Who to believe in 2016

You read one book and it tells you that if you want to be successful and happy, then you must do this. You pick up another book and it says, if you do what it says in that first book your read, then you’ll wind up poor and miserable. So which one to believe?

Read them both and then make up your own mind.

And that is the simple difference between being a student and a follower.

We also need to remember that studying is not enough. We need to take what we’ve learned and become a practitioner, that’s how we find a path that works for us. Once we’ve done that, we can give back by sharing our own theory.

Good luck in 2016.

If you like my blog, you’ll love my book – The Great Fragmentation.

Relearning what we already know

I was recently in an office where there happened to be a couple of Rubik’s cubes laying around. Once upon a time I wasted an inordinate amount of time learning how to solve it. So I said: “Oh, I can solve that.” Adding further that I could do it in 3 minutes, but my best time is under 2 minutes. The cube was quickly handed to me to prove my lofty statement. So I start the solve, got halfway through and completely forget the algorithm – and in ‘under 3 minutes’ I look like both a fool and a fibber.

It reminded me of something important. Just because we have been able to do something in the past, it doesn’t mean we can do it now. Just because we knew something once, it doesn’t mean we know about it now. They only way to stay on top is to continue to practice and relearn what we already do and know. Just because someone ran a marathon once, doesn’t make them a marathon runner now. The things we need to practice the most should be the things we are already good at. Especially when it is a craft we use for income generation.

So after this embarrassing little moment, I went and bought a new cube and got my mojo back. I’ve also made the decision to solve it once a day – just because it’s fun and worth remembering. A bit of grey matter exercise. And for those doubters out there here it is being solved in 16 seconds… ok ok I sped the film up just a little.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb5-MKzb-KQ]

For those who are wondering the current world record time for solving is 5.55 seconds.

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Top 10 tips to learn a language

When it comes to starting anything new, including learning how to speak a foreign language. So here’s my top 10 tips on how to hack the language learning process using the web:

  1. Watch free youtube lessons on speaking your preferred language. They’ve got ’em all.
  2. Follow native speakers of that language on twitter. Here frequency & brevity is your ally.
  3. Comment on blogs in that language to practice your written form.
  4. Makes friends on-line with people from that country who want to learn English.
  5. Organize skype chats with your on-line friends to practice each others language together.
  6. Download one of the many free apps to practice in down time or while waiting for people.
  7. Offer free on-line English lessons to speakers of the language you desire to learn.
  8. Watch kids shows (cartoons etc) from your home country that have been translated on-line (see youtube)
  9. Set your browser, mobile and web apps into the language you are learning.
  10. Bonus Analogue tip – go to local restaurant and practice with waiters…

There’s never been a better time to start something worth starting.

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