someday soon, someone will recognize our genius: a big time agent reads our script and signs us; a major creative director sees our work and is compelled to feature it; the CEO reads about a project we … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Business, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Self-Improvement
Tagged Business, Career, Failure, Goal, Progress, Success
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Nobody Cares About Your Happiness
If you’re lucky, 10 people might care about your happiness. Â That’s it. Some other people might care whether you show up for work. Â They might care whether you perform, which means they care that you’re just happy enough not to … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Rationality, Relationships, Self-Improvement
Tagged Happiness, Job, Meaning, Purpose, relationships, Selling, Work
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Everyone Else Is Smarter Than Me
If you’ve ever watched the Olympics, or professional football or basketball, you know what sheer talent looks like. Right? You know what god-given ability looks like: Usain Bolt demolishing runners in every race he enters; Michael Phelps beating the world’s … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Self-Improvement
Tagged Choice, Deliberate Practice, Intelligence, Skill, Smart, Work
1 Comment
Why Taking Time Off To Figure It Out Is A Mistake
Most people I know don’t really know what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Â This includes most really successful people I know. Â My grandfather, at 80 years old, used to say he didn’t know what he … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Quotes, Rationality, Video
Tagged Al Pittampalli, Decision making, Goals, Life, Passion, Quit, Time
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“I Have a Problem”
Problems are generally thought of as bad things. And, for the people afflicted with those problems, they undoubtedly are. But problems are what drive the service industry. People’s problems managing or finding time create opportunities for personal assistants, shoppers, organizers, … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Law, Rationality, Relationships, Self-Improvement
Tagged Career, Job, JSK, Problem
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Steve Jobs on Failure
I’ve never found anyone who didn’t want to help me if I asked them for help. Most people never pick up the phone and call; most people never ask. And that’s what separates, sometimes, the people who do things and … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Quotes, Rationality, Self-Improvement
Tagged Failure, Fear, Steve Jobs
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The Problem With “No Problem”
“No problem” is almost universal in service industries today. “Can I get a refill?” “No problem.” “Could you transfer this money from my checking account to my savings account?” “No problem.” “Thanks.” “No problem.” It may seem innocuous, but it … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Business, Food For Thought, Persuasion, Relationships, Self-Improvement, Tips
Tagged Four Seasons, Language, My Pleasure, NLP, No Problem, Ritz-Carlton, Service
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You Are Not Too Busy
Richard Branson owns and operates more than 400 companies under his Virgin Group. He sells everything from music to trips to space. He sets world records on sailboats and hot-air balloons. He appears in movies and television shows. He writes … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Inspiration, Productivity, Quotes, Rationality, Self-Improvement
Tagged Goal, GTD, Plan, Productivity, Richard Branson, Work Out
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Chase Permanent Wins, Then Throw Them Away
When I spend 100 hours working to create a photograph, I produce a finished product. Â It’s tangible. Â It’s also permanent: I get to look at it forever, anybody can see it, and I can even sell copies of it. All … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Inspiration, Persuasion, Photography, Quotes
Tagged Art, Big Wins, Business, Finishing, George Carlin, Louis C.K., Ship
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Politics and the English Language
In 1946, George Orwell wrote an essay that should be read by everyone who needs to convey an idea. Â Orwell’s thesis is that clouded language leads to clouded thinking, and so we should strive to choose the words that most … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Business, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Quotes
Tagged Christopher Hitchens, English Language, George Orwell, Word Choice, Writing
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Giving Thanks
A great way to give thanks for the privileges we’ve got is to do important work. Your job, your internet access, your education, your role in a civilized society… all of them are a platform, a chance to do art, … Continue reading
Posted in Inspiration, Quotes
Tagged Giving Thanks, New Year, Seth Godin, Thanksgiving
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