Excellent Advice for Living

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired magazine and author of this best-selling book “Excellent Advice for Living:  Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier”, is trusted advisor to tech leaders, has been dubbed the “Real‐life Most Interesting Man in the World” by Tim Ferriss. Kelly lived with the Amish, biked across America twice, built a two‐family home from scratch, created a music video

12 years before MTV, maintained a daily blog for 20 years, and authored several bestselling books.

After reflecting on 70+ years of living, he has collected 450 bits of timeless knowledge he wished he’d known sooner.  Here are some from his book.

Master Something

(1)  Do something loosely related to an unusual childhood interest. “The thing that made you weird as a kid could make you great as an adult.”  It could be a talent or ability that you were born to have and show the world such as disassembling toys and put them together again, or having an early business mindset and selling items to your neighbor or classmates.  (2)  Build a business that helps others succeed – helping people succeed is the surest path to financial

success. The people who got rich during the goldrush were entrepreneurs who served the miners.  The reason this business of serving others will succeed is simply others are happy they have been served by you or have gained something from you.  It could be teaching others some skill or knowledge on sports, business or hobbies.  (3)  Shamelessly copy those you admire. Transcend your heroes by mastering their ways ‐ this is the way of all masters.  I apply this advice by trying to write my articles much like my idol and author of many best-selling books on the spiritual life and philosophy, Dr. Peter Kreeft.

Rely on Good Habits

A person with good exercise habits will work out when they don’t feel like it ‐ good habits ensure you make progress on your bad days. The purpose of a habit is to eliminate self‐negotiation. “To cultivate a habit, switch your language from ‘I can or can’t do’ to ‘I do or don’t do’ (to) shift the weight from a wavering choice to an unwavering identity.” (Kevin Kelly)

Here are five productive habits to start building today: (1) The 15‐minute minimum habit: “Spend as little as 15 minutes (1% of your day) on improving how you do your thing.” Study, experiment, or refine a process so you’re just a tiny bit better than the previous day.  (2) The redo habit: After you’ve completed your first draft, redo it from memory to see if better ideas find their way to the page. “To make something good, just do it. To make something great, just redo it, redo it, redo it.” (3) Work hard ‐ Rest hard habit: When work ends, completely disconnect so you can completely recover for your next work session. The best work ethic requires a good rest ethic. (4) The “change choice” habit: When faced with a difficult decision, take the path that produces the most change. Change is the catalyst for personal and professional growth.

Be Kind

Much of your pain will be emotional pain from interpersonal conflicts. When someone is nasty, hateful, or mean, see their behavior as an unfortunate illness. And when someone turns you down, don’t take it personally. “Assume they are like you: busy, occupied, distracted. And just try again later.”

Prevent interpersonal pain from lingering by forgiving quickly. Forgive by accepting an apology you will never get. “Forgiveness is not something we do for others; it is a gift we give to ourselves.” (Kevin Kelly)