John

“Fix #3: More Satisfying Work: Compared with games, reality is unproductive. Games give us clearer missions and more satisfying, hands-on work. Satisfying work always starts with two things: a clear goal and actionable next steps toward achieving that goal.”
― Jane McGonigal, Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

“Remember that you must behave in life as at a dinner party. Is anything brought around to you? Put out your hand and take your share with moderation. Does it pass by you? Don’t stop it. Is it not yet come? Don’t stretch your desire towards it, but wait till it reaches you. Do this with regard to children, to a wife, to public posts, to riches, and you will eventually be a worthy partner of the feasts of the gods. And if you don’t even take the things which are set before you, but are able even to reject them, then you will not only be a partner at the feasts of the gods, but also of their empire.”
― Epictetus, The Enchiridion & Discourses of Epictetus

“The easiest way to increase happiness is to control your use of time. Can you find more time to do the things you enjoy doing?”
― Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow

“Time and again I am asked why no one has successfully replicated Trader Joe’s. The answer is that no one has been willing to pay the wages and benefits, and thereby attract—and keep—the quality of people who work at Trader Joe’s. My standard was simple: the average full-time employee in the stores would make the median family income for California. Back in those days it was about $7,000; as I write this, it is around $40,000. What I didn’t count on back there in the 1960s was that so many spouses would go to work in the national economy. When I started, average family income was about the same as average employee income. The great social change of the 1970s and 1980s moved millions of women into the workplace. Average family income soared ahead. But we stuck with our standard, and it paid off.”
― Joe Coulombe, Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys