I read a great quote on ideate blog today from the creator of the Dilbert cartoon, Scott Adams. On the Dilbert blog Scott Adams shares thoughts of his “Champagne Moments“.

I still haven’t popped the champagne. I just raise the bar for what would be the right moment, and tell myself how tasty it will be if I ever accomplish something special in my work. Apparently the thing inside me that makes me work so hard is the same thing that keeps me unsatisfied. It’s a package deal. The best you can hope for is a family that understands.

This really struck home with me. I feel that, although it’s important to celebrate your successes, you should be careful not to think that just because you’ve experienced once small success, that you’ve won, and from now on everything is smooth sailing. Don’t become complacent, you can’t coast on previous successes for long.

I’ve always loved quotes, and over about the past 2 years have been collecting those quotes that I’ve come across that just “clicked” with me. You know, those quotes you read, and you don’t need to have had personal experience with it to just know it’s true.

I try, mostly unsuccessfully, to read a quote every night and just think, or meditate, about it before going to sleep at night. Try to internalize it.
The reason I don’t do it in the morning to get me started on my day, is that as soon as I start my day, I’m distracted immediately by my work, and whatever I’ve read is completely out my mind. I’m a guy, I can’t think of more than one thing at a time

So, what I want to do is commit myself to posting a “quote of the night” every evening (South African time), so that, a) in case anyone is interested they can subscribe to the quote of the night I myself will be pondering on and b) so that I don’t forget for myself to keep up with it.

So… without further ado, the first quote of the night is.

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.
- Albert Einstein

Hmm…

I’ve just been listening to an audio recording of The Happiness Show, episode number 123, where George Ortega and Claudia Bassin chat with guest Ed Smith about happiness, success and choosing the right job.
Ed suggested a technique for choosing the right job, that sounded really neat to me, so I thought I’d give it try. Here’s how it goes.

1. Throughout 10 days look for things around you interest you.
2. Any potential job or career attracts your attention, write it down on a piece of scrap paper and put it away in an envelope you keep with you.
3. Each day set aside the pieces of scrap papers you’ve collected, and at the end of the 10 days, you should have 10 piles of paper scraps of things that you piqued your interest at some point.
4. Chuck all the piles together and jumble them up.
5. One by one open each scrap of paper, and see if those things still interest you and set them aside. You might find some ridiculous job choices, as you are writing these job choices down on impulse throughout the 10 day period, but if something still strikes a chord with you 10 days later, that must mean something.
6. From those scraps that still strike a chord with you, try to find similarities and overlaps. There’s the career for you.