According to Astrostyle, our soul's evolution is represented by the 12 houses that make up the zodiac wheel and your astrological birth chart. All of the dozen houses are present in everyone's birth charts and are positioned relative to the four directions. The wheel of a birth chart equals 360 degrees, although not every house within that wheel will necessarily equal 30 degrees exactly. This variation in house size doesn't affect the interpretation of your chart.

Each house represents a different aspect of your immediate and interpersonal life. Houses one to six are the personal houses they express who you are as a person. They include elements of the self, such as appearances, self-confidence, daily routines, communication style, the importance of family, self-care, and organizational skills. Houses seven to 12 are the interpersonal houses that dictate your spirituality, aspirations, your interactions with friends, social standing, privacy, and secrets. According to Cafe Astrology, each house is ruled by a zodiac sign and a planet as well.

When you read your birth chart, you may notice different planets or signs located within a particular house their presence within it is what tells your story. For example, a person with the majority of planets located within their interpersonal houses may be a more career-focused, go-getter than a person with more planets in their first six houses. It is also possible that your astrological birth chart may not have a planet or celestial body within a particular house.

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How To Read And Understand Your Astrological Birth Chart - Glam

Karrion Kross pleads with WWE to sign rookie sensation

WWE Superstar Karrion Kross has spoken very highly of up-and-coming wrestling talent KC Navarro.

KC Navarro is an independent talent from Metuchen, New Jersey. Since 2015, he has appeared in promotions like Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Major League Wrestling (MLW), and Impact Wrestling. He has also made appearances on All Elite Wrestling TV, mainly competing in tag team matches on AEW Dark.

In a recent long-form piece on KC Navarro by Fightful, current WWE-contracted talent Karrion Kross was very complimentary towards Navarro. He stated that he 'loved' the youngster and praised KC's work ethic, sense of humor, and positive attitude. Kross also noted that KC is working on improving himself and hopes to see Navarro in WWE:

In case you missed it, you can check out the Crown Jewel results here.

The former NXT Champion was last in action on Saturday night at WWE Crown Jewel 2022 in Saudi Arabia.

Kross took on Drew McIntyre in a rematch of their strap match from Extreme Rules in October. This time, however, the men collided within a steel cage in an effort to keep out all interference. Despite the cage, Scarlett still interfered on Kross' behalf and even sprayed McIntyre with mace for the second time in the feud.

Eventually, however, Kross and Scarlett's cheating would result in a loss for the former IMPACT Wrestling star, as locking the cage door backfired on them. This allowed McIntyre to take advantage and escape, just a split-second before Kross.

What did you think of Karrion Kross' comments? Would you like to see KC Navarro in WWE one day? You can share your thoughts in the comment section down below.

Did you know which current star has a real life crush on Mandy Rose? More details right here.

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The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results ofoperations should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and therelated notes to those statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report onForm 10-Q. Throughout this section, dollar amounts are expressed in thousands,except for per share amounts and MMBtu and RIN pricing amounts and unlessotherwise indicated.In addition to historical financial information, the following discussion andanalysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties,and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipatedin these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including thosediscussed under "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements," "Item1A.-Risk Factors" of our 2021 Annual Report and elsewhere in this report.

Overview

Recent Developments

Second Apex RNG Facility

Pico Digestion Capacity Increase

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents

Montauk Ag Renewables

Key Trends

Market Trends Affecting the Renewable Fuel Market

Key drivers for the long-term growth of RNG include the following factors:

Regulatory or policy initiatives, including the federal RFS program and

Efficiency, mobility and capital cost flexibility in RNG operations

operating

Demand for compressed natural gas ("CNG") from natural gas-fueled

Factors Affecting Our Future Operating Results:

Conversion of Electricity Projects to RNG Projects:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents

Acquisition and Development Pipeline

The timing and extent of our development pipeline affects our operating resultsdue to:

Impact of Higher Selling, General and Administrative Expenses Prior to the

Commencement of a Project's Operation: We incur significant expenses in the

development of new RNG projects. Further, the receipt of RINs is delayed, and

typically does not commence for a period of four to six months after the

commencement of injecting RNG into a pipeline, pending final registration

approval of the project by the EPA and then the subsequent completion of a

third-party quality assurance plan certification. During such time, the RNG

is either physically or theoretically stored and later withdrawn from storage

Shifts in Revenue Composition for Projects from New Fuel Sources: As we

expand into livestock farm projects, our revenue composition from

Environmental Attributes will change. We believe that livestock farms offer

us a lucrative opportunity, as the value of LCFS credits for dairy farm

projects, for example, are a multiple of those realized from landfill

projects due to the significantly more attractive CI score of livestock

Incurrence of Expenses Associated with Pursuing Prospective Projects That Do

Not Come to Fruition: We incur expenses to pursue prospective projects with

the goal of a site host accepting our proposal or being awarded a project in

a competitive bidding process. Historically, we have evaluated opportunities

which we decided not to pursue further due to the prospective project not

meeting our internal investment thresholds or a lack of success in a

competitive bidding process. To the extent we seek to pursue a greater number

of projects or bidding for projects becomes more competitive, our expenses

Increased Construction Costs or Length Related to Material Cost Inflation or

Supply Chain Disruptions: Due to the variability of our development and

construction cycle of approximately 12 to 24 months, we believe that we could

incur increased raw material costs for development projects related to

inflation or supply chain disruptions. Although these factors have not had a

material impact on our business or results of operations to date for

development projects, these price increases and disruptions in construction

could lead to future material, design, or transportation delays, which could

increase the costs of our development.

Regulatory, Environmental and Social Trends

Factors Affecting Revenue

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents

Renewable Natural Gas Revenues: We record revenues from the production and

sale of RNG and the generation and sale of the Environmental Attributes

derived from RNG, such as RINs and LCFS credits. Our RNG revenues from

Environmental Attributes are recorded net of a portion of Environmental

Attributes shared with off-take counterparties as consideration for such

counterparties using the RNG as a transportation fuel. We monetize a portion

of our RNG production under fixed-price and counterparty sharing agreements,

which provide floor prices in excess of commodity indices and sharing

percentages of the monetization of Environmental Attributes. Under these

sharing arrangements, we receive a portion of the profits derived from

counterparty monetization of the Environmental Attributes in excess of the

Renewable Electricity Generation Revenues: We record revenues from the

production and sale of Renewable Electricity and the generation and sale of

the Environmental Attributes, such as RECs, derived from Renewable

Electricity. All of our Renewable Electricity production is monetized under

Corporate Revenues: Corporate reports realized and unrealized gains or losses

under our gas hedge programs. Based on current rates, we expect our gas

commodity hedge program to continue to be priced below actual index prices

through the end of this fiscal year at which time the hedge program will

expire. Corporate also relates to additional discrete financial information

for the corporate function; primarily used as a shared service center for

maintaining functions such as executive, accounting, treasury, legal, human

resources, tax, environmental, engineering and other operations functions not

otherwise allocated to a segment.

RNG Production

Our RNG production levels are subject to fluctuations based on numerous factors,including:

A 2021 cold weather event impacted our Atascocita, Galveston, McCarty, and

Coastal Plains facilities located in Texas. Production at these facilities

was temporarily idled due to the loss of power from February 14 through

February 20, 2021 and force majeure events were declared by certain of our

counterparties or by us for the period February 12 through February 22, 2021

The landfill host at our McCarty facility recently changed its wellfield

collection system which has contributed to elevated nitrogen in the feedstock

received by our facility. Additionally, the landfill host modified the

wellfield bifurcation approach which has impacted the quantity of feedstock

received at the facility. We are working with the landfill host but have

currently experienced lower volumes of feedstock available to be processed at

the McCarty facility. We currently expect lower than historical volumes

Our Pico facility has resumed operations and ramp up activities related to

the existing digester cleanout activities have been completed. Production

volume performance continues to meet our expectations during the post

cleanout period. Our improvement project has impacted the timeline related to

modeling the CI Score pathway model. We have begun releasing production from

storage while CARB completes its CI Score Pathway. We will not receive LCFS

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MONTAUK RENEWABLES, INC. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (form 10-Q) - Marketscreener.com

At a pathetic press conference on Friday to announce the signing of defenseman Mitchell Miller, who as a teenager had been convicted of assault as a juvenile for a history of racist bullying of a classmate, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeneys heart didnt seem in it. Sweeney said, I cant categorically tell you this was the right decision, which is the sort of thing people say after they make the wrong decision and they know it. Sweeney noted that he had personally picked up Miller at the airport before signing his contract, but that if anything goes sideways, he would be the one driving Miller back. I suspect its a pretty quiet drive to Logan this morning.

Sunday evening, after two days under fire, the Bruins announced they are dropping Miller like the other shoe. The statement, attributed to team president Cam Neely, is being and will continue to be picked apart, but heres what seems like the crucial bit:

The decision to sign this young man was made after careful consideration of the facts as we were aware of them: that at 14-years-old he made a poor decision that led to a juvenile conviction. We understood this to be an isolated incident and that he had taken meaningful action to reform and was committed to ongoing personal development. Based on that understanding we offered him a contract.

Based on new information, we believe it is the best decision at this time to rescind the opportunity for Mitchell Miller to represent the Boston Bruins.

At least some of the new information was not very new at all. Millers bullying was not an isolated incident, as the team claimed it believed, but part of an ongoing tormenting of Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, a developmentally disabled black student. The conviction was for beating Meyer-Crothers and getting him to eat a lollipop that had been placed in a urinal and peed on, according to the police report, but Meyer-Crotherss family said Miller had bullied him for years with racial slurs. All of this was known; it came out soon after Miller was drafted by the Coyotes in 2020; Arizona released him soon after. The Bruins due diligence apparently did not extend to using Google.

The Bruins also referred to their belief that Mitchell had taken meaningful action to reform himself. Where might they have gotten that idea? I dont know for certain, but on Sunday Millers agent, Eustace King of O2K, put out a statement touting all the volunteer work Miller had done to improve himself and prove that he is a changed person. The statement was, to put it plainly, a disaster.

One of the organizations mentioned is owned by an O2K executive, and focus[es] on player development and mentorship for O2K athletes.

Another organization was one Miller spent time with only as part of his court-ordered volunteer work.

A third, which King claimed Miller had met with and committed to working with, put out its own statement saying that it had only been approached to consider working with Miller, but that it had not done so.

The executive director of a fourth nonprofit cited in the agents statement said that it had invited Miller to work with it, but he had not actually responded, let alone volunteered. But our names were good enough for the press release, she noted.

The agents statement closed by saying, We believe in restorative justice. Commendable. Restorative justice is a method that seeks to address and repair the harm committed, rather than merely punish the offender. The fundamental goal of restorative justice is to organize a meeting between the offender and the victim, and focus on the victims needs. But whatever Millers intentions, its impossible to call his actions compatible with restorative justice: Until a week and a half ago, he had not apologized to Meyer-Crothers outside of a courtroom. And even that was Miller reaching out over social mediaits not clear if Meyer-Crothers respondedand only because the Bruins had made clear that a direct apology was required before they would sign him.

The apology we got was because Boston said wed sign him if he apologized, Meyer-Crotherss father told The Athletic. Thats dead and shallow. That means nothing.

If Millers journey toward self-improvement sounds like it has consisted of the bare minimum, perhaps the Bruins could have weathered that. Perhaps their Friday afternoon news dump would have served its purpose and the outrage would have burned itself out (I dont think so, but perhaps!), if not for two developments over the weekend. The first was a number of Bruins veterans publicly expressing their disappointment with Millers signing. Its a hard one for us to swallow, Nick Foligno said. I dont think any guy was too happy.

The second development waslike so much else heresomething the Bruins probably should have looked into beforehand. Commissioner Gary Bettman said on Saturday that Miller is not currently eligible to play in the NHL. Before the Bruins made the decision to sign him, we were not consulted, Bettman said.

Hes not coming into the NHL, Bettman continued. Hes not eligible at this point to come into the NHL. I cant tell you that hell ever be eligible to come into the NHL. If, in fact, at some point they think they want him to play in the NHLand Im not sure theyre anywhere close to that pointwere going to have to clear him and his eligibility. Nobody should think at this point he is or may ever be NHL-eligible.

So this is where things stand. Miller remains in juniors, and is no closer to the NHLperhaps further away, as everyone has learned that he hasnt made much effort to show hes matured and grown since the last time he was drummed out of the league two years ago. And the Bruins have an enormous black eye, incurring the well-deserved wrath of the hockey world for believing talent should triumph over all other considerations, and offering a bunch of weasel words and outright lies to justify it. They signed Miller without questioning too deeply whether they should, or even couldnot even cutting him can change that fact.

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The Bruins Did Everything Wrong - Defector

Heres what my simple research found about the beauty market in the U.S. Hair salons generate about $46 billion per year in sales. The nail care market is estimated to have yearly sales of over $10 billion. In 2021, the apparel market made revenue of $312 billion. Total revenue for the footwear market was over $91 billion back in 2019 (led by athletic shoe purchases). $1.65 billion was spent by consumers getting inked with a tattoo in 2021. Right around $58 billion was spent on jewelry in 2021. Cosmetic sales generate just over $49 billion each year.

Who cares? Well, pretty much all of us. Add it all up (over $567 billion) and the average American is spending over $1,700 per year on outer beauty.

I get it. After spending decades in what I always called the appearance industry (dry cleaning), Im a big believer in the statements If you look good, you feel good and You never get a second chance to make a first impression. We can secure an awful lot of confidence when we feel good about the way we look.

Strangely, I had a hard time finding statistics related to You becoming a better you as I searched for data related to how much each of us spends yearly on inner beauty. I found a few indications including how the U.S. self-help industry generated a little less than $10 billion in 2020; that was a year we were all looking for well-being answers due to the impact of COVID on our lives.

The pandemic didnt have near the impact on our outer beauty like it had on our mental health, which is a large part of our inner beauty. Hospitals, nonprofits, government agencies and more all quickly realized that the biggest impact the pandemic was on our state-of-mind and that we needed help dealing with how we were all processing this massive amount of change being tossed at us for the first time in our lives. And theyve responded as best they can with compassionate responses and programs.

But we had never been exposed to classes nor teaching that focused on how to process the things we internalize, let alone if its something that is all-consuming. Dang! We just didnt see it coming. So what can each of us do?

Funny, isnt it? When you read an obituary, its rare to see a person's outer beauty even mentioned. Nearly all of whats written focuses on the person's inner beauty. Its the inner beauty that provides the very best memories for each of us that knew that person, especially someone weve loved as a family member or close friend. Its a person's inner beauty that we carry with us the rest of our lives. Their outer beauty has no significance for us moving forward.

Its the same if you read biographies, especially of people who significantly contributed to history. You read about their utilization of courage, character, compassion, selflessness, determination, kindness or an unwillingness to compromise personal beliefs. These were all part of their inner beauty and provide evidence to whats really most important in life.

Ive always been attracted to interviews of couples that have been married 50 years or more. When they gaze at each other and talk about how beautiful their spouse is, the outer beauty is being described by the memories that the inner beauty created through the years. Their spouse may have many wrinkles in their face, and they may have gained weight through the years, but that gaze alone speaks from the heart of the role inner beauty has played in their marriage and why they continue to be so very much in love. As the outer beauty faded and changed through the years, it allowed the inner beauty to be reflected on the surface. Its one of the gifts aging can offer when paired with the right perspective.

I understand the role outer beauty plays with procreation. Sure, in the animal world, theres that survival of the fittest mentality.And, lets face it, reality TV would never have survived without its heaviest emphasis being outer beauty of all those involved. But it appears that the only time brawn outdoes brain is during the initial courting process for both humans and animals. After any kind of post-courting agreement, inner beauty is totally in charge of the things that really matter in life: courage, character, compassion, selflessness, determination, kindness and an unwillingness to compromise personal beliefs. So how do we nurture, expand and grow our inner beauty if its so important to experiencing the deep love and devotion shared by people who have been married 50 years or more?

When was the last time you read a book or even an article on some form of self-improvement? When have you taken a class related to a passion you have that deepened your appreciation and knowledge on that particular subject? What have you done to increase the level of character that defines your life? Has your level of kindness, compassion for others and selflessness all increased over the past year? Are you mentoring anyone? Is anyone mentoring you? Have you devoted time to discovering the role leadership could play in your life? How would you rate your parenting skills? Friendship skills? Your willingness to constantly improve? Your willingness to help other people? Your willingness to put other peoples needs ahead of your own, even if you dont know them? When was the last time you volunteered? All these questions offer opportunity to increase your inner beauty. Remember, inner beauty is what matters most in life.

Still questioning? Ask any couple thats been married 50 years or more about outer beauty vs. inner beauty and listen closely and carefully to their response and pay extra attention to the smile on their face. You can increase your own inner beauty by listening to theirs.

Im fine with what we all spend on outer beauty each year. Im concerned about most people lacking any budget whatsoever for inner beauty. So Im asking for you to right now evaluate how much time and money youre willing to spend on inner beauty over the next year. Im asking you to acknowledge that inner beauty is the quickest path to experiencing deep relational love, to strong character development and to surrounding yourself with people who care about you and your life. Inner beauty is the foundation of your own personal biography which is the only thing you can leave behind that has lasting value once you leave this earth.

Stop everything else and do that inner beauty self-evaluation right now. Youll be amply rewarded just for trying. Cmon! Remember I believe in you! Start sharing all that inner beauty you have and let it shine like its meant to! GiddyUp!

Paul White is an entrepreneur, retired Midland businessman and a guest columnist for the Midland Daily News. He can be reached at coach@theanswerdiscovery.com.

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Paul White: Outer beauty vs. inner beauty - Midland Daily News

Gone are the days when people wanted to keep their thoughts and opinions to themselves. Gen Z is all about talking and sharing what they truly believe in! And podcasting is emerging as one of the ways to put yourself out there fiercely. Even stats suggest the same. Podcasting is a quick and effective way to voice your authentic self today. With 57.6 million monthly listeners, India is the third largest consumer of podcasts (after the United States and China), according to PwC's Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2020 study, and is expected to reach 17.61 million by 2023.

With the number of podcast content creators on the rise, what often keeps most beginners from starting their journey is ideating and creating content that can keep their audiences engaged. The actual trick lies in not just following others, but truly believing in your own idea you want, to talk about. More on this later!

Lets first understand whats been happening in the podcast scene so far:

The BIG pictureFun fact: Podcasts have been around for nearly two decades, but it is only in the last six years that this online format has evolved immensely. According to KPMG's Media and Entertainment Report 2020, India's podcast consumption increased by 29.3 percent in the first year of the pandemic. It has since seen a steep rise with no signs of it fading soon. What has led to this boom? This has been particularly aided by several factors like the profusion of shows, celebrity involvement, investment from large companies such as Spotify, and the advent of new technologies. Whats also contributed to this growth is the deep connection younger generations now have with their hosts. They are increasingly turning to podcasts for entertainment, infotainment, self-improvement, and awareness.

Now, if you see yourself kickstarting a podcast and wondering how to go about it, heres how you can take the first few steps:

The best way to make headway is by cracking the topics that interest you or diving into your hobbies or passions. These make for the best podcasts. It could range from crime, sports, beauty, travel, mental health, and wellness to cars, gadgets, and finance. The list can go on... Something important to remember here is no matter the topic you choose; its the passion and enthusiasm radiating from the host that goes a long way into making a great podcast. Once you have your area of interest and topic figured out, the rest of the stuff needed to get on this journey, like uploading, recording, editing and publishing episodes, will literally take care of itself.

Starting your podcast in an hourDid you know you can start your own podcast in just an hour? Yes, starting your own podcast is no longer a tedious long-lost process with the free podcasting platform - Anchor by Spotify. It is, in fact, proving to be the easiest way to create, distribute, and monetise your show for many like you who are struggling to begin their podcasting journey.

Its built-in recording tools help you record your audio and/or video, arrange your segments, add transitions, and sync them across all devices and you're all set to host unlimited episodes for free! You can add full tracks from Spotify to combine music and conversation in your audio and podcast with multiple people as well.

An essential aspect of podcasting is knowing your audience well, an area that feels tricky for many aspirants who dont take the leap without assistance. Anchor by Spotify helps you improve your content using Analytics from all platforms and exclusive insights like episode dropoff and listener demographics. These engagement insights help you get unique insights about your listeners. For instance, you will be able to see where the listeners are dropping off, so you can plan your podcast around the content that performs best.

The platform also gives you the option of unlocking sponsorships through feature audio ads that you can choose to place anywhere in your podcast so that you can earn money on your content. At the same time, it helps your creation reach a wider audience quickly and easily with the one-step distribution.

With unlimited hosting using convenient creation tools, streamlined distribution, performance & analytics support and the power to monetise, now even you can Dil Khol Ke Bolo. Amplify your authentic voice and speak about the things that you truly feel about with your own podcast.

Download Anchor by Spotify on Google Play Store and Apple Store App and record your first podcast today.

Disclaimer: The article has been produced on behalf of Spotify by the Times Internet's Spotlight team.

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Here's how you can 'Dil Khol Ke Bolo' on your own podcast in less than 1 hour - Gadgets Now

Between winding down her run as GENERAL HOSPITALs Britt and working on the ABC primetime drama STATION 19, Daytime Emmy winner Kelly Thiebaud has had a packed schedule lately. But despite her hectic professional life, the GH star has been sure to take some time to focus on self-care recently.

One thing that Thiebaud has done to change her life is to give up alcohol. Its been two weeks since Ive had a drink, she confessed on Twitter in late October. Not a big deal for most, Im sure, but for me it is. Im interested in what lifes like without alcohol. Im doing Halloween sober for the first time in I dont even know how long! Lets see how much fun sober Kelly can be. Or, how much I can tolerate.

In a subsequent post, Thiebaud shared that she never expected the outpouring of support shed received from her followers when she made her sober post. Youve given me more focus and motivation to keep going, she admitted.

Now a few weeks into her sober journey, Thiebaud cant believe how great she feels. In an inspiring Instagram post, the actress shared a video of her dancing in an open field to the song Moments by Kidnap and shared that shes made several other changes in her life as she focuses on herself.

I never know what to say here, but I just wanted to share how good I feel, she wrote in the caption accompanying her dance. Im going through some much-needed changes and damn, I love how I feel. Its nice to finally see myself put in the work to be better, to go after what I want.

This new version of herself is a long time coming, she added. Ive been stuck for a long time, she divulged. Doing life the same way but wanting something different.

And for her followers out there who feel that they are in a similar situation, Thiebaud offered some advice: If youve been like me, really wanting more from yourself and life, it just takes one step in another direction. One change. Do it every day and be committed to experiencing yourself and life in a new way. Sending you all love.

We love how carefree Thiebaud looks in her video and wish her well on her journey of self-improvement!

Love GH? Be sure to join our We Love General Hospital Facebook group to chat about all the latest storylines and juicy gossip!

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GHs Kelly Thiebaud Reveals How She Changed Her Life - Soaps In Depth

Excellent touch and control. Works hard in sessions. Rating: 5The engine of the team. Can turn a game instantly. Rating: 5A good communicator, finds space well and has good awareness: Rating 4 Has performed in different positions, always to a high standard of play. Rating: 5Very quick, covers a tremendous amount of ground during a game. Rating: 5A natural leader, leads by good example, great athlete and oozes confidence

The report was filled out by Pete Collins, a Leeds United academy coach, in December 1998. And if you didnt know which player he was evaluating, you could probably guess.

James Milner was 12 at the time, but he was already ticking every box: the excellent touch, the work ethic, the fitness, the driving force, the communication, the awareness, the versatility and the attitude that would see him fast-tracked to make his Premier League debut within four years.

Another coach at Leeds identified just one weakness. Daral Pugh lauded Milners tremendous ability, but said the youngster still needs to have more faith in team-mates in that he will get the ball back if he passes. If he adds this to his game, James has a tremendous future.

Collins and Pugh could not be reached to discuss how well their observations have stood the test of time, but John Buckley, who coached him at under-14 level, smiles upon hearing his assessment of Milner in May 2000: possesses real quality, touch and technique excellent, strong and determined character and good athlete who works hard even on an off day.

If you really break it down like that, there was nothing he couldnt do, Buckley, who is now an academy coach at League Two Doncaster Rovers, says. It was as if he was destined to be a player. He never did anything wrong. He was like a sponge, the way he soaked everything in.

Buckleys constant message to Milner was about mixing his game up, surprising his opponents by trusting his left foot as well as his right.The individualist streak that Pugh mentioned wascurbed to the extent that the young Milner matured into the ultimate team player.

Jurgen Klopp says he was blessed to inherit Milner at Liverpool. Manuel Pellegrini, his coach at Manchester City, once remarked that there are players who are quicker or more technically gifted, but added, Show me another who does all the things that Milner does well. There isnt one. Its very difficult to find another Milner an intelligent player with big balls and a massive heart.

It is 20 years today since Milner made his Premier League debut against West Ham United. On Sunday, all being well after a blow to the head in Liverpools Champions League victory over Napoli last week, he will make his 600th top-flight appearance against Southampton at Anfield.

He stands fourth in the Premier Leagues all-time appearances list and is fast closing in on Frank Lampard (609). Gareth Barry (653) and Ryan Giggs (632) are still some way off, but if Milner plays beyond this season whether at Liverpool, where his latest contract runs until the summer, or elsewhere he could well break Barrys record.

Those sorts of numbers have never interested Milner. He is far more interested in his day-to-day statistics his high-intensity running, the number of sprints, his lactose levels than the record books, even if breaking one particular record became a motivation as he set his sights firmly on a breakthrough.

Milner remembers sitting on the bench at Elland Road in early November 2002. This was the Premier League, the big time, and it was tantalisingly out of reach. So near, yet so far.

Two months short of his 17th birthday he had been called up to Leeds first-team squad for the first time, but he had just missed out on a place among the substitutes for a match against Everton. He had been invited to sit on the bench for the experience to get a taste for it, he was told, as if he was not hungry enough already.

On the opposition bench that Sunday afternoon was a familiar face. He had first witnessed Wayne Rooneys incredible talent when the clubs played an under-12s game five years earlier. Rooney had then disappeared from Milners radar within 18 months he had been fast-tracked into Evertons under-15s team but now, suddenly, everyone knew about him.

Two weeks earlier, Rooney had become the youngest goalscorer in the Premier League era, aged 16 years and 360 days, when he came off the bench to score a dramatic, spectacular last-minute winner against Arsenal. Remember the name! screamed ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley, as if anyone was ever likely to forget it.

And now Rooney was coming off the bench at Elland Road, the Everton supporters chanting his name. And now he was turning away from Eirik Bakke, running at Lucas Radebe and beating Paul Robinson to score another late winner. And now he was running towards the delirious Everton fans and being mobbed by his team-mates. Everyone was mad about the boy.

Milner couldnt take his eyes off Rooney, who was barely two months his senior but was living a totally different experience. He was determined to make his Premier League debut before he turned 17 in the New Year. If he did that, he might have a shot at breaking Rooneys goalscoring record.

At the final whistle, one of Leeds coaches, Steve McGregor, tapped him on the shoulder. Youre desperate to do what hes doing, arent you? he said. Youre not that far off, you know.

As it happened, he was only six days away. Terry Venables gave him his Premier League debut as a substitute in the closing stages at West Ham. His first touch was an errant pass which almost played in Paolo Di Canio, but Leeds just about held on for a 4-3 win.

Further appearances from the bench followed, the fourth of them away to Sunderland on Boxing Day as an early substitute for the injured Alan Smith. Five minutes into the second half he slid in to convert Jason Wilcoxs cross in front of the away fans. At 16 years and 356 days, he had broken Rooneys record by four days.

Two days later Milner scored a beauty against Chelsea at Elland Road, turning the great Marcel Desailly before curling a wonderful shot inside the far post. Like Rooney, this kid was here for the long haul.

Long before the end of an illustrious playing career at Manchester United, before retiring at the age of 40, Giggs seemed like a precious relic from another era. Indeed he could claim to be short-changed by the numbers cited in addition to his 632 Premier League appearances, he made 40 in the old Football League.

Giggss senior career stretched from March 1991, making his debut against an Everton team that included Neville Southall (born 1958) and Kevin Ratcliffe (born 1960), to May 2014, playing alongside Adnan Januzaj and James Wilson (born 1995). He preceded the Premier League era, the Champions League era, all-seater stadia, the backpass rule. His first professional contract earned him a basic 170 a week, his last getting on for 170,000 a week.

Similar can be said of Milners career. He made his debut in 2002 against a West Ham team featuring Nigel Winterburn (born 1963). He now has team-mates at Liverpool (Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic) who were not even alive in 2002. At the other end of the spectrum he remarked last week, I played against David Seaman and hes just turned 59. Its mind-blowing.

Then there are the wider changes in English football over the past two decades, so many of them fuelled by overseas investment and another boom in broadcast revenue. If it is possible to pinpoint Roman Abramovichs takeover of Chelsea in July 2003 as the second watershed of the Premier League era, Milner preceded it. He played against Ken Batess Chelsea and he played against Manchester City at Maine Road, where the mood was usually bleak rather than expectant.

On a purely trivial note, there was no pre-match rigmarole in those days. Players just ran out of the tunnel and went to warm up at their end of the pitch no anthem, fair-play handshake or anything of that sort. As for goal-line technology and VARs, these were the type of mind-blowing ideas that might occasionally be floated in the BBC series Tomorrows World before it reached the end of its 38-year run in July 2003.

Wages? Milner was still earning 70 a week as a scholar when he made his debut. With his first win bonus, he went out and bought my own phone line, my own Sky box and my own TV, which, if you remember the TVs back then, was way too big for my bedroom at my mum and dads.

As a 12-year-old, Milner had accepted a deal that would take him to an eye-watering 600 a week upon turning professional at 17. That was swiftly renegotiated upwards after a record-breaking start to his Premier League career, his weekly wage rocketed to four figures and then, as his career progressed, to five figures and to six figures, swelled by trophy bonuses after he joined Manchester City in 2010 and Liverpool in 2015.

But even the sums Milner has earned over a long, successful career might soon sound quaint to some of those now taking their first steps in the Premier League.

Likewise the revelation that he was stunned, as a teenager, to learn that Nike was willing to pay him to wear its boots, rather than the reverse. When the man from Nike asked whether there was any more gear he needed, he panicked. All he could think to say was that he needed a new pair of flip-flops.

He feels there was a humility that was ingrained in his generation of players. How could you let your ego get the better of you when, in his case, he returned to the dressing room at Sunderland to be reminded it was his job to pick up his team-mates dirty slips and kit off the floor and load the crates onto the bus?

It was all about keeping young players grounded. Milner, it seemed, was born grounded. And he wasnt going to change.

Footballers lives have changed in so many ways since Milner made his debut 20 years ago. And the conventional thing to say here would be that the game itself has remained unchanged.

Conventional, but untrue. Because the football that was played in the Premier League 20 years ago is very different to the football that is played now that the influence of Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola, Marcelo Bielsa, Jurgen Klopp and others is so widely felt.

At the start of the 2002-03 season, there were only four overseas managers in the Premier League (Wenger, Claudio Ranieri, Gerard Houllier and Jean Tigana) and, while the likes of Venables and Sir Bobby Robson were synonymous with a more progressive style, having coached abroad, Graham Taylor, Sam Allardyce, Peter Reid, Mick McCarthy and others were not.

Twenty years on, the Premier League is far more technical. Michael Cox asked recently whether the direct football of the past, having been dying out in recent years, is now extinct. The most influential British coaches currently are Brendan Rodgers, Graham Potter and Eddie Howe, all of them far more possession-focused than the previous generation of managers.

It is borne out in the statistics. In 2006-07, the first season that Optas data covers, there was an average of 717 passes per match in the Premier League. So far this season it is 909. More tellingly, 17.3 per cent of passes in 2006-07 were hit long. Now it is just 11.9 per cent. And just 70.5 per cent of passes in 2006-07 were successful. Now it is 81.3 per cent. By contrast, the number of tackles per game has dropped significantly from 47.5 to 34.2.

In other words, it is a different game from the one Milner grew up playing. The fundamentals remain the same, but the technical, physical and tactical demands have changed quite dramatically.

The game has evolved and Milner has had to evolve with it.

Of course, it has helped that Milner is something of a freak of nature, a cross-country champion in his youth and even now outperforming his younger team-mates at Liverpool in the dreaded lactate test in pre-season training year after year. Virgil van Dijk calls him the machine.

But beyond that, it comes down to discipline: never touching a drop of alcohol, obsessing over his nutrition, his conditioning and his fitness. Such dedication might be commonplace now, but it certainly wasnt when Milner started out on that path two decades ago.

The era of marginal gains was dawning, but for many players in those days, the concept of sports science went little further than bin bag Thursday making the most of their usual Wednesday afternoon off with a drinking session and then wearing a bin bag under their training kit the next day to try to sweat their excesses. Milner took one look at that and decided it wasnt for him.

Eat the right things, drink the right things, use the mental side of wanting to prove people wrong, he said last week when asked to explain the secrets of his longevity. To have that stubbornness that I have probably helps that you always want to prove yourself, always want to be the best guy in training or want to show up the young lads in pre-season, if you have a bad game, the frustration of I want to go again the next time. I think it is probably just having that drive to keep doing it. The mental side is probably the biggest thing.

Again we come back to Rooney. You do not become Manchester Uniteds and Englands all-time record goalscorer without a serious dedication to your trade and rarely would you see a player more driven on the pitch than he appeared in his raging-bull period. But Rooney also liked a burger, liked a drink, liked a cigarette and at times he struggled to keep the weight off.

Since retiring, Rooney has suggested his drinking was problematic there were times youd get a couple of days off from football and I would actually lock myself away and just drink. Sir Alex Ferguson repeatedly warned Rooney that his lifestyle, as well as his physique, could curtail his career at the highest level. Rooney would probably admit now that Ferguson was right.

There are differences of opinion on what constituted Rooneys peak, but most would agree it was somewhere between the ages of 19 and 24 even if his most two prolific seasons at Manchester United came just a little later.

From around his 27th birthday, Rooneys career seemed like it was in slow-puncture mode; he still scored goals, won trophies and broke records, but the physical intensity that had made him such a force of nature faded. Attempts to reinvent himself as a deep-lying midfielder were not successful. He moved back to Everton at 31, joined DC United a year later, moved to Derby County as player-coach at 33 and then hung up his boots at 35. In terms of longevity, he was never going to be a Milner, a Giggs or indeed a Cristiano Ronaldo.

By contrast, Milner was a teenage sensation who, after the instability he encountered at Leeds and Newcastle United, with so many changes of manager, ended up being a relatively late bloomer at Aston Villa. He won 46 England under-21 caps before finally making his senior debut at the age of 23. He won the PFA Young Player of the Year award at 24 after making more than 300 appearances at club level. He is probably right when he suggests his final season at Villa, in 2009-10, as his best from an individual perspective, but from that point on, at Manchester City and Liverpool, he has been a model of consistency in teams competing for the biggest prizes.

If I think back to under-14 days, Wayne Rooney was absolutely frightening, Buckley says. He had a brilliant career, as I think everyone knew he was going to have. But James has ended up a different kind of example.

There are two common misconceptions about Milner.

The first is that he is boring. Working with him on his book Ask A Footballer three years ago, I found him to be deadly serious when it comes to his work but also very funny and engaging company in his downtime. Intelligent too; as well as speaking Spanish fluently (including with his children), he got seven A grades at GCSE, including maths, which led him to offer an amusingly thorough (and, sadly, entirely fictitious) answer to a question about how many bottles of Ribena it might take to fill up the European Cup.

The second misconception is that he is low-maintenance. In some respects, yes Klopp has said Milner makes a managers life easier with the way he and Jordan Henderson run the dressing room, setting the highest standards of professionalism but his driven, demanding nature cuts both ways, as staff would testify. Even at this stage of his career, he finds himself raging when left out of the starting line-up.

There have been times when he has found it unbearable. I can remember going home in tears when I was at City because I felt so low, Milner said in the book. Not just the usual frustrations that you can have one week to the next, but feeling utterly despondent because I was training really well and playing really well and I was still being left out week after week and I felt there was nothing more that I could do.

That recurring sense of rejection was a significant factor in his decision to leave Manchester City for Liverpool in 2015. It was a step down, swapping Champions League for Europa League, but at Anfield he has been a key figure in the resurgence under Klopp, winning the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League a year later. Even if he only started nine Premier League games last season, he played a significant role from the bench in both the Carabao Cup final and FA Cup final victories over Chelsea.

So often, discussion of Milner comes down to his professionalism, but it is also fascinating to note how he has evolved through his career: from fleet-footed winger in his early days at Leeds and Newcastle United to thrusting box-to-box midfielder at Villa, from reluctant wide player at Manchester City to midfield dynamo in his first season at Liverpool, then a reluctant stand-in left-back, back to midfield and, increasingly, as the years have gone on, a utility player who can either speed a game up or slow it down as a substitute, depending on what the circumstances require.

I remember people some people questioning whether he would make it to the top. Look at his CV! says Buckley. Even now, you get people saying hes too old. I watched him playing for Liverpool the other week. Too old? Really? Are you sure about that?

As a player, Milner has kept evolving, relentless in his pursuit of self-improvement, in the example he sets and in the demands he makes of his team-mates.

During Milners difficult first season at Newcastle, his manager Graeme Souness infamously said that I dont see myself being here for a long time () if I go down the road (of) buying a team of James Milners. It was intended as a remark on the need for experience, rather than a slight on a young player bought by his predecessor Robson, but Milner took it personally and vowed to prove Souness wrong when he was sent on loan to Villa the following season.

It is fair to say Milner has proved his point many times over. Indeed Souness goes out of his way to tell him as much any time their paths cross. As an outspoken critic of many of todays footballers, he loves the player Milner has blossomed into, combining the best old-fashioned values with the hyper-professionalism the modern game demands.

A team of James Milners? If only there were enough of them for every team to have just one.

(Photos: Getty Images/Design: Sam Richardson)

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20 years of James Milner, a Premier League legend who has always ticked every box - The Athletic

We all have ups and downs, and at first glance, it may seem that other people live a much happier life than we do. But nobody knows how much time and effort it takes for other people to get a successful job or build a happy family.

Its pointless to compare ourselves to others because you never know what you have to go through to get the same result.

The desire to compare ourselves with someone else is a normal function of the brain. It makes it easier for us to determine our significance, and it also motivates us to self-development.

However, comparing yourself to others can beharmful, especially if you have low self-esteem. Below, you'll find simple ways to stop comparing yourself to others and begin to concentrate on your own life.

RELATED:21 Ways To Build Self-Esteem & Uplift Your Confidence

No matter what we achieve, it's natural to feel victory and a sense of failure at the same time. After all, there are always examples of successful people in social networks who have achieved more and do not look tired in the photo while you're exhausted.

Because of this, it may appear an illusion that self-improvement is necessary, as it's aimed to help us overcome weaknesses. As a result, people stop doing what they are good at and focus on endless self-improvement.

There are only 24 hours in a day to be successful, and we need to prioritize achieving our goals over anything else. You should stop focusing on others because you drastically reduce your chances of success if you spend time focusing on your weaknesses. Therefore, you need to focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses, to reach your full potential.

RELATED:9 Ways I Trained My Brain To Not Feel Jealousy Ever Again

Your life is formed by what you do. If you work at a boring job, live with the wrong person, and regret spending money on yourself while making sacrifices for othersthis is not from kindness but low self-esteem. You need to understand a simple thing: Its natural to love yourself unconditionally.

A person with healthy self-esteem does not look for explanations and does not say that there is no way out.

If you don't compare yourself to anyone, you're focused on yourself it's not about being selfish. People with high self-evaluation feelings do what they want and are not afraid of the consequences. They live the way they like and do what they love. If they are married, its exclusively for love, and if love is gone, they get divorced. Loving yourself is the ability to live the way you want. If we care about ourselves, we dont compare ourselves with others.

RELATED:Stop Feeling Envy & Focus On Yourself With These 3 Steps Instead

When you look at other people's accomplishments and don't feel anything except envy, you are just wasting time. Instead of just dreaming about a new life, use this time to reevaluate your goals. It would be best if you never compare yourself to others in terms that you're not lucky.

If you want to live differently, you first need to understand how to achieve this and avoid self-doubt. Ask yourself, "What do I want?" The next step is to collect information, decide what needs to be changed and do it. This will make you feel like you are in control of your life. And you will not have time to analyze someone else's life.

People are unique when they act outside common patterns, stereotypes, rules, and norms. The key tonot comparing yourself to others is there. A child shows their uniqueness, then tries to be like everyone else, and begins to hide it diligently when it doesn't work out. As a result, adult people comply with the norms and rules, although they would like to live differently and engage in entirely different tasks.

An excellent and non-traumatic way to find your uniqueness is a hobby. You need to specify what you would like to do. Often a hobby develops into full-time employment. The main rule is not to make theoretical discussions but to start. Self-love is not a one-time practice: you must practice it every day.

RELATED:7 Simple Ways To Boost Your Self-Confidence And Feel Better

Social media are the scourge of our time. When a person visits the page, they see updates of their friends and acquaintances, photos of achievements, and other happy moments. It isn't easy to understand how to stop comparing yourself to others physically or by other parameters in such conditions.

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Because of this, it seems that others lives are continuously positive while yours is nothing outstanding. But happy pictures from social networks reflect the situation on the surface. They do not show the colossal work behind it. So, social media detox is essential.

One more answer to how to stop comparing your life to others is to spend time and energy thinking about what you have. You should be busy with your family, friends, work, all the things that matter in your life. Then you will simply no longer need to compare yourself.

RELATED:Why My Obsessive 24/7 Social Media Addiction Nearly Ruined My Life

As you know, where thought goes, energy flows. If thought reacts to the surrounding signals, then a negative, grumpy, critical thought is dramatized. You can't stop thinking, but you should change your thinking process. The first step is to face reality and make a statement: "I compare myself to a thing." The next step is to change the situation. If you deny the fact and are afraid to face reality, you can't move forward.

Switch your attention from negative thoughts to positive ones. At first, it won't be easy. But over time, you form a new habit. It is believed that it takes 21 days to create a new stable pattern. So why not do an experiment that promises a qualitative change in life?

RELATED:The Secret Bias Inside You That Undermines Your Hopes & Dreams (And How To Shut It Down)

All people tend to worry about something. It is normal to worry about a crisis, coronavirus, job change, or your home situation. But it's not ok to worry that someone else has a more exciting and colorful life than you. This approach does not solve the problem because nothing changes in your life; only negative things are added.

It would be best if you first calm your mind and learn to perceive the success of others evenly. Then, try meditation, breathing exercises, light sports, creativity, etc., and find your method of calming the brain.

RELATED:8 Ways To Immediately Stop Anxiety From Sucking The Life Out Of You

If you think about what to say to someone who compares themselves to others, there is one more great hint. No one is perfect, yet it is common for most to strive for this imaginary ideal. There are many reasons for this, and the roots of the problem are in childhood and the education system. But even grown-ups very often don't accept themselves. As a result, a person develops toxic shame.

When you learn to accept your shortcomings, you will know what it is like to be satisfied with yourself and calmly move forward. You will stop comparing yourself to the success of others, and you will no longer feel doubt about yourself and your achievements.

RELATED:How To Overcome Being Self-Critical With 6 Powerful 'Reframes'

There is one useful aspect of comparing yourself to others: It can help you set new goals for yourself. For many people, comparison with others is the impulse for their development.

But the essential thing to rememberis not to experience negative emotions and to not damage your self-esteem. That is why it is so important to focus on yourself, engage in self-development, and become the best version of yourself.

The next time you decide to compare yourself to your friend or famous blogger, do it a little differently: Think about what you can learn from the person who caught your attention.

You caninvest your time and energy in learning helpful information about the life of people who inspire you and their path to success. Please pay attention to the facts that brought positive changes in life.

And invite it into your life because even small steps can help make it better.

RELATED:10 Things You're Doing Because You're Finally Starting To Love Yourself

Natalie Maximetsis a life transformation coach with expertise in clinical and existential psychology.

The rest is here:
8 Useful Things to Do Instead of Comparing Yourself to Others - YourTango

Tyler Cowen holds the Holbert C. Harris chair in economics at George Mason University. He is the bestselling author of numerous books, and has written regularly for The New York Times. Daniel Gross is an entrepreneur and investor who founded search engines Cue and Pioneer.

Here, Cowan shares five key insights from their new book, Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World.Listen to the audio versionread by Cowan himselfin the Next Big Idea App.

According to one recent estimate, the total value of talent or human capital in the world is about $552 trillion. How we mobilize, identify, and induce talent to reach for greater ambition and greater aspirations is fundamental in determining the success of our societies. If you look at the American economy since 1960, it is estimated that at a bare minimum, 20 to 40 percent of the growth in the US economy has come from the better allocation of talentin this case, women and minorities.

We see many regions throughout the world that, today, are much greater sources of talent than before. Look, for instance, at India, and how many individuals born there have become top-tier CEOs in Silicon Valley. Decades ago, that was not happening. These individuals are now creating more value, and are also giving some of that value back to India. That is a sign that we are not sufficiently optimistic, not sufficiently aspirational, about how much better identification and mobilization of talent can do for us.

If you are sitting in a chair and issuing proclamations about who are the smartest or most hard-working people, you will have only limited success. The way you truly succeed with talent identification is by getting the talented people to want to findyou.

This is what economists call a decentralized mechanism, as outlined in the works of Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek. On any given day, your outreach to the rest of the world may not seem urgent, but what image are you projecting? What kind of Bat Signal are you sending? Who wants to meet you? Who is recommending you to their friends? Those are all instances of soft networks for talent identification. And if you invest preemptively in those soft networksmake them strong, convincing, persuasive, and appealingthat is the first key to doing well at talent.

A related idea for success and talent identification is using scouts. They could be explicit scouts whom you pay directly, or they could just be people who are aligned with your mission and want you to do well. Or maybe they want to help out their friends by recommending them to your institution. Successful institutions at talent search and identification are very good at mobilizing scouts. Again, you want to have decentralization on your side, not working against you.

Many interviews are bureaucratic processes done only to satisfy the requirements of human resources departments. So you can ask a candidate, What was a mistake you made in your previous job? Theyll have a prepared answer that indicates theyre capable of some self-awareness, but theyre not going to let on about some truly vital mistake that could make you decide not to hire them. So if you ask that question, youre mainly testing for preparationbut youre not going to learn much.

The key is to get the person talking about something they did not come prepared to discuss. It could be an interest of theirs, it could be their understanding of how they approach some part of their lives, it could be about their favorite sports teambut when the person is in conversational mode, you will get a better sense of that individuals personality, intellect, ability to relate to other people, and ability to explain things. How do they approach novel situations? How do they think on their feet? Conversation is what people do most of the time in most jobs, so the interview itself should be about conversation.

It will depend on context, but here are a few questions we like to ask in interviews: which of your beliefs are you most likely wrong about? Whats the most courageous thing youve ever done? If you joined us, and then in three to six months you were no longer here, why would that be? What did you like to do as a child? Did you feel appreciated at your last job? What was the biggest way in which you did not feel appreciated? (Thats a way to see if the person simply gets upset in almost any environment they would be placed in.) How did you prepare for this interview? What is something esoteric that you do?

One question we like to ask candidates is: What are the open tabs in your browser right now? That gets at how a person spends his or her time. It gets at their true interests. Its not so important what those open tabs are, but rather how the person talks about them and thinks about them. Does the person show a lot of enthusiasm for what theyre reading online? Do they show a good command of detail? You also might find out what kind of mind they have, or how they make decisions. Some people will have 300 open tabs and their life is an informational chaos, but theyll be attuned to many online developments. Other people are super neat, and they have zero unread emails and close out all their browser tabs each evening. That will be good for some kinds of jobs, and less advantageous for others.

Another question we like to ask candidates is to see how well they are aiming for continual self-improvement: what is it you do to improve your career that is similar to a classical pianist practicing scales every day? Again, the specific answer might matter, but you want to know, is the person thinking about self-improvement at all? Do they have any answer to that question? If the person simply hasnt thought about self-improvement, youll get a lot of hemming and hawing and a long silence.

But some might give you an enthusiastic answer. A writer might say, Well, I write every day. I run what Im doing by an editor, and I show my writing to all my friends. That is the beginning of an answer indicating there will be self-improvement and compounding returns over time. Daniel Gross and I have a favorite saying: personality is revealed on weekends. In a persons spare time, what does he or she actuallydo? You want some sense of that for job candidates, what they do to improve themselves.

To be sure, for many jobs you may need a certain level of intelligence, but beyond that, intelligence and success in the endeavor are remarkably weakly correlated. So dont focus too much on smarts alone.

You might wonder then, Well, what other categories would I look for in a job candidate? One would be energywhats the persons energy level? Are they going to bring energy to the task all the time theyre working on it? Another would be durabilitydoes this person stick with projects? To repeat an earlier idea, focus on compounding, continuous returns to self-improvement. Does the person work well with others? This is critical in virtually all workplace endeavors, and is often much more important than intelligence. Another way of putting this is, how good is the person at using or relying on the intelligence of others? How good is the person at knowing when he or she does not have the right answer, and ought to go ask someone else? How well does a person understand the hierarchies in various social institutions? A lot of people can be smart or hard-working, but theyre maximizing along the wrong hierarchies. I have in mind, say, people who become champion gamers, or maybe what they do with their lives is play chess. That can work great if youre at the very top of that distribution, but for a lot of people, those endeavors are maybe something they should give up for something more practical.

So, smarts and hard work arent enough. You need candidates who take the smarts, the hard work, the conscientiousness, the high energy level, and the ability to work well with others, and direct it toward the appropriate level of social organizationto get ahead for themselves andto add more value to your project.

If youre interviewing someone who is potentially a team leader or a CEO or founding a startup, theres a question Im especially fond of: How ambitious are you? You want someone who is truly ambitious, but also understands where social value lies. It sounds like a silly question, but when you are asking people to spell out the details and enthusiasm of their ambition, you will learn something essential about them.

This article originally appeared on Next Big Idea Club and is reprinted with permission.

Originally posted here:
How to identify talent creatives and winners - Fast Company