As I wind up 42 years of teaching here are 42 things I’ve learned… mercifully cut from my graduation talk but now here for posterity. There are a variety of sources, from Plato to Facebook memes to Ed Friedman and a variety of other people I follow.
1. Be kind, for everyone is fighting a battle of which you know nothing.
2. Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points.
3. Being calm in an anxious world is worth another 25.
4. Learn from those you disagree with, even those who offend you. See if you can find some truth in what they believe.
5. Being able to listen well is a superpower.
6. Gratitude is something you can get better at.
7. Treating a person to a meal never fails.
8. Don’t trust all-purpose glue
9. Don’t trust all-purpose anything.
10. Pros are just amateurs who only show their best work
11. Extraordinary claims should require extraordinary evidence.
12. People can only hear you when they’re coming toward you.
13. Don’t be the smartest person in the room. Hang out with people smarter than yourself. Even better, find smart people who will disagree with you.
14. Everyone is shy. Other people are waiting for you to introduce yourself to them, they are even waiting for you to ask them on a date. Go ahead.
15. Perfect is boring. The thing that made you weird as a kid will make you great as an adult, if you can keep it.
16. The purpose of a habit is to remove that action from decision making
17. Promptness is a sign of respect.
18. There is no “them.”
19. The more you are interested in others, the more interesting they’ll find you.
20. Be generous. No one on their deathbed has ever regretted giving too much away.
21. To make something good, just do it. To make something great, re-do it, re-do it, and re-do it.
22. The Golden Rule will never fail you.
23. Wear sunscreen.
24. To make mistakes is human. To own your mistakes is divine. And rare.
25. Never get involved in a land war in the Middle East.
26. Ski lesson applied to life: If you’re not falling down you’re not trying hard enough.
27. Friends are better than money. Almost anything money can do, friends can do better. A friend with a boat is better than owning a boat. (Or at least cheaper).
28. You are what you do. Not what you say you’ll do, not what you believe, not how you vote, not what you’re going to do, but what you actually do.
29. Hatred is a curse that doesn’t really affect the hated. It only poisons the hater. Release grudges as if they were poison.
30. There is no limit on better.
31. When you die you take nothing with you except your reputation. Same for most things.
32. Acquiring things will rarely bring you deep satisfaction. Acquiring experiences will.
33. Floss.
34. When someone is nasty, rude, hateful, or mean to you, pretend they have a disease. That makes it easier to have empathy toward them.
35. What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.
36. There are two kinds of people in the world, those who return their shopping carts and those who don’t.
37. Most overnight successes take at least 5 years.
38. Measure twice, cut once.
39. Conventional wisdom is usually true.
40. Karma exists, be kind and caring.
41. Vaccines don’t contain microchips.
42. We’re here to make a dent in the universe.
43. Seeking happiness is a fool’s quest.
44. Living a life of meaning will result in happiness, and leave the world better.
45. If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you find time to do it over?
46. Being curious is worth 25 IQ points.
47. Read.
48. If a child is old enough to experience racism, their peers are old enough to learn about racism.
49. At 20 you worry what others think about you, at 40 you don’t care what others think about you, at 60 you realize that no one ever was was thinking about you.
50. Create some time for silence to be with yourself every day. You’ll learn a lot.
51. Adventure is better than safety.
52. Over the long term, the future is decided by the courageous.
53. Beware of auto-counting!
IHoS Dave Mullen (with apologies to Plato, Ed Friedman, and others).
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