Having courage is what makes you into a super hero.

I’m not talking about the crime-fighting, kick-your-momma-in-the-face kind of courage though. I’m talking about a brand of bravery, confidence, and consistency that makes people trust you.

Like me for example — people ALWAYS ask me what kind of computer to buy. They must think I walk around computer stores and say, “Ahh, that’s a good buy. Oh no, don’t buy that one.” Honestly, I probably think about buying computers less than most non-technical people do. Yet people still come to me for advice!

Why? Because I’m confident. I don’t waver in giving a solid recommendation for a computer. You want a coupon code with that? Sure, I can probably Google around and get you one. It’s not hard.

I once was talking to an old classmate here at BYU. He had recently started growing quite a thick beard (which is not allowed here at BYU — you can’t take tests or even buy fast food on campus with facial hair). I asked him, “So how do you take your mid-terms then?”

He answered, “Like normal. I go into the testing center, and if anyone brings it up then I just act confident and they usually let me through.”

Courage is a powerful thing. It makes you into an expert (or a rebel, if you’re here at BYU).

“As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me. They do not feel any enmity against me as an individual, nor I against them. They are only “doing their duty,” as the saying goes. Most of them, I have no doubt, are kind-hearted law abiding men who would never dream of committing murder in private life. On the other hand, if one of them succeeds in blowing me to pieces with a well-placed bomb, he will never sleep any the worse for it.”

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children the right to study paintings, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.

Good teachers are rare. Extremely rare. I bet you’re a horrible teacher.

Why? You’re boring. You don’t engage your audience. You don’t even think about your audience. You’re just trying to fill up time as you vomit useless words into your listeners’ ears (and expect them to learn something).

Take church for example.

It’s no wonder why most people don’t like it. As a missionary, I often felt bad for the people that I invited to church because it was so boring. Three hours of sitting in a chair, not understanding a word… yeah, that’s great.

Maybe that’s why so many people flock to those big, gaudy churches with the entertaining ministers. As a church teacher, if you’re not compelling enough to make people want to listen to you, no one is going to come.

Why didn’t anyone show up to Elder’s Quorum on time on Sunday? Why were 90% of the people in Sunday School surfing the web on their iPhones? Uh-huh. Boring.

School is even worse.

Because we all pay tuition to be there. Why, other than to receive a piece of paper called a diploma, would I pay to listen to someone read me a few powerpoint slides? Why would I pay to go to class, when I can just read the textbook? If you don’t give your students added value by going to class, no one is going to come.

And even if they do come, they’re just going to surf the internet in class. If you’re a professor, don’t be so naive in thinking that all those students with laptops are actually taking notes. They’re not.

But here’s what really scares me.

Parents don’t know how to teach their children. And if parents don’t teach their children, society will. The drug dealer that sits next to your kid in class will.

Want to know why your kid does bad things? You taught him, whether passively or actively, to do so. Want to know why your child doesn’t love you? Because you never taught her how to love.

Teaching skills are not talents used to entertain audiences. They’re easily developed skills that can save society.

So let’s get it on it.

Today I paid someone $14 to give me a haircut. The entire experience took about 15 minutes, meaning I paid my stylist the equivalent of $56 an hour to run a razor over my head.

And as I’m sitting there, I started thinking… how did paying someone to cut our hair become a societal norm? Why aren’t haircutting skills something that good parents are expected to teach their children? We teach our kids first aid to help other people, why don’t we teach them to cut other people’s hair?

There are plenty of other established norms that we should fight. Why should we buy a tablet, just because Apple is releasing one tomorrow? Why should we believe that a college degree is necessary to make six figures? Why should we let our happiness be based on our surroundings?

When you start challenging norms like these, you’re thinking like an entrepreneur. Welcome to the ranks.

Do you understand people?

Do you understand what they’re saying, even when they’re not saying it?

I was in a meeting last Friday where someone said, “We’re defying what we know about web stats.” What they really meant was, “We’re defying what we know about Search Engine Optimization.” But I got the picture anyway.

When it comes to technology, I’m usually pretty good at understanding what people are saying, even when they’re not using the right words. But in other real-life conversations… how good am I?

If you want to understand people, you have to understand what isn’t being said. That’s what really matters, since people are probably using the wrong words anyway.

Altering human behavior is nearly impossible. That’s how the shrinks and support groups stay in business — we’re not getting any better, even though they charge us by the hour.

Want to know something? There’s a secret to changing something about yourself. It’s so earth-shatteringly simple, yet most people don’t get it. And I can tell you in three words.

Take. Small. Steps.

What was my reaction when I saw someone slip on the ice in front of me?

I did nothing. I ignored the whole thing. I didn’t want to draw attention to something that was probably very embarrassing for the poor person.

Gather your pitchforks.

Today as I was walking home from work, I saw someone in front of me slip on the ice. The person was obviously unhurt and easily picked him/herself off the ground.

How should I have responded? Help the person up out of courtesy, or keep walking to avoid embarrassing the victim?

Let me know what you would do in the comments, and I’ll reveal my actual response in a later entry.

A new technology trend has been uncovered in the recent disaster in Haiti. People are donating money to relief agencies via text message — and using social media to spread the word. The results have been record-breaking, with more than $10 million donated through texting so far.

But Americans didn’t stop there. They even started started complaining to cell phone companies, saying the standard text messaging fees were unfair when donating to Haiti. Consequently, US cell phone companies started waiving SMS fees for the Haiti donations.

Wait a second. Isn’t something a bit fishy here?

Uh-huh. American consumers know that sending a text message doesn’t cost cell phone companies anything. No one wants these big, nasty companies getting rich off a natural disaster.

But here’s my question: why are we complacent with cell phone companies getting rich off the millions of other non-Haiti texts that we send every day? Why do we keep shelling out $10 or $20 a month for unlimited texting when we know it doesn’t cost cell phone companies a thing?

Consumers in America have changed. We used to consider the cost of goods sold before paying for something. Now it takes a natural disaster for us to complain.

(Update: It’s getting worse. US Government Says: Overcharging for Text Messages is A-OK.)