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Tag: Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie, Creativity, Inc., Locke, Simon Sinek, and a Quran Passage

Sunday Supplement #140 (January 14th, 2024)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.”

– Andrew Carnegie

Book of the Week:

Creativity, Inc. – Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace

Co-cofounder of Pixar Animation Studios, Ed Catmull, tells his journey from childhood to retirement. 

At first, his mission was to make a fully computer-animated feature film. He accomplished that goal relatively early and had to find another mission to drive him through his later career.

Catmull’s later mission was to be the best leader possible for the people who worked at Pixar to ensure the employees’ and the company’s success.

The book is a dissection of how Pixar became a powerhouse of animation, but it focuses on the business and management side.

If you’re looking for a biography, this isn’t it. The book has some great stories about Pixar and Steve Jobs, but it very much reads like a business book. 

Movie of the Week:

Locke

Steven Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders and writer of Eastern Promises, wrote and directed the 2013 Tom Hardy solo-performance film Locke.

The movie clocks in at just under an hour and a half and follows Tom Hardy as Ivan Locke, a dedicated family man and successful construction manager, who receives a phone call on the eve of the biggest challenge of his career that threatens to ruin his carefully constructed life.

It’s not often you see a film with only one actor portrayed throughout, with all the supporting characters only featuring as voice actors.

Supporting cast members Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott, and Tom Holland stand out with their voice acting, but Tom Hardy makes the film work with his performance as Locke.

The film follows Locke behind the wheel of his car as he handles the crisis he created by taking ownership of his actions. It’s worth checking out.

Brainfood of the Week:

Be a Better Leader | Simon Sinek

Sinek is a bestselling author and speaker. He spoke at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in 2016 and has an imprint at Penguin Random House, Optimism Press.

I come across his videos every now and then and usually take the time to check them out. You’ll probably see me feature one of his books soon.

In this video, Sinek answers three questions: How do we become leaders? How do you create teaming? And, As a leader, how do you enforce accountability?

Sinek answers each question with some gems that are worth picking up. My favorite is not pretending like you know all the answers. Be open about needing help from time to time. Be open about not knowing everything and needing to find out.

Check out the short five-minute video if you are interested, and if you like it, check out the previous Sunday Supplements, where I’ve featured Sinek’s content.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Believers, why do you profess that which you do not practice? It is most loathsome in the sight of Allah that you should say what you do not do!”

– Surah As-Saf 61: 2-3

I think this passage from the Quran is pretty straightforward, but the intensity with which the statement is made stands out for me.

Not practicing what you preach is a common phrase, and many stories exemplify the maxim.

For me, this Quran passage is a reminder to be impeccable with your word. It is a reminder to think carefully before speaking.

If you want to be a person who can be counted on, be careful of the promises you make. If you don’t want to be a hypocrite, keep true to your word.

Lead by example and keep your word, give credit to others, and have a blessed week ahead!

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Wayne Dyer, Think and Grow Rich, Interstellar, Deepak Chopra, and Matthew 13:12

Sunday Supplement #85 (December 25th, 2022)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

I hope you take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”

– Wayne Dyer

Book of the Week:

Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

I heard of Think and Grow Rich long before I ever picked it up. The book comes up on every recommended list for those who have delved into the personal development genre.

Napoleon Hill went on a journey to discover the commonalities between the most successful people in various fields.

Hill credited Andrew Carnegie’s prompt to him as the genesis of his work to study the likes of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and others to discover and reveal the roots of success.

There’s a reason the book has stuck around for decades, has many plaudits, and has sold over 15 million copies.

Think and Grow Rich is a brilliant read for those looking to better themselves. It’s not just an insight into physical wealth.

Movie of the Week:

Interstellar

Christopher Nolan is one of the leading filmmakers of modern times. His filmography includes The Dark Knight trilogy, Dunkirk, Inception, and many other brilliant films.

For this Movie of the Week pick, I chose his Sci-Fi Drama Interstellar. Nolan wrote the film with his brother Jonathan, and it currently holds the 26 spot on IMDb’s Top 250 Movies list.

Interstellar follows ex-NASA pilot Joseph Cooper and his decision to join a mission of explorers traveling through a wormhole in space in search of a new planet for the survival of the human species.

Cooper chooses to leave his family behind in hopes of saving them. However, he doesn’t know what it will cost him, and his team discovers that the information that prompted their journey wasn’t fully realized.

Every Christopher Nolan film I’ve seen has provided a fantastic experience that has often stayed with me. Interstellar is my favorite of his filmography.

Brainfood of the Week:

The Abundance in Your Life is Proportional to Your Sense of Self | Deepak Chopra

In the video, Deepak Chopra discusses how we often get lost in egoic perceptions of ourselves but can tap into abundance by remembering our true sense of self.

Chopra is the founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit for research on well-being and humanitarianism. 

He has written numerous New York Times bestsellers, has been featured by Oprah Winfrey, and was described by Time magazine as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

I’ve featured a Deepak Chopra guided meditation on Sunday Supplement #77, and this video gives an extra glance at his work.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

– Matthew 13:12

This passage from the Bible is taken from Jesus’s parable of the sower. It discusses a sower’s seeds that were scattered among a variety of terrain. Only the seeds that fell upon rich soil took root and survived.

For me, the parable and the verse above discuss the necessity of having the right mindset and core beliefs. If we do, positive seeds will flourish, if not, they wither.

If we don’t control our thoughts, mindset, and core beliefs, we continue to see the world from whatever default setting we currently have or are held sway by external stimuli.

The good thing is that we get to choose our mindset and our core beliefs. And we all have the ability to tune into and amply those qualities we want to see more of.

Choose how you want to move forward in life, tune into the abundance you wish to perceive around you, and have a blessed week ahead!

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