challenge

When Do You Choose to Move From Risk Awareness to Contingency Planning?

This is Johanna Rothman’s February 2025 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. A reader asked when I choose to manage risks with contingency planning. I had to think about the question because I’m often aware of various risks. In my life and projects, I often make […]

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Which Essential Questions Will Help You Start Next Year Right?

This is Johanna Rothman’s December 2024 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. I’m doing my version of planning for next year. I set not more than three big, overarching goals. Then, I develop tactics I can use—but I do not have to use—to accomplish that goal.

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How to Acknowledge Our Disappointment and Decide How to Restart

We’ve all had terrible disappointments in our lives, personal, professional, and societal. Somehow, most of us find ways to live with the personal disappointments. I’m not going to discuss those because I’m not a therapist. Professionally, I’ve experienced several project-based disappointments. We either didn’t deliver what the customer wanted or we didn’t deliver it when

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How Much of a Hold Do Your Various Tribes Have on You?

(Warning: this post discusses the upcoming US Presidential election.) Our identities mean we identify with many possible different tribes. By tribe, I mean a particular affinity group. I have professional tribes, such as software people, managers, and consultants. Personally, I have my family tribe and my position in that tribe. I also have social tribes,

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How Can We Move from Low Self Esteem to Recognizing Reality?

Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Every so often, the three indicators of low self-esteem rise up and kick us in the guts. That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. That’s when I spent a week in Las Vegas. I participated in an Anthology workshop where I experienced fear, uncertainty, and doubt—along with the reality—of

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When Does a Level Playing Field Make Sense & When Should We Create It?

This is the August 2024 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter, from Johanna Rothman. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. I’ve heard about a “level playing field” for many years. First, it was in school, where supposedly “everyone” had the same opportunities. If everyone has the same start, supposedly it’s up to

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