This I Watch: Feb 2017
#thisiwatch
The common theme for this month This I Watch is to (learn to) love and respect ourselves. It is apparently an essential ingredient before we could love and respect others, as we’ll learn together in the following videos.
1. A speech by Jim Carrey
I was lucky to have a chance to finally sit down with Raoul Oberman. Before that meeting, Raoul was one of those people from whom I had been taking notes, whenever he’s speaking at a conference or Endeavor meet-ups. After the meeting, I may claim that he’s a gentleman whom I could admire not only from afar. But, more importantly, in that 60-minute meeting, I had a chance to ask, “If you could teach only 2 things to your kids, what would those be?” It was a random question, yet conscious. He then replied:
- Learn to love yourself. Only then, you’d have the ability to love others.
- Don’t be afraid to fail.
The first point was profound. It gave me another layer of understanding about what Jim Carrey shared in this video. It’s when he said, he wanted to make his mother realized that “Her life was worth something because she gave birth to someone who is worth something.”
By appreciating your life, you’re respecting others’.
Personal notes:
- Thought is an illusionary thing. How thought is responsible for all, if not most of the suffering that we experience.
- Nothing happens on this planet without intention.
- All spirituality is about relieving suffering.
2. Brené Brown: The power of vulnerability
I first encountered this video when I was enrolled in the Product Management program in Berkeley (May 2015 batch).
I love the program to this day. I learned a lot from the lectures, and also from the highly experienced participants. I was fortunate to have exchanged ideas and worked through the class materials with those high-caliber individuals (from Adobe, Apple, Google, Salesforce, Twitter, and so on).
However, one too many times I had the following thoughts: I wasn’t good enough; I wasn’t experienced enough; I wasn’t smart enough.
Have you ever felt that?
I personally found great solace in this video. It has its own charm to inspire a belief that I am enough. So much so that I’m readier to accept myself; to be a little more vulnerable.
Personal notes:
- In order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen.
- When it first came into the English language, the word courage means to tell the story of who you are — including your imperfections — with your whole heart.
- You need to have the compassion to be kind to yourselves first and then to others. As it turns out, we can’t practice compassion with other people if we can’t treat ourselves kindly.
- Vulnerability is the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, but it appears that it’s also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging, of love.
- What made us vulnerable made us beautiful.
- Being vulnerable is not about being comfortable or excruciating; it’s about being necessary.
- I believe I am enough. When we do, we’re kinder and gentler to people around us.
3. Fred Kofman: Be a player, not a victim
This is a “prelude” to the more comprehensive video series by Fred Kofman on LinkedIn Learning. Fred is one of the thought leaders I follow when it comes to leadership and management in human capital.
“Walking away is not surrendering, but taking responsibility of your life. The act of leaving is not a retreat, is a gesture of defiance.” — Fred Kofman
In that 1-hour short series, Fred described in detail how we frame our thoughts or questions would potentially lead us to live our lives as a victim, a player, or a hero.
A victim’s questions:
- What happened to me?
- Who wronged me?
- What should they have done? (should, often implies blame/guilt)
- What should they do now?
- What punishment do they deserve?
A player’s questions:
- What challenges am I facing?
- Have I contributed to the situation by acting or not acting?
- How could I have responded differently? (could, not should)
- Can I do something now? (even for something that happened 20 years ago)
A hero’s question:
- What values do I want to express?
Thank you for reading (and watching). And, wish you a wonderful March.
Hopefully, these videos would be useful for you as they have been for me. Do you have videos you’d like to share?
This post was published on Feb 23, 2017.
