What I Learned this Week #84 – 102618

Re the most important place to point his weapon: “As the leader, I trained my weapon at ‘high port’ – the weapon pointed to the sky…w/ my weapon at high port, I no longer looked down the sights w/ tunnel vision.” Leif Babin/The Dichotomy of Leadership – AMX596
Step back from the fray and observe. Don’t get lost in the details.

“When I was a boy, and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day…I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” – Fred Rogers/The Good Neighbor (by Maxwell King) – AMX597
Be a helper, eh?

What an incredible tale of adventure, discovery and wander is Where the Red Fern Grows. – AMXKids18
These kids books are an incredible source of life lessons, but also that of goodness and nostalgia for us “adults.”

Fred Rogers knew himself. He knew what he wanted and didn’t want. Commercialization of the Neighborhood, he did not want, but it did have a cost…”giving up significant income from more aggressive commercialization…Fred Rogers gave up something else, something he would have valued highly: a legacy as strong and lasting as that of Sesame Street and the Muppets.” – Maxwell King/The Good Neighbor – AMX598
Know yourself, and understand that success has a price, and it’s always negotiable.

Our last book dealt w/ dichotomies, and a perfect one existed in Fred’s supportive upbringing: “Over time, their protectiveness of Fred seemed to have contributed to an insecurity and insularity that made his earliest years painful.” – Maxwell King/The Good Neighbor – AMX599
BUT, if you look at how Fred responded, it’s a perfect example of E+R=O.

On the relationship of talent + hard work = excellence: “When you take that talent and put it with hard work, it equals excellence…I really didn’t learn that until year four in the league. I went to the Pro Bowl as a kick returner because I was fast. I went to these guys at my position and went: ‘These guys aren’t better than me.’ And I started asking them things they would do that made them good on the field, and I’m like: ‘Wow, that’s all you gotta do?’ I took that back in the off-season and just worked my butt off. After that, I went to seven straight Pro Bowls at corner.” – Rod Woodson (NFL HOF’er), #202
There’s really no “secret” to success.

Fred chose to deal w/ his feelings and insecurities, rather than push them aside (bc he did care about being bullied). This led to deep introspection: “The essential is to be found in depth and introspection, in searching for meaning, and then finding the truth that comes from that meaning.” – Fred Rogers/The Good Neighbor (by Maxwell King) – AMX600
Get deep, folks. Search for meaning, then truth.

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