Daily Links 5-5-14

Good morning. Here are a few links to start off your week. In today's edition: failure and fostering success, things I wish I knew as a college student, the best time of day to do anything, and more.

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This is an interesting quote from Pixar Studios co-founder Ed Catmull on failure:

We need to think about failure differently. I’m not the first to say that failure, when approached properly, can be an opportunity for growth. But the way most people interpret this assertion is that mistakes are a necessary evil. Mistakes aren’t a necessary evil. They aren’t evil at all. They are an inevitable consequence of doing something new (and, as such, should be seen as valuable; without them, we’d have no originality). And yet, even as I say that embracing failure is an important part of learning, I also acknowledge that acknowledging this truth is not enough. That’s because failure is painful, and our feelings about this pain tend to screw up our understanding of its worth. To disentangle the good and the bad parts of failure, we have to recognize both the reality of the pain and the benefit of the resulting growth. 

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Interesting history: how the King James Bible came about.

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This is a fascinating list: 20 things I wish I knew as a college student. I am sure that if I had known at least a few of these things I would have gotten much more from the whole college experience. (Hat tip: Aaron Armstrong)

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Once again, science proves something useful: taking notes by hand is more effective than taking notes on a computer.

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More great reading: finding the opportunity in every obstacle.

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Some useful suggestions on the best time of day to do anything.

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This is cool: a few minutes of footage from the 1919 World Series.

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Quote of the week:

Daily Links 4-18-14

A roundup of links for your weekend reading pleasure. In this edition: Would Paul have used video, the coffee shop as your office, it's okay to fail, things healthy couples don't do, and more.

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Aaron Armstrong poses an interesting question:

If Paul were ministering today, would he use video? 

This is an important question, and it’s not one that is as clear cut as you might think. Many who have embraced video venue gatherings point to Paul as their example. Because he was all about becoming all things to all people in the hopes of winning some to the gospel, he would surely use any (non-sinful) means at his disposal to extend the reach of the gospel.

That’s generally how I’ve seen the argument go, anyway. (I realize I’m probably oversimplifying a bit.) 

The question of whether or not Paul would use video is an important one, but I wonder if it might also be the wrong one.

Would Paul use video to share the gospel? Probably, sure. But, more importantly, what would he use it for?

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Mr. Met was once threatened by the Secret Service. No, really. Just goes to show the lengths they would go to protect the President.

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Fun facts about one of the best baseball movies of all time, A League of Their Own.

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If you do a lot of work at the coffee shop, you should read this.

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Forget the bucket list. How to make moments that matter.

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Now this is what I call a cool tablet keyboard.

Hat tip: Book Riot

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8 things that healthy couples don't do. #3 is the toughest for me.

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10 productivity tips to make your life easier.

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The best thing about shopping at Ikea is that their furniture is cheap and can be repurposed for numerous other uses. The fact that there is a whole website devoted to Ikea Hacks should be a clue. Here are 20 of the best Ikea furniture hacks.

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Instead of a to-do list how about a done list? Harnessing the power of progress.

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Contrary to popular belief it's okay to fail.

Daily Links 3-7-14

Here are a few links to help start your weekend off right: the importance of inerrancy, reading with your eyes shut, more on buying your way onto the bestseller list, and more.

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Dr. Albert Mohler discusses a new book on inerrancy in an enlightening interview. Here's his take on the importance of inerrancy for a robust pulpit ministry:

It makes all the difference in the world. It may not appear at first that it necessarily would, because there are a lot of preachers in this day and age who reject the inerrancy of Scripture and still feel like they have something to say. No doubt, they still have something to say, but that’s really not the issue. The issue is: what are we able to tell people the text of Scripture is and what is its demand upon us? The question is not whether the preacher has something to say, but whether God is going to say something through the preacher and through his Word. And, if the preacher has any question whatsoever about the truth status of the Word of God, it will inevitably shift to the preaching. The shift from “I’m going to preach the Word” to “I’m going to find something in this witness worthy of my attention and preaching.”

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The SAT is about to go through some pretty dramatic changes. The big news is that the essay requirement will disappear. Also the fact that they are willing to partner with Khan Academy to provide free prep materials is pretty big news, too.

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Reading with your eyes shut: a collection of audiobooks for kids. I would also add the following titles to this list: A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (read by Tim Curry), The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer (read by Nathaniel Parker) and Framed by Frank Cottrel Boyce (read by Jason Hughes).

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Good news for bloggers: Getty Images is allowing their library of photographs to be used for free.

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This is interesting: why highly successful people crave mistakes.

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As if I didn't have enough things on the Internet to waste my time on: a website that allows you to virtually play the best golf courses in the world for free.



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Homeschooling for higher education: a proposal that makes a whole lot of sense (Hat tip: Glenn Reynolds)

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A review of the new Roku streaming stick. I don't know how well this works but I love my Roku.

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Following up on yesterday's story, five reasons that it's wrong to buy your way onto the bestseller list. Some good food for thought here.

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Growing up in North Carolina as a Tar Heel fan and as a student at UNC, Dean Smith was a hero to Tar Heels everywhere. His basketball teams were a joy to watch for many reasons. Sadly, Coach Smith is battling dementia. This article at ESPN provides some insight into what life is like these days for the man folks called Coach.

Learning from Failure

Last Friday, I went to take an exam for a class I had been working on through my job. I had been putting quite a bit of time and effort into it in the week leading up tot he exam but really hadn't adequately prepared. It came as no surprise to me that I didn't pass. Although the grade report after the exam siad "non-pass" I knew the reality of the situation. I had failed.

A couple of things stood out to me about this experience. First, I was a little offended by the "non-pass" grade. The report should have said that I failed. After all, I hadn't answered neough of the questions correctly. Why is there a pathological fear in our society of telling someone they have failed? Most of it, I think, has to do with the inflated importance we put on an individual's self-esteem. By avoiding the use of the word failure we think we are helping the individual to not think less of themselves.

The key in dealing with the disappointments that come at us in life is in our attitude. We can either choose to be beaten down by failure or we can choose to succeed in spite of past shortcomings. Thomas Edison said it best when he said "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." In other words, he didn't allow lack of success to deter him from his goals. He learned from his failures and kept on working until he achieved success in whatever he was working on.

As Dads, we need to be setting the example for our kids in how we cope with failures and disappointments. Yes, my kids got to see their dad not succeed at something he had worked at. But what they will also see is that I'm not going to give up and work even harder to make sure the next time I face this same problem that I succeed.

Winston Churchill once said that "Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts." If my children can see courage in me through my failures then the pain of the failures will have all be worthwhile.