William Deresiewicz On listening to our own thinking

vutran | May 31, 2021, 8:40 p.m.

When you expose yourself to those things, especially in the constant way that people do now—older people as well as younger people—you are continuously bombarding yourself with a stream of other people’s thoughts. You are marinating yourself in the conventional wisdom. In other people’s reality: for others, not for yourself. You are creating a cacophony in which it is impossible to hear your own voice, whether it’s yourself you’re thinking about or anything else. 

That’s what Emerson meant when he said that “he who should inspire and lead his race must be defended from travelling with the souls of other men, from living, breathing, reading, and writing in the daily, time-worn yoke of their opinions.” Notice that he uses the word lead. Leadership means finding a new direction, not simply putting yourself at the front of the herd that’s heading toward the cliff.” 

— William Deresiewicz

William Deresiewicz On concentration

vutran | May 31, 2021, 8:37 p.m.

“Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it. Not learning other people’s ideas, or memorizing a body of information, however much those may sometimes be useful. “ 

— William Deresiewicz

Thomas J. Stanley on success is not an ragged individual matter

vutran | May 31, 2021, 7:32 p.m.

"I think success really involves the situations you get yourself into and the people you meet. No one can be successful by themselves. It's the relationships that you develop with the people around you. Throughout my life, I've had people who helped me do better."

— Thomas J. Stanley

William Deresiewicz on learning to be alone with thoughts to become a good leader

vutran | May 29, 2021, 11:59 a.m.

“If you want others to follow, learn to be alone with your thoughts.”

— William Deresiewicz

William Deresiewicz on concentration as platform to make associations, draw connections

vutran | May 29, 2021, 10:12 a.m.

“It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the parts of my mind come into play, that I arrive at an original idea. By giving my brain a chance to make associations, draw connections, take me by surprise” 

— William Deresiewicz

Robin S. Sharma on writing as life learning

vutran | May 29, 2021, 10:10 a.m.

“Writing in a journal reminds you of your goals and of your learning in life. It offers a place where you can hold a deliberate, thoughtful conversation with yourself.”

— Robin S. Sharma

Enrico Bertini on Inattentional Blindness

vutran | May 29, 2021, 9:59 a.m.

“What is an inattentional blindness? Well, it's a concept introduced by vision scientists when they started noticing the idea that related to how powerful attention is in visual perception. The idea is the following: it's very easy to be blind to very big changes if we do not attend to the visual information that changes. “ 

— Enrico Bertini