Our names will ring in the hearts of those who laughed with us and walked with us along the way. Their ways were turned by ours. Their eyes saw through ours, through the stories we told and how we heard theirs.

When your name is called, at the end of your horizon, what memories will these be? And who, when your meaning is recalled, who will remember you?

Today’s graduates face a new breed of challenges as they enter the workforce. They will confront messier, intractable problems such as climate change, global terrorism, antibiotic resistant diseases and persistent market weakness. The same technologies that empowered them as learners at the same time also multiplied the potential for global havoc.

And this has changed the definition of an appropriate education.

Teachers know this

Teachers appreciate that handling the new, intractable problems requires a new skill set. They require empathizing, imaginative citizens –in touch with their own creative impulses, confident individuals who can imagine totally new solutions. Teachers want to facilitate their students’ growth as artists. But teachers know something else as well.

Tomorrow’s managers must also be literate and numerate. As well as being creative leaders, reaching out and finding fresh answers to the problems of the future, they need to know everything we graduated knowing. And they need to be firmer in their foundations than we were. The stakes are higher for them and the competition for jobs is more fierce.

Inside most classrooms today you find teachers taking an iterative approach, balancing the advantages of constancy and routine with their necessity for experimentation and adaptation. You find teachers who are doing the best they can with the resources they have. The demands on teachers have never been greater. And they know it.

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Sometimes on my quests, I unearth a jewel such as this presentation from Daniel Kahneman, on our “experiencing selves” and our “remembering selves.” We experience happiness, he explains, in the moment and also (often very differently) in our memory.

The two headed happiness-monster

Self-actualization is a process of reconciling these two selves: experiential and remembered. They way this works is similar to the lesson told by the ever-sagacious Jerry Seinfeld:

When it comes to Happiness we’ve got the spontaneous ‘Now Guy’ and story-teller ‘Then Guy’. Now Guy is your unsophisticated, spontaneous younger-self. He’s always got ideas about how to spend your lifesavings flying to Vegas for a really wild weekend. But Monday morning it’s Then Guy who has to explain the whole thing to your wife. A happy life requires the two to negotiate and agree.

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Disclaimer:

These ‘’commandments’’ are actually just reminders to myself of the big realizations I’ve had about how to keep myself happy and moving forward.

1) A clear target

Take time to consider what the ultimate situation would be for me and the people I care about. I probably do this 4 or 5 times a week and it’s actually not an easy task. It IS easy to cop-out and say, “mega-rich on a tropical island,’’ but that’s not what I really want.

I try to clarify what my days will be like when I’ve finally arrived in my ideal situation. I want to be able to read the newspaper, eating fruit, in a sunny place. I want to have brilliant friends who I spend a lot of time with. I want to learn a lot every day, as a part of my job. Plus about 50 other things. I think the clearer I can be about precisely where I’d like to end up, the more likely I’ll get there.

2) Something every day

I try to take at least a small step forward, toward my ultimate lifestyle, every day. I put something on my To Do list every day that will prepare me for that situation (I work on a ladder), to make sure I’m moving toward that target.

3) Appreciate it

Just like at Thanksgiving, take a moment to think of something you’re grateful for. It’ll remind you of how far you’ve come and that, while not everything is always perfect, you’re life is mostly pretty good. As my mom used to say on cold winter nights, “be thankful that we have a nice warm place to live.” Or as Socrates said, “He is the richest who is content with the least.”

4) Speak up

I’ve had to learn this lesson a few times in my life –that I need to share my ideas. I need to put my ideas into the world for a few reasons. First, it’s a way to realize what I know and to push my thinking (to be constructive). It’s also a way to connect with people, to build community. The last time I realized this in a big way was my first trip to Australia. There people expect you to have a story to tell. I found I was so used to being a listener that I didn’t know how to tell my stories.

5) Make it a good day

Even on good days, I try to think of one thing that could make the day a little better. If it’s stopping at the store and buying some candy to eat, that’s okay. Whatever can make it a little happier okay. Getting into my pajamas early also makes me happier. The point is that, for me, taking each day as a project works.

6) Sleep on rice

This one comes from a story I heard of a poor immigrant man who slept on rice (with his longsuffering wife) in the back room. He did this for year so that he could save money. Even when he had saved enough to move into an apartment, he didn’t. He continued to make sacrifices until he could buy the store. I’m always inspired by stories of people who have worked harder than they had to, so they could achieve uncommon ends.

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Living a good life means making a difference to an important issue like this, or at least doing our best. (We know that the only thing necessary for global problems to persist is for good people to do nothing about them). But, if you’re anything like me, quite frankly as concerned as I am for the environment, I do very little with this conviction. When I make a choice, the effect it has on the environment is rarely foremost in my mind. This dissonance (between what we know is important and how we act) has a lot to do with the complexity of these kinds of issues. It’s hard to know quite how to make any kind of targeted intervention, to make any kind of real difference at all.

Below I’ve listed some practical ways to get involved. But, first here are some great insights into the issue from Bill Gates.

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I’ve just taken an online test and found that my personal C02 output every year is about 17 tonnes. This is much higher than I expected. 69% of these emissions come from transportation, which is also surprising considering that, here in Belgium, I don’t drive a car. My emissions simply from flying equals about 10 tons per year. (If you’re interested in what that means, here’s what one tonne of CO2 looks like).

If you’d like to take a test like this here are some you can use: from the EPA (from the US), from ActOnCO2 (from the UK), ICLEI (International).

Small steps for man

The most important thing most of us can do to combat climate is to support (and encourage) government efforts to reduce emissions. Through the government one person, or a small group can make a big difference.

Here area  few other things we all do to reduce our carbon footprint:

• Reduce the miles you drive (i.e. by walking, cycling, carpooling  or taking public transit)
• Reduce air travel (i.e. by using electronic communications).
• If you do have to drive, purchase a vehicle with the highest fuel efficiency available (and also have it regularly serviced, avoid using the airconditioner, reduce your driving speed and use it as rarely as you can
• Pay to offset your CO2 footprint through organizations such as Conservation International, Nature Conservancy, Climate Trust, Native Energy, Terra Pass, or  The Carbon Fund. (More details on the costs and projects of each of these organizations are described here). I’ve done this before, but personally I am going to make a routine of offsetting my emissions, by investing in these types of projects.
• Plant trees. One tree, planted in the tropics, will absorb about 1 tonne of CO2 if it lives to 40. Considering my 17 tonnes usage per year I will need to plant around 14oo trees in my life to make up the difference. Certain other factors, such as the likelyhood of some of these trees not surviving so long and the ecosystems where I have a chance to plant mean that I should plant at least double that number to ensure I am carbon neutral.
• Increase the energy efficiency in your home (here is a good list of ways to do that)

The future

Bill Gates makes the point that a big push to innovate is also necessary. One idea I’d love to be a part of is implementing crowdsourcing methods to innovate solutions to climate change. (Studies have shown that diverse groups of people can often have more success solving really challenging problems than groups of experts.) That seems a logical way to use technologies (which have contributed to the problem) to our advantage.

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This article will tell you how to end up with $1 million dollars in your bank account. (And, as you’re about to see, you’re going to need it.)

$1 million at least

I’m 31. If I put $1,000,000 under my mattress today, when I came to retire (at 65) that $1 million would have the purchasing power of $388,977 today. If I lived until 85, that would give me only $20,000 per year to live on. That’s IF I hit my target of making a million before I retire. Suddenly aiming for a million seems a little low. For me to feel like a millionaire when I’m 65 I’m going to need $2,500,080 of today’s dollars. (Based on a 3% inflation rate). So your target has to be somewhere between $1 million and $2.5 million.

That’s not being greedy. Just responsible.

The way you learned in school

Compound interest isn’t the answer. Not on its own. Sure, if you put $5 in the bank every day AND find a way to earn 10% interest, in 42 short years you’ll have a million dollars. That sounds simple, but a 10% return isn’t easy to come by and no one goes to the bank every day. (If you really like going to the bank though, this might be the excuse you’re looking for.)

Open a McDonald’s

Another way is to open a business, a franchise maybe. Franchises are a good option, but to start one you’ll need about $200,000 in cash –not a mortgage for that amount, CA$H. Most real people, with real lives and jobs, can’t come up with that kind of money. And most people (let’s be honest) aren’t comfortable with that kind of risk.

Just do this

I’m just going to cut to the chase. I’m going to tell you what I tell my friends to do (because I like you. You’ve become very special to me). My advice is: buy an investment property. Now, using some fancy math, I’m going to show you how easy it is and why it makes sense. I’m going to leave you utterly convinced and greatful.

The scenario: You’ll need to find a property you can rent. The rent will need to cover the mortgage, or better. (If you can find a property where the annual rental revenue equals 11% or more of the property’s sale price you’ll be making an income from the property from day one, even without the capital return I’m about to talk about).

Year 0: You’ve just put $10,000 of your own money on a property worth $200,000. It was tough coming up with that much money, but you did it.  You’re capable like that.

Year 5: Following a 5% property-inflation rate, which is reasonable for most major cities (except maybe in the US at the moment), your property is now worth $240,916. Not amazing, but not too bad either.  (Just trust me on the 5% part. I’m trustworthy.)

Year 10: Now the place is worth $292,166. Ten years ago, when you started, you only owned $10,000 of the property. But now your equity (the amount of the house’s value you own) is over $100,000. This is really something. And it’s just just something because you’ve multiplied your money by 10. It’s something because now you’re the kind of person who really knows what to do with $100,000!

So now you’re smiling more. And you have a nice decision to make. You remember that you were able to get that first property with just $10,000. And you have $100,000 of equity in that property. The bank sees this like you have $100,000 in a bank account with them.  If you sold your property you’d have $100,000. The bank knows this and they don’t want to lose you as a customer. So, if you ask them, they’ll let you use some of that equity toward another property (or 2 more, or maybe even 3 more –depending on your salary and smile).

You can do that without having to come up with another cent.

If you sell your first property after 30 years (using that 5% property-inflation figure) you will have $500,000 in your pocket. ($10,000 got you half a million.)

The actual number of properties you’ll need to hit your target will depend on a few different factors, but 2 or 3 will likely be enough.

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It was pretty simple. Basically you roll the dice to see how many spaces you can move forward. The first person to the end wins. You hope to land on a ladder (which lets you skip a bunch of steps). And you want to avoid the snakes (which make you slide back, giving up a lot of your progress).

I realized today that I’ve been using Snakes and Ladders as a guiding allegory for my life. Since I was a kid I’ve been using this game to make tactical decisions about my life.

Life isn’t slow and steady

Think of ladders as things that can rapidly advance you ahead of the crowd. These are things that help you to “arrive” faster –to be financially secure, happy, successful, self-actualized earlier than you would otherwise.

You’re probably familiar with the 80/20 rule, which states that 80% of our returns in life come from just 20% of our efforts. The 80/20 rule suggests that we should focus on the things that give us the most bang for our buck. The Snakes and Ladders idea is similar to this: avoid unproductive behavior and invest the time into building yourself an advantage of some kind.

Examples of Ladders:

Making property investments made when you’re young. There are several investment strategies you can use. Property is the one that’s always made the most sense to me. The key is starting early. (And I suppose the key to that is being disciplined about savings from a young age).

Getting a university degree. Aside from the increased feelings of personal effectiveness and being more interesting at parties, a college master’s degree is worth $1.3 million more in lifetime earnings than a high school diploma (and about another million on top of that if you get a PhD). (You could debate this, on the grounds of correlation versus causation, but if you thought of that you probably already have a degree and therefore you don’t want to).

Having a trade. Very much like a degree, having an in-demand trade sets you up well to branch out on your own and really cash in. However, it also seems like those who really benefit from having a trade are those with some business acumen as well, so they can fully cash-in when the moment is right.

Being a well-known brand. Personal branding is one of the new next-big-things. I encourage people to take some actions to dominant their ‘name space’ online, to make it so that when someone types in their name in Google, they are the first one that comes up and that they’re happy with the information being shared. (If you type in Tim Woods in Google you’ll find that I still come behind a Tim Woods who was also known as “Mr Wrestling” and Tim Woods, an Australian composer). But I’m getting there.  And, even at #3 in my name space, I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from my efforts online. (I got a job, was chosen to judge a national environmental competition and become an internationally recognized expert on slang… don’t ask).

Being happily married. Research shows being in a marriage that lasts correlates strongly with sustained career success and better health in old age. Also it’s nice to have someone to share clean-up duties. Long-term, stable friendships can have similar benifits.

Understanding risk. People have money personalities. Some people avoid debt (even good-debt) like the plague. And those poor people don’t leverage their money. So they miss-out on long-term benifits –such as being able to retire.

Learning a language. This one is actually more of an ‘alleged ladder’. I don’t actually know any bilingual people who credit their success to their bilingualism. However, I’ve always suspected that if I spoke another language I’d be unstoppable, so I’m keeping this one in the Ladder category.

Examples of Snakes:

Going bankrupt. Even with bankruptcy protection, there can be lingering effects from bankruptcy that will snake you back down a few steps.

Getting arrested. In these days of ubiquitous information, it’s hard to hide mistakes from your past.

Getting divorced. For some people divorce goes smoothly. But for others it can put an enormous emotional and financial strain on your life for a very long time.

Can you think of any more snakes or ladders? Please add them in the comments.

(Update: Just before posting this, I’ve learned the game Snakes and Ladders was originally called Moksha-Patamu. “Of Hindu origin, it taught the players that virtuous behavior would aid your progression to Nirvana, but evil would make the journey difficult.” I told you this game was deep, didn’t I?)

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I find the way he handled this really amazing.  I guess, to keep it all in perspective, he has been successful enough in his life that a bankruptcy won’t destroy him really. And there is a huge difference between this relative financial devastation and the real horrors being faced now by the people of Haiti. Still there’s an important lesson in this about having the right perspective toward money. For Mr Weinstein money didn’t give him security. He could only really know he was going to be okay in life if he had a community around him.

An Economist I heard lecture in London once told me that capitalist (fiscally right-wing) ideas  are based on a certain understanding of success, whereas socialist ideologies are based on an understanding of failure. It seems depressing to say it, but as rich as you might be, failure is an ever-present possibility. The only real security is investing in our communities, giving our time, our money and sharing our lives (i.e. sharing our meaning, our stories).

All that is not given is lost.

P.S. I’m sure all of you have already donated to Haiti relief. (Likely the biggest humanitarian crisis in the past 50 years). But if you haven’t gotten around to it yet, or you’d like to give some more, I’ve found a great established charity in the country, called Partners in Health.

I watched a documentary this week in Sweden and I can’t put it out of my head. It was about a group of mountain climbers attempting to summit the second highest mountain after Everest (K2). I’m not going to ruin the story for you, but the documentary is called “Disaster on K2.” It didn’t go well.

Watching this made me angry.

A lot of people (maybe most people?) say they would never skydive because it’s too dangerous. And yet, the casualty rate of sky dives is 0.001%. 1 death every 100,000 jumps. Climbing K2 is another level of risk entirely, 25% of those who climb K2 die. (Everest has a casualty rate of 9%). I just can’t understand an adult being prepared to risk so much to get to the top of a stupid mountain.

So, what is wrong with mountain climbers?! (There are those who cheer on all kinds of risk-taking, like Chris Guillebeau, but I’m not one of them).

Adventure holidays have increased in popularity by 17% in recent years.  So there is a trend here. Maybe we crave danger the more we get the rest of our lives in order. Maybe we want to feel all-powerful. We want to be fearless. What bothers me is that the climbers who died in this documentary were smart people. They weren’t kids. They had experienced success in their lives. They should have known better.

This goes back to my theory that goals can ruin your life.  We don’t know our limits.

David Zald, at Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt University, believes the reason is dopamine. “There appear to be fewer dopamine-inhibiting receptors,” he says, “— meaning that daredevils’ brains are more saturated with the chemical, predisposing them to keep taking risks and chasing the next high” (Source).

So there you have it, folks. Clear as day. Mountain-climbing is a mental problem.

(If you only have time to watch one of these, watch the first one).

In this second video, Komisar discusses staying balanced. The balance changes as your priorities change. He talks about money, opportunity and power (the 3 things people always wish they had in the career) don’t always come in the same package. We need to be careful that our career doesn’t take up too much of our lives and sometimes it’s worth it to say, sacrifice money and power in order to increase opportunities.

He also suggests that we should never put ourselves in a situation where we can’t say no, by handcuffing ourselves to too many obligations (i.e. having too many time or money expenses). Keep your eye on the ball (your values) and, as much as possible, give yourself the freedom to make the changes that respect the balance.

Reality check: When Komisar cut back in his life he went from being a full-time CEO to a doing part-time-CEO-temping. He made heaps of money as a CEO and, when he cut back, he made slightly-smaller heaps, but still probably more than you and me and everyone who will ever read this post combined. It’s easier making financial sacrifices when doing so doesn’t mean you’ll have to make any real sacrifices at all.

Still, I think he’s giving us some good advice here.

Randy Komisar’s book is The Monk and the Riddle: The Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur.

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