“The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce, and gives it some of the grace of tragedy.” – Steven Weinberg

Even though we spend a third of our lives doing it, not many people understand what sleep is for. The mere fact that some people are able to survive without it makes that even more complicated. Personally, I love sleep. Not only is it just what my body needs to recharge after a long day but I find it great for coming up with creative solutions to problems I may be dealing with. Trust that your mind will give you whatever answers you seek by keeping a dream journal close to your bed. Jot down whatever comes up and spend time figuring out what it all means. The subconscious mind is much more powerful than we’ll ever know.

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“The mind of man is capable of anything because everything is in it; all the past as well as all the future.” – Joseph Conrad

Learning is a lifetime endeavour. In that spirit, I thought I’d use the next several weeks to share some of my favourite resources for keeping yourself sharp. Ultimately, it’s about finding as many ways as possible to constantly stimulate and feed your mind. Make sure you are always learning something new and exciting that forces you to stretch your mind and deal with things you aren’t entirely used to. And then apply that knowledge. Use it to take actions that will ultimately improve your life and the lives of those around you.

My approach involves a great amount of reading (I’m almost half way through the 100 greatest books of all time) as well as learning new languages (I just finished a course in Spanish and will later move onto Russian and Japanese). I guess it’s like J. Todd Ferrier said: “We are what we think; as we desire so do we become! By our thoughts, desires, and habits, we either ascend to the full divine dignity of our nature, or we descend to suffer and learn.”

(To download your completely free copy of the South African or International edition of Work in Progress, right-click and save the relevant link. Then open, enjoy, and repeat as needed.)

“Find a job you love and you’ll never work another day in your life” – Confucius

Robert Townsend once said, “People don’t hate work. It’s as natural as rest or play. They don’t have to be forced or threatened. If they commit themselves to mutual objectives, they’ll drive themselves more effectively than you can drive them. But they’ll commit themselves only to the extent they can see ways of satisfying their ego and development needs.”

I really think the above quote is a powerful one. It just goes to show that you don’t have to use clever tactics to get your way (although at times they do help). Instead, you’ve got to treat people with the respect they deserve. Even in these tough times when worrying about the needs of your employees might not be a top priority, it’s important to keep giving them what they want. In the end, it’ll definitely be worth it.

(To download your completely free copy of the South African or International edition of Work in Progress, right-click and save the relevant link. Then open, enjoy, and repeat as needed. Check this out too.)