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a deep focus where nothing could distract her.
Science and sports were the two great interests in her life.
Rodney Brooks.
Matsuoka
to find such a niche. It requires patience and a particular strategy.
bourgeois.
Salzburg,
experience a kind of emptiness
public approval.
lucrative
Scoff at the need for attention and approval—they will lead you astray.
vengeance.
rekindled.
inevitable changes,
you don’t want to abandon the skills and experience you have gained, but to find a new way to apply them.
life’s work, his destiny.
bohemian lifestyle.
he was restless, and could not stay too long in one place.
new and radical,
tatters.
suffered more from sameness, from the inability to think of doing things differently, than from nonconformity.
frugally
assailed by varieties of hidden pain.
emptiness inside
challenges and pleasures.
The idea of a calling in life is alien to them. In some cases they internalize the judgments and criticisms of others, and come to see themselves as essentially deficient. If they are not careful, this can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
squeeze chute
unusually high powers of concentration—she
she could read for hours on one subject without getting the slightest bit bored.
Her research slowly expanded into books on psychology, biology, an...
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peculiar career path.
She expanded her services to designing more humane slaughterhouses and systems for managing farm animals.
suited her to perfection.
direct yourself toward the small things you are good at. Do not dream or make grand plans for the future, but instead concentrate on becoming proficient at these simple and immediate skills. This will bring you confidence
reestablish our confidence.
pursue his mania for collecting specimens.
disinterest in formal schooling.
noticed that no one grumbled about the food or the weather or the tasks at hand. They valued stoicism.
distracted him from his loneliness.
gauchos,
marauding
We tend to be somewhat socially naïve and unprepared for the political games people play. Still uncertain as to our identity, we think that what matters in the work world is gaining attention and making friends. And these misconceptions and naïveté are brutally exposed in the light of the real world.
transformation of your mind and character—the first transformation on the way to mastery.
In the process you will transform yourself from someone who is impatient and scattered into someone who is disciplined and focused, with a mind that can handle complexity. In the end, you will master yourself and all of your weaknesses.
reconnect with that youthful, adventurous part of yourself.
Deep Observation (The Passive Mode), Skills Acquisition (The Practice Mode), and Experimentation (The Active Mode).
every workplace has its own conventions, rules of behavior, and work standards.
The greatest mistake you can make in the initial months of your apprenticeship is to imagine that you have to get attention, impress people, and prove yourself.
Any positive attention you receive is deceptive;
two essential realities in this new world. First, you will observe the rules and procedures that govern success in this environment—in
