Introduction
In a world where everyone seems to be chasing success, how can you truly stand out and live a remarkable life? This is the question at the heart of Madisun Nuismer's book "Think Remarkable." Drawing from interviews with successful creators and leaders from various fields, Nuismer presents a blueprint for unlocking your full potential and making a lasting impact on the world around you.
This book challenges conventional wisdom about finding your passion and instead advocates for a more holistic approach to personal growth and achievement. It offers practical strategies for developing grit, perseverance, and leadership skills that can help you overcome obstacles and turn rejections into opportunities.
Let's dive into the key ideas that can help you think and live remarkably.
Planting Seeds of Potential
The Oak Tree Metaphor
Imagine walking through a majestic forest of oak trees. These towering giants didn't appear overnight; they grew from tiny acorns. This image serves as a powerful metaphor for remarkable achievements in life.
To create something as valuable and enduring as an oak forest, you need to start by planting acorns. This process involves:
- Collecting fallen acorns from mature oaks
- Testing their viability (healthy acorns sink in water, while rotten ones float)
- Planting the healthy acorns
- Watering and tending to them patiently
Most acorns won't sprout, but the few that do take root will, with care and patience, grow into mighty trees that can stand for generations.
This metaphor teaches us several important lessons about achieving remarkable things in life:
- Gather many seeds of potential
- Plant them hopefully
- Nurture them tirelessly
- Wait patiently to see which ideas take hold and flourish
You can't predict which ones will thrive, but you must trust the process, follow your heart, and tend faithfully to all that you have sown.
Rethinking Passion
The book challenges the common advice to "find your passion." Nuismer argues that passions are often overrated, especially early in life. There's too much pressure to find one's true calling at a young age.
Instead, a better approach is to pursue many different interests without overthinking it. Cast a wide net, try new things, and see what grabs you. True passions emerge gradually from a succession of curiosities that captivate you. They start as humble acorns of interest that you nurture over years until they grow into towering oaks.
Adopting a Growth Mindset
The key to unlocking your full potential and living a remarkable life is adopting a growth mindset. This mindset is defined by the conviction that your qualities and abilities can be developed through effort, effective strategies, and support from others. It stands in contrast to a fixed mindset, where people believe their qualities are unchangeable and set in stone.
With a growth mindset, you're more likely to:
- Embrace challenges
- Persist in the face of setbacks
- See effort as a path to mastery
- Learn from criticism
- Find inspiration in others' success
The Power of Education
One powerful way to plant seeds of potential is through education, both in and out of the classroom. The book shares the story of Stephen Wolfram, a precocious physicist who won a MacArthur "genius grant" at a young age. For Wolfram, the key was learning to find knowledge on his own.
As a child, he sought out books on physics and mathematics. He was amazed to discover that libraries existed – places where you could dive into knowledge on virtually any subject. For Wolfram, reading widely and voraciously was its own form of education, opening up new vistas of understanding, which he would later incorporate into his scientific work.
This story highlights the importance of self-directed learning and curiosity in planting seeds of potential.
The Value of Random Encounters
Another way to plant seeds is through other people – by putting yourself out there and meeting strangers from all walks of life. The author shares personal anecdotes of chance encounters that led to meaningful connections:
- Meeting a world-champion surfer while getting his son's iPhone fixed at an Apple Store
- Being introduced to a former US Secretary of Defense and a renowned shark expert while surfing in Santa Cruz
These stories illustrate how each conversation with a stranger holds the potential to expand life in unforeseen ways. The wider your network, the better opportunities can find you. To build bridges:
- Smile
- Listen intently
- Focus on the positive
You never know where a casual chat might lead.
Embracing Humble Beginnings
As you gather seeds of potential, it's important to stay humble and strive to learn from every experience, even unglamorous ones. The book shares the story of musician and entrepreneur Derek Sivers, whose first paying gig at 17 was strolling around a pig show strumming his guitar for $75.
Sivers jumped at this random offer, gave it his all, and impressed his employers. That humble pig show led to an invitation to play at a fancy art gallery opening, which in turn launched a lucrative career performing over 1,000 circus shows.
This story teaches us several valuable lessons:
- Say "yes" to opportunities, especially early in your career
- Do the tasks no one else wants to do
- Master skills that make you uniquely valuable
- Be a team player who makes your colleagues shine
With the right mindset, there are no truly dead-end jobs – only opportunities to prove yourself and expand your capabilities.
Developing Grit and Perseverance
The Power of Grit
Regardless of one's industry or personal background, one quality distinguishes remarkable people: grit. This is the stubborn perseverance and passion needed to keep striving toward long-term goals in the face of adversity. It's what propels someone from merely having an idea to actually implementing it and making an impact.
Formalizing Your Goals
One step toward developing grit is to formalize your goals by writing them down. There's a significant difference between daydreaming about an idea and committing it to paper. Your goal may be unclear or difficult to articulate, but this effort is where the magic happens.
When you move your desires from your mind onto the page, they take on new life, transitioning from abstract wishes and feelings to concrete targets. Suddenly, you have the makings of a roadmap – a guide from where you are to where you want to be. Refer to this map daily to keep your ultimate destination in focus.
Establishing Consistent Routines
Another habit of people with grit is establishing consistent routines. Having a regular morning ritual eliminates unnecessary choices, reserving your mental energy and willpower for what matters most. Start with something simple that slots easily into your existing schedule:
- A short meditation
- A couple of minutes of reading
- A few push-ups
The specific activity is less important than the repetition. By wiring this into your day and associating it with positive emotions and your overarching goals, your routine quickly becomes an automatic, energizing way to build momentum each and every morning.
Reframing Rejection
The road to any ambitious goal is littered with obstacles, setbacks, and rejections. But people with grit see a "no" not as a stop sign, but merely as a yield or a detour. When turned down for a job, rather than hear, "You're not good enough," they hear, "This particular role isn't a good fit for you." When a college rejects their application, they think, "This specific school isn't right for me," instead of "I'm not cut out for higher education."
This mentality is especially vital for entrepreneurs and executives. The book shares the story of Melanie Perkins, CEO of Canva, who famously pitched to over 300 investors before finally getting a "yes." The first 299 rejections weren't a final verdict on her idea, but a test of her resolve.
Grit means reframing negatives as positives – using each "no" as motivation to work harder, improve, and persevere until you get a life-changing "yes." If you can maintain faith in your vision, even the most audacious goals are attainable.
Leading with Grace
The Quiet Confidence of Remarkable Leaders
What does it take to be a remarkable leader? While you might picture someone bold, brash, or larger than life, often the most significant people carry themselves with a quiet confidence. This grace – a combination of poise, kindness, and thoughtfulness – is a hallmark of remarkable leaders. In its presence, you sense an understated self-assurance, coupled with a desire to inspire and empower other people.
Embracing Uncertainty
One key aspect of grace is a willingness to openly admit what you don't know. In a world where people often feel pressured to project an aura of infallibility, it's refreshing to hear someone in a position of authority utter the words, "I don't know." Far from undermining their credibility, this candor actually enhances it.
By acknowledging the limits of their knowledge, remarkable leaders demonstrate:
- Humility
- Transparency
- Openness to listening and learning
Of course, this "I don't know" is often best followed up with a commitment to finding an answer. And for leaders, it's also important to temper that uncertainty with an expression of hope and optimism, in order to rally the team in challenging times.
But simply having the confidence to admit the gaps in your knowledge, rather than clinging to an illusion of omniscience, is a great first step. It shows that you're focused on the pursuit of truth and solutions, not the optics of your own reputation.
Redefining Success
Another cornerstone of remarkable leadership is how you define and measure success. While society often keeps score in terms of wealth, status, and power, the most inspiring leaders prioritize impact, fulfillment, and growth.
For some, like Sal Khan, the creator of Khan Academy, success is measured by the number of children they've helped educate around the globe. They find deep satisfaction in knowing that their efforts have made a tangible difference in the lives of others, expanding access to knowledge and opportunity.
Still others prioritize the depth and quality of their relationships as the ultimate metric of a life well-lived. They invest their time and attention in forging genuine connections, lifting up those around them and creating a strong network of support and camaraderie. For them, success is defined by the love and respect they both give and receive.
This reorientation away from self-centered metrics is the basis for true contentment. When your drive comes from within, and your focus is on progress and contribution rather than external validation, you free yourself from the hedonic treadmill of insatiable ambition. You're able to be fully present with what you have.
Playing the Long Game
Ultimately, remarkable leaders are playing the long game. They know that the most enduring legacies are built not through ruthless competition and self-promotion, but through:
- Patient growth
- Quiet perseverance
- A commitment to helping others flourish
By keeping score differently – in terms of the lives they touch and the lasting change they create – they tap into a deeper sense of meaning and purpose. By focusing their efforts outward, by channeling their drive toward a greater good, they find a sustainable source of motivation and satisfaction. And in the process, they inspire us to reimagine what's possible in our own lives.
Final Thoughts: Cultivating Your Own Remarkable Life
"Think Remarkable" offers a refreshing perspective on personal growth and achievement. It encourages us to move beyond the narrow pursuit of passion and instead embrace a more holistic approach to living an extraordinary life.
The key takeaways from this book are:
Plant seeds of potential far and wide. Don't limit yourself to a single passion; explore various interests and see what takes root.
Adopt a growth mindset. Believe in your ability to develop and improve through effort and learning.
Embrace education in all its forms. Seek knowledge both in and out of the classroom, and never stop learning.
Value random encounters and networking. Each new connection holds the potential for unexpected opportunities.
Start humble and learn from every experience. There are no truly dead-end jobs, only chances to prove yourself and grow.
Develop grit and perseverance. Write down your goals, establish consistent routines, and reframe rejections as opportunities for growth.
Lead with grace. Cultivate quiet confidence, admit what you don't know, and focus on empowering others.
Redefine success in terms of impact and contribution. Measure your achievements by the lives you touch and the positive change you create.
Play the long game. Build your legacy through patient growth, quiet perseverance, and a commitment to helping others flourish.
By incorporating these principles into our lives, we can begin to think and live remarkably. We can dream bigger, lift each other up, and leave a legacy that endures.
The journey to becoming remarkable isn't about overnight success or finding a single passion. It's about planting many seeds, nurturing them with dedication and perseverance, and leading with grace and purpose. It's about redefining success on our own terms and focusing on the impact we can have on the world around us.
As you close this book and reflect on its lessons, ask yourself: How can I start planting seeds of potential in my own life? What small steps can I take today to develop grit and perseverance? How can I lead with more grace and redefine success in a way that aligns with my values?
Remember, remarkable lives are built one day at a time, one decision at a time. By embracing the principles outlined in "Think Remarkable," you're taking the first step on a journey of growth, impact, and fulfillment. The path may not always be easy, but with patience, perseverance, and a commitment to continuous improvement, you too can think and live remarkably.
So go forth, plant your acorns, tend to them with care, and watch as they grow into mighty oaks of achievement. Your remarkable life awaits.