What I’ve learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0050

2451.  I think our (personal) insecurities can fuel our imaginations to come up with the worst possible outcome to a situation when the reality is nowhere nearly as bad;

2452.  I think our (own) perception of ourselves is (probably) different from how others view us.  The reality is probably somewhere in the middle.  We’re not as skilled as we fancy ourselves to be, but (at the same time) we’re also not as bad as others believe we are;

2453.  The choices we make, not the chances we take, determine our destiny;

2454.  Unaged whiskey is (just) another name for moonshine;

2455.  So you want to see the Seattle skyline, but you don’t want to pay the admission to the Sky View Observatory in the Columbia Center; then try the Starbucks on the 40^th floor.  It may have the best view of any Starbucks in the world;

2456.  Red Robin (Gourmet Burgers) (RedRobin.com) was founded in Seattle;

2457.  It’s kind of bizarre seeing an older woman (with glasses and some white hair) sitting on a stoop, drinking a beer and smoking a joint at 2:30 in the afternoon . . . right next door to a men’s shelter;

2458.  To be in the “Blue Angels,” pilots have to be carrier-qualified, active-duty in a Marine or Navy jet squadron and logged a minimum of 1,250 flight hours;

2459.  I’ve bought a homeless man food (McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets and a soda to be exact);

2460.  I’ve given a homeless man a beer;

2461.  There’s Mexican shawarma;

2462.  The Estofado con Pollo (i.e., chicken thigh stewed in tomato, chilies, olives, almonds and raisins served with rice and corn tortillas) at Mezcaleria Oaxaca (MezcaleriaOaxaca.com) in Seattle is really tasty;

2463.  Mezcaleria Oaxaca (in Seattle) has the best tortillas (corn or otherwise) I’ve ever had.  They’re each handmade and grilled fresh;

2464.  Mezcaleria Oaxaca (in Seattle) may be the best Mexican restaurant I’ve ever eaten at;

2465.  Kerry Park has a great view of the Seattle skyline;

2466.  Taco Del Mar (TacoDelMar.com) is kind of a cross between Chipotle and California Tortilla.  You order like Chipotle, but the food tastes (and looks) like California Tortilla;

2467.  (Seattle) Seahawks fans have earned their reputation as the “12^th Man.”  They’re really loud.  On game days, you can hear them a ½ mile away from the stadium;

2468.  The giant Pacific octopus is the biggest in the world. . . . It (typically) lives 3-5 years;

2469.  Sea otters have the densest fur in the animal kingdom. . . . And they’re really fast eaters;

2470.  Fur seals have the second densest fur in the animal kingdom;

2471.  I’ve eaten 108 shrimp in one sitting (during Red Lobster’s “Endless Shrimp” promotion);

2472.  The (glass) sculptures at Chihuly Garden & Glass (ChihulyGardenAndGlass.com) are incredible.  If you’re in Seattle, it’s worth a visit;

2473.  When it comes to the environment, Seattle is really progressive.  Besides recycling bins they also have compost bins at (fast food) restaurants and at Safeco Field (i.e., where the Mariners play);

2474.  You should double check your flight time the night before.  That way you won’t be silently imploring the train to go faster and you won’t have to franticly jog through (most of) the (Seattle-Tacoma Airport) parking garage and the entire concourse because (indubitably) your gate is all the way at the other end of the airport;

2475.  Just as our view of work affects our real experience of it, so too does our view of leisure.  If our mindset conceives of free time, hobby time, or family time as non-productive, then we will, in fact, make it a waste of time;

2476.  Allowing ourselves to engage in activities we enjoy can actually greatly enhance our performance at work.  But simply doing them is not enough to get results.  But if you change the fulcrum so that you conceive of such free time as a chance to learn and practice new things, to recharge your batteries and connect with others, you’ll be able to leverage the power of that rest time and return stronger than before;

2477.  The more you believe in your own ability to succeed, the more likely it is that you will;

2478.  Studies show that simply believing we can bring about positive change in our lives increases motivation and job performance; that success, in essence, becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy;

2479.  One study of 112 entry-level accountants found that those who believed they could accomplish what they set out to do were the ones who ten months later scored the best job performance ratings from their supervisors.  Their belief in their own ability was an even stronger predictor of job performance than the actual level of skill or training they had;

2480.  Our beliefs about our abilities are not necessarily innate, but can change, as our mindset is almost always in flux;

2481.  In a study performed by Margaret Shih and her colleagues at Harvard, a group of Asian women were given similar math tests on two separate occasions.  The first time around, they were primed to think about the fact that they were women, stereotypically worse at math than men.  The second time around, they were told to focus on their identity as Asians, generally thought to be math whizzes compared to other ethnic groups.  The result: The women performed far better in the second situation than they did in the first.  Their math IQs hadn’t changed and neither had the difficulty of the questions.  But in the second instance they believed more in their ability, and this was enough to make a substantive difference in performance;

2482.  If you’re sporting self-doubt, you’ve undercut your performance before you even begin.  So when faced with a difficult task or challenge, give yourself an immediate competitive advantage by focusing on all the reasons you will succeed, rather than fail.  Remind yourself of the relevant skills you have, rather than those you lack.  Think of a time you have been in a similar circumstance in the past and performed well.  Years of research have shown that a specific and concerted focus on your strengths during a difficult task produces the best results;

2483.  This doesn’t mean you should ignore your weaknesses or chant empty affirmations to yourself or take on tasks you can’t handle, it just means to focus on what you are actually good at;

2484.  More important still than believing in your own abilities is believing that you can improve these abilities;

2485.  Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck found that people can be split into two categories: Those with a “fixed mindset” believe that their capabilities are already set, while those with a “growth mindset” believe that they can enhance their basic qualities through effort;

2486.  A growth mindset is not dismissive of innate ability; it merely recognizes that “although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience;

2487.  People with fixed mindsets miss choice opportunities for improvement and consistently underperform, while those with a “growth mindset” watch their abilities move ever upward;

2488.  When we believe there will be a positive payoff for our effort, we work harder instead of succumbing to helplessness;

2489.  Beliefs are so powerful because they dictate our efforts and actions;

2490.  Those who simply believed in their own power to change followed a course of action that maximized their performance.  The others, given the same opportunity, squandered it;

2491.  Once we realize how much our reality depends on how we view it, it comes as less of a surprise that our external circumstances predict only about 10 percent of our total happiness;

2492.  Yale psychologist Amy Wrzesniewski found that employees have one of three “work orientations,” or mindsets about our work.  People with a “job” see work as a Job, a Career, or a Calling.  People with a “job” see work as a chore and their paycheck as the reward.  They work because they have to and constantly look forward to the time they can spend away from their job.  By contrast, people who view their work as a career work not only out of necessity, but also to advance and succeed.  They are invested in their work as an end in itself; their work is fulfilling not because of external rewards but because they feel it contributes to the greater good, draws on their personal strengths, and gives them meaning and purpose.  Unsurprisingly, people with a calling orientation not only find their work more rewarding, but work harder and longer because of it.  And as a result, these are the people who are generally more likely to get ahead;

2493.  Unhappy employees can find ways to improve their work life that don’t involve quitting, changing jobs or careers, or going off to find themselves.  Organizational psychologists call this “job crafting,” but in essence, it involves simply adjusting one’s mindset.  New possibilities open for the meaning of work simply by the way it is constructed by the individual;

2494.  If you can’t make actual changes to your daily work, ask yourself what potential meaning and pleasure already exist in what you do;

2495.  Researchers have found that even the smallest tasks can be imbued with greater meaning when they are connected to personal goals and values.  The more we can align our daily tasks with our personal vision, the more likely we are to see work as a calling;

2496.  Turn a piece of paper horizontally, and on the left hand side write down a task you’re forced to perform at work that feels devoid of meaning.  Then ask yourself: What is the purpose of this task?  What will it accomplish?  Draw an arrow to the right and write this answer down.  If what you wrote still seems unimportant, ask yourself again: What does this result lead to?  Draw another arrow and write this down.  Keep going until you get to a result that is meaningful to you.  In this way, you can connect every small thing you do to the larger picture, to a goal that keeps you motivated and energized;

2497.  Forget about your current job title.  What would our customers call your job title if they described it by the impact on their lives?  When you make these larger connections, your mundane tasks not only become more palatable, but you perform them with far greater dedication, and see greater returns in performance as a result;

2498.  This is not to say that all jobs have equal meaning, but that even a rote or routine task can be meaningful if you find a good reason to be invested.  You feel productive at the end of the day.  You showed people you were smart or efficient.  You made life easier for a client or customer.  You improved your skill set.  You learned from a mistake;

2499.  You can have the best job in the world, but if you can’t find the meaning in it, you won’t enjoy it, whether you are a movie maker or an NFL playmaker;

2500.  When a manager openly expresses his faith in an employee’s skill, he doesn’t just improve mood and motivation; he actually improves their likelihood of succeeding;