My Go-To List

Every now and then, I will write a blog post that might fall under miscellanous, or "potpurri" as Alex Trebek calls it on Jeopardy.

I love lists, especially when they involve good lessons that you can use daily. Inc.com featured an article entitled, 9 Life Lessons for Every Entrepreneur. This list is derived from Gordon Dean, an American lawyer and prosecutor from the 1950s. Sadly, he died in a plane crash in 1953 but I think his lessons below will last a lifetime.

1. Never lose your capacity for enthusiasm.
2. Never lose your capacity for indignation.
3. Never judge people. Don’t type them too quickly. But in a pinch, never first assume that a man is bad; first assume that he is good and that, at worst, he is in the gray area between bad and good.
4. Never be impressed by wealth alone or thrown by poverty.
5. If you can’t be generous when it’s hard to be, you won’t be when it’s easy.
6. The greatest builder of confidence is the ability to do something--almost anything--well.
7. When confidence comes, then strive for humility; you aren’t as good as all that.
8. The way to become truly useful is to seek the best that other brains have to offer. Use them to supplement your own, and be prepared to give credit to them when they have helped.
9. The greatest tragedies in the world and personal events stem from misunderstandings. So communicate!

These are simple and concise ways to manage your life, personally and professionally. I like this list a lot and will refer to it often. I hope you will too!