Frank's Blog

Hi All!

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Frank Points Friday,” a list of what I’m pondering and exploring.

Great speech transcripts I came across –

Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven – This speech was delivered as The commencement address to the graduates of The University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014. William is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral. This is one of the best speech I have come across so far and it spoke to me especially during these tough times we are in. Here is a little excerpt of the speech:

Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events — long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics — something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards — times you had to meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list, and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to a “circus.” A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit.

No one wanted a circus.

A circus meant that for that day you didn’t measure up. A circus meant more fatigue — and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult — and more circuses were likely. But at some time during SEAL training, everyone — everyone — made the circus list.

But an interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on the list. Over time those students — who did two hours of extra calisthenics — got stronger and stronger. The pain of the circuses built inner strength, built physical resiliency.

Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.

But if you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.

Well said! If you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.

Amazing drink I have been enjoying after work –

Glenfiddich (Twitter, Instagram) – It’s a single malt scotch whisky from Scotland. They have a variety you can choose from, but the one I currently have at home is the 12 year old Glenfiddich 70cl bottle, that has about 40% Alcohol and it costs roughly around $50 (Not to expensive in my opinion for a quality drink like this one). I have been mixing it with Coca-Cola to give it a nice smooth taste. My wife also loves it, which was surprising since she is not a big whisky/scotch drinker.

Ted Talk I enjoyed watching –

7 Ways to Make a Conversation With Anyone by Malavika Varadan (Twitter, Instagram) – I stumbled upon this talk when I was on YouTube trying to find something funny to watch, as I tend to do when I’m feeling down. And when I saw the headline of this video, it caught my eyes. I’m not a person that finds courage to talk to people I don’t know, it’s really hard for me and If I do, it’s usually about something we have in common and I tend to end the conversation pretty quick since I’m not good at small talks. This Ted Talk gave me some tools to be able to meet someone and start a conversation with them and talk for a while.

What I’m thinking –

The Paradoxical Commandments by Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Quote I’m pondering –

“You can not find peace by avoiding life.“

Michael Cunningham in The Hours (A Novel)

And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which point above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @realfrankibanga and put #5FrankPointsFriday at the end so I can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, all.

Much love to you and yours,

Frank