Self-Confidence Tip: Looking for the Bright Spots

"Self-confidence for women depends on what you're doing. Avoid labeling yourself with low self-confidence just because you stutter when talking to your boss, etc. If you think you have low self-confidence then that's how you'll act. Instead, be aware of your whole self as a woman. You're self-confident in some situations and less self-confident in others. Self-confidence in women requires focusing on what you're good at, admitting your weaknesses and letting yourself be yourself in each situation. Building self-confidence for women requires being honest about who you are."

Keith Sawyer's: Explaining Creativity

* Successful creative people are successful because they are intrinsically motivated
* "10 Year Rule" -- successful creative people usually take 10 years to produce something of worth (it takes 10 years to familiarize self with any domain, e.g. conventions, language, history)
* People become successful because of motivation and hard work, NOT innate talent
* There are no "personality traits" to identify creativity in individuals
* Successful people are motivated to do what they do because they like what they do-- they become fully engaged with the process (note: perhaps referring to Mihaly Csikszentmihaly's concept of "flow"?)

Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers

It takes 10,000 hours (approx. 10 years if you practice 3 hrs/day) to become good at something.

Society Test

"One of the primary tests of the mood of a society at any given time is whether its comfortable people tend to identify psychologically with the power and achievements of the very successful or with the needs and sufferings of the underprivileged."

- Richard Hofstadter, historian

Happiness

"One is happy as a result of one's own efforts once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness: simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self-denial to a point, love of work, and above all, a clean and clear conscience."

- George Sand

...Paved with Good Intentions

"By pursuing his own interest [an individual] frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good."

- Adam Smith, "Wealth of Nations"

Economics Before Politics

"A science of economics must be developed before a science of politics can be logically formulated. Essentially, economics is the science of determining whether the interests of human beings are harmonious or antagonistic. This must be known before a science of politics can be formulated to determine the proper functions of government."

- Claude - Frederic Bastiat