How to worry less about money

 

“This book is about worries. It’s not about money troubles. There’s a crucial difference.

Troubles are urgent. They ask for direct action. … By contrast, worries often say more about the worrier than about the world.”

 

“One’s relationship with money is lifelong, it colors one’s sense of identity, it shapes one’s attitude to other people, it connects and splits generations; money is the arena in which greed and generosity are played out, in which wisdom is exercised and folly committed. Freedom, desire, power, status, work, possession: these huge ideas that rule life are enacted, almost always, in and around money.”

 

“Our worries — when it comes to money — are about psychology as much as economics, the soul as much as the bank balance.”

 

“When things go well or badly, it’s partly about what you bring to the situation and partly about what money brings. What money brings is a certain level of spending power.”

Take My Advice: Letters to the Next Generation from People Who Know a Thing or Two

 

“Read a lot of stories, listen to a lot of music, and think about what the stories you encounter mean for your own life and lives of those you love.”

 

 

“Do not despise your inner world. That is the first and most general piece of advice I would offer… Our society is very outward-looking, very taken up with the latest new object, the latest piece of gossip, the latest opportunity for self-assertion and status.”

 

“We are all going to encounter illness, loss, and aging, and we’re not well prepared for these inevitable events by a culture that directs us to think of externals only, and to measure ourselves in terms of our possessions of externals.”

 

“What is the remedy of these ills? A kind of self-love that does not shrink from the needy and incomplete parts of the self, but accepts those with interest and curiosity, and tries to develop a language with which to talk about needs and feelings.”

 

“As we tell stories about the lives of others, we learn how to imagine what another creature might feel in response to various events. At the same time, we identify with the other creature and learn something about ourselves.”

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

 

“The job is what you do when you are told what to do. The job is showing up at the factory, following instructions, meeting spec, and being managed.

Someone can always do your job a little better or faster or cheaper than you can.

The job might be difficult, it might require skill, but it’s a job.

Your art is what you do when no one can tell you exactly how to do it. Your art is the act of taking personal responsibility, challenging the status quo, and changing people.

I call the process of doing your art ‘the work.’ It’s possible to have a job and do the work, too. In fact, that’s how you become a linchpin.

The job is not the work.”

 

 

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If you haven’t noticed by this post and my last, I think I’ve officially become one of Seth Godin’s newest fans and followers. For good reason. In short, he’s got a lot of valuable stuff to say.

Buy his books. Check out his talks on YouTube. Read his blog. It might change your life.

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“Perhaps your challenge isn’t finding a better project or a better boss. Perhaps you need to get in touch with what it means to feel passionate. People with passion look for ways to make things happen.”

 

“The secret to being wrong isn’t to avoid being wrong! The secret is being willing to be wrong. The secret is realizing that wrong isn’t fatal.”

 

“Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you’re doing something that others were unlikely to do, because they’re hiding out in the comfortable zone. When your uncomfortable actions lead to success, the organization rewards you and brings you back for more.”

 

“If you need to conceal your true nature to get in the door, understand that you’ll probably have to conceal your true nature to keep that job.”

 

“The competitive advantages the marketplace demands is someone more human, connected, and mature. Someone with passion and energy, capable of seeing things as they are and negotiating multiple priorities as she makes useful decisions without angst. Flexible in the face of change, resilient in the face of confusion. All of these attributes are choices, not talents, and all of them are available to you.”

 

You Can Master Life

 

“We should make ourselves stop trying to explain our own difficulties…Many of life’s hard situations cannot be explained. They can only be endured, mastered, and gradually forgotten. Once we learn this truth, once we resolve to use all our energies managing life rather than trying to explain life, we take the first and most obvious step toward significant accomplishment.”

 

“…most of us were told in childhood that the way to conquer a difficulty is to fight it and demolish it. That theory is, of course, the one that should be taught to young people. Many of the difficulties we encounter in youth are not permanent… Under these new circumstances, we must deliberately reverse our youthful technique. We must gain victory, not by assaulting the walls, but by accepting them. Only when this surrender is made can we assure ourselves of inward quietness, and locate the net step on the road to ultimate victory.”

Daring Greatly

 

“What we know matters but who we are matters more.”

 

 

“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.”

 

“Numb the dark and you numb the light.”

 

“Don’t try to win over the haters; you are not a jackass whisperer.”

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Pair Brené Brown’s amazing book with her equally fascinating TED talk:

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity

 

“Good ideas alter the balance in relationships. That is why good ideas are always initially resisted.”

 

“Nobody can tell you if what you’re doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the more lonely it is. ”

“If you’re creative, if you can think independently, if you can articulate passion, if you can override the fear of being wrong, then your company needs you more than it ever did. And now your company can no longer afford to pretend that isn’t the case. So dust off your horn and start tooting.”

“If your business plan depends on suddenly being ‘discovered’ by some big shot, your plan will probably fail. Nobody suddenly discovers anything. Things are made slowly and in pain.”

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And finally:

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“Have a story. And make sure it’s a good one. A DAMN good one.”

Damn Good Advice (for people with talent!)

 

“If you don’t burn out at the end of each day, you’re a bum.”

 

 

“Only with absolute fearlessness can we slay the dragons of mediocrity that invade our gardens.”

 

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And here’s an awesome video of George Lois from CreativeMornings: