[review] OUTLIERS by Malcolm Gladwell

The first book of Gladwell's which I have read. Liked the style of writing, with reasons and experiment details to back up his views. Due to the style of writing, I found myself agreeing to what he wrote, a little too easily. The analytic side of my mind did not like that.

Interesting read nonetheless. It did convinced me that successful people are not the outliers or rare talents that they are portrayed to be. Rather they are average people who are able to identify opportunities, take action, and work damn hard.

Major takeaways from this book were:
> the 10,000 hours rule (work damn hard rule, and the importance of passion)
> effect of culture
> concept of power distance

I look forward to reading other books from Gladwell.

Ulysses Pact - how to prevent your future self from screwing up

Ulysses (aka Odysseus) is a Greek hero and King in Homer's Odyssey which describes his journey home after a long, drawn out war. Along the way, his ship had to pass by the Sirens, whose songs were said entice sailors to change course and suffer a shipwreck. Like any of us, he was curious about the Sirens' songs and he wanted to hear them for himself. But he also wanted to make it back home without a shipwreck. What did he do? Source: Wikipedia As the captain of his ship, he ordered all his men to cover their ears with wax so that they do not get seduced by the Sirens' songs. Next, he made a pact with his men to bind him up on the mast, to ignore his demands of changing the course of the ship while they passed the Sirens and to have their swords on hand in case he breaks free from the mast. They survived the journey passed the Sirens without a shipwreck. This became known as Ulysses Pact or Ulysses Contract - a decision made in free-will today,...

the slight edge

The Slight Edge Was introduced to this concept recently. Will have to read Jeff Olson's The Slight Edge to find out more. Basically, the idea is that small simple actions that is done daily will compound over time and are the reasons behind becoming the elusive 5% (the successful population). These small simple actions done daily, gives the 5% of people, The Slight Edge, which over time, leads to a Hugh difference. The main reason why the 95% of us are still where we are, or not as successful as the 5%, is that these small simple actions, although simple to do, also tend to be simple NOT to do. Thus, over time, it becomes a Hugh difference, in the downward direction. Its a very interesting idea, and a great challenge. Set yourself a small simple action that you can do daily, and let's see how long you can keep to it! Leave a comment below to let us know about your progress!

Mind Slips

Idea taken from the book “ The Design of Everyday Things ” by Don Norman. As it’s name suggests, this book focus strongly on the User Interaction (UI) of “everyday things”. And these are not limited to just physical objects. The principles mentioned in the book can still be used today in ‘intangible’ processes. One of the key takeaways from this book is the concept on ‘Mind Slips’. Your Mind Slipped Ever walked into a room and suddenly could NOT remember what you are doing there? What were you supposed to be doing there? Were you there to retrieve something? Were you there to deposit something? What was it you were doing?! There. You just experienced a ‘Mind Slip’. When/Where do Mind Slips Occur? In “skilled behavior”, according to Don Norman. This refers to behaviors that you have already mastered or are part of your regular routine. Things like putting the water to boil, or typing. And they result mostly from the lack of attention. And they can happen when we are multitasking. M...

the subtle lessons

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