Happy Sunday Friend!

Happy Christmas to you all and your families!

Here is 1 quote I’m musing, 2 Ideas, 3 of my favorite things from the week, and 1 question. If you find it useful or interesting, please feel free to forward this along to some friends or others!

One Quote I’m Musing

“Life without a design is Erratic. … Principles become necessary, I think you’ll concede that nothing is more shameful than uncertain and wavering conduct.”

-Seneca

We’re quickly coming in on a new year. 2023 isn’t a failure for any of us. It has had some obstacles, some successes, and was full of learning opportunities. As we look to 2024, we should take the holiday period to really stop and ask ourselves What do I really want? Who do I choose to be?
When we look at ourselves like this, we’ll find the contradictions and inconsistencies in our desires. Then we can stop working against ourselves by deliberately making choices that work towards what we really desire.

To do this we must have a plan. Live with intent. Plans are never perfect, but without them, we are more likely to fall apart or be overwhelmed by the ensuing chaos.

Whether we are headed into a meeting, a course of action pitch, or an investment pitch we should have our initial plan set. We are going to be surprised by something; but it becomes just a planned pivot rather than a flat-footed reaction.

Understanding our desire and having the plan, we can now exercise consistency in thought and action. This doesn’t mean we can’t change our mind, Emerson once said “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”. Meaning when we uncover new understanding, we can adjust that flaw in our logic or actions and move to a more informed posture.

Drive with planned purpose and consistency; entertain alternative ideas without adhering to them; adjust when you discover or are presented with a flaw in your own models.

Two Ideas From Me

Every action and decision we make is a vote for who we will be; choose deliberately.
Two steps to a better future. 1) Get an honest understanding of where you are. 2) Have an honest understanding of the direction your destination is.
That’s enough to make the first small decisions in any situation.

Three Favorite Things From Others

“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one’s better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk—and to act.” - André Malraux
Awesome-GPT-Agents — A community-built collection of GPT models for offensive and defensive cybersecurity. Curated by Thomas Roccia (fr0gger) | More
I didn’t come up with it… but spamming the escape key when loading an article from “subscribe to read more” websites. You can stop the screen cover on most websites and read the article they seem to think you should pay or give your data for.

One Question

How much of what you spent your time on this year was directly tied to what you say is important?

Shoot Me Your Feedback!

Which is your favorite? What else do you want to see or what should I eliminate? Any other suggestions? Just send a tweet to @erichaupt on Twitter and put #SundayMusings at the end so I can find it. Or, eric@erichaupt.com for long form email.

Have a wonderful week, Happy Christmas and Holidays!

I’ll see you Sunday.
-e