Today is my 57th birthday. Time sure does fly by in life. I’ve always felt that birthdays are a good time to step back and reflect on your life. For me, the occasion often means thinking about lessons learned and conclusions drawn. I compiled the following list of 58 items, including one for good luck, during a 30-minute period of focused thinking. I didn’t intend it to be a comprehensive list, but rather a fun exercise I conducted on my birthday. It is in no particular order, importance, or category. You may disagree with some of the items, but that’s okay. I hope to read a similar list from you one day so we can share our experiences.
- Effort is irrelevant if you’re focused on the wrong things.
- People show their true colors when you ask them to sacrifice something.
- Some individuals need drama in their lives. It really is that simple.
- Opposites attract, but similarities keep you together.
- When people consistently say they’re not something, they typically are that very thing.
- Individuals who have a lot of money tend not to talk about it. People who want to seem like they have a lot of money talk about it all the time.
- Watch what a leader does, not what he or she says.
- People tend to make excuses for their shortcomings.
- All markets correct; sometimes it just takes time.
- Lazy thinkers often have loud opinions.
- One way you know you’ve done a good job as a parent is that your kids come to you with their problems.
- If you want someone to listen to your constructive feedback, you have to provide positive feedback at a ratio of 7:1.
- No one likes a critic, but everyone is critical to some degree.
- Most people are more concerned with loss than gain.
- People do change, and relationships evolve. Sometimes it’s worth giving someone a second or third chance.
- If you always vote for one party, you’re an ideologue, not a concerned or educated voter.
- The people you surround yourself with personally and professionally have a huge impact on your happiness and success.
- Too much time in front of the TV makes your body ache and your brain atrophy.
- There are no one-dimensional people.
- What someone does for a living doesn’t make him or her a hero; it’s what they do when confronted with danger, adversity or fear.
- Younger generations are supposed to challenge and push older generations; it’s called progress.
- The last resort of intellectual cowards and secret fascists is to ban books and stop people from speaking their minds.
- Never make any big decisions when you’re emotional.
- When it comes to the problems of society, most people are looking out their window rather than in the mirror.
- It’s easy to be an expert on things you don’t actually have to do yourself.
- Our educational system ignores life skills to the detriment of society.
- Children who aren’t taught civics end up being adults who are poor stewards of democracy.
- Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it buys you time.
- Anything in excess is bad, including those things that have been purported to be good.
- If you want to learn something, push yourself to teach it to someone else.
- Give someone money and power, and you truly do find out who they are.
- Individuals who grow up in relative comfort have a minimal appreciation for those who don’t.
- Race (and diversity) will always be a problem as long as we see it as one of society’s biggest problems instead of its biggest solutions.
- Experts know a lot about a little but are often ignorant about a lot.
- A lot of what an organization’s culture is like comes from how its top leaders act.
- The loudest person in a room rarely has the best answers.
- We are quick to second-guess acknowledged experts when we don’t like their conclusions, regardless of whether we’ve truly studied the topic ourselves.
- Bad leaders prey on our weaknesses; good leaders elevate our actions.
- Every relationship goes through ups and downs; don’t expect to be happy all the time or accept being unhappy most of the time.
- The people who betray you the most are usually not obvious about it.
- With rare exception, most relationships have expiration dates. This doesn’t make either party a bad person.
- Discipline is a regular topic among undisciplined people.
- Leaders should aspire to be respected, not loved.
- Immigrants built this country; we would be wise not to forget this.
- Many people who spend an inordinate amount of time telling other people how to live usually have big problems at home.
- Striving to be popular almost always gets you in trouble in life.
- Kindness is infectious, but meanness is cancerous.
- True patriots don’t spend much time questioning the patriotism of others in a free and democratic society.
- People who’ve actually fought in a war often don’t like to talk about it—probably for good reason.
- Cowards hide behind the patriotism of others.
- It’s relatively easy for a leader to divide and conquer, but much harder to unify and bring people together.
- No one is right about everything, and if they think they are, stop listening to them.
- Your parents are flawed human beings, just like everyone else, including you.
- Atheists who obsess over the religious beliefs of others may not have the courage of their own convictions. Confident people are comfortable with differences in belief systems.
- The journey IS much more important than the destination.
- Sound thinkers are usually avid readers.
- Everyone needs a mentor.
- My life is the culmination of my actions, decisions, and strategies for overcoming adversity. We are supposed to be the heroes of our own lives.