Wisdom

“What makes the desert so beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that, somewhere, it hides a well…” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“It is essential to remember that the pursuit of wisdom, and its deployment, thrive on joy. The best recipe for the spread of wisdom is the encouragement of curiosity, respect for the best accomplishments of the past, coupled with a burning desire for improving on them; and all of this within a conception of self that extends to other people, the planet and beyond. When these elements are in place, a joyful immersion in the complexity of life is likely to ensue - an openness to experience, a willingness to dive deep into issues of concern to self and others. If such an attitude develops far enough, then understanding life becomes increasingly rewarding in itself. The person will be seen as wise, and his or her actions also will be considered wise.” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

One of the first things you learn in a Finance 101 class is the difference between simple and compound interest. Simple interest is a fixed percentage earned on an amount borrowed. So, 6% simple interest on $100,000 is $6,000 annually.

When we’re faced with having a difficult conversation, it’s easy to freeze up and freak out. And as long as performance anxiety takes hold of us, we’ll never be in the right frame of mind to have the conversation that needs to happen.

Without mistakes, how do we learn? A baby has no self-consciousness in moving from crawling to walking. Why do we find learning so painful as we become full-fledged adults?

Not sure how many of you have seen Jonah Hill's new Netflix documentary with his therapist, Dr. Phil Stutz. In candid conversations, Hill wanted to highlight Dr. Stutz's wise psychological practices and tools so he could expose them to a larger audience.

“I am not entitled to have an opinion unless I can state the arguments against my position better than the people who are in opposition. I think that I am qualified to speak only when I’ve reached that state.” - Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway

Last week, I co-led a workshop with Wisdom 2.0 founder Soren Gordhamer called “The Emergence of the Wise Leader” and we had an impressive collection of wisdom seekers and wisdom keepers.

I’m a “wisdom rebounder.” I hang around wise people and soak in their turns of phrase. Someone like MEA co-founder Jeff Hamaoui.

Six years ago, Stanford Medicine became the first major healthcare organization to create a Chief Wellness Officer (CWO).