Category: 60 Second Wisdom

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60 Second Wisdom: Change Your Life in One Minute

My five-year-old Ralph came into my study the other night, to say goodnight, I gave him a huge hug and a kiss, he’s just delicious. And I said to him, I love you for two forevers.

“No daddy,” he replied.

I said, “What do you mean?”

He said, “There is only one forever.

I said “Really?”

He said, “Yes, this life is not forever, we are only passing through this life, the only forever is in heaven.”

Alright, so let’s take a beat and sit with that for a minute, this is coming from a five-year-old.

[Ralph] “This life is not forever.”

[MK] “It isn’t?”

[Ralph] “No. We are just passing through this world.”

Powerful! Take one minute every day for the rest of your life to think about the fact that you’re just passing through this life and soon you will be dead, and I guarantee you, you will live more passionately, more purposefully, more intentionally every day for the rest of your life.”

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60 Second Wisdom: 13 Simple Pleasures to Change Your Life Forever!

“The world is full of wonders and it’s amazing how seldom we take time to appreciate and enjoy them. When we don’t appreciate the wonders around us, it’s a sure sign that we are neglecting the wonders within.

Here are 13 simple pleasures that will supercharge your relationships and recharge your batteries:

1. Sit on a park bench.
2. Wake before dawn and watch the sunrise.
3. Drive with the windows down.
4. Sit down and really enjoy your coffee.
5. Take a long hot bath.
6. Hot chocolate.
7. Watch your favorite movie.
8. Turn your phone off for a day.
9. Write a letter (not an email, an actual letter, stamp and all!).
10. Go hiking.
11. Look through your photos.
12. Take a nap.
13. Curl up on the couch with a great book.

It always comes down to the simple things. It is the ordinary things we ignore that have the capacity to make our lives extraordinarily fulfilling and beautiful.”

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60 Second Wisdom: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?

“Everything in life requires courage. Whether it is playing football or coaching football; crossing the room to ask a woman on a date or rekindling a love that has grown cold; whether it’s your first day at school or your first day back at school after twenty years; starting a new business, battling a potentially fatal disease, getting married, struggling to overcome an addiction, or sitting humbly with your God in prayer—life requires courage. It’s a prerequisite. Courage brings us to life and makes everything else possible.

So, what are we waiting for? You only get one shot at life. What would you do if you weren’t so afraid? Whatever it is, take one small step toward it today, then take another step toward your hopes and dreams tomorrow.

Life favors the courageous. So, summon a little courage. You will be amazed what life will give you in return for a little bit of courage.

In Part Two of this series we will discuss fear and how it paralyzes us.”

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60 Second Wisdom: The True Test of Friendship

How do you measure your life? It’s good to weigh our lives from time to time. It ensures we are not wasting our one short life. But there are so many ways to measure a life: success, family and relationships, career, money, status, stuff, education, popularity, integrity, happiness, adventure, health.

What measuring stick do you use to assess your life? Here’s a perspective I had never considered.

A Polish Holocaust survivor once told Warren Buffet, ‘’Warren, I’m very slow to make friends, because when I look at people, the question I ask is: Would they hide me?’’

There is no perfect way to measure our lives. But these two questions are worth considering:

If you were in trouble, being hunted unjustly, how many people do you know who would risk their lives to hide you? And the second question, how many people would you be willing to hide?

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60 Second Wisdom: How to Live a Meaningful Life

You cannot live a meaningful life by filling your life with meaningless things and activities.

The secret to living a meaningful life is to strip away everything that is meaningless. Strip away anything that is trivial or unnecessary and everything left will be meaningful.

If living a meaningful life depends on filling our lives with meaningful activity, ask yourself: Who are the people, things, and activities that help you weed out the meaningless from the meaningful.

Who helps you prioritize what matters most and gives you the courage to say no to what matters least?

We say we want to live more meaningful lives, but we keep saying yes to meaningless things. Start saying no to meaningless things.

Fill your life with meaningful relationships, experiences, work, and things… and your life will become more meaningful.

It has no choice.

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60 Second Wisdom: 10 Questions You Should Never Ask Anyone

“I learned very early about questions nobody should ever ask anybody. When I was a child, it seemed once a week someone would ask my mother, what do you do all day? Because she didn’t work outside the home, even though they knew she was raising eight boys. The questions we ask tend to quickly reveal how smart we are or how lacking we are in emotional intelligence.

Here are 10 questions to delete permanently from your vocabulary:

1. Are you on a diet?
2. Is that your real job?
3. Why don’t you have children?
4. Have you gained weight?
5. Don’t you feel embarrassed about doing that?
6. Why didn’t you invite me?
7. Are you really going to wear that?
8. What are you so angry about?
9. Why are you still single?
10. Do you know how many calories are in that?

The quality of a relationship can be measured by the quality of the questions that pass between two people. By asking people questions, we gain unique insight into who they are, what matters to them, and what they know more about than anything else in the world. Every person is fascinating when asked the right questions. Don’t waste your questions.”

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60 Second Wisdom: 10 Things You Should Never Say to Anyone

“There are some things that we should simply never say. Some because they will accomplish the exact opposite of what you are hoping to accomplish. Nobody ever calmed down after being told to calm down in the midst of a disagreement, for example. Other things are better off not said because they are rude or obnoxious. And finally, some things are just none of our business.

Here are 9 things to delete permanently from your vocabulary:

1. Relax.
2. Everything will be okay.
3. I told you so.
4. This should be easy.
5. Get over it.
6. Are you really going to eat that?
7. You’re insane.
8. Why are you still single.
9. You look tired.
10. (And of course) Calm down. Maurice Switzer observed, “It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.” Just because there is an awkward silence doesn’t mean you have to fill it.”

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60 Second Wisdom: Why Do People Do Stupid Things?

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but from time to time, people do stupid things. Ahhhh, you have noticed. We scratch our heads and wonder: Why would anybody do something so stupid? Don’t they know that’s going make them miserable?

The answers are simple and surprising. No, they don’t know it’s going to make them miserable. People don’t wake up in the morning and think to themselves: “I wonder how I can make myself really miserable today?” Quite the opposite, in fact. People do stupid things because they mistakenly believe those stupid things will make them happy.

And of course, sometimes, you and I, are those people. So, what stupid thing are you thinking about doing? What stupid thing are you already doing hoping it will make you happy?

You are on a quest for happiness. We often pretend we don’t know what will make us happy, but it’s not true either/ the truth is, you know exactly what will make you happy.

Let’s take a look at the things you know will make you happy (in Part Two of this Series).”