Lego Christmas Childhood Memory

It was late 80s in Turkey and newspapers were distributing Christmas gifts to those chosen by lottery who collected 30 coupons. My father was buying newspapers daily and I was responsible to cut the coupons and collect them. When we had 30, my mom and I went to the post office and sent them. As a child with no reading ability and internet connection I was not aware of its name but there was a picture of colorful blocks and amazing figures. There were other but these were what I wanted. Neither me nor my friends had these, I even didn’t see them in the toy store of our neighborhood. One thing was certain: they were magnificent. In the middle of December, it was announced that we won LEGO from the lottery. My family was also not aware of what LEGO is. Then next week postman brought a fancy box. My mom carefully unboxed it and we faced with LEGO Galaxy Explorer. It was a love at first sight. Since then I know what Lego is and it is no more a toy but a way of creativity, experience and imagination for me. And since that Christmas, I love LEGO…

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World | David Epstein

Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you'll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world's top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.

David Epstein examined the world's most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields--especially those that are complex and unpredictable--generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They're also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can't see.

Mercedes or “Mehr CDs” | Federer's Diverse Experiences

When I was reading the book “RANGE: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" by David Epstein, a story I learnt about elite tennis player Federer made me notice that starting broad and embracing diverse experiences and perspectives lead to great progress. The benefits of breadth, diverse experience and interdisciplinary thinking are key to success.

I will share more about my thoughts on this topic when I finish the book via a separate content but this time I want to highlight an interesting story of Federer.

Mercedes or “Mehr CDs”

Roger Federer’s mom was a coach, but she never coached him. He would kick a ball around with her when he learned to walk. As a boy, he played squash with his father on Sundays. He dabbled in skiing, wrestling, swimming and skateboarding. He played basketball, handball, tennis, table tennis, and soccer at school. "I was always very much more interested if a ball was involved," he would say.

Many experts argue that in order to be successful in any field, one must start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. But what if the opposite is true? Some of the world’s best athletes, musicians, scientists, artists and inventors are actually generalists, not specialists, and they present a powerful argument for how to succeed in any field.

Digital Minimalism | Cal Newport

After watching Netflix documentary “the Social Dilemma”, we (maybe once again) understand that there is a manipulation of human behavior for profit by technology and social media companies. Infinite scrolling and push notifications keep users constantly engaged; personalized recommendations use data not just to predict but also to influence our actions, turning users into easy prey for advertisers and propagandists. By coincidence, following the Social Dilemma, I started to read the book Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.

The book highlights the fact that people don’t succumb to screens because they are lazy, but instead because billions of dollars have been invested to make this outcome inevitable.

Check this quote from the book to realize the updated danger:

Let’s face it, checking your “likes” is the new smoking. They want you to use it in particular ways and for long periods of time. Because that’s how they make their money. “Philip Morris just wanted your lungs,” Maher concludes. “The App Store wants your soul.”

Many of us tend to use our digital tools/toys more than needed. Compulsive use, in this context, is not the result of a character flaw, but instead the realization of a massively profitable business plan. In order to reestablish control, we need to move beyond tweaks and instead rebuild our relationship with technology from scratch, using our deeply held values as a foundation.

Think Like a Rocket Scientist | Ozan Varol

Think Like a Rocket Scientist inspires you to take your own moonshot and enables you to achieve lift-off.

Today, thinking like a rocket scientist is a necessity. We all encounter complex and unfamiliar problems in our lives. Those who can tackle these problems -- without clear guidelines and with the clock ticking -- enjoy an extraordinary advantage.

To think like a rocket scientist is to look at the world through a different lens. Rocket scientists imagine the unimaginable and solve the unsolvable. They transform failures into triumphs and constraints into advantages. They view mishaps as solvable puzzles rather than insurmountable roadblocks. They’re moved not by blind conviction but by self-doubt; their goal is not short-term results but long-term breakthroughs.

We all encounter complex and unfamiliar problems in our daily lives. Those who can tackle these problems—without clear guidelines and with the clock ticking—enjoy an extraordinary advantage.

Although we glamorize rocket scientists, there’s an enormous mismatch between what they have figured out and what the rest of the world does. Critical thinking and creativity don’t come naturally to us. We’re hesitant to think big, reluctant to dance with uncertainty, and afraid of failure.

In our daily lives, we fail to exercise our critical-thinking muscles and instead leave it to others to draw conclusions. As a result, these muscles atrophy over time. Without an informed public willing to question confident claims, democracy decays and misinformation spreads. Once alternative facts are reported and retweeted, they become the truth.

The Catalyst | Jonah Berger

 Jonah Berger, the author of New York Times bestsellers Contagious and Invisible Influence brings a revolutionary approach to changing anyone's mind in his book “The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind”.

Everyone has something they want to change. But change is hard. Often, we persuade and pressure and push, but nothing moves. He tries to find the answer to that question “Could there be a better way?” in his book.

This book takes a different approach. Successful change agents know it's not about pushing harder, or providing more information, it's about being a catalyst. Catalysts remove roadblocks and reduce the barriers to change. Instead of asking, "How could I change someone's mind?" they ask a different question: "Why haven't they changed already? What's stopping them?"

The Art of Being Indispensable at Work | Bruce Tulgan

What's the secret to being indispensable a true go-to person in today's workplace? Bruce Tulgan, the author of the book “The Art of Being Indispensable at Work” analyzes, provides vignettes, and summarizes for us the essence of how to be that indispensable go-to person. Do you want to be a better leader, a better performer, perhaps number one in your peer group? Read this book.

This book could be the most practical and immediately usable book I have ever read. With this guide, anyone can start building an upward spiral of real influence.

The First 90 Days | Michael Watkins

"The First 90 Days" was a book that I was planning to read for a long while but I especially postponed it till I become a "manager". Just after learning that I got that title, I directly downloaded the e-book and read it. It includes many tactics for the first 90 days during your onboarding. Here are my highlights from the book:

The president of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself; you get 90. The actions you take during your first few months in a new role will largely determine whether you succeed or fail.

Transitions into new roles are the most challenging times in the professional lives of leaders.

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time | Jack Covert, Todd Sattersten

Sometimes you prefer to gain the knowledge/know-how in a zipped format. This is a book that you look for: "The 100 Best Business Books of All Time". What I liked most in this book is it provides summaries for a hundred business books and also provides comments on the main messages of these books. Here are my highlights from this book:

Productivity comes from a quiet state of mental being.

Despite most people’s declaration that there is just not enough time in the day, time is not the issue; clarifying the actions needed is where people fall down.

Three common time sponges that need to be considered include: doing things that don’t need to be done, doing things that could be better done by others, and doing things that require others to do unnecessary things.

Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time

Effectiveness is, after all, not a ‘subject,’ but a self-discipline.

“I used to think life presented a five-page menu of choices. Now I think the choice is in whether to be honest, to ourselves and others, and the rest is more of an uncovering, a peeling away of layers, discovering talents we assumed we didn’t have.”

“The President Gets 100 Days to Prove Himself—You Get 90.”

Just F*cking Do it | Noor Hibbert

JUST F*CKING DO IT will take you on a mind-altering journey of self discovery and personal transformation using an approach which combines psychological rigour with spiritual power - helping you to become the best version of yourself and create a life of happiness and abundance. True personal development can only be achieved by changing how you think and interact with the world. This book will demonstrate that, alongside purposeful and practical steps to improve your life, you have the power to multiply your success and happiness by harnessing the Law of Attraction. Whatever obstacles you face, this book will show you how to stop thinking small, make positive changes and live the life you deserve.

The first thing I want to tell you is, wherever you are today, right now, is not where you have to be next week or next month or next year.

It’s like owning a gorgeous brand-new Ferrari. You sit in it knowing that it could take you on a wonderful journey but when you start the engine and rev it up, it doesn’t move. You take it to the garage and the engineer informs you that it’s been badly programmed.

You are that Ferrari. You have all the potential, beauty and power to go on any journey and yet you are struggling to move because of faulty programming. It’s time to reprogram you, baby.

Where you are now is not where you can be in a week, month or year.

After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

It’s All About the Vibes

Before Ben and Jerry made tubs of delicious, ridiculously high-calorie ice cream came the thought of building an ice cream empire. Everything that is now in the physical world started off as a thought, a daydream or a desire.

If you can see it in your mind, then you have the power to make it a reality.

Elon Musk | Ashlee Vance

To be honest, Elon Musk's biography is a big disappointment for me. I even could not finish the book. But still, I have some highlights. Here they are:

As his ex-wife, Justine, put it, “He does what he wants, and he is relentless about it. It’s Elon’s world, and the rest of us live in it.”

Musk sampled a handful of ideologies and then ended up more or less back where he had started, embracing the sci-fi lessons found in one of the most influential books in his life: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. “He points out that one of the really tough things is figuring out what questions to ask,” Musk said. “Once you figure out the question, then the answer is relatively easy."

“The only thing that makes sense to do is strive for greater collective enlightenment,” he said.

I ran out of books to read at the school library and the neighborhood library,” Musk said. “This is maybe the third or fourth grade. I tried to convince the librarian to order books for me. So then, I started to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica. That was so helpful. You don’t know what you don’t know. You realize there are all these things out there.”

The Infinite Game | Simon Sinek

From the New York Times bestselling author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, a bold framework for leadership in today's ever-changing world.

How do we win a game that has no end? Finite games, like football or chess, have known players, fixed rules and a clear endpoint. The winners and losers are easily identified. Infinite games, games with no finish line, like business or politics, or life itself, have players who come and go. The rules of an infinite game are changeable while infinite games have no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers—only ahead and behind.

The question is, how do we play to succeed in the game we're in?

In this revelatory new book, Simon Sinek offers a framework for leading with an infinite mindset. On one hand, none of us can resist the fleeting thrills of a promotion earned or a tournament won, yet these rewards fade quickly. In pursuit of a Just Cause, we will commit to a vision...

Here is the passages that I highlighted when I was reading the book:

If there are at least two players, a game exists. And there are two kinds of games: finite games and infinite games.