choices Archives - Page 14 of 37 - Create an Adaptable Life

How Do We Plan for Both Cascading Effects and Catastrophic Success?

newsletter / Johanna / September 23, 2021

CAL Newsletter: How Do We Plan for Both Cascading Effects and Catastrophic Success? I learned new words this week for events I’ve seen many times: catastrophic effects and catastrophic success. I’m sure you’ve experienced catastrophic failure. Here’s an example that’s happened to me too often over my career: a disk drive fails, taking all my data with it. I […]

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How Do You Choose Between Short-Term Convenience and Long-Term Pain?

question of the week / Johanna / September 1, 2021

Have you ever left a bandage on your arm too long? If you leave it on too long, you feel anywhere from discomfort to pain when you pull it off. Does that change your choice—do you choose to rip the bandage off as soon as you realize that? Or do you choose to leave it

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When Do You Choose to Embrace the Past, Present, or Future?

question of the week / Johanna / August 27, 2021

I went to the dentist this morning, for my semi-annual cleaning. The only interesting parts of the visit were their COVID questions and the piped-in music. They asked me about my vaccine and disease status 4 times: when I made the appointment; when I confirmed it by email; confirmation the day before by phone; and

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When Are You Kind to Yourself and When Are You Not?

question of the week / Johanna / August 20, 2021

I spoke with a writer the other day. He said mean things about himself—that he was a bad writer. (Not true.) That he didn’t make time to write. (True.) That no one would want to read his articles. (Definitely not true.) Sometimes, we give ourselves too much leeway for our mistakes—we are too kind to

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Where Do You Choose to Draw Your Boundaries?

newsletter / Johanna / August 18, 2021

CAL Newsletter: Where Do You Choose to Draw Your Boundaries? Sometimes, people ask us for more than we want to offer—or can reasonably achieve. When people ask us for more than we want to offer, we have many options for responses. Each of those responses reflects our boundaries. That means we need to know how

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How Do You Judge How Good Something Is?

question of the week / Johanna / August 12, 2021

I’ve been shopping for a dress to wear to my younger daughter’s wedding. (I’ll call her YD because that’s definitely not her name.) I have many criteria for a dress. Aside from flattering me, the dress has to work with my rollator. That means the dress can’t be chiffon. At OD’s (Older Daughter) wedding, I

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When Do You Choose to Embrace or Reject Personal Change?

question of the week / Johanna / August 5, 2021

Aside from death and taxes, we can depend on change. Change occurs whether we want it to or not. We have big choices: when to embrace or reject these changes. I don’t see just one extreme: embrace or reject. Instead, how can we create options that help us through the changes so we can embrace

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How Can You Create Better Interactions?

question of the week / Johanna / July 14, 2021

A funny thing happened these past couple of weeks. Instead of short messages in my LinkedIn messaging, I’m receiving messages that look like newsletters. Not too long, but not short messages. I’m so shy and retiring (!), I asked one of these people directly. “Are you using LinkedIn to send newsletters?” Yes, he was. I

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Which Kind of Power Do You Need to Avoid Triangulation?

newsletter / Johanna / July 12, 2021

CAL Newsletter: Which Kind of Power Do You Need to Avoid Triangulation? A Beloved Family Member (BFM) refuses all kinds of social media. Just refuses. However, BFM has friends on several sites. These Friends know I am related to BFM and message me to get to BFM. That’s triangulation. The first time this occurred, I

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How Often Do You Choose to Reset or Readjust?

question of the week / Johanna / July 8, 2021

I love the summer. The summer sunshine helps me do more—inside or outside. I even get a bit of a tan. Summer rejuvenates me. It’s also the time of year when I review my goals. That’s because July means half the year is over. Or, if you’re an optimist like me, you still have half

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