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There Is No Indispensable Man

Source: https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/there-is-no-indispensable-man/

Sometime when you’re feeling important;
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom;
Sometime when you take it for granted,
You’re the best qualified in the room:
Sometime when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions,
And see how they humble your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining,
Is a measure of how much you’ll be missed.
You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you’ll find that in no time,
It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example,
Is to do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There’s no indispensable man.

Dwight D. Eisenhower — five-star general, Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. President — carried a copy of the same poem in his pocket. In fact, when Ike returned to Normandy for the 20th anniversary of D-Day and was asked to give a speech at a dinner commemorating the invasion, rather than use the occasion to wax poetic about his role in executing one of the most monumental military operations in history, this man of singular eminence instead used the opportunity to read — “The Indispensable Man.”

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How to Get Startup Ideas

Source: http://www.paulgraham.com/startupideas.html?utm_source=wanqu.co&utm_campaign=Wanqu+Daily&utm_medium=website

Problems

  • look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself
  • want, build, few realize the worth (doing)
  • Why do so many founders build things no one wants? Because they begin by trying to think of startup ideas. (“made-up” or “sitcom”)
  • They don’t want to use it themselves, at least not right now, but they could imagine other people wanting it. Sum that reaction across the entire population, and you have zero users.

Continue reading “How to Get Startup Ideas”

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Here’s The Technique That Ambitious People Use To Get What They Want

Source: https://ryanholiday.net/heres-the-technique-that-ambitious-people-use-to-get-what-they-want/?utm_source=wanqu.co&utm_campaign=Wanqu+Daily&utm_medium=website

There is the type who expects to be asked a number of questions from management. And then there is the type who expects not only to do most of the asking, but to put on a presentation. It is the first type that sees the situation as an interview, and it is the second who sees it not as an interview, but as an audition.

in charge and detailed exactly what he was planning to do

just enough questions to establish comfort and trust, then they reveal how much research they have done prior to showing up, by explaining all the things they’ve learned about the business, how they intend to improve it and exactly why they’re the right person for the job. This move, done politely but confidently, immediately separates them from all the other potential hires.

Yet the fact is that our lives can be defined by these moments of earnest ambition.

We might regret missed opportunities here or there, but rarely do we have the self-awareness and insight to see the opportunities we missed turning into opportunities because we were too lazy, too scared, too entitled to do the work to turn them into opportunities in the first place.

I love the Briefcase Technique because, sure, it’s about confidence and about knowing your shit, but mostly it’s about being willing to actually take a swing at something. To truly put yourself out there — to try.

There are just as many stories about coaches or ambitious upstarts who were laughed out of the room or passed over for someone more qualified, more connected, more “deserving.”

But when it does work? Well, your whole life will change.

So try it.

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Obama on ambition

Obama on Trump (without mentioning his name):

“People just make stuff up. They just make stuff up. We see it in the growth of state-sponsored propaganda. We see it in internet fabrications. We see it in the blurring of lines between news and entertainment,” Obama said. “We see the utter loss of shame among political leaders where they’re caught in a lie and they just double down and they lie some more. It used to be that if you caught them lying, they’d be like, ‘Oh, man’— now they just keep on lying.”


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The Power of Positive People

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/10/well/the-power-of-positive-people.html

  • our well-being also is influenced by the company we keep
  • can influence obesity, anxiety and overall happiness
  • remarkably optimistic and upbeat
  • a renewed commitment not only to exercise and healthful living, but to simply step up my social life and spend more time hanging out with happy people.
  • The key to building a successful moai is to start with people who have similar interests, passions and values.
  • I argue that the most powerful thing you can do to add healthy years is to curate your immediate social network
  • Your group of friends are better than any drug or anti-aging supplement, and will do more for you than just about anything
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缘

佛曰：缘来天注定，缘去人自夺。 若无缘，与之言多，亦废； 若有缘，你的存在就能惊醒他所有的感觉。 种如是因，收如是果，一切唯心造。笑着面对，不去埋怨。悠然，随心，随性，随缘…

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掏心掏肺要分谁： 虚情假意的，咱不陪； 实心实意的，咱多给！ 有情有义要看谁： 转身就走的，咱不追； 患难与共的，咱回馈！ 感情其实很简单： 八两换半斤，你重我就沉； 人心换人心，你真我更真！

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Chinese ambassador responds to remarks from former Singapore diplomat

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/china-does-not-manipulate-countries-ambassador-bilahari-kausikan-10522578

Mr Kausikan said Singaporeans must be aware of China’s covert “influence operations”.

“persuade, induce and coerce”.

The first involves rejecting the norm of non-interference in another state’s domestic affairs and believing that its interests should be promoted wherever they may be

China uses a range of tactics from legitimate diplomacy to more covert and often illegal deployment of agents of influence and operations – to sway decision makers or public opinion leaders.

the aim of its influence operations, which he added was not just to direct behaviour but to condition it as well.

a key tactic is to present target countries with oversimplified narratives, “forcing false choices on you and making you choose between them”

“China doesn’t just want you to comply with its wishes, it wants you to … do what it wants without being told,”

“When the Chinese try to impose a Chinese identity on Singapore, we must resist, because modern Singapore is based on the idea of being a multiracial country,” he added.

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a “far cry from reality and leaves an unfavourable impression of China on others”.

“China does not impose its ideology and development model.”

the target of “groundless attacks”, as global media is largely dominated by the West.

“the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. These have gained a positive response from many countries, not because of manipulation but because they meet the interests of other parties and provide opportunities for common development,”

willing to share its development opportunities with others and by no means imposes its models on other countries.

“misleading others into misunderstanding China”

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Research: The Average Age of a Successful Startup Founder Is 45

Source: https://hbr.org/2018/07/research-the-average-age-of-a-successful-startup-founder-is-45

We found that the average age of entrepreneurs at the time they founded their companies is 42.

The average age of high-tech founders falls in the early forties.

In other words, when you look at most successful firms, the average founder age goes up, not down.

Among those who have started a firm, older entrepreneurs have a substantially higher success rate.

Relative to founders with no relevant experience, those with at least three years of prior work experience in the same narrow industry as their startup were 85% more likely to launch a highly successful startup.

many VCs may operate under a mistaken belief that youth is the elixir of successful entrepreneurship — in other words, VCs are simply wrong.

Rather, they may seek investments that will yield the highest returns, and it is possible that young founders are more financially constrained than more experienced ones, leading them to cede upside to investors at a lower price.