Blake Burge
@blakeaburge • 416,963 subscribers
On a mission to build meaningful things with @sahilbloom. Fan of Bourbon, Books, and Good Advice 🥃 📚 💬
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According to Steve Jobs, there is one single thing that "separates the people that do things from the people that just dream about them." It isn't their intelligence, their work ethic, or their financial means. It's something much more simple... When Jobs was only 12 years old he opened the phone book and placed a call to Bill Hewlett (the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard). On the call Jobs asked if Bill happened to have any spare computer parts he could have for a project he was working on––building a frequency counter. Not only did Bill have the parts, he gave Steve a job that summer working on the assembly line at his company. To quote Jobs, "I was in Heaven." So what did Jobs do that was so special? (Besides calling the co-founder of a computer company when he was just 12 years old). He asked. Yep, that's all. So many of us are held back by our own self-doubt or unwillingness to ask that opportunities we never even know are available pass us by. A simple question I've used for years that has served me well: Will I be any worse off than am I now by asking for this opportunity? If the answer is no, which I'd argue it almost always is, ––then you've got nothing to lose. If you're too afraid to ask, you're too afraid to fail. And without failure, you'll never grow. Just take action. Just ask. If you enjoy content like this, follow me Blake Burge for more.
Blake Burge1,923,948 次观看 • 2 年前
I'm convinced that there is one skill that separates truly intelligent people from those that aren't: Listening. This concept of "being a recorder" by Rick Rubin explains it perfectly. In less than a minute, Rubin provides 4 simple steps that, if followed, will change how you think about your interactions with others. Step 1: "It starts with coming in blank. Not having any preconceived ideas, being open, and really listening. Not thinking about what you're going to say next or what your opinion is." Step 2: "Basically being a recorder. Just hearing what comes in. Processing that information and trying to do our best to do that without any of the beliefs we might have to impact what that is." Step 3: "I don't want to have any reaction happening when you're speaking and want to be as neutral as possible. My goal is not to form an opinion, it's to understand." Step 4: "If you say something that somehow triggers me, I wouldn't challenge you. I would ask how did you find that? How did you get to that place? I want to understand who the person is, and through questioning, we can usually get there." My thoughts: So often we enter conversations with a predetermined idea of how it will go, what the other person will say, and how we will respond. The goal, as Rubin says, should be to "understand, not form an opinion." When someone says something you disagree with, rather than being triggered, frustrated, or defensive, why not dig deeper into how they came to that opinion? While different than your own, that doesn't inherently mean they're wrong. It seems as though at some level we've lost the ability to have civil discourse. To disagree and still coexist. It doesn't make sense to me and I think––with a little effort––we can change (and just might learn something from each other along the way.) Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this, follow me Blake Burge for more.
Blake Burge1,298,168 次观看 • 2 年前
According to Steve Jobs, there is one single thing that "separates the people that do things from the people that just dream about them." It isn't their intelligence, their work ethic, or their financial means. It's something much more simple... When Jobs was only 12 years old he opened the phone book and placed a call to Bill Hewlett (the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard). On the call Jobs asked if Bill happened to have any spare computer parts he could have for a project he was working on––building a frequency counter. Not only did Bill have the parts, he gave Steve a job that summer working on the assembly line at his company. To quote Jobs, "I was in Heaven." So what did Jobs do that was so special? (Besides calling the co-founder of a computer company when he was just 12 years old). He asked. Yep, that's all. So many of us are held back by our own self-doubt or unwillingness to ask that opportunities we never even know are available pass us by. A simple question I've used for years that has served me well: Will I be any worse off than am I now by asking for this opportunity? If the answer is no, which I'd argue it almost always is, ––then you've got nothing to lose. If you're too afraid to ask, you're too afraid to fail. And without failure, you'll never grow. Just take action. Just ask. If you enjoy content like this, follow me Blake Burge for more.
Blake Burge1,036,448 次观看 • 2 年前
In a CNBC interview a few years back, Warren Buffet relayed a story of a time shortly after he and Bill Gates first met. Gate's father asked a group of roughly 20 people to write down on a sheet of paper the one word that they thought accounted for their success. Without seeing what the other wrote, both Buffet and Gates chose the same word: Focus. With this in mind, I wondered: How they would advise someone to choose what they place their focus on? In search of this answer, I ran across an article by author Scott Dinsmore which describes Buffet's 5-step framework for narrowing your focus to what really matters: Your "Avoid At All Costs List." The story is framed as a conversation between Buffet and his pilot (no idea if this is actually what happened) but you'll get the point nonetheless. Here goes: Buffet jokingly said to his pilot: "The fact that you're still working for me, tells me I'm not doing my job. You should be out going after more of your goals and dreams." Warren then asked his pilot to take the following steps: (You should do the same) • List your top 25: Make a list of the Top 25 things you want to do over the next few years or in your lifetime. • Choose your top 5: Review your list and circle the Top 5 items that are most important to you. This is critical––you can only pick 5. • Make a plan: Now that you have your Top 5, it's time to make a plan. How will you start working on these? Who do you need to enlist help from? When can you start? Hint: the answer should be now! • Know your priorities: Now that you've made your Top 5 plan, let's talk about the other 20 items on your list: Buffet asked his pilot, "What is your plan for completing those?" The pilot stated that he word work on those intermittently, as he had time, since they were not part of the Top 5. To the pilot's surprise, Buffet said: "No, you've got it all wrong. Everything you didn't circle just became your 'Avoid At All Costs List.' No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you've succeded with your Top 5." •Be ruthless with your Top 5 list: I think most of us would have probably answered Buffet in a similar manner to his pilot. I mean, those other things are still important, right? Well, according to Buffet (and seemingly Gates as well), the ability to focus on the few things that are the most important to you––what you really want––is the key to outsized results. Letting yourself be distracted by the 20 (less important) things is why you never reach your potential on the 5 that matter the most. For someone like me (with more ideas than time) this exercise was extremely helpful. Take 20 minutes today and write out your own list and see what you come up with. You might be surprised at the results.
Blake Burge1,075,595 次观看 • 2 年前
I'm convinced that there is one skill that separates truly intelligent people from those who aren't: Listening well. I love this idea of "being a recorder" from Rick Rubin. Remember, the loudest person in the room is often the one with the least interesting things to say.
Blake Burge68,238 次观看 • 2 个月前
2 months after Rocky I was released in 1976, Sylvester Stallone did an interview with the BBC. But it wasn't the Italian Stallion throwing punches. It was the host––who at one point said: "It was fairly presumptuous of you wasn't it? To expect to be able to star in it, because your career up to then had been small parts." Stallone's reply is a perfect mix of humility and determination: "I was mostly what is known as 'atmosphere.' I was in the background or the guy that was being the drunk that was stepped over in the gutter or other lame roles. But I felt like geez, if I was going to go down into professional obscurity, I wanted to at least have the opportunity to say to myself––'Well you tried.' You put your best foot forward, and you didn't make it. I just knew that I had to do it one time." Thought #1 Whether you love the Rocky movies or hate them, you've gotta respect the hustle. Stallone believed he was the man for the job and it was 'his time.' Too often we're content to take a back seat, let others lead the way, and generally keep our mouths shut. For reasons known only to ourselves, we're not good enough, not smart enough, and not cut out for the leading role. We're fine with being the 'supporting cast, the extras.' We sit in the back, keep quiet in the meeting, and cower in the face of opportunity. But we shouldn't. As my friend Sahil Bloom says, If you want something—and you’ve done the work to deserve it—ask for it. Closed mouths don't get fed." That's exactly what Stallone did. Later on, when asked how he ultimately sold himself to the high-profile producers, he explained it like this: "Knocking on windows, pestering them, pressing my face in the door, honking the horn in the driveway, in other words––making a real pain in the neck out of myself." No closed mouth for Sly. Thought #2 Producers loved the script, they just didn't want Stallone. At one point, they even offered him $265K to "just go away." Stallone refused, stating: "I knew if I sold out, even for $500K, I'd have become very bitter. I wanted to at least fail on my own terms." Damn right. About two years ago when I started writing on Twitter I had no connections, no real experience, no idea what I was doing. In fact, to this day, everything I've shared online has been from a makeshift office I set up in my garage. I'm not Stallone, but my mindset was similar. I wanted to fail (or make it) on my own terms. I'd spent 20 years traveling the traditional path: go to school, get a job, work hard, and wait for success to come. By some measures, I guess it had. But for me, I wasn't living the life I had always envisioned. So I took action. Could I return to a normal job, get a salary, and be paid to "just go away"––sure. But I couldn't live with the idea that I'd never given striking out on my own a real shot. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have support from others to help make the transition easier, I did. But taking that first step was up to me, and in your life, it's up to you. The Stoic philosopher Seneca once said: “Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune's control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.” Closing: The point of all this is quite simple, I'm not sharing any new information or breaking new ground. You've got one life to live––go out and get what you deserve. Across 10 movies in total, the Rocky franchise has grossed in excess of $1.7B dollars. Average that out over the 47 years since the first edition was released and it equates to ~ $36M/YR... Not too shabby for the guy who was just "atmosphere."
Blake Burge691,763 次观看 • 3 年前
In a 2014 commencement address, Jim Carrey shared three lines that will change the way you think about life: 1. "Fear is going to be a player in your life, but you get to decide how much." 2. "So many of us choose our paths out of fear disguised as practicality. What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect." That 2nd line hit me hard––specifically the point about "fear disguised as practicality." Far too many times we choose the "safe" path because we convince ourselves that it's the smart or practical thing to do. I know, I've spent the better part of my adult life doing exactly that. I understand, not everyone's life situation is the same. Sometimes, the conservative path, the practical path, is the right one to take. But more often than not, we make that decision based on fear of the unknown. We spend hours upon hours coming up will all of the reasons we can't live our dreams––we convince ourselves that the life we hoped for just isn't in the cards. It's, as Carrey says, "impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect." Carrey goes on to relay a story from his childhood: "My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn't believe that was possible for him so he made a conservative choice. He got a safe job as an accountant and when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job." What Carrey says he learned brings us to the 3rd and final line I'd like to share: " I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that: You can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love." Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this, Retweet ♻️ to share with others and follow me Blake Burge for more.
Blake Burge484,619 次观看 • 2 年前
In a 1992 interview, Marian Wright Edelman was asked what she would like to tell her own children about how to find meaning amidst a world where we are bombarded with materialistic views. The list of values she shared over 31 years ago rings as true today as it did back then: • "My basic message to them first is that I just love them more than I can ever say. And there's nothing they can ever do or say that can ever take away that love." • "As they leave home, I go with them in my prayers and they are never alone." • "Despite the messages of this culture which say that life is about things, about acquiring, about fame, and about prestige that's not really what life is about. What's really important is caring for other people and trying to leave the earth better than you found it. It's about things inside that matter." • "Despite what they say about success, what success really has to be, what my father and mother taught me is about serving. That serving is the rent that everybody pays for living. Those with extra intellectual and material gifts have an obligation and a responsibility and a privilege of reaching back and helping others." –– Thought #1 As I watched this interview and listened to Edelman's speak, a single line in that last point stood out: "Serving is the rent that everybody pays for living." If we're not striving to serve others, to make the world a better place, to share our gifts, our talents, and ultimately give back, what's the point? To use Edelman's words, it's not only an obligation, it's a privilege. Bob Marley once said: "The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires but in his integrity and in his ability to affect those around him positively." –– Thought #2 As you go into a new week ask yourself: What gifts have you been given? How can you use them to lift up those around you, to teach others, to improve the life of someone else, and in turn your own? If you enjoyed this, follow me Blake Burge for more.
Blake Burge387,697 次观看 • 2 年前
I'm convinced that there is one skill that separates truly intelligent people from those that aren't: Listening. This concept of "being a recorder" by Rick Rubin explains it perfectly. In less than a minute, Rubin provides 4 simple steps that will change how you think about...
Blake Burge277,169 次观看 • 2 年前
"My definition of failure became not about the outcome, but about not trying." A few years ago on a podcast with Tony Robbins, Sara Blakely told the story of her father's nightly routine. As his children returned from school, he would ask Sara & her brother one question: "So what did you guys fail at this week?" As Sara tells it, her father would be disappointed not if they failed, but if they didn't. For her, "it flipped the whole model on its head." Her father was changing her definition of failure. Instead of a negative, failure "became not about the outcome, but about not trying." Another thing her father did (which I love) is ask his children "what benefit or what positive" came from their failures. In Blakely's words, this "trained our brains also to find that––and then it became, of course, I want to try these things." In short, the focus shifted from the outcome to what she could learn through the process. My thoughts: When I was younger I would always hear people say "to enjoy the process" but to be honest, it never really resonated until later on in life. As you age you begin to realize that the outcome, while still important, often turns out to be different than what you expected it would be. Maturity is knowing this at the outset. Things will change, pieces will break, and the path will be far from straight. Appreciating the experiences, relationships, and errors along the way is where real growth occurs. Each of these shapes the person you become. The Stoic philosopher Seneca once said: "A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials." To avoid failure is to avoid progress. Change your definition of failure. Flip the model on its head. Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this, follow me: Blake Burge for more.
Blake Burge312,214 次观看 • 2 年前
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