The Secret of Asking for Help

I've had a really, really long week.

Not trying to make excuses, but it just was a long week of in-person meetings (yes, I had to leave the house), and I have a long week ahead of me next week. Yes, I'm leaving the house AGAIN - two weeks in a row.

I was going to take a break this week from the newsletter, but I received a note from an attendee of a talk that I did a few weeks ago that inspired me to push through, so - here we are. :)

The presentation was with a group of students and graduates entitled "Things They Didn't Teach You in School"; I felt it was a good, fun, and honest conversation on things I wished someone had told me when I was starting. And while I prefer doing these types of talks in person - we ended up having a terrific, honest conversation.

A few days later, I was asked: "If you had one piece of advice, what would it be?"

My response:

Ask for help when you need it.

Everyone has fears, weaknesses, and things they don't understand.

Everyone feels overwhelmed at times.

Everyone has to go to the bathroom, regardless of their level.

Everyone needs to take a break. Don't be misguided by the thought that others may think you are 'weak' if you don't know something or are struggling.

There are no rewards for being a martyr. Just ask for help.

Is it the 'best' advice? I have no idea.

But I've often found that when you ask for help, having a bit of humility and accepting that you can do it all is the key to finding a new perspective and building new strengths.

And, it goes without saying - always be thankful for those that help you.

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Forward Thinking

I had never seen this interview with Leonard Nimoy before, but I found it 'fascinating'.

This man's an alien we don't know anything about aliens - we can say anything we want we can make the audience believe and I think we want about an alien you know let's use our imagination as a man could have very special knowledge of the human anatomy that hasn't even been discovered yet

Thought of the week

and..

This weeks "Deep Links"

Here are a few of the articles and videos that resonated with me over the last week:

• Now this is science; the challenge of why 'no manual technique, no matter how advanced, can split the contents of an Oreo close to evenly' was recently tackled by an MIT team. Read what they discovered in "Why Do Oreos Never Come Apart Evenly?: We Build an 'Oreometer' to Find the Answer" - More
• In 1922, candy maker Hans Riegel created a recipe for fruit-flavored pastilles, which we now know as gummy bears. I never knew their history before "Gummy Bears, 100 Years On, Are Still Bouncing" - More
• Sent from a friend who knows my current state of rebellion against PKMs; read a good piece on why "Personal Knowledge Management is Bullshit" - More
• "7 Things Confident People Always Say" was a bit of the inspiration for this week's opening thoughts. Read about the other six - [More](https://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/7-things-confident-people-always-say.html
• This one makes me mad. "‌Suitcases of Covid loan cash seized at UK's borders" describes the investigation of people at airports across the UK 'carrying large amounts of money suspected from coronavirus bounce-back loans'; they found many other recipients of financial support during the pandemic used the money to fund gambling sprees, home improvements, cars, and watches. - More
• 'Things Fall Apart' is the premise for this unfortunate piece on "Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid" - More
• Based on a simple concept of healthy teams design how they work together, "What a Healthy Team Looks Like" dives into a few tactics for shaping a better work environment for those under your care - More
• "Leading with my left hand." explores the 'dynamic balance between when to take charge, and when to let the reigns free' - More
• Microwaving food does not reduce its nutritional value. The Great Wall of China is not the only human-made object visible from space or the Moon. Dogs do not sweat by salivating. Read a fascinating "List of common misconceptions"; I will be referencing this list a lot - More
• I loved this one on "Entropy Crushers." 'With any evolutionary change on your team, you need to be paranoid. Like each new person, each new role has a unique ability to affect the culture in ways that you'll never predict. You need to design around your specific pain carefully, but once you hire and land the first person, you also need to pay careful attention for unintended side effects.' Read more about the chaos in the system - More
• "This Is The Most Fun Way To Make Your Life Awesome" comes from the perspective that 'romantic love requires a defibrillator; something that keeps the heart going when it stops or gets wonky' - and posits some simple ways to keeping love alive - More

Fin

Closing out this week with a bit of geekdom - Python, Pitch Shifting, and the Pianoputer dives into this making of wild performance of Mozart's Turkish March on a computer keyboard.

Be well. ✌🏻