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📚 Wisdom, History, and Tree-Lighting
Published 4 months ago • 2 min read
Bite-sized insights for curious leaders & learners every other Sunday
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🔥 Insightful Quotes
"The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know."
-Harry Truman
"The more I thought about the future, the more I became interested in history."
-Kevin Kelly
"A big takeaway from economic history is that the past wasn’t as good as you remember, the present isn’t as bad as you think, and the future will be better than you anticipate."
-Morgan Housel
“All of the times I’ve written about, whether it was the Civil War or the Great Depression or the early days of World War II, were very fraught times—and they turned out alright. So, my optimism is encouraged by looking back at these times….
I really believe that history gives you that solace and hope, because we somehow managed to get through very hard times before all this.”
Holiday recently published the fourth and final book of his "Stoic virtues" series. I've enjoyed the entire series—specifically all of the interesting stories and pithy quotes he collected about how to build a solid life.
Rensch grew up in a cult. When the cult leader realized Rensch's talent at chess, he took Rensch away from his mom and made him devote his life to the game. He became one of the best chess players in America, but experienced trauma and alcoholism along the way. It's a gripping and vulnerable true story.
🧑💼 Quick Leadership Takeaway
🗣️ "Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind." -Brené Brown
Giving feedback is difficult, and nearly everyone struggles with it. (I still do, and I've been working on it for 15 years.)
One thing I've learned is that you'll be in the top 10 percent of feedback-givers if you can just avoid these six mistakes:
Those are the most common mistakes I see people make as I coach leaders on communication, so I try to keep them in mind whenever I'm sharing tough messages.
Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. I love it so much that all year (even in January), I jokingly tell my wife Kaylyn, "It's almost Christmas!"
But now it actually is almost Christmas, and I'm excited. :-)
I love this time of year for many reasons: time with family, Christmas movies and music, trees brimming with lights, warm fires, spiked egg nog, etc. 😉
Last night, Kaylyn and I got the chance to watch the annual tree-lighting at Pike Place Market. We don't visit Pike Place often because it's a bit crazy down there, but it was fun to briefly check out in the holiday hustle and bustle.
As we wrap up November and count down to Christmas, I hope you and your loved ones have an joyful holiday season.
👇 Helpful Resources
Visit me at BobbyPowers.com for more articles and book reviews about leadership, self-improvement, and productivity.
You can also access high-res PDFs of my 1-pagers & cheat sheets here, including my guide on How to Overcome Impostor Syndrome.
I asked 25 leaders from six countries about their experiences with impostor syndrome and how they built self-confidence. As a thank you for being a subscriber, you can access the guide for free here.
👉 Become a more confident leader & more curious learner
Join 1000s of new & aspiring leaders who subscribe | I read 70+ books/year & write about Leadership, Books, & Communication | Bylines in Fast Company, The Startup, etc. | Visit me at BobbyPowers.com
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