Hidden Gems: Life Learnings #15

Welcome to Hidden Gems, a bi-weekly (besides this edition) newsletter of my key takeaways and reflections from self-education.

You'll find ideas and actionable insights you can apply immediately to your life.

I hope you find something of value!

Life Lessons from a Billionaire to His Son

This book is chock-full of practical advice and guidance. It feels more genuine than some of the self-help books out there. This book can help you no matter your age or title.

These are my top highlights from "The 38 Letters from J.D. Rockefeller to his son: Perspectives, Ideology, and Wisdom".

1. "The only truth is that as long as you work hard enough, you will succeed. I firmly believe that our destiny is determined by our actions, not by our origins."
2. "John, to be a good hunter in a profitable hunting ground, you need to think hard, be careful, be able to see all possible dangers and opportunities in things, as well as study all kinds of strategies that could endanger your dominance like a chess player. I thoroughly researched the situation and evaluated my strength."
3. "Just like a commander on the battlefield, you must first know what kind of firearm to choose in order to be the most effective, before choosing your target."
4. "Anything can happen in this world, but nothing can happen without doing anything (reap without sowing)."
5. "John, for our good luck to continue, we must carefully plan our luck, and planning luck requires a good plan. A good plan must be a good design, and a good design must be able to play a role.?You need to know that when designing a good design, you must first consider two basic prerequisites. The first condition is to know your goals, such as what you want to do, or even what kind of person you want to become; the second condition is knowing what resources you have, such as status, money, interpersonal relationships, and even abilities."
6. "The greatest reward for our hard work is not what we get, but what we will become."
7. "If you view work as a pleasure, life is heaven; if you view work as a duty, life is hell."
8. "I think that work is a privilege, as it brings more than just sustaining life. Work is the foundation of all businesses, the source of prosperity, and the shaper of genius. Work makes young people work harder and do more than their parents no matter how rich they are. Work is expressed in the humblest forms and lays the foundation for happiness. A job helps to add flavors to life. But people must love work before it can return the biggest favors and achieve the greatest results."
9. "People who climb up in any industry are fully committed to what they are doing and are dedicated. Sincerely love the work you do; you will naturally succeed."
10. "A wise man said it well, “Education covers many aspects, but it does not teach you anything.” This wise man showed us a truth: if you do not take action, even the world most practical, beautiful, and viable philosophy will not work."
11. "Action solves everything. Without action, nothing will happen. We cannot buy foolproof insurance, but what we can do is make up our minds to fulfill our plan."
12. "We must admit that with limited time, no one can complete everything. Smart people know that not all actions will produce good results, and only wise actions can bring meaningful results, so smart people will only learn from the work that has a positive effect in the future, and only concentrate on the work that gives the greatest results. Hence, smart people always make the most valuable contribution and reap a lot of benefits."
13. "There is never a shortage of people with ideas in our world, but there are very few people who know how to successfully implement a good idea, which is more valuable than thinking about a thousand of good ideas at home."
14. "To have the habit of doing now, the most important thing is to have a proactive spirit, get rid of the habit of being distracted, be determined to be a person of initiative, be courageous in doing things, don’t wait until everything is ready, there will never be absolute perfection."
15. "We are continually faced by greater opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems."
16. "The rewards of being honest are enormous."
17. "Failure is a good thing as long as it does not become a habit."
18. "Optimistic people will see opportunity in suffering, and pessimistic people will see suffering in opportunity. Son, remember the formula of success that I believe in: Dream + Failure + Challenge = Success."
19. "Adopting an attitude of “I will give it a try, but I don’t think there will be any results” will lead to failure in the end. “Disbelief” is a negative force. When you disagree or have doubts in your mind, you will come up with various reasons to support your “disbelief”. Suspicion, disbelief, the tendency to fail subconsciously, and the lack of desire to succeed are the main causes of failure. If you doubt it, you will fail. If you believe in victory, you will definitely succeed."
20. "It is faith that illuminates my path, constantly gives me courage, and makes me face life positively. At any time, I never forget to increase my confidence. I replace the thought of failure with the belief of success. When I face a difficult situation, I think of “I will win” instead of “I might lose”. When I compete with people, I think of “I am as good as them”, not “I can't compare with them.” When opportunities arise, I think of “I can do it” instead of “I can't do it.”"
21. "I remind myself regularly: You are better than you think. Successful people are not supermen. Success does not require superhuman intelligence, it is not about luck, and there is no mystery. Successful people are just ordinary people who believe in themselves and affirm what they do. Never, never sell yourself cheaply."
22. "Those who can reach the pinnacle in business, mission, writing, acting, and other pursuits of achievement are all because they can steadily and persistently pursue a plan of self-development and growth."
23. "If you give a person a fish, you can only support him for one day, but if you teach him the skill of fishing, it is equivalent to supporting him for life."
24. "“Let me wait before talking” is the motto I always follow in business. I always have a habit of thinking before making a decision, I always think and judge calmly, but once I make a decision, I will implement it without hesitation."
25. "I found that most people have two basic wrong attitudes towards “intelligence”: too underestimating their own brain power, and too overestimating the brain power of others. Because of these mistakes, many people despise themselves. They do not want to face challenges, because that requires considerable talent."
26. "Knowledge is only a kind of potential power. Only when knowledge is applied constructively, then will it show its power."
27. "I never succumb to luck; I believe in the law of cause and effect. Look at the people who seem to be lucky, and you will find that it is not luck, but preparation, planning and positive thinking that bring them beauty."

The Founders Podcast has an incredible summary of the book. Kudos to David Senra for making me aware of the book.

Here's a short snip: The Importance of Self-Belief, Optimism, and Taking Action | 4min snip from Founders (snipd.com)

Full episode here: #324 John D. Rockefeller (38 Letters Rockefeller Wrote to His Son) | Founders (founderspodcast.com)

Leadership Insights from "The Toyota Way"

Reading this book has been a valuable use of time. If you're in a leadership role or hope to be, it's a good read. It does have a manufacturing focus, but many of the lessons it teaches can be applied to any industry.

Amazon.com: The Toyota Way, Second Edition: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer: 9781260468519: Liker, Jeffrey K.: Books

Here are a few of my takeaways from recent reading:

Quick Gems

Strategies for business growth

I rediscovered Ed Mylett recently and have been listening every day. He is an incredible interviewer and has spoken to some of the most successful people in the world. I picked this specific snip because of the insight on delivering the best customer experience when a company starts working with you.

Strategies for Business Growth | 3min snip from THE ED MYLETT SHOW

Predicting problems

Another reason to invest in yourself

My tech stack

Shortform for book summaries.

Readwise for tracking my highlights.

Snipd for podcast snippets.

Spotify for audiobooks and podcasts.

Microsoft Copilot for idea generation.

Perplexity is my main search engine.

Insight Timer for meditation.

Thriftbooks for used books.

Kindle Paperwhite for reading books digitally.

Thanks for reading.

-Harley

My complete list of personal development resources and tools: Harley's Personal Development Resources

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