My wishes would come true and problems would go away.

Except that is not true.

As Derek Sivers points out, if more information were the answer, we’d all be billionaires with 6 pack abs.

A good plan is a good start. But it’s not enough.

It starts with enrolment and prioritisation. It is embracing confusion on the way to getting better. It is to do, to fail and to learn from failure. A feedback loop.

With understanding, it comes with the ability to adapt to different context. Lastly, we build habits, rules and system.

Step by step. Awareness, knowledge and application.

The best diet is the diet you follow.

Imagine that you are locked up in a steel box and flung up into the air with only some ropes. Would you do it?

This is scary stuffs. It’s insane.

Yet, we take the elevator everyday.

Along with trusting our life on airplanes, parachutes and brakes.

These innovations when arrived, brought along fear. And the work of public demonstrations, scientific papers and peer-to-peer persuasion begins. If it crosses the chasm, this becomes the culture.

And today, we get to cross the road without anxiety.

Changing the culture is hard. But we do it not because it’s hard, because it’s better.

Funny we don’t ask if want the left hand or the right hand.

Yet when it comes to business, we are being brainwashed into these binary choices such as creativity or discipline, innovation or execution, values or results, and purpose or profit.

Yvon Chouinard turned away from selling pitons, the entire company’s profit. And did the work of inventing a new method, educating and leading the rock-climbing community. Today, this is Patagonia.

Elon gave away all Tesla’s patents.

WordPress, an open-source effort is now powering a third of the world’s websites.

What if, instead of choosing one OR the other, the opportunity of greatness lies in the genius of the AND?

Towards better.

(Thank you Jim Collins for the inspiration)

When is it time to trust your gut?

Could it be when you’re reaching for the next pint of ice-cream?

Or when you’re raging and all you want is to inflict hurt on someone?

Perhaps not when you’re depressed and want to harm yourself.

The gut has much of the conscious and unconscious wisdom that we have access to. It is also the primal brain that is in charge of survival and replication.

The trap is believing all the answers lies in the ability to follow your gut. And turn away from our head and our heart. The opportunity is to use it all.

The head, the heart and the gut.

Your wishes would come true and your problems would go away.

Except that is not true.

As Derek Sivers pointed out, if more information were the answer, we’d all be billionaires with 6 pack abs.

A good plan is a good start. But it’s not enough.

It starts with enrolment and prioritisation. It is to embrace confusion on the way to mastery. It is to do, to fail and to learn. This becomes a feedback loop to getting better.

We strive for understanding, not memorisation. It is the ability to adapt knowledge to different situations and context.

Then lastly, we build habits, rules and system. We internalise and integrate. Not forgetting that, the best diet is the diet you follow.

Step by step. Awareness, knowledge and application.