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A Bishop's Advice

When visiting Priests overseeing Parishes within his Diocese, Bishop Barron always asks them three questions: What is going well? What isn't going well? How can I help? These are great questions to ask of employees, customers, franchisees, friends, family members - basically anyone in your life.

Fatherly advice

A few years ago I was on a 65km, multi-day hike.  I ended up in a lot of pain due to deconditioning and carrying more than my recommended weight for my body. The guys decided to help me out by lightening the load and taking some of my pack contents for me.  This was an humbling experience.  When pushing back, the advice I got from a Priest was, "Accept the help." It's okay to accept help when things are tough for you.  And a related corollary is that it is okay to ask for help.  You don't have to pretend all is fine all the time.

The only question you need to ask a family financially struggling

With the rise of the cost of living, many families are struggling financially.  In almost all cases, there is a way they could increase the family income circa 10-20%, which is enough for most to be able to resolve their financial issues. The question is: Are you working six days per week? In my experience, the answer is 'no'.  And often they don't work five days per week either.  Most of the time, it is not due to a lack of opportunities, but those instances do require compassion and support. Those that work six days don't have too much time off to spend money, and they make more than those working zero to five days per week. And they ultimately make more than those that work seven, because they avoid burnout and are able to continue to persevere. "Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works." Exodus 20:9  "You work six days, you rest one." Jim Rohn

How to get promoted

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Getting promoted is not rocket science.  It's those that work hard consistently and diligently over time that learn more and progress faster. Three key lessons to save time getting promoted Codie Sanchez - the one differentiator to get promoted faster: Mark Cuban - Leaders are readers; read more than anyone else, and read physical books: The Peter Principle - explains why people get promoted until they are incompetent and remain there.

The Mental Models of Charlie Munger

Charlie Munger was the business partner of Warren Buffett.  He passed away in November 2023 at the ripe old age 99, and with an approximate network of USD $2.6 billion.  Charlie was famous for asserting the importance of using mental models to assist with decision making in business and investing.  He drew from various fields including science, religion, philosophy, history, business, psychology and more, to assist him in building Berkshire Hathaway with Warren Buffett into the powerhouse that it is today. A mental model is a heuristic, or a mental shortcut 'for solving problems in a quick way that delivers a result that is sufficient enough to be useful given time constraints.' (source: investopedia.com).  Whilst you may know a number of these, I think that is worth revisiting the mental models which Charlie used and seeing how they can be applied in your own business and in your life.  Naturally, the true value of them is in reflecting on your own thinking pat...

Good music

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 "Death Wish" by Royale Lynn & Danny Worsnop

צדקה

 הָבִיאוּ אֶת-כָּל-הַמַּעֲשֵׂר אֶל-בֵּית הָאוֹצָר, וִיהִי טֶרֶף בְּבֵיתִי, וּבְחָנוּנִי נָא בָּזֹאת, אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת:  אִם-לֹא אֶפְתַּח לָכֶם, אֵת אֲרֻבּוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וַהֲרִיקֹתִי לָכֶם בְּרָכָה, עַד-בְּלִי-דָי. This continues to prove true