Last year, my wife and I kicked off a new family trandition in lieu of trying to conform to the traditional (and unrealistic) expectations surrounding Valentine's day. Given that the Holiday is centered around love, we wanted to transform our focus our energy on paying it forward by donating to organizations that are making a positive impact on the world. In doing so, we hope to set an example for our daughter Evelyn.
There is no question that a world record holder such as Usain Bolt was born with an extraordinary amount of raw talent. However, what most of us fail to see are the years upon years of blood, sweat, and tears that go into an Olympic level training regiment to take all that potential and convert it to a world class performance.
Evelyn. You're not even two and a half years old, and I'm already facing a daily dilemma. Should I hold your hand and show you the world? Should I come running every time you call for help? Should I let go and allow you the space to figure things out on your own? Yes, you are so very young and the scales currently tip towards constant intervention. However, you are such a strong force that I know it's just a matter of time before it'll stifle more than support your growth. And as much as I want to protect you and do everything in my power to give you a good life, it is you that must create your path.
A question regarding the last thing you wrote. Were you merely sharing a thought? Or were you defending a thesis? The answer to this question has a major impact on my writing style for each extreme. Thoughts are the seeds best cast into Twitter, where the constraints of 140 characters provide a perfectly sized container for an idea that is attempting to take root.
"Well, it's Groundhog Day... again?" I love this scene because Bill Murray's character is stating something that is both matter-of-fact and yet deeply puzzling at the same time. Why exactly is he reliving the exact same day over? Is everyone in on some elaborate prank? Is he dreaming?
Becoming a parent has been one of the most rewarding and terrifying experiences of my lifetime. I get to watch a little spirit explore everything in the world for the very first time... while I'm simultaneously afraid that I'll never live up to this superhuman expectation that I have to be the perfect parent and not mess her life up.
In the months leading up to the birth of my daughter, I vividly remember many well-meaning people telling me to sleep while I still had the chance. As someone that made it through MIT without ever needing coffee and without pulling an all-nighter for academic reasons, I scoffed at the idea that parenthood would affect me in any significant way in that department.
Boy, was I wrong.
Knowledge is not power. It is the potential for power, but it is only realized if it's expressed through action. Stated another way, I love the following quote by Derek Sivers: "If [more] information was the answer, then we'd all be billionaires with perfect abs."
Consider the following:
"How could they do this to me?"
While I may not know you personally, I'm willing to bet that you've asked this question more than once in your lifetime. Worse yet, some of these experiences occurred with people you knew, loved, and trusted. This makes these situations all the more painful because there is an expectation that they wouldn't (or shouldn't) knowingly caused us harm. And in the midst of all the pain, we are left to wonder why it happened.
With less five minutes before my presentation, I found myself making my 4th trip to the bathroom stall where I sat down to try and get my breathing and heart rate under control. A team of executives and principle investigators from DuPont flew a private jet up to Boston the annual review of all research performed and funded under the DMA (Dupont-MIT Alliance). I was barely into my second year of research and, despite making significant progress in the sophistication of my experiments, I was terrified that I was going to get bombarded in the Q&A period.