Life Lessons - Daniel Bourke

Daniel Bourke

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Life Lessons

A collection of 22 posts

A comparison photo of two olive trees side by side, the left one is small and the right o is large

Small sways in the breeze make you strong

I watch the olive trees in my backyard dance in the wind. When they were small, they’d almost fall over. But the post kept them up. Now they’re big enough to stand on their own. A breeze comes along and their branches move with it but not too

Daniel Bourke reading an excerpt of Charlie Walks on the end of a rock pier by the water

28 and something ideas for 28 and something years

A series of life updates and a collection of unsolicited advice on wealth, health, love and life collected over my 27th year.

How to appear smarter and more confident

Now I’ve got a rule: if I think something is a “dumb” question, I have to ask it.

I turn 27 today, here's ~27 micro-essays on life

I turn 27 today, here's ~27 micro-essays on life

A year is now officially 6-months. Luckmaxing. You were born to adapt. The "It is done" mindset. And the power of the follow-up.

The curse of the modern individual

The curse of the modern individual

Today my first client died. But not before he taught me a valuable lesson. The street was flooding like my mind whilst I was listening in. It’d been raining all week. You see I’d gotten lucky. How I stumbled upon this client I’ll never know. Those are

Alone but not lonely

Alone but not lonely

In 2016, I went to Japan alone for 3 weeks. I flew into Tokyo with only a couple of nights accommodation booked. As I walked around, looking at different things, I let my thoughts wonder as much my feet. Every few nights I’d book into a new place. The

Life and Living

Via Negativa

I sent a message to my friends, a photo of my shoe rack. Who wants free shoes? A few responded. Enough to get rid of half of them. The rest can go to charity. Same with the other things I have sitting around, an old watch, a few devices. One

Use ego as a tool

Use ego as a tool

Ego usually gets a bad wrap. It’s the thing that gets in the way when you think you’re right but you’re not. It’s the thing which holds you back from making things and putting them out in the world. “But mine’s not good enough.” It’

The sun will shine on you differently

The sun will shine on you differently

There was a bit of a bump getting into the car park. I found a spot and stopped. The door handle is broken so I opened the window, opened the door from the outside and held it open whilst I put the window up. As I got out, it started

Sometimes you need to get the thing before you realise you don’t need it

Life and Living

Sometimes you need to get the thing before you realise you don’t need it

You don’t need to be hit by a car to know being hit by a car isn’t what you want. Why then does it take longer to realise these things with other events? I had to go to America to realise I didn’t need to move to

Sitting at the break room table

Good mentors are hard to come by. If you're lucky enough to find one, let them know.

Choose Your Own Character, Not Someone Else’s

Choose Your Own Character, Not Someone Else’s

Whose game are you playing?

Your results won’t always match your actions

In the beginning, your results will increase with your actions. But eventually, there'll be a mismatch. That's when you'll need to think about what you're doing. Keep going until the tipping point? Or stop and start again.When you first start out,

26 Things I’ve Learned After 26 Years

26 Things I’ve Learned After 26 Years

I’m 26 today. And I’ve posted an article every day for the last year.

Feeling lost? You're probably walking along someone else's path

Feeling lost? You're probably walking along someone else's path

Every time I feel lost it's because I'm trying to be someone else.

The Only Universal Criteria is Quality

The Only Universal Criteria is Quality

If you want people to enjoy what you're making, make it quality.

Don’t break the chain

Don’t break the chain

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You’re walking along a beach. You find a book. The pages are a bit damp but it’s legible. You read the title. 2043. Only four numbers? You flip it open. A few sentences in you start to realise this isn’t a once upon a time book.

Go First

An easy way to never say “I wish I did…” again

24% Done

I’m addicted. You can get addicted to anything and I managed to do it. I’m addicted to self-improvement. I spent the last year trying to find something. Trying to find myself. I was missing something. I created my own TV show [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr8O8l5cCX85Oem1d18EezQ], my

21 Things I Learned From Becoming Warren Buffett

Becoming Warren Buffett [http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/becoming-warren-buffett]I recently watched the HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett [http://The%20views%20and%20lessons%20learned%20in%20this%20article%20are%20just%20what%20my%20intuition%20is%20telling%20me,%20I%20don’t%20know%20if%20they’re%20right%20but%20they’ve%20worked%20for%20me.] . To

23 Things I Learned Over 23 Years

23 Things I Learned Over 23 Years

Note: Originally posted on Medium [https://medium.com/@MrDBourke/23-things-i-learned-over-23-years-722ccb41fac6#.7yw9m9oxw] on 1/9/2016 Today I turned 23 years old. Time is going faster every year. I can still remember being 9 years old and in the car telling my mum how excited I was to turn double digits,

A Jet Ski Will Not Make You Happy

Buying a jet ski is the best investment I've ever made.