Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wili/254447718/

I love Southwest.

I hate all other airlines.

P.S.  I haven't flown JetBlue yet.

I've been giving a lot of thought to this lately. What are the things that have allowed you to think sharper? Be more creative? Etc. Here are what I've found for me personally. Would *love* to hear others' thoughts:

Helped a ton

Hanging out w/smart people - Nothing tops this. I making a conscious effort in my life to spend as much time as I can with people who are ridiculously smart.

Listening to smart people on podcasts - Podcasting is an awesome way to learn. I love podcasts like Venture Voice, Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders, TED Talks, IT Conversations, Calacanis Cast and Steve Pavlina.

Meditation - Meditation clears my mind for better conversations and more creativity. It would not surprise me if there was a strong correlation between the smartest people in our society and some form of meditative practice.

Helped somewhat

Reading - OK, reading has helped a lot but I think it's all about how you read. In order to really help I think you have to take the ideas you read about and put them in practice or teach others using them. If all you do is read and never share what you've read or use it then I think it's of somewhat dubious value.

Exercises like EyeQ - I think there are probably a number of things you can do on a daily basis to sharpen your brain. I've found EyeQ to be helpful for this. Would love to hear others' suggestions.

Chess/poker/blackjack - I've dabbled in each of these in the past and I think they can definitely help sharpen learning quite a bit. In fact, I got heavily involved in blackjack in college in large part because my classes were so boring. Poker might be the king here because there are an unending number of variables to consider, moreso then chess or bj me thinks.

Made me dumber

Television and most movies - It's very rare that I ever sit down in front of TV or a movie but when I do I almost never leave the experience feeling smarter.

Spending time with people who aren't as intelligent - Tough to say much here without sounding like an elitist so I won't. Let's just say that every conversation has an opportunity cost and I'm trying to maximize those precious moments.

OK, would love to hear yours!

We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.
Jim Rohn

Listening today to a Robin Sharma podcast where he argues that the pain of discipline is always less. 

I think I'd agree.

Top 20 Motivation Hacks - An Overview

I'm looking for some stories online about people who are examples of incredibly hard works and discipline. For example, stories about how hard olympic athletes train or how many hours people put in starting companies. I'm not necessarily saying working 100 hours a week is the right thing to do but nevertheless am looking for some examples of people who do this (like the link to the story about Jeff Immelt below):

Fortune 75 - GE's Jeff Immelt: The Bionic Manager - Intro - FORTUNE

Anybody have a few stories you'd like to share?

'The root of the word education is 'e-ducere', literally, to lead forth, or to bring out something which is potentially present.'

From erich fromm's 'art of loving'

Are you a tutor or do you know anyone who is a tutor?  If so, I'd love to talk to them.  Send me a message here or e-mail me at jon at edurev dot com.  Thanks!

It's impossible to take note of your mind all of the time. You would tie yourself up in knots and run off the road. Instead of going to an extreme, begin by concentrating on one particular emotion in yourself.
Choose the emotion that bothers you the most, or the one that is most prominent in you.... For many people, anger is a good starting point because it is easily noticed and dissolves faster than most other emotions. Once you begin to watch your anger, you will make an interesting discovery. You will find that as soon as you know you are angry, your anger will melt away by itself. It is very important that you watch without likes or dislikes. The more you are able to look at your own anger without making judgments, without being critical, the more easily the anger will dissipate. --Thynn Thynn, Living Meditation, Living Insight

From http://www.tricycle.com/issues/2_309/dailydharma/3327-1.html

Def subscribe to Daily Dharma if you haven't already.  Thanks to Dave for the tip!

Spilled Groceries
Imagine walking along a sidewalk with your arms full of groceries, and someone roughly bumps into you so that you fall and your groceries are strewn over the ground. As you rise up from the puddle of broken eggs and tomato juice, you are ready to shout out, "You idiot! What's wrong with you? Are you blind?" But just before you can catch your breath to speak, you see that the person who bumped you is actually blind. He, too, is sprawled in the spilled groceries, and your anger vanishes in an instant, to be replaced by sympathetic concern: "Are you hurt? Can I help you up?" Our situation is like that. When we clearly realize that the source of disharmony and misery in the world is ignorance, we can open the door of wisdom and compassion. Then we are in a position to heal ourselves and others. --B. Alan Wallace, Tibetan Buddhism from the Ground Up