Get help to make life better (Monday)
Life Scholar • World Philosopher
Culture Curator • Tech Strategist
Human Being • Sports Analyst
Give people sincere praise about something they have done well or that you appreciate about them before giving them negative feedback or an idea for something they could change or do differently.
- "Sandwich every bit of criticism between two heavy layers of praise."
- One well known strategy for feedback is the “criticism sandwich,” popularized by the above quote from cosmetics maven Mary Kay Ash.
- In the sandwich, you begin with praise, address the problem, and follow up with more praise.
- In fact, the more of the conversation you can frame positively, the more likely your recipient is to be in the right frame of mind to make the change you’re looking for.
How to Give and Receive Feedback at Work: The Psychology of Criticism - Buffer
Admire living things like people, friends, animals, and nature, while simply making use of material things like stuff, things, tools, and technology.
Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. - Lao Tzu
Live your life by being true to yourself and following your dreams and passions, in order to make your life and the lives of others better and happier, instead of only doing things that other people want or expect you to do.
- I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. This was the most common regret of all.
- When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled.
- Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.
- It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way.
- From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late.
- Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.
Top 5 regrets of the dying - Huffington Post
Hey Jacob.
Great Evaluation And Analysis
- I think you really do a great job of evaluating players and coming up with different analysis or ideas for teams or players, to understand the value of players or make possible changes and adjustments.
- It's really fun to hear your thoughts on players or trades, and in particular I think your draft prospect bullet point breakdowns are an excellent example of that.
- In terms of evaluating players, one thing I think that I look at extremely differently than you is ages of players, and in particular young players who might be truly valuable or even untouchable, and also when players are going to be entering or in their prime.
Potential Of Young Players
- Lowry was 26, about 3 years older than Barnes is now, when he was traded to the Raptors and he wasn't that great of a player yet, being traded for a future first round pick.
- Masai didn't want to include the young Siakam or Anunoby in the Kawhi trade, and they were basically nothings on offense at about age 23 and 21 after each averaged about 7 points the previous year.
- Josh Giddey is still just 22 and he already shot 38% 3PT on 4 3PA this year while Caruso shot 35% on 3 3PA.
- James Harden was about 23 and playing on the bench for OKC the previous year when he was traded to Houston.
- Shai was a bit younger at about 21 when he was traded away after his 10 PPG rookie year along with a 20 PPG Danilo Gallinari and about 5 first round picks for a 28 year old Paul George.
- Barnes is just 23, already won rookie of the year, and has already been an All-Star, so he'll just be entering his age 24 season next year!
Continued... >
Theory - Because the feelings of living things exist, these feelings of living things may matter and mean something.
- When we are harmed, injured, or attacked we can feel hurt
- When we are hugged, satisfied, or accepted we can feel good
- Living things have feelings and emotions which matter to them
- It matters to us if we feel suffering, misery, pleasure, or happiness
- Our life may matter and have meaning because we feel it has meaning
- Our life and feelings may matter and have meaning because they exist
May 6, 2025
The world is in a better place than ever because of many people with caring hearts and intelligent minds who genuinely want to make life better.
At some point, you got to decide for yourself who you’re going to be. Can’t let nobody make that decision for you. - Moonlight Movie
If the Raptors end up getting Cooper Flagg in the NBA draft and keep Poeltl, then I think they should move Poeltl to the bench and start Flagg or Barnes at center, with the goal of getting more shooting into both the starting lineup and the bench.
My Lineup
- Quickley, Agbaji, Ingram, Barnes, Flagg
- Walter, Barrett, Dick, Boucher, Poeltl
Notes
- More shooting starting, and Boucher to win
- RJ or Poeltl play more than Agbaji most games
- Barrett to bench for handling and scoring
- Battle is the 11th guy for more shooting
Raptors Path Forward 2024
I think that Apple or any company making operating systems should display an even amount of 16 apps in home screen tabs, app folders, and app menus on iOS, tvOS, and other operating systems, instead of the hard to organize and odd amount of 9 apps.
What
- Display 16 apps in folders, or alternatively 24
- Grid of 4x4 apps in folders, or alternatively 4x6
- Always show an even amount of app columns
- Always show an even amount of app rows
Why
- Grouping apps in groups of 2, 4, or 6 makes sense logically
- With groups of 4 people can easier create a mental model
- Rotating from portrait and landscape shows the same apps
- People may be buying or using less apps with folders of 9
I wonder if the names of executive positions should be simplified with chief as C-Level, general as G-Level, senior as S-Level, and vice as V-Level. Each department could have simpler titles, with marketing having "Marketing Officers" instead of long vice president titles.
What
- Level - Title - Abbreviation - Codename
- C-Level - Chief Marketing Officer - CMO - Chief/Leader
- G-Level - General Marketing Officer - GMO - General/Admiral
- S-Level - Senior Marketing Officer - SMO - Major/Colonel
- V-Level - Vice Marketing Officer - VMO - Captain/Commander
Past
- Level - Title - Abbreviation
- Chief - Chief Marketing Officer - CMO
- Executive - Executive Vice President of Marketing - EVP
- Senior - Senior Vice President of Marketing - SVP
- Vice - Vice President of Marketing - VP
Choose to be happy with your current situation and life, as research has shown happiness may come down to your attitude and perception, not our faulty estimation of what we think we want, even big changes like getting a dream job, goal, partner, or money.
- Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we'll be miserable if we don't get what we want.
- Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things don't go as planned.
The surprising science of happiness - Dan Gilbert - YouTube
If you think the power and magnificence of 3-6-9 is the key to the universe, just wait until you learn how to simplify things and fully realize the incredible power and simplicity of 2-4-6.
I think formulating an ideology and creating ways of living based solely on practical habits or action instead of theoretical beliefs or dogma may be beneficial and essential to further maintain and improve our overall wellbeing and happiness.
On Beliefs, Theories & Dogmas
Beliefs, theories, dogmas, and myths can often be harmful as they can be used to promote rituals based upon mere suspicion, and therefore they may not be practically helpful.
- I think we should reserve belief only as a tool to believe in ourselves to do something
- Beliefs, theories, and dogmas may be harmful and unhelpful in making life better for all
- It may be worth striving to focus only on knowing things instead of believing in things
- Decoupling beliefs from practices within church and communities may be important
On Practices, Habits & Actions
Practices, habits, actions, and plans may shape our positive wellbeing and happiness if we proactively create good practices, or our negative suffering and misery if we do not.
- As for ideology, I might broaden its definition to include not just beliefs, but practices
- Whatever we call it, I think creating habits and practices to make life better can succeed
- It may be worth focusing not on what is right or true, but what is good or better for all
- Focusing on practices, habits, action, and values may be worthwhile and important
April 22, 2025
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. - Theodore Roosevelt
Have a growth mindset by believing that you can grow, learn new things, improve your skills and knowledge, and realizing that temporary and recurring failure are a necessary part of learning and growing.
- Dweck, like many adults, had learned to hide her frustration and anger, to politely say "I'm not sure I want to play this anymore" instead of knocking over the board.
- She figured the successful kids would be the same - they’d have tactics for coping with failure instead of getting beaten down by it.
- But what she found was radically different.
- The successful kids didn’t just live with failure, they loved it!
- When the going got tough, they didn’t start blaming themselves; they licked their lips and said "I love a challenge."
- They’d say stuff like "The harder it gets the harder I need to try."
Believe you can change - Aaron Swartz
Independence and any feelings of superiority may be an illusion created within a capitalistic or any societal system where we in fact rely on others in countless ways, common for those in elevated classes, positions of power, or with certain knowledge, skills, or traits to feel.
I wonder if we should use bullet lists for all or most of our writing, and particularly to make concise, argumentative list essays that present a single plan, idea, practice, or habit with points describing the action or steps the author suggests.
Names
- List Essay or Bullet Essay
- Brief or Bullet
What
- Can a bullet list of points be an essay?
- Should we write more ideas and plans as argumentative essays in bullet list form?
- We could call this simplified and brief style of writing a "List Essay" or "Bullet Essay"
- Argumentative essays with a single idea would work particularly well as a list essay
- Any idea, plan, practice, habit, policy, strategy, or rule could work well as a list essay
- Any and all types of writing may be simpler, better, and read easier as bullet lists too
Why
- Many books, essays, texts, articles, and literary works are way too long
- We need to focus on brevity and simplifying our information and important actions
- Maybe we should shorten our ideas and other information and just get to the point
- It is easier and quicker to skim a list of lines and points than long paragraphs or essays
- An idea should often focus on what and why changes are to be made more so than how
- A bulleted list encourages the author to describe their idea or information much simpler
How
- Use bulleted lists instead of paragraphs, hopefully which will fit on a single line
- Shorter sentences might be preferred, but sentences of any length would work
- Possibly make groups of 6 points or less separated with headings for further simplicity
- Create a What section with a simple description of your idea, plan, action, or habit
- Often create a Why section to outline the reasons for the idea or explain your argument
- Optionally create How, Steps, or Rules sections to further detail your plan, idea, or action
April 8, 2025
What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. - Jane Goodall
I love the old iPad mini 5 with its completely flat back, no camera bump, and a naturally uniform screen. I dislike the iPhone mini 13 with a wobbly back, humongous camera bump, and imbalanced intrusive notch. While out of style, I wonder if Steve Jobs would feel the same way.
