Category: Uncategorized

Moving on up

Sometimes people want to advance in their career or their job for the money, which is completely understandable and a rational reason to want to work more. Other times, people want to advance because advancing just seems like what you ought to do. No one wants to stand still, do they? This is especially tricky…… Continue reading Moving on up

Who are you really and are you sure?

Bear with me a moment and stop thinking. Okay, let’s be more specific. Decide that you won’t think any thoughts for the next minute. If that’s too big of a commitment, thirty seconds will do. No thoughts, just decide that you won’t think anything and then do it. Start your timer. I’ll do it with…… Continue reading Who are you really and are you sure?

We’re all addicted to the win

I meditate every morning for 20 minutes. That’s not a brag — it’s just what I do, like flossing. There’s a feeling I sometimes get when I’m meditating that I’ve found the golden center. Everything is still and quiet but also alive and humming. They key word in that description is “sometimes.” Sometimes it happens…… Continue reading We’re all addicted to the win

Anger is a story you tell yourself

You went upstairs to meditate. You told your wife you were going. A modicum of silence and peace in the house for twenty minutes goes without saying doesn’t it? Apparently not. Within minutes there’s a phone call conducted at full volume outside the bedroom door. Your kid comes looking for you and she tells him…… Continue reading Anger is a story you tell yourself

How to know what you think

There’s a lot to think about when you’re running a complex, chaotic, sometimes-dysfunctional team. It worried me, coming into this job, how I would keep my thoughts straight. I’ve always done better when I have a partner in crime. Someone to bounce ideas off of. That works well when you’re dealing with a single project,…… Continue reading How to know what you think

How to make a habit

Decide that you want to make something a habit. Decide if you’re going to do it every day, or every week, or every month, or some other arrangement. (This all depends on the thing. If it’s “wake up at 5 a.m. every day,” the schedule is rather obvious. If it’s “run a mile naked under…… Continue reading How to make a habit

All the tea in… Taiwan?

It’s tempting, especially in the latter days of this digital age, to forget about the value of the middleman. When you can buy artisanal chocolate directly from the source, wine directly from the winery, art from artists, and so on. Doing so means that every dollar you spend benefits the person or people who made…… Continue reading All the tea in… Taiwan?

They’ll tell you

I was fretting a few weeks ago about how to evaluate a staff member with whom I’d never worked, but about whom I’d heard an awful lot. It’s a challenge to step into a new environment as a blank slate — everyone wants to scribble on you. I trusted the background information I was receiving,…… Continue reading They’ll tell you

A simple proposition

One of my managers is struggling. She’s in charge of marketing for a series of products and events, but in many cases she has no idea what she’s selling. I don’t mean she doesn’t know the details. This event is happening in this place over these dates. Registration costs this much. She knows that stuff.…… Continue reading A simple proposition