But nobody likes surfing with someone who has a long-term memory. Those guys remind you how it was better three weeks ago or how the guy before you had a better ride. They hang onto those experiences, which inhibit them from enjoying the NOW to its fullest.

Try to love whatever you’re doing today as if it is the best it has ever happened. Just try.

This is one post that grabbed my attention recently…

The number of people you need to ask for permission keeps going down:

1. Go, make something happen.
2. Do work you’re proud of.
3. Treat people with respect.
4. Make big promises and keep them.
5. Ship it out the door.

When in doubt, see #1.

Work with a bias toward action. And have a good rest of your week.

I wanted to post this yesterday, but I simply couldn’t bring myself to doing it because I was afraid you guys would think it was an April Fool’s joke. This is no joke. This is an actual book, and I would encourage you to pick up a copy for yourself if you aspire to be AWESOME.

It’s not too late… GET YOUR COPY ON AMAZON.COM HERE

(via FFFFOUND)

We are constantly striving; striving for the next degree, the job promotion, or to be better than our neighbor/sibling/co-worker. Contentment is not easily found in a culture that consistently tells you that you need to be reaching that next level in order to find fulfillment. However, if there’s one thing I have learned in my 24 years on this earth, it’s that this race is unending and tiring.

Think about setting your goals toward happiness and contentment in your near future, and see what your surrounding decisions/career choices/relationships look like.

The smart people over at GOOD magazine have put together some intriguing blog posts about the shortcomings of purely quantitative evaluation. Sounds exciting right? Well all that comes back to this simple question they pose in one recent article, “how might we put people at the center of evaluation?”

I hold a special interest in this because I am a part of an organization that does economic development work in northern Uganda. We constantly find ourselves caught in a struggle to want to help as many people as we can, while being able to truly care for people in a holistic manner. Is it better to impact a lot of people with the value of a new skill or education, or to take a small handful of people from point A to point Z – providing them with all the lessons and opportunities to grow?

I honestly don’t know which is better, but ultimately this idea comes into play. Quantitative numbers and facts don’t capture the whole story of what’s going on. As we attempt to measure the effectiveness of new innovations or old systems, we must hear from people. Their personal stories will shine light on what impact those innovations have truly had. Ex: as an organization you could put 1,000 kids through school, but if that education system is poor, those kids really are no better off.

The fact of the matter is that human-centered evaluation is more difficult; it’s personal. To share life with people and to take the time to get to know their story is a process. And this isn’t just within developing nations, this principle is universal, but it’s importance isn’t recognized enough. If these same principles could be applied to our western culture I know you’d learn of drastic facts. How millions of people were spiritually/emotionally bankrupt during times of economic success, or others feeling freedom through downsizing.

What would the headlines look like if reporters and economists alike shared a human-centered view of our current economic situation?

Read the articles from GOOD here:
How Might We Put People at the Center of Evaluation?
How Can We Measure What’s Most Meaningful?