DW's Blog

Only Fools Rush In

by DW Green — June 29, 2021

Some people think that “choosing your battles” is weak and calculating.

One of the most fundamental principles of martial arts is that strength should not go against strength. That is: don’t try to beat your opponent where they are strongest. But that’s exactly what we do when we try to undertake some impossible task we haven’t bothered to think through. Or we let someone put us on the spot. Or we say yes to everything that comes our way. Some people think that “choosing your battles” is weak and calculating. How could reducing the amount of times we fail or minimizing the number of needless injuries inflicted upon us be weak? How is that a bad thing? As the saying goes, discretion is the better part of valor. It’s called a reasoned choice. That means be reasonable! Think hard before choosing, and make yourself unbeatable.

Read More – What Makes The Grass Greener?

...

by DW Green — June 22, 2021

“What things have been holding you back?”

So, we’re in the throes of the NBA Championship. Since I Iive in Arizona, I’m rooting for the Phoenix Suns. They’ve never won an NBA Championship. They were in two Finals before, losing in 1976 and 1993.At five feet three inches tall, Muggsy Bogues was the shortest player ever to play professional basketball. (By comparison in this year’s playoffs, Atlanta Hawks star player Trae Young is 6 feet 1, and very small by NBA standards). Throughout his career, Muggsy was snickered at, underestimated, and counted out.But Bogues succeeded by turning his height into the very thing that made him nationally known. Some people looked at his size as a curse, but he saw it as a blessing. He found the advantages contained within it. In fact, on the court small size has many advantages: speed and quickness, the ability to steal the ball from unsuspecting (and significantly taller) players, to say nothing of the fact that players just plain underestimated him.Could this approach not be useful in your life? What things do you think have been holding you back that,...

by DW Green — June 16, 2021

“Perfectionism rarely begets perfection—only disappointment.”

Psychologists speak of cognitive distortions—exaggerated thinking patterns that have a destructive impact on the life of the patient. One of the most common is known as all-or-nothing thinking (also referred to as splitting). Examples of this include thoughts like:

If you’re not with me, you’re against me.
So and so is all good/bad.
Because this wasn’t a complete success, it is a total failure.

This sort of extreme thinking is associated with depression and frustration. How could it not be? Perfectionism rarely begets perfection—only disappointment.Pragmatism has no such hang-ups. It’ll take what it can get. We’re never going to be perfect—if there is even such a thing. We’re human, after all. Our pursuits should be aimed at progress, however little that it’s possible for us to make.

Start With Where The World Is

by DW Green — June 9, 2021

“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough”

Have you heard the expression “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good enough”? The idea is not to settle or compromise your standards, but rather not to become trapped by idealism.The community organizer Saul Alinsky opens his book Rules for Radicals with a pragmatic but inspiring articulation of that idea:“As an organizer I start from where the world is, as it is, not as I would like it to be. That we accept the world as it is does not in any sense weaken our desire to change it into what we believe it should be—it is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going to change it to what we think it should be.”There is plenty you can do right now, today, that would make the world a better place. There are plenty of small steps that, were you to take them, would help move things forward. Don’t excuse yourself from doing them because the conditions aren’t right or because a better opportunity might come along soon. Do what you can, now. And whe...

by DW Green — June 2, 2021

“Principles and pragmatism are not at odds.”

William Lee Miller, in his unique “ethical biography” of Abraham Lincoln, makes an important point about this famous president: our deification of the man makes a point to pretend he wasn’t a politician. We focus on his humble beginnings, his self-education, his beautiful speeches. But we gloss over his job, which was politics. That misses what was so truly impressive about him: Lincoln was all the things he was—compassionate, deliberate, fair, open-minded, and purposeful—while being a politician. He was what we admire in a profession we believe to be filled exclusively with the opposite of that type of person.Principles and pragmatism are not at odds. Whether you live in the snake pit of Washington, D.C., work among the materialism of Wall Street, or grew up in a closed-minded small town, you can live well. Plenty of others have.

Read More – Personal Service, Always A Winner!

...

by DW Green — May 5, 2021

Don’t try to impose your will on the world.

A long To-Do list seems intimidating and burdensome—all these things we have to do in the course of a day or a week. But a Get To Do list sounds like a privilege—all the things we’re excited about the opportunity to experience. This isn’t just semantic playing. It is a central facet of the philosopher’s worldview.Today, don’t try to impose your will on the world. Instead see yourself as fortunate to receive and respond to the will in the world.Stuck in traffic? A few wonderful minutes to relax and sit. Your car broke down after idling for so long? Ah, what a nice nudge to take a long walk the rest of the way. A swerving car driven by a distracted, cell-phone-wielding idiot nearly hit you as you were walking and soaked you head to toe with muddy water? What a reminder about how precarious our existence is and how silly it is to get u...

by DW Green — April 28, 2021

Your mind is infinitely elastic and adaptable.

Today things will happen that will be contrary to your plans. If not today, then certainly tomorrow. As a result of these obstacles, you will not be able to do what you planned. This is not as bad as it seems, because your mind is infinitely elastic and adaptable. You have the power to use the Stoic exercise of turning obstacles upside down, which takes one negative circumstance and uses it as an opportunity to practice an unintended virtue or form of excellence.If something prevents you from getting to your destination on time, then this is a chance to practice patience.If an employee makes an expensive mistake, this is a chance to teach a valuable lesson.If a computer glitch erases your work, it’s a chance to start over with a clean slate.If someone hurts you, it’s a chance to practice forgiveness.If something is hard, it is a chance to get stronger.Try this line of thinking and see whether there is a situation in which one could not find some virtue to practice or derive some benefit. There isn’t one. Every impediment can advance action in some form or another.