Dealing with Failure

All the inspirational videos, quotes, posters, and movies always build us up to believe that our paths to success will be a smooth paved express way. In most cases, true success comes from repeatedly struggling through fire to reach the final goal. Addressing and even accepting failure is overlooked as the less glamorous part of success, although it is of paramount importance. Everyone imagines the prodigies who are able absorb information instantly or pick up a new skill immediately.

I am  learning that failure is a critical portion of getting better. I recently get admitted into an IVY league school. I was very excited to be studying Comp Sci at one of the top universities. My first course was a 200 level course in Artificial Intelligence. I was fascinated with the subject, so from day 1 of the course I dedicated the majority of my time to learning the course material. This course is very mathematical so I spent a significant amount of time sharpening up on my Calc, CalcII, Statistics, and Probability for it and figured, with everything that I had learned so far and the experience that I have had professionally, that it would be just a matter of doing the work to get an A under my belt. I was rudely awakened from this delusion.

It seemed no matter how much time I put into the class, I was consistently performing 30/40 for each homework. This was a shock to me and I took this very personally. How could I not?! -  I was used to getting straight A's even during my previous Masters. Surely this must be a mistake. Nope.  Time and time again I performed at the same level. Now this was a huge shock to the ego and confidence. I progressed through what I would like to call the 4 stages of Blame, Acceptance, Reflect, Retry when learning something difficult.

Step 1. Blame
The teacher must be evil, the coursework must be unreasonable, I work full time, I am a distance student - the list of excuses I could make could go on. And initially I did compile a pretty complete list of boo hoo excuses of why I wasn't performing great. Its much easier to think you are getting a raw deal then to deal with the fact that sometimes you wont perform stellar regardless of past precedence. It's just life. Sure there is a limited minority who has not had to struggle. Those kids who just showed up to class and just "got it". Oh how we envy them! But I am learning that I am not one of those kids. OK so what, deal with it. Man up!

Now after realizing those excuses I was making were paper thin, the next logical step I took was of course to blame myself. Am I not cut out for this? Perhaps I am an impostor that Stanford admitted unwittingly and was now being exposed as an admission mistake. How is it that everyone is doing so well? They must all be geniuses themselves and I am the bottom rung of the ladder to provide a soft margin for the bottom of the bell curve. I am a dumb person.  Well it turns out Impostor Syndrome is a real thing and I was feeling its full effect. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome. It doesn't mean I really wasn't good enough. The fact I was admitted at all means I belong there, and have the same ability to do well. It wasn't a mistake. Which leads me to my next point...

I was learning alot and I noticed it in my day to day analytical and critical thinking abilities. And I did feel smart when I was able to approach the same problems in a novel ways due to what I was learning. Others noticed it also and did offer praise but unfortunately it was always undercut by the looming inferior performance in the actual course. The important lesson that came to me was this. This was the first time I have ever been challenged like this, and I wasn't sure how to handle it. Sure we grow up and everyone around us tells us we are smart - parents, friends, peers, etc.. We are used to Ace'ing that exam or that project or doing really well at work. So what happens, we get into a course where we are put into a class of other smart people? Now we aren't so far ahead anymore; things aren't that easy. Used to getting A's eh? Now you are a C student. Welcome to a new world. Its def a bit downer at first because its different than what we have experienced before. Then you realize is an easy A better than a fought out C, I leave that as an exercise to the reader. But personally Id rather fight it out for a F with a top of the line course and exceptional peers then to get an A at a mediocre task.

Ultimately you learn that this is a new skill you have to learn - namely dealing with failure and realizing that challenge is not mean to debilitate you but rather expand your tolerance and improve your ability to revise and overcome it and be that much stronger. And while its easy to read when reading self help books, when it becomes personal to you and you put alot of yourself in the effort and you fail, it doesn't quite seem like enough of a consolation. But this is the moment you need to tell yourself that the most. When striving for big dreams this isn't the first time its gonna happen or the last. So your options are to adapt or admit that you don't want it that bad. That's it.

Step 2. Acceptance

Ok you are not this genius that is gonna build a million dollar startup over night. You are not the top student in you university, class, or even your study group. Heck you cant even grasp problem 1a on the first homework. Now what? Ok  You accept you just cant do it? Your IQ level must below this level of performance.This isnt your thing, go do something else? NO! You learn to accept that you have much to learn NOT that you cant. Subtle but very important distinction. It really is the ultimate paradox that the more we learn, the most self aware we become that we dont know as much as we should.  Especially if you prescribe to the incremental intelligence model proposed by Stanford publication. (http://www.stanford.edu/dept/psychology/cgi-bin/drupalm/system/files/Implicit%20Theories%20of%20Intelligence%20Predict%20Achievement%20Across%20an%20Adolescent%20Transition.pdf)

So I need to learn more now what? Stay tuned..

Round and Round we go.

Just found that I Never published this, so why not now...


So insomnia has hit me and I figured Id write.

I have come to the plain conclusion that life moves in cycles. Just when you believe it has become stagnant, it changes. There will be many off times but they are equally followed by many incredible periods. The beauty of Life is that every day is a new beginning, a clean slate, and an undiscovered destination. I believe that as we grow older, its our ability to recognize these trends and respond accordingly to them, that really contributes to our general comfort and happiness.

Life in itself is a rarity. Modern Science still has not found a way to properly define it because it is so unique. Its a different and intimate  

I was once told that life becomes the quietest and and the most still before it changes dramatically... this definitely seems to be the case over and over. 

Do Everything Right Now

   Its been a while since I have written here cause I have been pretty busy with so many things. Finally for the first time in as long as I can remember, I started saying No to things. No to that Start-Up idea, No to joining an extra committee, No to all the parties. What happened? Not really my style - I was always about "Never let an opportunity go." But what I was finding was that over-ambition is equally undesirable as under-ambition when managed improperly. I still am very ambitious but I try not to OD on my own endeavors. Saying No to things is quite difficult and a bit unnerving for me since I have been used to taking on anything and everything I can get my hands on. I have discovered that over the years my returns based on the hours I have put in have been diminishing greatly. What happened? What changed?

Some may regard this to aging and that a vibrant and spunky early 20 something can multitask effectively than their elders, but some studies have revealed that while younger people may multitask, it is no indication of the quality of the task. It was found that the tasks were completed with various levels of quality in which almost all cases, it was less than if that task was focused upon. Aha there it is! FOCUS. That's my problem!

We are constantly reminded through movies, tv, and music to live for the moment, do everything right now because life is too short,  and don't regret in the future not doing something now. While all of these are very true, its necessary to put a disclaimer that states "NOT AT THE SAME TIME". I tried to do everything only to complete somethings in less than a awesome way. I ended up being really stressed out and what I used to enjoy greatly became another job which lost its appeal.  Only when I consciously made an effort to slow down and prioritize what I want to do now, did I realize that I started to enjoy them and began to perform better at them again.

Global Village

So I finally stopped making excuses and signed up to a Habitat for Humanity trip to Trinidad & Tobago in Sept. I hear its a really great experience from everyone that I have spoken to about it. Trinidad was also recommended to me by my coworker who is from there and is also coincidentally Ms Trinidad 2007. I look forward to meeting all the fellow Habitaters and helping out people in need. Ill be sure to post an update when I come back.

I do still need donations to get me there though. I have to raise the amount of the trip and fundraising would be a major help. If anyone reading this wants to contribute my link is
http://www.habitat.org/cd/gv/participant/participant.aspx?pid=93464424&tgs=Ny8xLzIwMTEgMTE6Mjg6MDcgQU0%3d

Go for broke: Consumers who set conservative goals feel less satisfied

Go for broke: Consumers who set conservative goals feel less satisfied

ScienceDaily (June 27, 2011) — Consumers who set conservative goals have a harder time achieving satisfaction than those who set ambitious goals, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. When cautious consumers meet their goals, they tend to raise the bar and compare themselves to the highest possible standards

Authors Cecile K. Cho (University of California, Riverside) and Venkataramani Johar (Columbia University) compared people who set conservative goals with people who set ambitious goals. They focused on situations in which goals were achieved, and measured the level of satisfaction with the achieved goals.

In one experiment, the researchers asked participants to set a target goal before they collected information on several stocks and picked three. They were then provided with the performance of the three stocks they picked. "When participants find out that their investment goals have been met, those who set a conservative goal are less satisfied than those who set ambitious goals," the authors write. The same was true with a subsequent experiment with puzzles.

"Satisfaction is often driven by comparing the level of performance to a different standard than one's initial goal," the authors write. They found that when participants were reminded of the goals they had set, they reached similar levels of satisfaction, regardless of whether the performance was low or high.

The authors found that people's beliefs about the nature of their skills and abilities played a role in their goal setting and their satisfaction level. People who believe that their skills can be improved with practice are equally satisfied with relatively high or low levels of performance. But people who believe that abilities are fixed tend to set higher goals and feel less satisfaction.

"People are wistful of 'what could be,' especially if they believe they cannot attain the potential," the authors write. The tendency to upward compare is common in investment decisions. Although investors are advised to put together their portfolios to reflect their risk tolerance, the returns on their chosen investment funds often seem inferior to the better performing funds.

"Reminding investors of their long-term investment goals and their risk-tolerance levels is likely to counter the tendency to compare to the top-performing alternatives, and can keep investors satisfied even if they do not receive dazzling returns,"

Not Dreaming = Not Living

Recently friends and colleagues have all been coincidentally saying the same thing to me; "Everyday cant be exciting","Not many people LOVE their jobs so grow up", "This is reality stop dreaming and be practical",etc... All of this ultimately boils down to the simple concept of "settle".  I began to think maybe I am kidding myself, maybe my feet are not planted on the ground anymore, maybe I lost touch of what is real and what is not. But before I fully gave into such thinking, a friend of mine told me "A guy once told me that if your not dreaming your not living." What's ironic is that, that was something I had told him a couple years ago.

I believe the universe does conspire to push you in the right direction when you have the will to persevere. This was a reminder that I shouldn't settle for good enough. It was one of those moments that stick out to me as if to nudge me back on track when I waiver. Chasing your dreams may not be easy or even comfortable but they are well worth it! I truly do believe that if you are not actively pursuing what makes you happy and your own dreams then you devalue the gift of life you are granted. Thanks good friend for bringing me back to where I should be.

So strive for impractical, for extraordinary, for amazing, its these things that differentiate between just being alive and living.

Are You Happy?

The Secret to Happiness - Stop Caring

 Taken from:
 http://www.illuminatedmind.net/2008/09/11/the-secret-to-happiness-stop-caring/

The Article Reads:

Our lives are inundated with practicality and productivity. We think that if there’s no purpose to something, there’s no point in doing it. In reality the best things in life have no purpose.
We sacrifice our time and our sanity doing what we don’t want to do, so at some future point we will create the freedom to do what we love.
We seek happiness in things. We seek happiness in the acceptance of others, in material possessions, in social status. We even search for happiness in some future-promised afterlife. We sabotage ourselves and our entire lives because we fail to understand a very simple but easily overlooked fact.

The Search for Happiness is the Single Greatest Cause of Misery

You can’t find something that’s already there. Happiness exists now. It’s not something you have to find. That’s like trying to find your breath.
It’s the grasping of the mind that causes unhappiness. If you’re not happy, it’s because your mind doesn’t allow you be happy. And the reason your mind doesn’t let you be happy, is because you’re stuck in the vicious cycle of productivity, judgment and purpose. That’s not to say productivity is bad, or that doing things that have a purpose is wrong. It’s basing the reason for your existence on them that causes so much anguish.
When we place our happiness solely in “getting” something, completing a certain number of tasks on our to-do list, or achieving a goal, we’re fooling ourselves. We’re like a rabbit with a carrot stick attached to our heads. We keep chasing the carrot, but we never get there. We never stop to think that it might be the chasing that’s causing the problem. We’re too distracted trying to find a better way to beat the game. As soon as we reach one level of success, we’re hurrying to upgrade our search and move on to the next level of the chase. We never stop to think that it’s not the failure to win the game that causes our grief, but the game itself.
We neglect to realize that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to stop participating in the problem. Sometimes the best way to to solve a problem is to just stop caring (see: not giving a damn).
Sometimes…

• The best way to solve the problem of not having a lot of cool friends is to stop caring about having cool friends.
• The smartest way to be happy with the place you live is to stop caring about living in a two story house with a pool, a fireplace, central air and satellite TV.
• The simplest way to be content with yourself is not to achieve greatness and praise, but to accept yourself fully for who you are now.
• The quickest route to happiness is to stop caring about finding happiness and to start being happiness.

By not caring, we immediately release ourselves of the grasping of the mind. But it’s not easy to stay in this mindset (the mind loves to grasp); it’s something we have to constantly cultivate.
It’s especially difficult when our society tends to place more value on things, than on experiences. We value what we do more than how we feel.
This is completely ridiculous when you think about it. Because the way you feel should be more important than anything else. Isn’t the purpose of everything you do to feel good? Isn’t the purpose of that new car, that promotion, or college degree to give you a feeling of accomplishment? Isn’t that supposed to make you happy?
The problem with this is we’re basing our happiness on temporary things. We’re deriving our joy from an achievement, or an attainment. This isn’t true happiness; it’s an addiction. We get a short burst of endorphins to our bloodstream from our new TV/television, or new iPod, and then what happens? It disappears. It leaves us feeling empty and we begin looking for our next fix.
Our advertising and consumer culture doesn’t help this much. We are constantly bombarded with messages that we need this, or we need that. Incessantly, we hear: “Buy this and it will solve your problem!” If only we could solve that problem we may finally be happy. Wrong. It’s not the problems that are the problem. I mean, buying a more efficient vacuum or sowing on that button you’ve been meaning to for seven years is great. You may feel a sense of achievement for a few moments or days. But you’re still looking for happiness in a thing.
It’s the same with productivity. If only we could finish all of the things on our to-do list, could we be content. If only we could accomplish all of our goals, could we finally be gratified. This thinking is based on the illusion that you’ll reach a certain point where everything is done. You finally made it! There’s nothing left in your inbox, all your projects are complete and your lifelong goals are achieved! Now you can rest easy.
But this point never seems to come, does it? That’s because there will always be things to do. There will always be challenges, because everything in life is constantly changing. If you reached a point in your life where you had no more problems, no more struggles, no more worries, life would stop. The game would end and there would be no point left in playing.
So… what can we do about this?

We Need to Stop Caring

That doesn’t mean we stop trying to achieve our goals or striving for personal growth. It just means that we no longer base our happiness on fleeting, semi-permanent things.
There are obviously some situations where not caring may have serious negative consequences (see paying your rent). Excessive caring, however, is likely to make you miserable.
The reason caring too much can be detrimental to your health, is you’re so focused on the future. Your identity is too attached to outcomes. If something does, or doesn’t go your way, it will likely have an enduring effect on your mood for the rest of the day.
Instead, we should base our happiness on permanent things. Things that don’t change. Desires that don’t shift from moment to moment. We choose to find our happiness in living. In life itself. In fact, we don’t even need to “find” happiness. We can be happiness.
So stop searching. You can’t find something that’s already there.

Good Life vs Great Life

A mentor of mine once asked me what kind of life I would like to have. Where did I want to be? What did I want to do? etc... I didnt have a concrete answer at the time but rather an abstract idea of optimism and hope.

He went on to explain the very real and subtle difference between what he called the Good Life and the Great Life. The Good Life is that of security, routine, and being comfortable. Its best exemplified with the idea of getting a good job, working hard at it, and ultimately climbing the corporate ladder. Im sure along with this comes the American Dream of the 2.5 kids, the white picket fence, house, and car. This is truly a good life, things are secure, established,  and that path is directed and focused. For the most part the ups and downs of this kind of life are not that exaggerated and life is comfortable.

The Great Life he described is a different animal entirely. It is made from the stuff poets write about and the dreamers envision. Its to discard the orthodox notions of lifestyles and follow the untraveled path. In less abstract terms its veering away from the stable and the safe, taking a risk in hopes of the extraordinary. Climbing up the corporate ladder is one thing but how about the idea of starting your own company. The high and lows can be quite high and the lows could be very low but its the price to pay for such a lifestyle. It may or may not be worth it depending on your wants/need/circumstances.

Taking vacation once a year is good, but taking vacation when/where you want is great. I personally do not want to be limited by the Good Life. It is a starting point to take me to the Great Life. I would risk my life's time pursuing the Great Life because I think its something to be treasured and sought after. The ability to follow my dreams and make my life the way I dream it to be is of greater importance then the ease of the secure life. Its more appealing because I will not have to answer to anyone else but myself. I become the ultimate artist to my own canvas and get to live out my own dreams.

 

Why Most People Dream and Only Some Do: The Go-Getter Theory by Davy Kestens

Credits from the Davy Kesten Web Page.
I found this article quite interesting and insightful.

Why Most People Dream and Only Some Do: The Go-Getter Theory by Davy Kestens

I remember it like it was yesterday. I just won the biggest marble from a boy three years younger than me, and my “best buddy” back then was talking to me on how much he liked his new moped. (He wasn’t legally old enough to drive it on the street, yet he did).
He got it from his father who, I believe, up till now still has a bicycle shop.
We used to talk about things we’d like to do. He was going to have his own motor-shop one day, while all I could think about at that time was my new marble. (It was huge!) I wanted to win more marbles, get rich and …
Now let’s fast forward to present tense. My best friend isn’t my friend anymore since we went our separate ways towards different schools and places. Recently, I saw a different classmate from back then and he told me my friend is now working eight to five at the assembly line of a car factory, doing the most repetitive job possible, for no specific reason whatsoever.
Not really what he had hoped for at first.
What differs those who are naturally set to succeed, from others who are not?
Why does one “just do it” and complete a job, while the other never even gets to it, or quits at the first speed bump?
It boggles my mind why some entrepreneurs make it big while others settle for mediocre or close to nothing results!
What differentiates each of them?
Lately, I’ve met a lot of business men and students set to create a startup, and I started noticing a few differences…
It’s not education, skills or talent; It’s passion, drive and motivation. Go-getters are passionate about what they do. They wake up in the morning fired up with enthusiasm coupled with unshakeable belief that they will make life work the way they want.

People who get stuff done strive for “good enough” and go on to the next. Quit being a perfectionist…

I believe that perfectionism is a bad “quality” to have and shouldn’t be in the dictionary of any entrepreneur. If you are a perfectionist, you will try to turn every detail into a Sistine chapel and burn out. Good enough is key in getting things done. If you try to deliver “perfection”, you’ll never reach your goal.

People who do things that are good enough end up accomplishing much more than those who chase after the illusion of perfection.

Coincidentally, most successful entrepreneurs I’ve met so far are the ones who didn’t pass school with flying colours but are the ones who barely or didn’t get through. The ones who had just enough grades to go on to the next year. Why would you want to put in all this effort to obtain an excess of grades that are useless to you? Just get enough and spend the rest of your time on stuff you enjoy.

The Go-Getter is the person who acts now, not tomorrow, and thinks in short-terms.

They are proactive, not reactive. They shape their own destiny and never allow themselves to fall prey to the so-called external circumstances.
Always be asking yourself: “What is the smallest next step”, “What do I need to do now, to get things going”
People who can think of the next actionable task and are able to be specific about it, are the ones who will get to it and deal with it.
They act now and execute specific steps.

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.
The second best time is now.

Example: Don’t think “I need to market my product to bloggers” but think in multiple specific steps:

1. I need to get 10 names of bloggers relevant to my subject
2. I’m going to get the names at website x
3. What are the top 2 specific key features of my startup?
4. Write 3 custom mails about those features
5. Send it to them TODAY

Achievers hate to let themselves down

I’m not talking about failing. Fail big & fast. Fail forward. Don’t sweat it.
I’m talking about the mental state of those people who’d rather die trying, than give up half way. The main motivation of achievers comes from within and is not nourished from the outside. For most people, it’s easy to give up promises you make to yourself (look at all the failed new year’s resolutions) but for achievers, that’s the hardest thing to do. Walking around with the feeling that they didn’t give it all they’ve got. The feeling of “what if I went all the way”, “what if…”

The Go-Getter loves what he does (and delegates the rest)

Key to getting off your feet and kicking some ass is simply doing what you’re good at and what you love. Dump/outsource/delegate the rest. Be able to set your ego aside and let someone better than you take over the parts you suck at.
For example, if you want to build an online business and you discovered that marketing is your true passion but writing is not your cup of tea, buy content and spend all your time on marketing. Similarly, if you dread web design, then yours truly will be happy to help out :).

It is not education, skills nor talent; It is passion, drive and motivation.

Go-getters are passionate about what they do. They wake up in the morning fired up with enthusiasm coupled with an unshakable belief that they will make life work the way they want.
Are you a go-getter or a star-gazer? Are you going all the way or already preparing a plan B? Are you constantly talking about your idea, your exit strategy or why something just won’t work, or are you the one kicking it and working it out?
Either way, whatever is happening to you, your business, your life or your idea, whether good or bad, most likely…
It’s all your fault.

MINDSET

Here is something I stumbled upon that I really liked.

What the Future Holds

This looks like a great read. I am actually looking forward to checking this out. The future seems hopeful and exciting!

From Michio Kau's Website:

The Physics of the Future: How Science will Change Daily Life by 2100 by Michio Kaku - To Be Released on March 22, 2011
Based on interviews with over three hundred of the world’s top scientists, who are already inventing the future in their labs, Kaku—in a lucid and engaging fashion—presents the revolutionary developments in medi cine, computers, quantum physics, and space travel that will forever change our way of life and alter the course of civilization itself.

Dr. Kaku’s astonishing revelations include:

• The Internet will be in your contact lens. It will recognize people’s faces, display their biographies, and even translate their words into subtitles.
• You will control computers and appliances via tiny sen sors that pick up your brain scans. You will be able to rearrange the shape of objects.
• Sensors in your clothing, bathroom, and appliances will monitor your vitals, and nanobots will scan your DNA and cells for signs of danger, allowing life expectancy to increase dramatically.
• Radically new spaceships, using laser propulsion, may replace the expensive chemical rockets of today. You may be able to take an elevator hundreds of miles into space by simply pushing the “up” button.

Like Physics of the Impossible and Visions before it, Physics of the Future is an exhilarating, wondrous ride through the next one hundred years of breathtaking scientific revolution.

A Brief History of U.S. Innovation

A Brief History of U.S. Innovation by LiveScience.com

The United States has always prized its history of individual creativity, citing a unique and ingrained American spirit of ingenuity.
Franklin Roosevelt called on it to pull the country out of the Depression, and President Obama focused on it in his most recent weekly address:
"It is only by building a new foundation that we will once again harness that incredible generative capacity of the American people," the president said. "All it takes are the policies to tap that potential — to ignite that spark of creativity and ingenuity — which has always been at the heart of who we are and how we succeed."

Inventors have certainly shaped the nation, especially in the heyday of American science from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries, when it produced such famous and revered names as Edison, Einstein, Ford, and many others.

But how did the United States really come by that reputation for innovation?

Great timing
Though other countries had their own very influential eras, America's distinction as a natural leader in technology stems in part from the fact that U.S. scientists — coincidentally and conveniently — peaked at a time when it first became possible to produce some of the most important technologies of the modern world.
The United States did not begin its history as a scientific powerhouse. Despite encouraging invention, those first few decades of its existence were spent relatively poor, both economically and in technological infrastructure.

It was Britain and Germany, rather, that dominated science into the 19th century. While British engineers built the foundation for the Industrial Revolution, helped largely by their invention of the steam engine, German scientists developed key principles in the world of physics.
With the framework laid in Europe, it was easier for the United States to excel when it finally emerged from the Civil War in 1865, according to University of Pennsylvania historian of technology Thomas P. Hughes, who explores this  "golden age" of American science in his book American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm, 1870-1970 (University of Chicago Press; 2004).
"No other nation has displayed such inventive power and produced such brilliant innovators as the United States during the half-century that began around 1870," wrote Hughes, who noted that the number of new patents issued annually in the country more than doubled between 1866 and 1896.
Americans were naturals at applied science, improving many ideas that were already in existence and bringing them to fruition with resources newly available during the Industrial Revolution: Samuel Morse did it in creating the telegraph; Thomas Edison didn't invent the light bulb, but he made it practical and got his name in lights for the work; many men attempted to fly before the Wright brothers finally succeeded — under power and more or less controlled — at Kitty Hawk in 1903.

During this time of "independent" invention, it was often the last link in the chain that got credit. And that final link was often American.

Influx of brainpower
During this era, the United States also benefited from the influx of brainpower from around the world, able to claim the imported knowledge as their own.
Many European scientists, recognizing the incredible creative potential of the growing country and drawn by grants from well-funded institutes, made the move between the two world wars. Nikola Tesla, one of the "fathers of electricity," was among them, as well as and many of the researchers involved in the creation of the atomic bomb, such as Albert Einstein.
Since the mid 20th century, national borders around scientific achievement have relaxed. U.S. scientists have been involved in important recent discoveries, but easier communication and partnerships between multinational institutions, rather than independent research, has made science a more global affair.
Whether another age of inventors is on the way in the United States remains to be seen, according to Hughes.
"As yet, however, we have not realized the remarkable quality of a comparable era in American history," he said.

• Top 10 American Innovations
• The Greatest Modern Minds
• SPECIAL REPORT: Innovation

Editor's Note: This article is part of a series this week about the history and future of innovation in science and technology that makes life better and more productive.

Higher Job Performance Linked to People Who Are More Honest and Humble

Higher Job Performance Linked to People Who Are More Honest and Humble 


ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2011) — The more honesty and humility an employee may have, the higher their job performance, as rated by the employees' supervisor. That's the new finding from a Baylor University study that found the honesty-humility personality trait was a unique predictor of job performance.

"Researchers already know that integrity can predict job performance and what we are saying here is that humility and honesty are also major components in that," said Dr. Wade Rowatt, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor, who helped lead the study. "This study shows that those who possess the combination of honesty and humility have better job performance. In fact, we found that humility and honesty not only correspond with job performance, but it predicted job performance above and beyond any of the other five personality traits like agreeableness and conscientiousness."

The Baylor researchers along with a business consultant surveyed 269 employees in 25 different companies across 20 different states who work in positions that provide health care for challenging clients. Supervisors of the employees in the study then rated the job performance of each employee on 35 different job skills and described the kind of customer with whom the employee worked. The ratings were included in order to inform higher management how employees were performing and for the Baylor researchers to examine which personality variables were associated with job performance ratings.

The Baylor researchers found that those who self-reported more honesty and humility were scored significantly higher by their supervisors for their job performance. The researchers defined honesty and humility as those who exhibit high levels of fairness, greed-avoidance, sincerity and modesty.
"This study has implications for hiring personnel in that we suggest more attention should be paid to honesty and humility in applicants and employees, particularly those in care-giving roles," said Megan Johnson, a Baylor doctoral candidate who conducted the study. "Honest and humble people could be a good fit for occupations and organizations that require special attention and care for products or clients. Narcissists, on the other hand, who generally lack humility and are exploitative and selfish, would probably be better at jobs that require self-promotion."

The study currently appears online in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, and is the first to link honesty and humility to better job performance.

Ten Best Commencement Speeches

Commencement speeches are typically so powerful and always make me take a break from my life and reevaluate if its where I wanna be. 

My favorite speech is definitely that of Stephen Colbert! I am an anti-cynic and his words speak directly to me. 

STEVE JOBS AT STANFORD JUNE 12, 2005.
Select quotes below... full text here.

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking....

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

GEORGE C. MARSHALL AT HARVARD JUNE 5, 1947.
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"Political passion and prejudice should have no part. With foresight, and a willingness on the part of our people to face up to the vast responsibility which history has clearly placed upon our country, the difficulties I have outlined can and will be overcome."

JON STEWART AT HIS ALMA MATER, WILLIAM & MARY MAY 20, 2004.
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"I was in New York on 9/11 when the towers came down. I lived 14 blocks from the twin towers. And when they came down, I thought that the world had ended. And I remember walking around in a daze for weeks. And Mayor Giuliani had said to the city, "You've got to get back to normal. We've got to show that things can change and get back to what they were." And one day I was coming out of my building, and on my stoop, was a man who was crouched over, and he appeared to be in deep thought. And as I got closer to him I realized, he was playing with himself. And that's when I thought, "You know what, we're gonna be OK."

PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY JUNE 10, 1963.
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"Some say that it is useless to speak of world peace or world law or world disarmament - and that it will be useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it. But I also believe that we must reexamine our own attitude - as individuals and as a Nation - for our attitude is as essential as theirs.

TONI MORRISON AT WELLESLEY COLLEGE MAY 28, 2004.
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"Although you will never fully know or successfully manipulate the characters who surface or disrupt your plot, you can respect the ones who do by paying them close attention and doing them justice. The theme you choose may change or simply elude you, but being your own story means you can always choose the tone."

STEPHEN COLBERT AT KNOX COLLEGE JUNE 5, 2006.
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Now will saying "yes" get you in trouble at times? Will saying "yes" lead you to doing some foolish things? Yes it will. But don't be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying "yes" begins things. Saying "yes" is how things grow. Saying "yes" leads to knowledge. "Yes" is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say "yes."

OPRAH WINFREY AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY MAY 12, 2007.
Select quotes below... full text here. Scroll through the transcripts for the speech.

"You know, I come from good stock. Dr. Swygert was mentioning my grandmother who had a dream for me. And her dream was not a big dream. Her dream was that one day I could grow up -- she used to say, I want you to grow up and get yourself some good white folks, because my grandmother was a maid and she worked for white folks her whole life.

And her idea of having a big dream was to have white folks who at least treated her with some dignity, who showed her a little bit respect. And she used to say, I want you to -- I hope you get some good white folks that are kind to you. And I regret that she didn't live past 1963 to see that I did grow up and get some really good white folks working for me."

RUSSELL BAKER AT CONNECTICUT COLLEGE MAY 27, 1995.
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"So I will not waste my breath today pleading with you not to go forth. Instead I limit myself to a simple plea: When you get out there in the world try not to make it any worse than it already is. I thought it might help to give you a list of the hundred most important things you can do to avoid making the world any worse. Since I'm shooting for 15 minutes, however, there is no time to give you all 100. You will have to make do with 10. Short as the public attention span is these days, nobody could remember 100 anyhow. Even 10 may be asking too much.

DAVID FOSTER WALLACE AT KENYON COLLEGE MAY 21, 2005.
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And I submit that this is what the real, no bullshit value of your liberal arts education is supposed to be about: how to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and to your natural default setting of being uniquely, completely, imperially alone day in and day out. That may sound like hyperbole, or abstract nonsense. Let's get concrete. The plain fact is that you graduating seniors do not yet have any clue what "day in, day out" really means. There happen to be whole, large parts of adult American life that nobody talks about in commencement speeches. One such part involves boredom, routine, and petty frustration. The parents and older folks here will know all too well what I'm talking about.

BONO AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MAY 17, 2004.
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"But I don't want to make you cop to idealism, not in front of your parents, or your younger siblings. But what about Americanism? Will you cop to that at least? It's not everywhere in fashion these days. Americanism. Not very big in Europe, truth be told. No less on Ivy League college campuses. But it all depends on your definition of Americanism. Me, I'm in love with this country called America. I'm a huge fan of America, I'm one of those annoying fans, you know the ones that read the CD notes and follow you into bathrooms and ask you all kinds of annoying questions about why you didn't live up to that. I'm that kind of fan."