When people use the metaphor of "being a punching bag", the focus is usually on quantity and intensity of the attacks being inflicted. What's often overlooked is that, in spite of these attacks, the bag's rugged and flexible nature allows it to absorb the blows before returning to its original position, appearing largely unphased and exhibiting minimal long term effects.

Einstein once said that compound interest was the 8th wonder of the world. While many might scoff at this as an over exaggeration, the reality is that our culture's obsession with quick-fix solutions causes us to overlook the power of this lesson. Notably, while changes appear small and insignificant in the beginning, over time they stack on top of each other and lead to massive change.

Once I'm engaged and immersed in an activity, I rarely have difficulty keeping the momentum going. It's the initiation that I find most challenging. To combat this, I've been experimenting with a new strategy when creating todo lists. Rather than just leave it as the generic (and sometimes overwhelming) task, I write down the smallest possible actions I could take and complete within one minute. Often, it's so embarrassingly easy and small that I can start taking action immediately, but that's not the goal.

There's an old expression about the futility of "re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." The point being that when there are more important and/or urgent items to address, such as a huge gaping hole on a sinking ship, it is utterly useless to focus on something as unnecessary as deck chair positions.

There is a famous video out on the interwebs that will put your mental faculties to the test. I won't spoil the outcome if you haven't already seen or heard about it.

I'm no stranger to the field of voice-to-text translation. Over the past decade, I've used several product iterations from a company by the name of DragonSpeak. Despite the claims of accuracy for anyone that takes the time to use the system long enough, I must be one of the outliers. Perhaps I speak too quickly or maybe I don't enunciate my words, because I found the error rates to be somewhere between five and ten percent no matter how much training I put in. As a result, the amount of time I spent correcting the many mistakes.

Golden Rule: Treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.

Platinum Rule: Treat others the way THEY want to be treated.

At face value, these two codes of conduct appear to be quite similar. Both emphasize the importance of how we treat others. The biggest difference is the filter by which we determine how we interact with another person.

When a doctor misdisagnosis a patient, a tremendous amount of effort can be spent trying to fix the wrong thing. Example: trying to apply an antiobitic treatment for a bacterial infection when the underlying issue is caused by a viral infection, thereby rendering the antibiotics useless. It's important to note this isn't a fictitious or uncommon example. Evidence points to "wrong diagnosis" being a leading cause of death in the US.

It was the most important Christmas present I ever received because it changed the course of my life forever. I remember the confusion that came over me as I opened the box and Uncle Warren had to explain to me that it was a Packard Bell Pentium 60, which consisted of top-of-the-line hardware for a consumer computer. I didn't know at the time that this would serve as the spark of my interest in technology, computer programming, and in open source software. And it would have never happened if it were not for the generosity and thoughtfulness of my uncle.

In getting from where we are to where we want to be (i.e. achieving our goals and dreams), it can sometimes feel like there is mountain between us. And usually these perceived barriers are enough to stop us from taking the first step.

An alternative approach is to assess the situation in more detail to find other routes. These alternatives may seem like a small hill, or even a straight shot downhill, by comparison.