Here we share the things that we're curious about, that we're learning, reading, thinking. Take part, share, spread the brain waves.
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4.8 Throwback
The Archive of our Notes, here
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4.7 H
A new podcast, what do you think of this?
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4.6 24h
Arnold Bennett's essay How to Live on 24 Hours a Day should be considered as required reading from age ten.
Click and (don't forget)
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4.5 A Dare
Audacity comes in many forms.
Here Robert Rauschenberg talks about his controversial erasure of De Kooning's work.
The status quo saw art one way, one man had another idea.
The question arises how far will you go in the pursuit of an idea?
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4.4 A Prank
'In true education, anything that comes to our hand is as good as a book: the prank of a page-boy, the blunder of a servant, a bit of table talk - they are all part of the curriculum.'
Michel de Montaigne. Look up his essays, they're edifying.
There may be a few anachronisms, but look past those. Page-boys are just so hard to come by these days.
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4.3 The Prof
The road to power is paved with friendship.
Unspoken loyalties, fierce devotion, bias, protection.
Leadership requires a specific type of person to answer its call. We're familiar with certain historical figures that time and again make the roll call of honour.
One, Winston Churchill, is firmly placed in this pantheon of excellence. But was all as it seemed? Here's a riveting podcast episode from Malcolm Gladwell.
What do you think and what does it mean? Listen
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4.2 Zero
Shane over at Farnham Street delves into the history of the figure we all now call 'zero'.
This a far reaching essay which starts as a jaunt through history to find the origins of this unit of measure, but along the way goes far deeper, and somehow we end up through the rabbit hole, via a study of Buddhism, meditation and consciousness itself.
Hit play here
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
When Logic met Neil deGrasse Tyson
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4.1 Shadow Play
Stanford's d.school is a fascinating melting pot of ideas when it comes to design for better living.
One experiment that's caught our imagination - 'The Shadow A Student Challenge' - looks at how we can design spaces and processes to cultivate empathy.
More here
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4.0 A Festival
Forget Glastonbury, it's all about the V&A's REVEAL Festival.
The decorative arts are one of our great loves and the V&A is a serious giant in this area. So much history, art and story-telling under one roof is rare, especially when most of it is free.
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3.9 Be(a)ware
Tristan Harris, former design ethicist at Google, opens Pandora's box:
How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds — from a Magician and Google’s Design Ethicist
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
'I was not like the children in folktales...'
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3.8 Mr Gladwell
One of our favourite podcasts, Revisionist Histories by Malcolm Gladwell, returns for a second series on June 15th. Catch up on series one here
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3.7 A conversation
No, we haven't forgotten, and yes we persist. For our latest twin debate we ask each other 'which living person do you despise the most?'. Oooof! This is what we had to say #TheConsciousLivingProject
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3.6 Luxuries
Consumption and luxury goods are always contentious topics.
Our guiding philosophy has always been buy what you please, but do so consciously, intentionally. Each object we bring into our lives inevitably speaks volumes about us.
From the School of Life, this intriguing essay is a powerful exploration of this exact theme. Read and share, it's important.
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
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3.5 A Tip
Play. Doodle, buy a puzzle, do throw and catch, play Monopoly deal (it's addictive), learn a new, terrible cheesy joke and bore each of your friends with it.
Let's loosen up a little!
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3.4 Habits
A fascinating study by UCL on habit formation, here
The punch line? The 21 day theory is a bit of a con, and that lasting change takes time, but is completely possible.
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3.3 Data Driven Philanthropy
Charity and philanthropy can be overwhelming to navigate. We've discovered GiveWell.org. It actively vets and conducts independent widely respected research on charities across the world, and recommends the most effective and under-funded organisations. It's transparent and non-judgemental.
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
Bread, Gertrude Stein + Conscious Homes
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3.2 The Technique
The Pomodoro technique, coined in the 70s, encourages productive, impactful work in short bursts. Set a timer (your phone is perfect) to 25 mins and work solidly on whichever project is in front of you, and then as time is up, take a five minute break.
Make a tea, take a quick walk, look at your favourite app etc. Then start that timer again. Start a tally, and after 3-4 bursts take a longer break of 15-20mins. This works whether you are self-employed, work for a corporation, or for your own personal projects/interests. The repeated act of setting the timer reinforces your determination, and the focus frees you. We're all about positive restraints
Let us know how you get on!
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3.1 The App
A speed-reader's dream, Blinkist is an app which essentially transforms best-selling non-fiction books into short digests that you can get through in 15mins or less.
We're enjoying this for a few reasons:
- allows us to dip into books before buying
- allows us to dip into books that we're intrigued by but weren't considering buying
- dip into themes and topics that lie outside of our typical interests
- we rarely download apps so actually discovering one that we like is nice, and we want to share it with you
It's here
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3.0 The Challenge
Take one person in your immediate circle that you admire.
Define one quality of theirs that you would like to develop for yourself.
Link one word to this quality i.e. confident, generous, creative.
Over the course of days/weeks, as you are faced with any decision, recite this word a few times. Get into the mindset of that quality of note. It'll start the cognitive process towards cultivating this characteristic.
Persist. It'll be worth it.
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
What we dislike about our appearance...
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2.9 The Conversation
We chatted with Designer and Maker Tobias van Schneider about our work, what it's like setting up a fashion business and the way we try to live a more intentional life:
Click here
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2.8 The Podcast
Tech entrepreneur and VC Naval Ravikant tackles a series of Q&A on the Tim Ferriss Show (Tim is a self-experimenter, a life-long learner and author). You may not have heard of Naval but that doesn't matter, listen to this. Try it, even if 'you're not really into podcasts.' Schedule for your next commute into work, the next gym session, the next errand run. If we could lift one quote to tease you:
“I actually think happiness is the absence of suffering. It comes from peace. That comes from being careful about desire, judgement, and reaction.”
Listen here
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2.7 An Essay
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
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2.6 A film
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2.5 App Fatigue
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2.4 Getting Back Into Reading
One of the great ironies of the people who tell us they used to love reading but have now fallen out of practice, is that they themselves are great story-tellers. The wistful look in search of lost time. It’s really quite a marvel. Yes there are literally millions of books out there, and yes we only want to read ‘good’ things and of course how could fiction count because it's ‘just stories’. We’ll wait a moment as your throat clear your excuses… Here are some tips that have helped us dip back again into the word when we’ve had a dry spell:
- Start with re-reading a book you loved once. It doesn't matter that it may be many decades since, or a genre you wouldn’t touch now, but you need to coax that reading muscle back to strength
- Open up your web browser, of the many tabs open, apart from the Daily Mail wall of shame, look for patterns of interest. Are you searching Youtube for videos on how to build your own kettle bell, are you intrigued by space and the exploits of astronomers, are you still confused about the difference between they’re and their? These are all clues for places to start: identify your interest, start with a search engine and look for ‘founding’ texts or the latest books on these topics. For some context look up reviews from leaders in the field or newspapers you read and whose opinions you value
- Look up the reading lists of people you admire. On his website GatesNotes.org Bill Gates keeps an ongoing list of works that he has read, and has small notes as to what interested him most; scientists, artists, industrialists etc often in interviews will mention the books that made them
- Walk into any nearby bookshop, find a section that appeals vaguely, even as arbitrary as fiction vs non fiction, and pick a book, any book. Read the first page, and see if you want to read the next. If not, pick another. The pull you have from wanting to read something, is of equal and opposite a reaction to something you think you should be reading. Just spend 10mins of a lunch break
- Crowdsource - ask three friends to each give you a book that’s influenced them. You immediately have a personal library, edited, and from these you’ll find a topic/genre/person that you’ll want to delve into more
- Don’t feel constrained by traditional chronology. Often in the case of non-fiction, writers treat chapters as stand-alone mini-essays. There is a grand narrative but you can equally just dip in, find a section that piques you, and journey onwards. Fidelity isn’t necessary, and you can always go back to get the full context
- Why not choose up to two books and leave them on a table or counter, which you often sit by or are around. Sometimes it's easier to do something if it feels accessible and is right in your face. The adage, out of sight out of mind, applies to reading as much as anything else
- Final one. Imagine you’re in a movie about your life - a real Truman show situation. What would you be reading?...
That’s all for now.
Over and out.
H&M
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
2.3 Pure Imagination
Whether we refer to architecture, town planning or landscape gardening, each of these disciplines actively seek to influence us through manipulating space and structures.
It is a phenomenal power to possess. Architecting an inherited world, where oceans and rainforests and woodlands originally sat majestic, the architect especially must bring a vision worthy of its competitor.
Samir Rahman is one such architect in training that we discovered through RIBA's (Royal Institute of British Architects) annual President's Medals competition. This is a worldwide search for the most inspiring, surprising and ultimately visionary students, who develop individual projects to suggest how the world could, and should, be.
His work, 'Nuclear NOW!' explores how perceptions of this controversial power source can be challenged and changed. His imagined project is a festival which takes place in the year 2051. By now a nuclear plant sits within Greenwich park. The site envisions a celebratory series of events and experiences, from a tea garden within a monsoon climate generated by waste heat from the station, fishermen catching on site fresh fish soon to be transformed into sushi, and luscious tea trees, from which festival goers pick their leaves to drink at a traditional tea ceremony.
It's an audacious vision. A single idea with deep and nuanced thinking. Regardless of your views on the specifics, orthogonal thinking as this will deeply influence our interaction with the world. Visuals of Samir's work can be found here, or pop into a real life building if that's more your scene, at RIBA's HQ here. It's free and you'll leave feeling as if your brain's been Barry Boot-camped (in a good way).
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2.2 Boredom
“Bliss—a-second-by-second joy and gratitude at the gift of being alive, conscious—lies on the other side of crushing, crushing boredom. Pay close attention to the most tedious thing you can find (Tax Returns, Televised Golf) and, in waves, a boredom like you’ve never known will wash over you and just about kill you. Ride these out, and it’s like stepping from black and white into color. Like water after days in the desert. Instant bliss in every atom.”
David Foster Wallace
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2.1 The Minimalists
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
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2.0 A New Year, Not A New You
A very happy new year to each of you.
Be in the present. Seek not novelty but refinement; not arbitrary change, but growth.
Keep up the business of living, the joy of learning and the gift of compassion and empathy. Be in command of yourself, ask tough questions, do not shy away from the unknown, for in chaos, lies opportunity.
Yours faithfully, always,
M+H
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1.9 A Set of Thoughts
"This is what we have been thinking about this week, and this is what we think about it”
from Mandeep + Hardeep, co-founders of PER/se
Mandeep:
Valuable Value
Value; you see the word and automatically associate it with something or someone, but how often do we actively consider what it means?
We’re often used to thinking of value in a monetary context. For example, am I happy with the value I am getting for the price I am paying for an object, experience etc…
We think about how much we value our time, value people in our circle of familiarity, but I do wonder, how often do we consider value from a personal perspective? How much do I value myself? Do I need my value to be recognised and affirmed by others? Does my value change depending on the people I am facing or the situation I am in? Perhaps it feels indulgent or self-centred to air these thoughts. But, as a counter, surely defining one’s own value, helps to create your true north, so to speak, which then allows you to form a view, voice an opinion, make a change, take a new step.
I would say, compared to the average, I am conscious of the question of how much I value myself. Not only do I found it empowering, it also stops me in my tracks. If appreciating my value gives me such a feeling, it becomes a no brainer that I should be conscious of how my actions, thoughts and words can heighten or impair somebody else’s view of their value. Seen from that perspective, I then realise that integrating and interacting with the world and those in it, can and should be positive. And simple. Without realising, the idea of value directly feeds into how we practise our humanity towards others; and then the saying, treating others as you wish to be treated, takes on even more significance.
Valuing yourself, almost acts as a pull of gravity; it can give you surety over your thoughts, conviction in your actions, clarity of how you wish the world to treat you and gives you confidence to be a thinker who then becomes a doer. This then allows you to define your value system and to pro-actively live a life that feels considered but also with substance.
With this in mind, perhaps take some time out at the start of the day before the humming of the outside world starts to tap into your thoughts, and think of your own valuable value. Articulate it, believe in it and act on it.
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Hardeep:
Dairy-free Connection
For a while now I have been thinking about the views I hold, and really how delicate the balance is before a certain view becomes extreme, even harmful to others. That the principles I live by are really a happy chance of circumstance. Bare with me.
The life I am lucky enough to lead allows me the freedom to make certain fundamental decisions - how I dress, what I eat, where I live, the friends I make and the work I do. The privilege of this freedom also allows me to follow my principles fairly faithfully; rare have been the times when I had to compromise my ethics. The values that I have grown up with have been consistent with my experience of the world. Only rare incidences of discomfort pepper my memory - isolated, random calls to ‘go back home’. Luckily that time myself and Mandeep were on our way back home from school, of which we duly informed the concerned heckler.
With an interest in the liberal arts I spent fours years studying English Literature and Language at university; Plato, Dickens, Mansfield, Joyce, Wollstonecraft, Darwin, Virgil. The whole world opened up for me, at least versions of it. I engrossed myself in these different universes, and in turned they enriched me with their ideas, philosophies and critiques. All this morphed into a world view where, although I see the hardships that exists day to day, both home and away, that are often brutal and abhorrent, my personal experience had been largely devoid of these. My view of life is therefore naturally more open, accepting, optimistic. Of course vagaries of personality and disposition have a role to play, but the control factor here is one’s exposure to the under belly of life, from which I have been shielded.
But imagine if something unexpected happened.
If I lost the roof over my head would I still walk past the homeless man on the street. If I became sick and had to rely on systems that before I hadn’t needed, and they came up short, would I feel somehow relegated from the premier league of the healthy, now invisible. If I lost a loved one at the hands of those who are meant to protect us would I be less concerned with observing the rule of law. If I lost my source of income, the security of day to day sustenance, would I still choose, or be able, to be a vegetarian? Would I care as much about the use of palm oil in my food, or the origin of fresh produce. If I had to fight day to day for the simple right of walking out onto the street, dressed completely as I desired, dogged with a fear of abuse, would I still look at each face with benign openness, or would distrust settle in? If I could no longer practice my faith, even in the privacy of my own home, for fear of recrimination, would I still care for the suffering of others that did not belong to my creed.
These are all hypotheticals, conjured up by trying to put myself into the shoes of others. The feeling I have is that I cannot take for granted the truth of the matter - that freedom allows us the privilege of values and morals. It is when compromise or repression rears it head that these become luxuries. Survival doesn’t care for my dairy-free, meat free, arts loving life.
Before I judge the actions of those that are known to me, or strangers, I need to think twice about how life does’t allow us each equal measure of freedom, whatever that even means. My compromises are different from others, and each individual leads a secret inner life informed by an inventory of personal life experience. But I also feel there is a quality in which all can partake - empathy - that can exist in any condition of life as we can summon it at will. I cannot forgive all the bad in the world, I cannot always even understand it, but I can counter it through connection. I am more affirmed in the belief that this really is the stuff of life.
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1.8 A Story
From Melinda Gates
'The world is making progress by doing three things economists call Recognise, Reduce, and Redistribute: Recognize that unpaid work is still work. Reduce the amount of time and energy it takes. And Redistribute it more evenly between women and men.
...
When it comes to Recognise, Reduce, and Redistribute, the story of Anna and Sanare, the couple I stayed with in Tanzania, is pretty inspiring. When they got married, Anna moved from a lush part of the country to live in Sanare’s drought-ridden area. She had a hard time adjusting to the extra work that meant. Finally, Sanare came home one day to see Anna sitting on the steps ready to leave, her bags packed and their first child, Robert, in her arms. Sanare, heartbroken, asked how he could persuade her to stay. “Fetch water,” she said, “so I can nurse our son.” And so, Recognizing the imbalance, he did. He started walking the miles to the well every day. At first the other village men made fun of him and even accused Anna of witchcraft. But when he said, “My son will be healthier because I’m doing this,” they started Redistributing the work with him. After a while, when they got sick of working so hard, they decided to build water tanks to collect rainwater near the village. Now that they’ve Reduced, no matter who goes to get water, Anna or Sanare, it’s a lot closer—and they both spend more time with Robert and their other kids.'
Just One conversation, adjustment, idea can lead to a result 10x in its effect.
A good return if there ever was one, we think.
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
What's your greatest extravagance?
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1.7 A Uniform
'In the fall of 1830, Victor Hugo set out to write The Hunchback of Notre Dame against the seemingly impossible deadline of February 1831. He bought an entire bottle of ink in preparation and practically put himself under house arrest for months, using a most peculiar anti-escape technique:
‘Hugo locked away his clothes to avoid any temptation of going outside and was left with nothing to wear except a large gray shawl. He had purchased the knitted outfit, which reached right down to his toes, just for the occasion. It served as his uniform for many months.’
He finished the book weeks before deadline, using up the whole bottle of ink to write it. He even considered titling it What Came Out of a Bottle of Ink, but eventually settled for the less abstract and insidery title.'
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1.6 An assignment involving a grid
Here at PER/se HQ we really value your support - your presence here suggests you are curious, open-minded, intrigued by ideas and seek new ways to see the world. PER/se was created to add value back into the day to day. Our chosen medium is design and fashion. The things we use and wear everyday reflect our values as well as carrying a type of optimism. We seek new ways to express ourselves, to experiment, to consider other ways to live, for the better.
So, to help navigate this process we came across a rather marvellous tool by one of our favourite sites, WaitButWhy and this is where the grid comes in. The theory is once the business of sleeping is out of the way, we have approximately 1000 minutes awake a day. Breaking these into approachable chunks we have 100 10-minute blocks each day. The challenge? Colour the blocks according to how you think you spend your day, one block for breakfast, 500 blocks for work, three for the gym and so on. And then take a look at your day, broken down rather conveniently, and colour coded no less. Think about the blocks you like the most, which one the least. Which blocks would you like to add more time to, which blocks take more time than they should.
Finally, print another grid and colour the blocks according to how you actually spend your day. What do you see?
For the grid, see here
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1.5 A quote
'Anything you do, reflects everything you do'
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
This Week: Role Models and War Photography
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1.4 An Exercise
A classroom exercise from Marina Abramovic, from her memoirs 'Walk Through Walls':
'For a few months, they sit for two hours a day at a table with 1,000 pieces of blank white paper and write down their ideas. All the good ones they put on one side of the table; all the bad ones go in the trash can. But in the end, I only look in the trash. It turns out to be a treasure of everything they’re afraid of and really should do.'
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1.3 Flow
We're currently reading Mihaly Csiksgentmihalyi's work 'Flow'. It's about finding that heightened state of stimulation in any activity we are focused on, that gives us deep and long-lasting happiness. There's science, psychology and evolutionary studies woven in like a grand tapestry. A very practical snippet for now, for you, The Ones:
Excerpt
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1.2 One track
One track to listen to once a day.
A track to do nothing to. Meditate, just sit; at your desk at work or while you sit and eat breakfast.
10 minutes and 45 seconds of nothing.
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1/1 One.of.One
Each week we curate a note with the 3-5 things that have us intrigued.
Here is the latest one:
Starting A Weekly Practice Of Self-Learning
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1.1 What it takes to be number one
Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi is known as a legendary football coach whose ability to rouse his team to victory was second to none. The 1960s was his crowning period, steering the Green Bay Packers to becoming the dominant NFL team.
What it takes to be number one is an address written by Lombardi. A rallying cry for munition, the utter determination is takes in the mind to lead and win. The framework may sit within football however the broader mindset of pushing the self to achieve one’s goals is a universal message.
And winning here may be in a game scenario but the underlying belief is the one you hold for yourself. As an individual did you try your best, for you, and you alone? Do you push for things that matter, that make the life you lead better for yourself and others around you?
There are some additional quotes at the end. Read all and take in what resonates. The bravura is not essential to adopt, but the mindset of self belief is.
And it goes without any saying that any reference to man/him/he/his is wholly transformed to woman/her/she/hers…
What It Takes To Be Number One
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.
Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.
Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.
It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.
And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.
I don't say these things because I believe in the ‘brute' nature of men or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour -- his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear -- is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."
Some Quotes
“The achievements of an organisation are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”
“People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defences, or the problems of modern society.”
“Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him short of success.”
“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavour.”
“Success is based upon a spiritual quality, a power to inspire others.”
“There is no substitute for work.”
“Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”
“Don’t succumb to excuses. Go back to the job of making the corrections and forming the habits that will make your goal possible.”
“Winning is not everything – but making the effort to win is.”
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