Make it a Great (Orange Bowl) Monday: Go Heels vs Aggies

In this crazy year of 2020 . . .

Mack Brown came up Oranges versus Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies. Tar Heels have waited 70 years since their last New Year's Bowl game. I'm pumped for hosting some of Lucy's friends on game day!

Gary Player - On fitness, food, and fun

Gary Player is special! I love this article and the below video. Four things: (1) Eat half as much as you currently eat; (2) Excercise twice as much as you currently do; (3) Laugh three times as much as you currently laugh; and (4) Have unmeasured love in your heart. I'm going to follow Gary's guidance for the rest of 2020 and into 2021. (And I am adding drink half as much to the first one!)

Click here for the video.

And here's a putting lesson for the ages! That's brilliant, son, that's brilliant!

EA ups their racing game on Make it a Great Monday

 
EA is buying Codemasters for $1.2 billion to take lead in racing game market.

Codemaster is a UK-based company, so another reason to visit London when we can! 

Hope all are making it a great Monday.

Love,

Dad

Go Army! and Westlake playoff update

“The Army and the Navy are the best of friends in the world 364-1/2 days a year, but on one Saturday afternoon, we’re the worst of enemies.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

“There’s always something special when the service academies play each other that’s not in any other game. This is not a regular game and everyone involved knows it.” - Roger Staubach, a Heisman Trophy Winner, Navy quarterback, and Vietnam veteran, and Super Bowl Champ with Dallas Cowboys.

Westlake rolls through the first round with 57-14 win over Cedar Ridge and Lake Travis with an early exit vs Round Rock!

Remembering Bailey!

 
Catching up on some Nuggets this December Saturday morning. Here's my 'A Dog's Life' tribute approximately one year ago. She was a special pup!

When the sun comes up

From the first Fit as a Fiddle Friday: 

“Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.” - Unknown

Thanksgiving 2020 - holidays are here and 2021 not far behind

 
Happy Turkey Day, family and friends,

I know the holidays are here when we start talking Christmas trees. It seems like yesterday when Lucy was making that face on our annual tree pilgrimage. 

Looking back at last Thanksgiving's Nugget, I am again appreciative of the many special people in our lives. Here's a beautiful prayer my buddy Todd Parker sent our way this morning:

"Bless our home, that we may cherish the bread before there is none, discover each other before we leave, and enjoy each other for what we are while we have time."

Here's to a Happy Thanksgiving, a joyful holiday season ahead, and a pandemic in remission in 2021.

Love,

Dad

Check out Cam Fuller's website on WPW

 

Good morning Lucy,

Happy Woman Power Wednesday. 

I'm celebrating our cousin Cam Fuller and her work in advertising and branding. Seems right up your alley. Have you seen Cam's website? Some great stuff, including a fascination with the number 5! Be sure to check out some of her branding work with companies like Weber and KFC. 

And speaking of the magic time of day, check this out . . .

It sounds like things are moving in a good direction for your sister Sally and the job search in London.

Love,

Dad

Seth Godin: The Practice

 

Lucy,

I'm nuggin' about in Seth Godin's new book, The Practice, Shipping Creative Work. Here is how Seth describes the book on this recent Tim Ferris podcast, with a nod to London (hello Sally and Taylor) and a story about the word hack.

Tim Ferriss: I thought we would start where all good things start, and that is the etymology of the word hack, which you introduced me to. What is this word hack, and what context would you like to provide?

Seth Godin: When London was smaller, on the outskirts of London was a borough called Hackney, and Hackney was a place where they would raise horses. They didn’t raise thoroughbreds, they didn’t raise extraordinary show horses. They raised just average horses, average horses at an average price. If you got a Hackney horse, you probably did it because you were, I don’t know, a hansom cab driver and that’s where your nickname came as being a hack, in that you didn’t have a special horse. You simply had a horse. There’s nothing wrong with raising a hack. There’s nothing wrong with buying a hack. Being a hack is about giving the customer exactly what they want at a decent price.

However, it is important to distinguish it from the magic/fraught topic of our art, of that thing that lights us up, the work that we actually want to do. My book The Practice is about that gap between being a hack, selling as if you’re a hack, and the other thing which is the generous act of doing something magic. It really bothers some people to hear their work described as hack work, but I think there’s nothing wrong with it. You should own it because you need to distinguish it from that other work you can do.

I love this idea of owning your 'hack' work but finding inspiration to do this other 'thing' - something original, something creative, something we feel called to do. We all have this ability, and Godin's book appears to be a guide to help us find it.

Stay whole Lucy,

Dad

Seth Godin's throw back question: Which are you?

 
Lucy,

Good to know you made it safely home last night. Send along some pics from your trip.

Above photos from a beautiful weekend in Austin. Emily on the lake with Kyle and his Yale friends. Kevin hanging on Belmont Park Drive #A. Mom and I all smiles in our first couples tournament yesterday. And my four-ball on Saturday with Brett Denton, Jon Cook (a guest from San Francisco), and Barry Senterfitt.

For today's Make it a Great Monday, I'm going back to this nugget in October of 2011: Which are you?

Be something bigger than just competent!

Love,

Dad

P.S. Tomorrow, I'll give a short review of Seth Godin's new book, The Practice. Check out this podcast to hear Godin discuss with Tim Ferris.

Dear Harvey: "Up against a kid" by Bo Links (slightly modified for gender)

 

Dear Harvey,

Last Saturday,
I met a kid.
She said, "Let's putt."
And so we did.

"Dime a hole,"

Said the kid.

Cleaned me out

Is what she did.

Her hands were soft,

Her eyes were brown.

When she took a stroke,

Her ball went down.

She rolled each putt,

So slow and sure.

Each putt was hit,

So dad gum pure.

At every hole,

Her ball went "plop."

The kid could putt,

And make it drop.

Just a dime,

The offer came

I tried my best,

To win the game.

Twenty bucks,

She took from me.

That kid could putt,

It was plain to see.

The kid, she didn't

Play a trick.

But man, oh man!

It was over quick.

I thought a while,

About that kid.

And gave some thought,

To what she did.

I decided then,

Though I was hurt,

To learn just why

I'd lost my shirt.

And so I went

To see a pro,

Who said there's something

I should know.

After listening to

My tale of woe,

He told me, "Partner,

Let it go."

"Don't you bend

Your mind a crack.

That twenty bucks

Ain't coming back."

I'll never forget,

What last he said:

"Watch them kids.

They'll beat you dead."

"Son, don't you let

Your skills be bid,

Against the skills

Of a kid!"

"For if you hit it

Long and true,

That ain't enough

To pull you through."

 "It's all about

The old flat stick,

It's the club that makes

The money stick."

"And, Partner,

Just remember this,

One final truth

No man should miss."

"It's split up families,

And broken hearts.

And it ain't the end,

It's just the start."

"For when a family

Hits the green,

Love gets buried

In between."

"There's an ancient rule

I'll relate to you,

Learn it well,

And know it's true."

"Legend says no father

Has ever won

A putting contest

Against his son (or daughter)."

It sounded strange

So I asked again:

"Why do kids

Putt to win?"

I asked him why

Kids lay it dead:

He looked at me

And shook his head.

"It's like this,"

He whispered back,

His squint grew narrow,

His eyes were black.

He looked to see

We were alone,

Then he spoke to me

In measured tones.

"Fear's a thing

We old men know,

While them young ones

only seem to grow."

"And fear will eat you

Inch by inch.

It's what makes

an old man flinch."

"Them kids ain't lived

Like you and me.

Partner, they don't know

How things can be."

"Them kids, they've lived,

And maybe played,

But not enough

to be afraid."

I've thought about

What that old pro said.

And one thought keeps ringing

In my head.

Oh, to know,

There is no fear.

No danger lurking,

Far or near.

I reakon' that's why

Youth is such a bliss.

And it's why them kids

Don't ever miss.

Maria Popova's Top Ten Learnings

Great pic of Lucy and Pierce Fuller. We are looking forward to finally meeting Pierce and Nell at a Texas Family Thanksgiving (Famsgiving) event in Dallas!

Last week, on WPW, I shared about Maria Popova's essential life-learnings. Please read the ten below and then take time to read the expanded version here.

1. Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind. Cultivate that capacity for “negative capability.”

2. Do nothing for prestige or status or money or approval alone. 

3. Be generous. Be generous with your time and your resources and with giving credit and, especially, with your words. 

4. Build pockets of stillness into your life. Meditate. Go for walks. Ride your bike going nowhere in particular.

5. When people tell you who they are, Maya Angelou famously advised, believe them. Just as important, however, when people try to tell you who you are, don’t believe them. 

6. Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity.

7. Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time.

8. Seek out what magnifies your spirit. 

9. Don’t be afraid to be an idealist. 

10. Don’t just resist cynicism — fight it actively. 

Egotistical Utilitarianism: "Where the I meets the we"

 
Lucy,

A good week on Cape San Blas, but also nice to be back in Austin. Above photo with Uncle Chip in Apalachicola.

Taylor and I exchanged emails this morning, and the topic of Egotistical Utilitarianism came up from the Matthew McConaughey podcast last week. Here's how McConaughey explains it:

That’s what Jesus was up to. Making decisions. That’s the honey hole of when we can succeed or have satisfaction or live life the most truest.

Where the decisions we make for the I, for ourselves, the selfish decisions, are actually what’s best for the most amount of people, utilitarian. Where the I meets the we. Where the selfish is the selfless, where what I need is what I want. And what I want is the ego. What I need is the utilitarian. What I want is freedom. What I need is the responsibility and the interplay of those things. Where the I is the ego and utilitarian is the objective, utilitarian we. 

But I was like, “Oh, that’s the ultimate human, the egotistical utilitarian,” where the decision one makes for themselves, most selfishly, happened to be the most selfless decisions as well at the same time. And where those two overlap and are one, that’s the ultimate human, that was the pursuit. 

Is this kin to my favorite quote from Covey?

“When you engage in a work that taps your talent and fuels your passion -- that rises out of a great need in the world that you feel drawn by conscience to meet -- therein lies your voice, your calling, your soul's code."

What do you think?

Dad

WPW: Maria Popova and Brainpickings

 

Lucy,

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote Read Write Think and Stay Whole Lucy. Today, I circle back to Maria Popova on Woman Power Wednesday. Maria started Brainpickings 14 years ago. 

In her words:

Brain Pickings was born on October 23, 2006, as a short email to seven friends. Seven years and several incomprehensible million readers into its existence, I began what has since become an annual tradition — a distillation of the most important things I have learned about living while reading and writing my way through life; private learnings offered in the public commons, in the hope that these thoroughly subjective insights of a single consciousness might be of succor or salve to another. It is the only overtly personal writing I do on Brain Pickings. (Though, of course, the whole of it remains a deeply personal exercise in processing my own life and annealing my own ideas through the lives and ideas I celebrate in writing.) We are, after all, made of the same stuff.

Like how Ryan Holiday deep-dives into the stoics, Maria has built her passion-work studying literature, art, and poetry that is not currently on the New York Times bestseller list. She finds classic-thinkers (or artists) and then connects dots between their thought and other's, or her own. I find this interesting and refreshing, much like I find Holiday's books so thoughtful and timeless. It seems especially invigorating as we live through a time when many people are so unsettled and upset.

Go here to read this year's Essential Life-Learnings from 14 Years of Brain Pickings. Scroll down to 14. Choose Joy. 

So few grains of happiness

measured against all the dark

and still the scales balance.

Lucy, you get to weigh the blue of your sky!

Dad

P.S. And note a link where you can see Maria's 13 prior years of essential life-learnings. And if you go deeper, you can also see thirteen of the pieces Maria has most enjoyed writing the past thirteen years. I'm hooked. Her writing style and her ability to use words in unique ways stirs and inspires me.

MiaGM: "I value?"

 
Hey Lucy,

As you know, we zipped over to Cape San Blas this weekend, and the WiFi is solid; the view from 'my back porch office' is rather nice, and the sunsets are remarkable.

At the end of the McConaughey podcast, which I listened to a couple of times last week, Tim Ferris asks Matthew his standard question. "So if you were to have a billboard metaphorically speaking to get a message, a question, an image, anything out to billions of people, could have a paragraph, could be a word, anything non-commercial, what might you put on that billboard?"

McConaughey: 'I value?' 

"It seems that the common denominator, or the bipartisan non-denominational solid stepping stones for us to evolve as a species, as a nation, and as individuals, is based on values. The fundamental principles that we can all agree on, I don’t care what side of politics you’re on, or what religion you are, is what do we value?"

What do we really value? We all want to be relevant. Well, let’s ask, “Relevant for what?"

Make it a great Monday,

Dad

FaaFF: Letter from a grandfather

 Good Fit as a Fiddle morning Lucy,

Saw this on an ESPN tweet and just loved it! Rays 1 - Dodgers 1 in Fall Classic. Yesterday was a 'travel day'; without any travel. Game three tonight.

Love you,

Dad

Anything goes: Digging deeper on McConaughey

Lucy,

I caught up with Sally in London early this morning, and she, like me, has gone all-in on Tuesday's Stay Whole: Matthew McConaughey talks 'Greenlights' on The Tim Ferris Show.

Here are a few other nuggets that resonate with me in a BIG way from the show:

My favorite poem, The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost. Always reminds me of Dr. Scott Peck and The Road Less Traveled.

Why has The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino had such an impact on Matthew, and how did he serendipitously happened upon it while studying to be a lawyer? [18:06]

Matthew’s 10 goals in life circa 1992, and what he was doing then. [26:52]

What did Matthew mean specifically with goal number five: be an egotistical utilitarian? [31:45] "That's what Jesus was up to!"

Take more risks. Why? [33:42]

What misconceptions does the world have about Matthew that he’d like to clear up? [1:21:30] Great stuff here on what Emily and I used to refer to as hard preparation, easy battle.

Hope you take some time to listen.

Love,

Dad

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

SWT: Matthew McConaughey talks 'Greenlights' on The Tim Ferris Show

Good stuff on Stay Whole Tuesday for you here, LuLu. 

I'm enjoying Tim Ferris with our Austin neighbor Matthew McConaughey this week. He touches on a lot of things that resonate. His father was a 'peddler,' and so was my Grandfather, William Patton McDowell Jr.

McConaughey was a goal setter and journaled about his dreams from an early age. Mom knows about some of my earliest journals and the goals I set years ago. I know you, too, are a journaling-type. He talks about how we tend to journal when we are at tough spots in our life, but he learned early why it is important to also journal when things are going well. 

His new book, Greenlights, looks like a winner - a guide to catching more greenlights—and to realizing that the yellows and reds eventually turn green too.

Give it a listen and stay whole,

Dad

Thanks Jim Loehr: Looking forward to reading Leading with Character!

Lucy,

A while back, I shared 'I am Woman' and Jim Loehr on FaaFF and the missing link from my bookshelves, my signed and annotated copy of Jim Loehr's The Power of Full Engagement. I ended the Fit as a Fiddle Friday intending to run Jim down for a new signed copy. That 'intention' lead me back to my Nashville tennis buddy, Jay Senter, now 80 and still 'fully engaged' playing championship-level age-group tennis around the US.  

Jay kindly connected me to his best friend Jim, and voila . . .

The photo above shows Jim's kind note in my new book, plus his latest book, Leading with Character: 10 Minutes a Day to a Brilliant Legacy, which has moved to the top of my reading list. Jim even used my favorite word, oscillate, in his note, which I love!

Make it a great 'oscillating' Monday,

Dad

Jim Chapman (82) on life habits that have helped him stay RELEVANT

Lucy,

With line-of-sight on eight generations of working professionals, I'm studying what it takes to maintain 'relevance' and find your 'voice' throughout your career and your life. Put another way, what does purposeful-work look like in your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and so forth, allowing unique individuals to do amazing work well into their 9th and even 10th decade of life!

Taylor's grandfather Jimmy Chapman (82), is a great example. The photo is Jimmy talking to your sister Sally about architecture projects in his Atlanta office. (See Jimmy's crowning achievement: 'I'm so proud I'm about to pop.')

I recently encouraged Sally and Taylor to interview Jimmy, before they left for London for the next three years. The interview is remarkable, and I am certain it will be treasured. Today, on Fit as a Fiddle Friday, listen to Jimmy's response to this question:

What life hacks or habits do you consider the most important that have allowed you to stay healthy and maintain high-energy for so many years?

Five takeaways:

1. Infused with a love of movement and physical activity at an early age
2. The importance of 'energy' and 'discipline' when you need to spend long hours at your craft
3. Variety and diversification of exercise throughout life
4. Develop habits that involve fitness
5. Have a 'place to go', surround yourself with like-minded individuals

Great stuff, LuLu. 

Stay fit,

Dad

Patty Sheehan: "Some kind of peacefulness about what you are doing"

 

Good morning Lucy,

Patty Sheehan is a World Golf Hall of Famer and one of the greatest women to ever play the game. I found the above from Patty interesting, plus this from her HOF induction speech in 1993. The 'peacefulness' part really resonated with me.

"I saw myself as a winner from a very young age. I played with boys all my life, and I seemed to be their equal, if not better. I never thought of myself as anything less than a winner. To be successful, you need drive, determination and a belief in yourself, and some kind of peacefulness about what you're doing."

While Harvey Penick may be best known for The Little Red Book and his teaching of Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw, did you know that Harvey also worked with Betty Jameson, Betsy Rawls, Mickey Wright, Kathy Whitworth, and Sandra Palmer? Those ladies won over 240 LPGA tour events, 2 U.S. Women's Amateurs, and 10 U.S. Women's Opens.

Lastly, I've been using the abbreviation WWW in my journal lately, as an acronym for my 'world is working wonderfully.' It is just a little reminder that the world can work in your favor if you approach things from a place of purpose, and as Patty says, with some kind of peacefulness. It does not mean there will not be bumps in the road. But, not much will rattle you when you come at it this way.

Is your WWW on WPW?

Dad

Stay Whole LuLu: Walking

Lucy,

Checked in with Sally in England early this morning. She was on a walk in the countryside and sent another stunning photo. See more here at wilkinsonblog.com with password: charleston.

Ryan Holiday's chapter on walking, in Stillness is the Key came to mind. Holiday says, "It is probably not a coincidence that Jesus himself was a walker - a traveler - who knew the pleasures and the divineness of putting one foot in front of the other."

I'm also reminded of this post from our Covid-19 days together last spring: Humility on WPW, plus two girls on a walking mission.

We miss you, and love you!

Dad

Let the game come to you and 5 questions on MiaGM

 
Hey Lucy,

Big day in Singletary-land with both Emily (YETI) and Taylor (CJ Coleman - London) starting new jobs. I'm proud of those two for matching their passions and talents with such exciting brands. Hang on for the ride and let the game come to you, eBug and T!

I had some more 20-somethings pop up in my life this weekend, wanting to talk about purposeful career strategy. I've started asking these five questions as a primer:

1. What is your dream job at this phase of your career, and why?
2. What are your long-term goals and aspirations, and how will these make the world a better place for all?
3. How are you doing matching your passions and talents with your career plans?
4. What are your three favorite books and three favorite movies?
5. What do you most like to do in your spare time, and are you making time for the things on your list? If so, how much time?

Make it a Great Monday,

Dad

P.S. Sally and Taylor arrived in London late Saturday evening and have tucked away in their country-side estate (photo above) for their 15-day quarantine. How exciting to have a daughter/sister and son-in-law/brother-in-law living in London! 

Sally has shared updates and pictures here at wilkinsonblog.com

Password: charleston

It was fun to hear about your weekend with Susan and Dana and the alpaca. That was kind of them to host all of your friends (Covid-style camping out!) on the farm.

Oscillate, as in Oscillating Dynamic Variable Resistance

 
Howdy Lucy,

Yesterday, on Anything Goes, we talked Pareto Principle (80-20) and how Richard Koch wrote THE book on the 80-20 rule, extending it beyond the well-known business application and into life, happiness, and success.

One of my favorite words is 'oscillate'. You've heard me use it for years when discussing the importance of learning to 'oscillate' in and out of our four capacities - mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. Life is best lived when one learns the art of oscillation, along with the importance of proper stress or stretching ourselves in each area, so we learn and grow. To me, this is what makes life so fun!

Since today is Fit as a Fiddle Friday, I offer Mike Romatowski's Ten Golden Rules of Speed Training. And this fun string of words: oscillating dynamic variable resistance.

By-the-way, that is my friend Jeff Young on the left above, who was Romatowski's first student when he moved his Mach-3 Speed Training gym to San Antonio. Jeff, a scratch golfer, now travels the US teaching classes on Mach-3 Speed Training.

Happy Friday,

Dad

Dear Harvey: Life is long if you know how to use it

 
Good morning Lucy. I'm trying something new on this 'Anything Goes' Thursday. I'm writing Harvey Penick, one of the wisest individuals to ever grace our community. 

Dear Harvey,

I've meant to write to you. 

Our golf course has been closed for overseeding, so I miss my evening 9-hole walks with your good friend and legend-in-his-own-right, Roane Puett. 

I've been studying the 80-20 rule through Richard Koch, along with Seneca's On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long If You Know How to Use It. These two are akin to each other and in alignment with the way you taught. Learn what will help you the most, and don't waste time on the other stuff.

Your friend, and top-pupil, Tom Kite, has been kind to me at Train 4 The Game, helping me understand things he learned from you years ago. Tom and I recently worked on 'deceleration,' a term I found a bit odd for golf, but now I understand.

Recently, I've been into something called 'Oscillating Dynamic Variable Resistance' and Mike Romatowski's concepts at Mach 3 Speed Training. Romatowski has a lot to say about men 50 years of age and up who think they can no longer gain clubhead speed. He also likes to focus on women's collegiate golfers and how they often overtrain, leading to fatigue and injury. These topics interest me and tie back to the 80-20 principle, as I seek to get the most 'gain' out of my time in the gym.

I hope you have good WiFi up there because I have shared some fun links.

See you at the club,

gPage

Woman Power Wednesday: A junior on a mission and the Autodesk Foundation

 

She’s a junior on a mission

Youngest gal with a vision

She’s going places

Making spaces

For amazing things

To happen

Spirits not dampened

Seat belts fastened

She’s going places!

I love you Lucy May Singletary, stay the course,

and Happy WPW!

Daddio

Sent you this over on LinkedIn: Autodesk Foundation

"We invest in organizations across three areas: energy & materials, health & resilience, and work & prosperity. Portfolio organizations receive funding, software, training, and support to maximize their impact."

Who we support | Portfolio here

SWT: Richard Koch breaking down success on The Tim Ferris Show

 
Hey, Lucy on a Stay Whole Tuesday afternoon,

I'm into The Tim Ferris Show for my podcast this week, and specifically Richard Koch on Mastering the 80/20 Principle, Achieving Unreasonable Success, and the Art of Gambling (#466). Koch's business book, The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less, is a classic and the only book that Ferris has ever agreed to write a forward and give a quote. (Makes sense for the guy who wrote The 4-Hour Workweek!)

Koch has a new book called Unreasonable Success and How to Achieve It: Unlocking the 9 Secrets of People Who Changed the World. 

Here are the nine:

• Self-belief
• Olympian Expectations
• Transforming Experiences
• One Breakthrough Achievement
• Make Your Own Trail
• Find and Drive Your Personal Vehicle
• Thrive on Setbacks
• Acquire Unique Intuition
• Distort Reality

He breaks each of the secrets down on the podcast.

Take a listen,

Dad

How's your LinkedIn game on Make it a Great Monday

Hello, LuLu on MiaGM,

Good times in College Station on Friday night, catching up with your peeps. I got down to brass tacks with Mays School of Business, Junior, Amy Solheim talking LinkedIn. It is important to build your professional brand while you are in college, especially if you plan to work as a generalist. I had talked with Amy about LinkedIn earlier this year, so when Amy shared she still had not updated her photo, nor her background header image, we whipped open some laptops and got after it. Next up for Amy is adding a compelling 'About' section, right, Amy? 

If you are studying to be a brain surgeon, you can take a pass on LinkedIn. But most of your friends, including Amy, are gearing their studies in a more 'generalist' direction. I touched on this back on a Stay Whole Tuesday in March: Do good, make money, triumph as a generalist. Digging deeper here: Why specialization can be a downside in our ever-changing world, from Angela Chen on The Verge. 

As Uncle Ricky likes to say, you need to get your 'front-porch' in order. If you wait until you start looking for a job, you will be way behind the 8-ball. And if you have an unkempt front-porch, you send a message that will be difficult to overcome.

(I could be YOUR) Advanced LinkedIn Strategy Coach ANDY.FOOTE puts it this way on his site LINKEDINSIGHTS.COM:

• When people check you out online, they search on Google.
• Your LinkedIn page is usually the first search result they see.
• You only get one chance to impress. Everyone is in sales now.
• Don't let your mediocre LinkedIn profile page hold you back.

I bet Amy has questions for me, and I definitely have questions for Andy, starting with these two:

1. What is with the period in between your first and last name?
2. How do you make that LinkedInsights.com icon pulse like that on your profile page?

Love you, LuLu, and remember, we are ALL IN SALES!

Dad

Fit as a Fiddle Friday: Inspiration and mental health

Lucy,

It's Fit as a Fiddle Friday. Mom and I are excited to see you and your friends tonight in College Station. Autodesk has given us the gift of a day off and encouraging everyone to recharge. I woke up thinking about mental health, not physical health, and what started out as a simple idea . . .

"Energy and persistence conquer all things," said Ben Franklin . . .

[Side note: World Mental Health Day is observed on 10th of October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.]

Somehow, morphed into this . . .

Let's call it 'inspiration for a poem by gPage'

Stay tuned and see ya soon (-;

And indeed, energy and persistence conquer all,

Daddio

WPW: And away she goes - Sal & T are London bound

WPW: Bitter-sweet, I think is the term. Sally leaves Austin, and is off to re-connect with Taylor in ATL before heading to London! Let the adventure begin . . . and thanks for the sweet note.

Read Write Think and Stay Whole Lucy

Lucy,

We put Sally on the plane this morning back to ATL and soon departing for London! Super exciting, but miss her already. What an adventure for your sister and Taylor!

Sally and I have been listening to an 'oldish' Tim Ferris Podcast: Maria Popova on Writing, Workflow, and Workarounds (#39). I have replayed this one several times over the past week. So much good material and I will most certainly feature Maria soon on a WPW. See Maria's extensive body of work on brainpickings.org - where she describes herself in this manner:

I am a reader and writer, and I write about what I read here on Brain Pickings — my one-woman labor of love exploring what it means to live a decent, substantive, rewarding life. Founded in 2006 as a weekly email to seven friends, eventually brought online and now included in the Library of Congress permanent web archive, it is a record of my own becoming as a person — intellectually, creatively, spiritually, poetically — drawn from my extended marginalia on the search for meaning across literature, science, art, philosophy, and the various other tentacles of human thought and feeling.

For Stay Whole Tuesday, I'm going with this from her sit down with Tim back in 2007:

Tim: When someone asks you, what do you do? How do you answer that?

Maria: Well, I've answered it differently over the years in part because, I think, inhabiting our own identity is a perpetual process. Right now, I would say, I read and I write, in that order. And in between, I do some thinking. And I think about, how to live a meaningful life, basically.

I love that process, Lucy!

Read, write, and in between, do some thinking,

Dad

P.S. Ties in nicely with this week's Make it a Great Monday on 'Thinking Matters'.

MiaGM: 7 circles and 16 things you won't learn in school

 

Mornin' Lucy,

Good times yesterday walking and talking with Stanford freshman, Sadie Englemann, plus her dad and my good friend Mike Englemann. Sadie is not on campus yet, so she is taking classes virtually and keeping her golf game sharp at Austin CC. Seven circles on the card and a round of 70, means your dad is $15 poorer, even though my 10 handicap to her +5, gave me 15 pops! (Those birdies above hand-drawn by Mikey. A special bookmark for my birthday.)

Sadie helped me with my short game, and in exchange, I helped her understand the importance of a well-done LinkedIn profile, even if the ultimate goal is the LPGA Tour. She's taking a full course load, including a required freshman class at Stanford called 'Thinking Matters'!

Which brings me to something Uncle Ricky sent for you yesterday, titled 16 things school does not (necessarily) teach you:

There it is and MiaGM!

Dad

P.S. Check out the Stanford Thinking Matters course listing here. Great stuff! And on Stay Whole Tuesday, I'm introducing a related concept from Maria Popova: Read, Write, Think.