Here is your Seven-Bullet Monday
1. A quote I am pondering:
"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." - Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, one of the great philosophers and scientists of the late 19th century, certainly lived by these words. His research led to inventions and breakthroughs that benefited the world for a century after his death. When it comes to us, how many opportunities can we make? Opportunities that will benefit our kids, work colleagues, now and present, or potentially people we haven't yet met.
2. A question I am asking myself:
How do I measure myself the same way I measure others?
Sometimes I find the way I speak and act is below the standard I expect from others. After some soul-searching, I am working on raising my internal standard. It's a work in progress.
3. A book I am reading:
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles – Steven Pressfield
Steven Pressfield struggled for many years before becoming a best-selling author. This book talks about some of the lessons he learned along the way and the principles we can apply to break inertia and have creative discipline even when we feel uninspired. He provided some great contrasts between professionals and amateurs and how we need to have a professional mindset if we are going to achieve our goals and passions.
4. My favourite podcast this week:
The Daily – Did Artificial Intelligence Just Get Too Smart
This podcast goes into all the hype around ChatGPT, the recently unleashed Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot that is taking the world by storm. They do some real-time tests on ChatGPT, and it is truly remarkable what it can do. This is both exciting and concerning, given we know AI is only going to get more advanced and in pretty short order
5. Hugh-Tips
Less Money and More Thought for those Christmas Gifts
The best gifts aren't always the most expensive. That's because they come with more thought, creativity and a more significant time commitment. So this Christmas, tune down the credit card and exercise your brain on what thoughtful, inexpensive gift would be much better. One trick I use is creating a list of ten or more ideas for a problem I want to solve. Often the first five or so ideas come quickly, and then it gets a lot harder. This is where you keep writing down ideas even if they feel silly because you might get that light bulb moment, which could make someone's Christmas extra special.
6. The highlight of my week
Enjoying, yes Enjoying Assembling IKEA kitchen units
There are lots for Leanne and me to love about our new townhouse, except it's short on storage space. So we braved IKEA three Sundays in a row and ordered some extra kitchen and pantry cupboard units. The beloved flat boxes arrived on Tuesday, and I decided to have a go at assembly rather than wait for professional installers to come. After some early morning and evening assembly, they are up and functional. No one was injured, my many construction mistakes were fortunately reversible, and I feel more IKEA constructionally intelligent, if there is such a thing.
7. My wish for you for this week
Be generous with your love and kindness this Christmas
The days leading up to Christmas can be very stressful, and for some, Christmas is the most dreaded time of the year because of their loneliness. Please go all out this year to be extra loving, kind, and patient because, after, they cost us very little, but they can be invaluable to those we give them to.
Have an extra festive week