Derek Documents

While we cannot control what happens to us in life, we always (and I mean always; those close to me know I rarely throw universals around) control what events mean  to us. In this way, we are in complete control of our lives. If you embrace this, it brings awesome power to you. But most people shy away from it because, as Uncle Ben said, With great power comes great responsibility . Embracing this means taking complete ownership of your life. Frankly, I suck at this. But I'm thinking about and working on it. What are some solid ways to help develop and strengthen an internal locus of control?

Do things for you, not for some other person, real or imagined. You are the only person who can make you happy, and when it's all said and done the only person you'll have to answer to is yourself. This applies in all aspects of life, but especially in business. Don't think in terms of a job , think about projects that excite you and help you grow. Don't think, "Oh, this experience will look great on my resume." Instead, ask yourself, "Will I learn something from this experience?" The industrial economy is dead, the body is decomposing as I type this. College is a middle-aged obese person with a bad heart. That is, it's dying. Don't let any charlatan tell you different. Do things for you. Explore your passions and ask questions to unearth your natural talents. Hone those talents into valuable skills people will be happy to pay you for. Strive towards who you want to be, not what others try to define you as. As Jimi Hendrix said, ...

I had an a-hah moment while in the shower a few days ago. It really was paradigm-shifting, at least to me. All actions I see as weak or negative are done out of fear. While I've thought this for some time (I even have written on the subject at least once before) at that moment I  knew  this to be true on a primal, elemental level. Instead of becoming irked or angry--both nasty vices of mine--I should take a step back, observe non-judgmentally, and try all the reasonable ways to assuage the fear. Instead of becoming angry at the what , take a step back and try to figure out the why . Instead of judgment, cultivate a detached-yet-empathetic observation of the people and events in your life.     

Rating: 10/10 I wanted to summarize this book, but I can't. I highlighted literally every single passage in this incredible book. The author personifies creativity as The Muse, and blockage as Resistance. Resistance is a constant enemy. Most of the passages are concerned with how to cultivate awareness of and fight Resistance. If you struggle with procrastination, especially in creative endeavors, this book is a necessity.

In the summer of 2002, I attended a basketball camp called Future Stars, in Pella, Iowa. It was several straight days of ten hours of basketball a day. It was difficult, demanding, and amazing. Exhausted, I slept much of the car ride home. I dreamt about basketball. Namely, reverse layups and turn around fade aways. On two occasions, I woke myself up performing the latter in my dreaming mind, which carried over to actually moving my body. My old man got a laugh out of it. Dreaming about copywriting the other night culled this memory out of storage. I believe there's a powerful message in this. If you're working hard and pursuing something your passionate about, you should dream about it. You're so engaged in getting better consciously that it carries over and manifests subconsciously as well. There's a strong case for the hypothesis that sleeping is necessary for our brains to synthesize what we learned and experience while awake.  Pursue your passions--it...

Grit, resilience, whatever you want to call it, the ability to pick one's self up after being knocked down is invaluable. Customers buy when they're ready to, not when you're ready to sell. Your pitch and product could be perfect, but if the timing is off, no dice. The best salespeople know this--it's a numbers game. Every no gets her or him closer to a yes. This is transferable to life. If the timing isn't right, it won't work. But don't be discouraged--be persistent. Learn from failures, adjust course, and try again. Life is not an attempt on the balance-beam for gold. It's a baseball career: hundreds of games each season and multiple at bats per game. You can't hit what you don't swing at though. Every time you ask is another opportunity. So don't be embarrassed or discouraged when you miss. Instead, tell yourself you're better for it and dig in. Then swing away.

Rating: 8/10 This is my third summary by Dale Carnegie in just eleven total summaries, so that should give some indication of how I feel about the man. Carnegie's prose is accessible and concrete; he gives actionable advice, not abstract ideas. His work is backed up by hours and hours of research. This book really helps me when I'm feeling anxious or depressed. I hope you get value from these notes and if you enjoy this bite-sized version, I highly recommend checking out the book. My Notes Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.