http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23109029

Jump to BBC to see three snow leopards spotted together in the Yushu hills in central China.

Last night, our electrician came over to help install a sound system. His son Max is a smart, jovial 11 year old who lost his mother to cancer at a young age.

Max usually chills on his iPad playing video games while his dad works his electronic magic in the basement.

My friend and I asked the youngster if he’d like to go fishing on our boat. Max’s eyes lit up with excitement, the iPad was history, and we were on our way.

It was a beautiful summer night, around sunset, perfect time for fishing. The wind was pushing us one way while the tide pushed us the other, granting us the perfect “slow drift” along the calm waters of the coast of the Long Island Sound.

Fifteen minutes went by and we hadn’t caught a thing.

Max looked perturbed as this was his first time fishing. It seemed as if he was thinking, “Aren’t we supposed to catch a fish every cast?” Nick and I explained that fishing is about patience and enjoying the water and each other’s company.

Twenty+five minutes…. nothing.

Twenty+eight minutes…. nothing.

Thirty+four minutes…. BANG!

A fish hit my lure and Max leapt to his feet. I handed him the rod and he reeled for his life until the fish had reached the boat. “Did I catch him, did I catch him?” Max yelled in excitement.

As I brought the beautiful striped bass on to the boat, I felt God smiling down on us. I felt God’s love. We took two pictures before we threw Max’s fish back in the water and I felt a deep sense of awareness in the moment. Bringing not just a smile ~ but a whole new experience ~ to a kid’s life, was a privilege.

Max’s first fish. He will never forget that night out on the water. And neither will I.

How can you teach and share if you can’t communicate effectively? The Curse of Knowledge occurs when one forgets what it’s like not to know something. This presents a serious communication obstacle for leaders, educators, communicators, and lucid practitioners who wish to help others.

Consider the yoga teacher who is teaching the first time student. Does the teacher have the empathy to remember what it feels like to practice for the first time?

How about the founder/CEO of a startup company? He’s been working on his business for 10+ years and knows every intricate detail. When he’s delegating responsibility, does he remember what it’s like to not know as much as he knows?

In Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, Chip and Tom Heath say that the curse of knowledge is inevitable. But is it really?

The Heaths argue that we tend to communicate and teach as if we were the intended audience. Does this have to be the case? Let’s look to yoga for the answer.

In the 2nd limb of Yoga, Niyama, there are 5 Niyamas or self duties.

One duty is Svādhyāya or self study. Svādhyāya teaches us to diligently track our progress. By keeping a journal, writing a blog, and tracking our learning, we can look back and study our old selves in order to remember what it was like to “not know.” Armed with this knowledge, we can empathize with those we teach and thus provide better lessons, making the world a better, more lucid place.

You know things that others don’t.

You want to share your knowledge and experiences to make the world a better place.

Svādhyāya is one way to make sure we remember what we did not know. What are some other ways to ensure that we remember what it was like not to know?

~TR

“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
~Rumi

Rick Rubin is a music producer who has worked with the likes of Johnny Cash, Adele, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, and The Beastie Boys.

After reading Newsweek’s awesome profile, You Listen To This Man Everyday, I think his understanding of what makes great art is spot on.

Everywhere I look, businesses, artists, musicians, athletes, and people are all trying to cut corners for short term success. In Walter Isaacson’s biography of tech guru Steve Jobs, he captured exactly how Steve felt about art. Jobs had a minimalist approach but was obsessed with small details. He would never put a product on the market that wasn’t 100% complete. From the product, to the packaging, to the shipping label, everything had to be perfect. Jobs took it personally. He realized that every time someone bought an Apple product they were buying a piece of himself. He took pride in his art. Rick Rubin feels the same way about his music.

Why was that so important to you?

There’s a tremendous power in using the least amount of information to get a point across.

That brings up some larger questions about the state of the industry. If you had to deliver a diagnosis right now, what would you say is wrong with the record business?

People are willing to get short-term gains at the risk of long-term choices. So, if someone can do something to sell a few more records now at the expense of the artist, even if that artist will sell a lot less later, they’ll make that choice.

Why?

A lot of it has to do with structure, because the structure of the music industry is rooted in a corporate structure. It’s a quarterly business, but art is not a quarterly business. At Columbia, if Beyoncé didn’t deliver a record one year, for whatever reason, that really affected the whole economics of the company. And it’s impossible to build a music company as if you were selling shoes. It’s a different business. It has a different ebb and flow. The highs are higher and the lows are lower. You have to look at it as a longer-term game.

Your taste—your ear—has been spot-on again and again, across genres. What’s the secret?

I never decide if an idea is good or bad until I try it. So much of what gets in the way of things being good is thinking that we know. And the more that we can remove any baggage we’re carrying with us, and just be in the moment, use our ears, and pay attention to what’s happening, and just listen to the inner voice that directs us, the better. But it’s not the voice in your head. It’s a different voice. It’s not intellect. It’s not a brain function. It’s a body function, like running from a tiger.

Time’s Maia Szalavitz wrote an article claiming that self disciplined people are happier.

The research, which was published in the Journal of Personality, showed that self-control isn’t just about deprivation, but more about managing conflicting goals.

Through a series of tests — including one that assessed 414 middle-aged participants on self-control and asked them about their life satisfaction both currently and in the past — and another that randomly queried volunteers on their smartphones about their mood and any desires they might be experiencing, the researchers found a strong connection between higher levels of self-control and life satisfaction.

The authors address some of the most important questions in life: What leads to happiness and how can we achieve a life well lived?”

Granted, self-control isn’t the best route to instant gratification, but it may bring something even better: long-term contentment.