Learn from birds...

I started thinking about birds - not just the eagle - and started looking for quotes that speak to me. Here are a few and my comments are in blue font.

 

Why do birds sing in the morning?

It's the triumphant shout:

"We got through another night!"

Enid Bagnold

Where you've been or what you've been through is not as important as where you're headed. Whatever your situation, always have a song in your heart...it will lift you.

 

Be like the bird in flight . . . pausing a while on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, yet sings knowing yet, that she has wings.

Victor Marie Hugo

 

Each bird must sing with his own throat.

Henrik Ibsen

God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest.

Josiah Gilbert Holland

 

Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best.

Henry Van Dyke

 

You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren. ~ William Henry Hudson

 

Self-development is key to advancement; to get to the next level, invest in yourself. 

Know-it-all?

A few weeks ago, my colleague and I were chatting and she was talking about the fact that there are some things are brought to her attention or meetings she's invited to where she knows little or nothing about the subject matter.

I smiled and said that's fine because I "thrive" in not knowing it all. Now that's not to say that I don't know anything...I know some things but I don't know everything. I believe that not knowing it all gives one (me) room to grow.

On the other hand, while it's ok not to know everything I believe that it is very important to know what you do know well.

In professional & personal circles, people have more respect for those who "know-it-well" than those who carry around as if they know-it-all.

In the corporate world, there's quite a bit of talk about specializing in a body of knowledge to become a Subject Matter Expert (SME) or a Technical Authority (TA). Did you know that those acronyms also stand for "Small & Medium Enterprises" and "Turn-Around" respectively? Small & Medium Enterprises aspire to get bigger and Turn-Arounds are meant to improve the performance of the equipment - these are pointers to the fact that it's better to know-it-well and keep learning more, growing and getting better as against capping your willingness & ability to learn. Be a know-it-well not a know-it-all.