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78 Comments
- mazza558, on 10/20/2007, -2/+63#11: Don't spend all day on Digg
- rhinez0r, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5110 ways to create a breakthrough in your working life (and in the rest of it too).
Here—in no particular order (except as I thought of them)—are 10 simple ways to tranform your working life. Try them.
1. Refuse to accept conventional answers or comforting assumptions. If you want to develop, you need to be skeptical of anything that seems to offer a panacea or an easy way to get somewhere with no effort. It’s like all those “get rich quick” schemes: if something seems too good to be true, it is. Conventions, quick-fixes, past assumptions, and comforting platitudes are barriers in your way. Jump over them or break them down.
2. Avoid anything that will fence you in. Always suspect the superficial. Deliberately keeping it simple makes people act stupid. The universe is a complex and surprising place. Great ideas can’t be reduced to soundbites and slogans. The deeper you go, the more likely that you will discover something of value.
Snake-oil salesmen and con-artists have always offered really simple, easy ways to achieve things others know are tough and complicated. Why do people still buy? Laziness and greed, mostly. Wanting something for nothing. In breakthrough, as just about everywhere else, there are no free lunches.
Conventional ways of seeing the world and all kinds of dogma are there to control people; to stop them from “making trouble” by having fresh, creative ideas. People who think they already know all the answers are oddly threatened by those who are sure they don’t. They often go to considerable trouble to try to force everyone else to think and act as they do. Your job is to jump those fences to find new fields to play in.
3. Take risks all the time. No one ever made a breakthrough without taking some pretty big risks. What’s the worst that can happen? You fail. That’s not such a big deal. Everyone fails sometime. Failure is a sure sign you’re doing the right things to discover new ways forward. As the song goes, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again.
4. Forget looking for answers. Questions are so much more useful. Questions lure you on, poking and prodding you to discover more. Questions are like bits of grit in a bed: they stop you from resting comfortably with what you think you already know. Answers are a dead end. If you know the answer, there’s nowhere else to go.
5. Become a specialist in asking stupid questions. They’re the very best ones. Worry about the answer, not the question. Lots of people never get beyond an initial state of confusion because they’re afraid to ask what seems to be a foolish question. Innocent people with a true desire to learn have the greatest chance of spectacular success. Who learns best and fastest? Little children. Your target must be to go through life learning at the same rate as an infant.
6. Keep a wide open mind. Real change and growth often happen well away from where you look for them. You never know when an idea will hit you, or you’ll meet someone, completely by chance, who will have a profound and wonderful impact on your life. Don’t create your own artificial boundaries by deciding in advance what you will learn from and what you will ignore. Life doesn’t come in neat packages, clearly labeled “learning opportunity.”
7. Be who you are, whoever and whatever that is. Your potential is unique. Only fools try to make something of themselves by slavishly copying what others are doing and saying. You won’t stand out by fitting in. Learn from others, sure. But never try to be anyone but the best possible version of yourself.
8. Make mistakes joyfully. The person who’s afraid to make a mistake is afraid to make anything. You won’t get it right first time. You probably still won’t get it right the third, fifth or tenth time. But if you keep trying—joyfully making those mistakes and learning more each time—you will get it right in the end.
9. Dare to let go. To grow and develop it’s essential to let go of wherever you are now. Let the future through. Allow the universe to change you. Don’t try to force it into channels you think are safe or acceptable. Breakthrough cannot come until you deliberately walk away from the comfortable and the predictable. If you lack the courage to let go, you’ll never make a breakthrough. We all have a tendency to hang on to success and go on repeating it as long as we can. Resist it. Say “thanks” and move on. Don’t cling to your achievements. Let them go to make way for more failures and new ideas. The achievements we cling to and repeat are the ones that will soon come to be the greatest failures of all; plus we’ll have spoiled the recollection of them for all time.
10. Shut down the critic inside your head. Ignore it. Tell it to go pester someone else. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore ideas and possibilities that your inner critic tells you are useless. Constant judgment and criticism are deadly enemies of breakthrough. Listening to your inner critic will convince you every idea you have, every opportunity to consider, everything you do and say, are worthless. The truly worthless element is that nagging inner voice. Sometimes the best way to deal with it is just to laugh. - xDibblerx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+32#12: Invest in a good web host that can handle more than 20 hits without crashing.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32its down, duggmirror missed it, i hate my life.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+28#12: Don't spend all day in a cubicle.
- greenlight2001, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20#13 Don't spend all day masturbating.
- asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Tripping on LSD once will change your entire view of life, the universe and yourself.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+21"it's in General Science topic is because it's is Science of Success"
it's the science of shut the ***** up, my life is fine - CanadianAviator, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14#14 Don't spend all day replying to digg comments.
- KyotoWolf, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15Then why post it?
- shogusumi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Madness? This... is... Sparta!
/boot - shaun1018, on 10/12/2007, -18/+26You understood right.
Get a better imaginary friend... one with flamethrowers for arms. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Anyone else immediately think of Richard's 9-steps from Little Miss Sunshine?
And 10 steps? Come on. Here's it all in one: ***** whatever everyone else thinks; let go, be yourself and enjoy life. - notyourbroom, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9@DiggsOnlyNeoCon
Dugg up. I'm all for civil discourse, and I see nothing wrong with your comment. It's relevant, and it explores a dimension of human experience which is absent from the article.
Like many of the other atheists here, I strongly admire your willingness to remain public about your convictions even in an environment as hostile to those beliefs as this one sometimes is. I'm continually appalled by the grossly immature and intolerant actions perpetuated by what (I hope) is a minority of the atheist community, and I hope you realize that a lot of us are in your corner here. - AnteChronos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"#12: Don't spend all day in a cubicle.
#13 Don't spend all day masturbating.
#14 Don't spend all day replying to digg comments."
#15 Don't spend all day in your cubicle masturbating to DIgg comments. - jobenly, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Part of the reason people (not I) think atheists would make bad Presidents is because of comments like these. For some reason, the atheists with an actual sense of empathy and compassion don't object when the brash, the angry, and the rude belittle the core tenets of the lives of others.
Do you know what a stereotype (again, not my view) of atheists is? That they're insensitive and self-centered. Congratulations, you've just reinforced the stereotype. - Ellsass, on 11/05/2008, -0/+4I think people put duggmirror in a comment and post it so it becomes linkable and they can check if it worked. If it didn't, they hit edit and say it didn't work.
Instead just type it into the address bar while you're viewing the comments page and it should still get the referrer. - DeskFlyer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Have less madness in your life and try to avoid fighting in the shade.
- DiggsOnlyNeoCon, on 10/12/2007, -11/+14I am in no way ignorant. I've doubted my faith, only to explore it some more and realize why I am convinced it is true. I consider myself reasonably well educated in other religions and most areas of science. I'm not a blind follower, and I'd encourage people to explore Jesus, not necessarily Christianity, with an open mind.
- spukeesan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4^ all great reasons to leave personal religious feelings out of a non-religious debate
- Seth024, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Edit: I posted the text but rhinez0r beat me to it.
Digg me down plz - djgump35, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:xoABhrL8ewMJ:www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/10-ways-to-create-a-breakthrough-in-your-working-life-and-in-the-rest-of-it-too.html+10+more+ways+to+create+a+breakthrough+in+your+life&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
google cache got it, may have to click on text only - inspecality, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Ahh!! And I was on the verge of making my life meaningful too!!
- psycho79, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Blasphemy.
- DiggsOnlyNeoCon, on 10/12/2007, -24/+26I understand I'll probably be dugg down...
My personal relationship with Jesus Christ has made my life more meaningful in countless ways. - OutThisLife, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This is madness..?
- Ahnteis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3>>7. Be who you are, whoever and whatever that is.
>>#11: Don't spend all day on Digg
What if these to are in conflict? =( - MatthewDuke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Bliss is still bliss, right? Whatever gets you through. If Jesus makes your life more fulfilling, why is that something to be sneered at? Is it any more laughable that your completely made up WoW character makes your life more fulfilling? "Yea, I have 1 million hit points and maximum charisma!!!"
Silly little dork gamer monkey. - TheKillDoctor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@jobenly
Wow you really need to calm down. You see after my last response I went to work in my yard, a bible thumper approached me selling me the usual "jesus saved my life" stuff. I didn't flame away in his face and tell him to fvck off. I was polite and civilized. Now here's the real kicker where YOU might learn something. This is a public comment section if you shout out your beliefs it isn't a one-on-one conversation. If someone shouts out in a crowd "Go Redskins" and someone else shouts out "they suck!" that is just fine with most people. Instead you have to go off on a tirade about hatred.
You really need to get a grip. - anagoge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21) Get a girlfriend.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Wrong. The meaning of life is 42.
- lensman00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1re: #2
Reflexive rejection of "the conventional" is just another form of convention. - sonofagunn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@asdfasdf - ... and tripping on LSD too many times will really mess you up. Do everything in moderation.
- oxdeltaxo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4@ jobenly
Get a sense of humor and grow a back bone. Life's not about taking anything soo seriously, so get over it and get on with living your life. - tg16, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wii and Hookers is all I need.
- jobenly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Nice list, but none of the advice really suggests methods give your life "meaning." The submitted link is titled, "10 ways to create a breakthrough in your working life (and in the rest of it too)," which is a much better descriptor. It's a list of 10 ways to think and act like a skeptic.
If you want to find meaning in your life, I suppose one way to do it is apply those 10 pieces of advice to your personal philosophy/religion/whatever. Largely, though, honestly thinking about what the meaning of your life is would put you ahead of the curve in this busy modern world. - transeunte, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It was just an itch, man. Word.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'll summarise: Get a *****' life!
- Bloodwine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1*DELETED COMMENT* - curse you Digg and your incorrect URL after login bugs!
- djgump35, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1sorry that is the original I suppose, will try to get this one
- joltjake, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2so, what? you think you're better than I am?
- str3ama, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1and if you can truly do all those things, you're a god!
- makario, on 09/03/2009, -2/+2I dugg you for your courage. It takes a lot to swim against the digg flow.
[I'm with you, by the way.] - chinab0wl, on 10/12/2007, -4/+410 MORE ways to create a breakthrough in your life.
Here—again in no particular order—are 10 more ways to transform your working life. Maybe you should try them.
1. Slow down. Give yourself time and space. Never be in more of a hurry than you have to be. Allow time for thinking, musing, just noodling around in your head with no apparent purpose. Give space in your thinking for ideas you haven’t had yet; allow openings for sniffing out the ideas of others. Haste is the enemy of creativity. Being busy all the time is a great way to stop any possibility of breakthroughs. You won’t break out of your old habits by rushing. When people are under pressure, they don’t have energy to try anything new. They reach for whatever they’ve done before, or for some supposedly “tried-and-true” answer. They don’t believe they have time to take risks with change. As a result, they rush headlong down the same old paths into the same old messes. Refuse to be hurried and surprising ideas and opportunities may present themselves.
2. When you think you’ve gone absolutely as far as you can, keep going. You’ve just reached the starting point. Breakthrough can’t happen until you pass the boundaries you believe are there in your life and thought. If you find a boundary, be happy. You’ve just found what you need to break through. Learning and creative thinking are your only sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Never let anything close them down.
3. Take your mind and thinking on trips away. Deliberately step outside your comfort zone. See what you can find. You may come back a changed person. Conservatism is the philosophy of always sticking with what you have and trying to defend it against change. It’s a hopeless attempt. The best, longest-lasting and most valuable ideas remain because they continually adapt to the times. There’s a word for things that don’t change . . . dead. The world is bigger, stranger, more wonderful, and less predictable than you imagine. You won’t find it limited to programs on your TV, or what you can find on the Internet, or what the media present to you. Go out there and look for yourself.
4. Listen. Listen to everyone you can. Really listen. You don’t learn by talking about yourself and your own experience. You learn by listening to the ideas and experiences of others. By listening to the ideas of those around you, you can pick up whatever’s useful. Even the things you reject have taught you something—if only what to avoid. Everyone you talk with can bring you learning opportunities you might otherwise have missed. Never be snobbish either. The best lessons come in unexpected packages. One of the hallmarks of the fool is that he or she thinks learning is restricted to the “right” situations and people. Like birds of a feather, fools flock together, reinforcing their foolishness by deciding they’ll only listen to one another. Wise people know they can’t predict who or what will provide the best lessons in life. Sometimes it will be the voices all the “right” people have rejected.
5. Delight in metaphors and analogies. Every object or idea can stand for something else, or suggest an unexpected link. Dull people restrict their thinking and reading to what seems obviously relevant. Clever ones peer into what isn’t. You’ll maybe discover far more about working life from poetry, philosophy, or good novels that you ever will from business books and self-satisfied self-help writers.
6. Run away from any kind of dogma. Dogma is the product of a closed mind. It’s an idea with a threat attached. If you suffer from dogma, get it out of your life. Let it go. Kick it out. Try thinking the opposite. Treat it like a crazy joke. Do anything you can to get rid of it. It’s the greatest source of barriers to breakthrough.
7. Never aspire to be fashionable. Fashion is the foolish imitating the arrogant. Being cool is fear of change dressed in designer clothes. Following fashion is a sure way to prevent any kind of breakthrough in your life. Free yourself from barriers like this. Be who you are, not who everyone else is pretending to be.
8. Stand on the shoulders of those who went before you. You’ll see so much better and farther. Never imitate the past. Use it to understand better and provoke questions in your mind. History is too often neglected as a source of breakthroughs. By learning from what has already been done, you can make faster steps towards what hasn’t. Innovation is mostly sticking things together in unexpected ways. To create unique ideas and stimulate breakthrough thinking, hybridize from what you have already. Fresh combinations of old ideas can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. It’s simply not true that creative people come up with ideas from nowhere. Even the most startlingly innovative people need material to work with.
9. If it’s habitual, consider dumping it. Habits are the iron bands that hold you in your current ways of thinking and behaving. No one ever made a breakthrough without letting go of whatever has become habitual and automatic. Breaking those tough old habits won’t be easy. You may have to endure some “cold turkey.” It will be well worth it.
10. Begin anywhere. There’s no right place, nor any better place to start from that where you are right now. Waiting to find the right time and place to begin on your quest for breakthrough is a sure way to induce paralysis. New ideas arrive unexpectedly. Whenever they do, allow them to be heard. Learn to be alert always for good ideas and opportunities for breakthrough. Be flexible. Grab opportunities when they come. Don’t sit back and expect another one to be along in a moment. The universe isn’t like that. The idea or opportunity you just chose to ignore may have been the best one you’ll ever have. Begin anywhere. Begin now. Just do it. - dreamflows, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The Meaning of Life
http://basangpanaginip.blogspot.com/2007/03/how-to-break-up-with-your-girlfriend-in.html - Moscube717, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Here's one I find yields a great deal of satisfaction and progress:
When evaluating the merit of an action, use the following:
others > self - gert2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2While I am very happy that the athiests aren't whining about religion and how dumb they think it is, I'd still like to see them not just pass it as a "whatever, if that makes you feel good, go with it" attitude, and treat at least some religions as totally plausible view points.
PS– Sorry, scientologists, you make no sense. - noguchi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0awesome! magic bullets to fix my life.
- djgump35, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1this one isn't cached yet,tween that and the digg effect, reallly needed duggmirror
- rnwen2750, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3I like that the poster admits even he did not read the article. X.x
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