Write down the things you’re sure you’ll never forget.

People who know me know I have all these spiral-bound hardcover notebooks all over the place.  I have them everywhere I go.  Office, car, home office, kitchen…

I want to capture the ideas, because ideas are slippery things.

We can forget anything.  And there is no limit to the amount of things we can forget.  

Even things we think are important that we will always remember, we will forget if we don’t capture them.  Then revisit them by reading your own writing.  That is how we really learn.

I write down things of value.  I am involved in a lot of things.  Business has many dimensions.  So do people.  So do I.

There is a lot of thoughts (other people’s) and ideas of value.

I have Pentel Energel pens.  They are my favorite.  I get all the colors.  When I switch a thought, I switch colors.  This makes is so much easier and fun to read later.  

When the journal is full, I make an index on the first few pages that I left blank so far.  

I know somebody is going to tell me about using a note-taking tablet.  If that works for you, that’s good too.

Collect good ideas.  It will be a valuable collection.

Sugar is toxic

I watched a 60 Minutes piece about sugar being toxic.  Anymore than 150 calories a day of refined sugar (high fructose corn syrup) (about the amount in one can of soda) spikes your insulin level and creates all sorts of problems like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.  

I think about all fast food and so many brands and franchises that are built on selling sugar.  Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, and millions more.  “Normal” is not healthy folks.

Our brain was wired over thousands of years to think that anything sweet is good.  Like FRUIT which contains fiber that slows the processing of the sugar down.  So when we eat a candy bar, drink a sugary drink (they pretty much all are), or eat a muffin, our brain releases the feel-good drug dopamine.  We like it.  We eat more.  

Then we die early.

Beware: so many processed foods like pasta sauce and granola bars have added sugar.  You’ll probably eat too much without knowing, even if you try not to.

It’s the rare parent who doesn’t feed/reward their kids with sugar while enabling/accepting their dislike of what is good for them.

Don’t die.

“Someday” is where adventures die

You will do _______________ someday.

And when is that?  “Someday” you say.  

That means NO Day.

Choose the event, reserve the tickets, register for the challenge, or invite the people.  A real date turns a pleasant idea into a commitment that begins shaping today’s behavior.

Ok, so what, where, and when?

Decide and act.

The Grim Old Days: Education

If you are reading this, you possess an ability that many people throughout history never had the chance to develop. In The Grim Old Days, Chelsea Follett describes a world where schooling was limited, books were expensive, and learning to read was beyond the reach of many ordinary people. Imagine having questions about the world but being unable to look up the answers—or even read a letter from your family.

Girls faced especially strong barriers. Some people considered educating a daughter a waste, while others viewed an educated woman with suspicion. Follett cities records from one English diocese around 1600 suggesting that only 6 percent of women could sign their names, compared with 52 percent of men. Even signing a name, however, didn’t necessarily mean someone could read and write much else. Illiteracy restricted opportunity and could leave people dependent on others for the simplest communication.

8 Books themselves were treasures. Before printing and inexpensive paper, producing a manuscript required extraordinary labor and costly materials. Follett notes that a 150-page parchment manuscript could require the skins of about a dozen sheep. Today, we can carry an entire library in a pocket. Knowledge that once required wealth and privilege is often available in seconds.

What an opportunity we have. Yet access alone doesn’t make us wiser. We still have to open the book, study the lesson, and put an idea to work. Today, take fifteen minutes to learn something useful. Generations before us would have treasured the chance.

The Grim Old Days: Learning

Imagine walking three or four miles to school, only to face a teacher who believed beating children helped them learn. In The Grim Old Days, Chelsea Follett describes classrooms where physical punishment was routine. In some colonial New England schools, children whose families failed to supply firewood were seated farthest from the fire. Even getting an education could mean enduring cold, fear, and pain.

Yet many children never had that opportunity at all. Schooling was limited, and much of the population could neither read nor write. Girls faced additional barriers because educating them was often considered unnecessary or even undesirable. Being unable to read meant depending on someone else to explain a document, deliver a written message, or provide access to knowledge.

Books were scarce and expensive, too. Printing gradually made books more accessible, helping knowledge spread. Today, libraries, schools, and inexpensive digital resources put learning within reach on a scale our ancestors could scarcely imagine.

We have plenty to improve in education. But we also have an extraordinary opportunity to educate ourselves throughout our lives. We can study a skill, explore an idea, or learn from someone we will never meet. Take advantage of that today. Open a book. Follow your curiosity. Having the chance to learn is a privilege; using it can change your life.