Status Updates From Stretch: How to Future-Proo...

"You are on your own now, and will remain so. As people move from one type of employment state to another, everyone will be required to market, sell, develop, and sustain themselves. Daniel Pink, author of Everyone Sells, says that we must all learn how to persuade, influence, and convince others of our skills and capabilities.

"In many functional areas, education and certifications are (lazy) proxies for excellence. That is why so many companies rely on them for hiring. They haven't discovered, as Google did, that there are better ways to measure expertise and company fit."

"Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build in your life. You build it on your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of your experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in."

John Gardner

"Try everything once, even if it means doing and scared."

"Improve on that sweet spot at the edge of your abilities."

"Don't just let experiences happen to you, but choose the experiences that benefit you the most."

If you don't feel it over your head at least 3 to 4 times a year, you are not reaching high enough. You are not stretching.

"The best network stretches you. While you may have hundreds of people in your network, who are the five people who can help you be a better person, especially when it comes to work? Since we can't maintain close connections to everyone in our networks, focus on the five you could groom to help you thrive."

"It helps to be proactive in order to avoid spending all of your time maintaining past contacts. As your need for information changes, make sure that your network is future-focused, populated with people who challenge you to think more broadly, and can help you grow and develop."

"Close tie networks might be more inclined to stop you from taking any risks, whereas loose tie networks hold the knowledge and resources to make those risks pay off."

– Contrasting the close tie network of people most invested in our success to the loose tie network of acquaintances who may actually be more help

"Are you weighing too heavily safety and security when you might be in a position where exploration will benefit you more?"

That one will definitely blog with any number of Bible passages in and out of job situations.

"Every time you have a career choice in front of you, ask yourself, 'What am I potentially giving up if I take this option?'"

"What would a different version of you do in this situation, and why can't that be you now? People who tend to learn and grow across their careers tend to have an outlook that they are a work in process, and experiment underway."

"You must first be open to leaving behind an invested path in order to embrace the new."

"Be sure to handle the details of your job, but remember to adopt a drone's viewpoint and zoom out once in a while as well."

"Rather than make a big choice and a long-term commitment, test out small moves like lean startups do, and adapt as the identity fits and as you reach your goals. The good news is that in today's world, you can pursue multiple approaches at once instead of wasting years."

"Scott G. Halford's book called Activate the Brain indicates that handwriting is like string screening for the brain."

She says writing by hand rather than typing notes, as the later has more neurological impact. I will have to pass until God lifts cerebral palsy, but the insight is worth sharing. I can incorporate the practice of habitually stopping to summarize every 50 pages, or in my case 50 entries in OneNote.

"As far back as Greek civilization, the right to express an opinion in the public forum demanded expertise. Socrates reported when decisions were to be made at the assembly, the experts in respective domains were called forth. Builders were called for building discussions, shipwrights when the dialogue was about shipbuilding, and so on. Being excellent in your chosen field matters if your voice is to be heard."

"Being effective at what we value resonates with something beyond feeling competent. At some level, competence connects with our dreams, with that part of us that yearns for unity with something greater than ourselves. We want to matter."

Raymond J. Wlodkowski

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." – Alvin Toffler

Then, Lord, why aren't Goodreads

Michael Webb, senior vice president at HSBC in Canada, passes on advice from his father: “Be absolutely greedy about experiences.”

As Douglas Adams wrote in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent dis-inclination to do so.”