AlanAbar.com

I just finished this great book called The Power of Less by Leo Babauta.  He is the auther of the popular blog, zenhabits where he shares his lessons on simplifying your life.  This book is basically talks about two fundamentals to help you reach your goals:

1) Identify the Essential

2) Eliminate the Unnecessary

This basically means to focus on what is essential in your life, what are your goals that you want to achieve!  Then to focus on the tasks that will have an impact and help you reach your goals.   Everything else should be consiered unnecessary if it doesn’t help you move in the forward direction.

After reading this book, it got me to refocus on what my top goals in life are.  I hope to use some of the detailed steps / exercises to help simplify my life and focus my on top goals.

Some of my personal goals include:

> Setup a Photography business / website
> Run a Half / Whole Marathon
> Develop a Software Qualtiy Testing portal

I just finished this great book by Gladwell, authoer of Tipping Point, and Blink.  He gives examples of people he considers “Outliers”, and why or how they reached success.  He challenges common assumptions and offers other reasons for how such folks as Bill Joy, Bill Gates got to where they are today. 

A few lessons I picked up from this, is that success is dependent on timing as well as luck.  Rare opportunities will present themselves, and you must be willing to take advantage of those rare windows.  These Outliers started off as normal folks, but took a window of opportunity and maximized it hourlessly.  They started with a small advantage, which snowballed into a huge advantage.  This term is called “cumulative advantage”, where one small advantage will accumulate into a bigger advantage.  But importantly that it takes dedication and commitment to one’s trade, 10K hours of practice before you can become considered a “genius” or “expert” of what you do.

This book made me think about my own self and path in life, and what opportunities / path I have taken or missed along the way.  And it makes me think about my own daughter, to give her every possible advantage and opportunities for her own success.

Being a parent has changed my outlook on life.  It’s not much about me anymore, as it was before we had her.  Everything I do and think revolves on how it impacts or can help my daughter succeed.  After reading this book, it did bring me back to think about how my own success  /failures, and how focusing on myself can help her on her own journey. 

I do have to focus on myself, my own dreams and goals, and become an “Outlier” in my own right.  My old manager told me that the best gift you can give your child is showing them how to become successful, by being successful yourself.