It’s still November but already the ‘best of’ lists have started to appear. An entire month of the year to go but judgement of what was the best movie, book, etc has already been decreed.

Would it not make more sense to wait until the year has ended?

On the path to your goals there will be setbacks and small victories. The small victories are important. They keep you focused on the path. Take a moment to celebrate them, not long, just a moment, then get back to work.

Before you do the work you’ve got to prepare. You’ve got to put the time in to get ready.

If you’re writing a speech that might mean research. If you’re building a house that means deciding what you want the house to look like, what rooms it needs, what materials to use, getting plans drawn up, getting planning permission and probably a lot more.

The better you prepare the easier the work will be. The better you prepare the better the finished work will be.

Sometimes though preparing feels like wasted time. It feels like you should be working already. But the thing is that preparation is part of the work. Not separate. As tempting as it might be don’t skip the preparation.

Earlier in the month I wrote about my Only Do List. As I have been painting for the past few weeks there are very few things on the list – mostly painting and writing these blog posts. So, success? Yes but it’s not the list that’s the root of the success. The job of painting basically ensures that you don’t end up straying from it while doing it. The Only Do List has yet to be put to a proper test.

The perspective you have depends on so many things. Not least the country you were born in.

Life, the world, and everything in it, look very different depending on who you are.

Born a man

Born a woman

Born to a rich family.

Born to a Catolic family.

What you feel you’re entitled to, what you feel you deserve, all come from the perspective you have.

The worst thing about painting for weeks has to be what my mind has been doing – nothing productive. It loops uninteresting things I would never normally think about. The type of stuff that I would say ‘who cares?’ to.

I would rather it did something useful – such as think up my next blog post.

After I wrote about the issues I had with Netflix recommendations last week, I started seeing the same issue in other places. Namely, YouTube and Amazon.

Both services have the same issue as Netflix – suggesting items that have already been watched (YouTube) or purchased (Amazon). Amazon even thinks that I want to buy other editions of books I’ve purchased.

Recommendations seem like a fundamental way to get people to do more (watching, buying, etc). I’m surprised that it’s so difficult to filter out stuff already viewed/purchased.

Unsolicited advice comes from all angles. When we’re not asking for advice we tend to ignore it. This can end up with us missing out on good solutions. We’re better off listening rather than ignoring. We might be surprised by the solutions that come our way.