There’s a YouTube channel called the The Art of Improvement that does those funky illustrated videos to add a visual to written text.
Back in 2019, they asked if they could do the same for my essay “Get the Most Out of Your Books – Be an Active Reader.” I, of course, enthusiastically said yes! It’s a piece of which I’m quite proud, so to have someone not only appreciate it, but build on it in this way is very cool.
“Always stay a student.”
— Frank Shamrock
The professor opened class with a simple statement.
“I assume everyone has the syllabus and all of the materials.”
Uh, I didn’t. I looked around the room and quickly ascertained that I was the only one. There was no sense in hiding.
I raised my hand to tell him. He wasn’t too annoyed. He simply said, “Open up Canvas and download it now, please.”
I said, “You got it,” but I thought, What the hell is ‘Canvas’?
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.”
— Emily Brontë
As a parent and homeowner, it can be difficult to not become a slave to tasks.
One of the perks of my job is that I am fortunate to sit in meetings with the leadership of the organization — President/CEO, COO, CFO, VP’s, fellow directors, managers, whomever.
You can’t learn everything in school.
In fact, many of the greatest lessons are found outside of the classroom. As someone that went to graduate school (twice) and did get an MBA, I will not diminish it by saying that reading some books is the equivalent of completing a postgraduate degree. It’s not. I learned a great deal from reading case studies, listening to lectures, and engaging with my fellow students.
However, there there were some gaps that business school did not address.
To fill in those gaps, I turned to books.
Whether personally, professionally, or creatively, you’ve probably had a project or plan fail miserably, even beyond your wildest fears and worst-case scenarios. In fact, you’ve probably had more than one. I certainly have.
While there may be a natural tendency to wallow in our misery, it’s important not to let that failure derail us. They say the best marketing for your current project is to make a new project. And that’s true.
It’s also the best way to overcome failure.
Like many ’80s babies, I was a huge card collector when I was kid. I bought, sold, and traded baseball, basketball, football, and even some hockey cards with my friends. We’d have card collecting parties where everyone would bring boxes of the cards with which they were willing to part and we’d act like we were in an adolescent version of Boiler Room.
