The old crocodile was floating at the river’s edge when a younger crocodile swam up next to him,
“I’ve heard from many that you’re the fiercest hunter in all of the river bottoms. Please, teach me your ways.”
Awoken from a nice long afternoon nap, the old crocodile glanced at the young crocodile with one of his reptilian eyes, said nothing and then fell back asleep atop the water.
Feeling frustrated and disrespected, the young crocodile swam off upriver to chase after some catfish, leaving behind a flurry of bubbles. “I’ll show him”, he thought to himself.
Later that day…
If you want to be successful, many experts and life-hackers say you should:
- Wake up at 6 am
- Take a cold shower
- Exercise
- Meditate
- Journal and brainstorm
- Review and set goals
- Read news and industry sites
- Consume inspiring content
- Eat a protein-rich breakfast
Whew. That’s a lot to accomplish before 8 am.
I’m not sure when the dogma of morning routines began to spread, but suddenly, these mile-long checklists are everywhere — especially in the startup world.
Routines can be great, but I think there’s a misplaced emphasis on morning.
Everyone has different peak hours. If you want to enhance…
The race to get the world’s first plane in the sky was a hard fought battle between The Wright Brothers and a lesser-known gentleman by the name of Samuel Pierpont Langley.
You will discover why you’ve never heard of the latter here shortly.
As you probably read somewhere inside that history textbook you were forced to lug around through elementary — The Wright Brothers were responsible for creating the first successful airplane. You remember how the story goes…
“… it was a cold windy day on December 17th, 1903 in the Kill Devil Hills of North Carolina… Orville watched nervously…
Cozy.
That’s how I felt.
Tucked beneath what may have been the world’s softest blanket.
I took a deep breath and rolled onto my side. It was a familiar moment — the moment when my 6 a.m. alarm clock sounded, after a night of tossing and turning.
The moment when my daily responsibilities had yet to beckon me. The moment when the clouds of my imagination felt more real than writing lines of code.
In a few minutes, I would answer the same question I had faced every weekday for the past year:
Should I stay in bed or should…
But you can still crush that to-do list.
I’m not highly motivated.
I don’t have amazing willpower or self-control.
I don’t get up at 6 am to read, meditate, drink a green smoothie, and run 10K.
That’s because I don’t believe in motivation.
Instead, I’ve built systems and habits that remove my internal drive from the equation. So, whether or not I feel “motivated,” I can still be productive.
I realize that systems and habits are not a glamorous topic, but honestly, they work.
They’ve fuelled every step of my entrepreneurial journey over the last 12 years — from the early days, when JotForm was just a simple…
In Greek mythology, Narcissus the hunter fell in love with his own reflection. Realizing his love could never materialize, he met the tragic end of taking his own life. The myth and the namesake psychological disorder, narcissism, tell the risk of becoming too fixated on oneself. These days, it seems like we’re all grappling with the modern-day version of narcissism: staring at ourselves for hours a day on videoconference calls. It’s hard to avoid and according to experts, it’s more stressful than we think.
“In the real world, if somebody was following you around with a mirror constantly — so…
Do you value stability in your workplace? Do you expect to settle into a comfortable routine, and climb the ranks of seniority on a predictable upward trajectory? If so, you should not work at Netflix.
Netflix’s company values are laid bare for all to see thanks to its famous culture deck, which explains in no uncertain terms that the company demands the best from its employees.
“Succeeding on a dream team is about being effective, not about working hard,” it says. “Sustained ‘B’ performance, despite an ‘A’ for effort, gets a respectful severance package. …
Money makes the world go ‘round, as they say, and ultimately every company’s goal is to turn a profit. But are helping to hit financial targets really enough to motivate employees to do their best work?
Many experts agree that employees need more than metric-based targets to truly feel a sense of buy-in at their organizations. But if that’s the case, why do so many leaders make financial gains the focus of their communications with their workforce? …
“Sounds good,” I wrote to a colleague, then hit send.
She had been updating me on the roll-out of a new app at JotForm and I wanted to quickly reply before hopping on another Zoom call. It wasn’t until later that day when the colleague and I spoke on the phone, I realized my brief email had created more questions than answers. It left her wondering whether I was less than satisfied with some aspect of her team’s progress. Our call quickly cleared the air, but it left me rethinking how I approach my emails.
When asked what words of advice he had for aspiring writers, the author Junot Díaz offered this:
“Read more than you write, live more than you read.”
In just one short sentence, Díaz captured a crucial truth about the line between creating and consuming. It’s hard to dispute that a writer who never reads probably won’t be very good at their craft. But there’s a saturation point when consumption stops being an inspiration and becomes a detriment — as Díaz says, when you’re reading more than you’re living.
The opportunity to consume is endless, whether it’s blog posts or Cheez-Its…
Aytekin Tank
Founder at www.JotForm.com || (contact: AytekinTank@JotForm.com)
