I’m always amazed at the waves people catch when I think that they are too far away from where the wave will break or I think that the wave won’t even break. They paddle for it, they catch it, and I’m just sitting there, about 5 feet from where they started. Go for the wave …
Author Archives: Mitch
Surf bad waves
When conditions are poor for surfing, the waves aren’t as much fun to surf. But the acts of waiting for a wave, paddling for one, and catching one, are all very similar to when the conditions are good. You can learn just as much about surfing in general in bad conditions as you can in …
If you have all the information, you should be winning
This past weekend, I played poker and was in a hand where I made a flush and thought I was ahead in the hand until another spade came and then I thought the other player might have made a higher flush. He bet and I decided to call his bet and see what he had. …
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You don’t know until you try it
Yesterday, I had to twist my 4-year-old son’s arm to get out of the house and bike around but once we were biking around, he was gleefully shouting, “This is so much fun! Next time, I’m just going to say, ‘Yes!’” Next time just say Yes.
Do you know what you have?
I watched a video of poker pro Daniel Negreanu playing a hand where he made an initial bet and said, “Sure, I don’t know what I have yet, let’s see a flop.” In Texas hold ‘em, each player is dealt 2 hole cards and then the flop comes, which is 3 more communal cards, and …
Stand on the shoulders of giants, but make your own way
Last night, I smoked some salmon for the first time. I read a lot of articles and recipes and was struck by the common threads in the instructions. Brown sugar, kosher salt, maple syrup. Skin side down. I was happy to follow the tried and true methods. But I was also struck by the divergence …
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Your meetings might be too long
Stop when the goal is achieved, not when the allotted time runs out.
Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#6): Set big goals
I will always remember how my grandmother wailed over my grandfather’s body just after he passed away in the hospital. They were married for over 60 years. I remember her saying later, “I guess we won’t make it to our goal of visiting 75 countries.” I was astonished that her goal was so high. “How …
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Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#5): Be frugal
My grandmother was frugal. Not cheap, but frugal. I remember watching her cut napkins in half. And they were small napkins to begin with. I remember her telling me of a young man she dated whose family was well off and after spending some time with them she thought to herself, “No wonder they’re rich, …
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Things I Learned from My Grandmother (#4): Question something until you understand it
My grandmother was a great questioner. Because of that, she understood a lot of things. She would always read the newspaper, especially the financial section, not necessarily to glean specific advice on specific stocks and companies, but to get a sense of how the experts thought about things. She was good at understanding the big …