A colleague is supposedly writing a book. He’s amassed research, taken and written notes, and told (too many) people he’s writing. But he’s not writing. No book excerpts, no blog posts, nor articles. His “writing” is invisible to other people. Another colleague thinks he wants to run a marathon. He researched the “right” way to run […]
How Much Confidence Do You Need to Start? Read More »
(I can’t write about the shooting in Texas. My heart is too heavy. Instead, I’ll write about problems we can solve.) At a recent dinner, friends described this problem: “On a recent flight, we took off late. Many people on the plane had connecting flights. The flight attendants made the obligatory announcement about waiting for
When Is a Small Application of Money the Right Tool to Solve This Problem? Read More »
For years, I was a terrible photographer. When I took pictures of Mark and the children, I often cut off the top of Mark’s head. That was back in the days of film cameras and I never quite understood how to frame pictures. Until we developed those pictures, I didn’t realize how narrow my focus
When Do You Choose to Narrow or Extend Your Focus? Read More »
How Do You Manage Your Energy? Do you ever slog through the days, feeling as if you can’t get going? That happened to me last month. I wasn’t sick or depressed—I didn’t have my normal get-up-and-go. That’s when I realized I was “out of spoons.” The spoons represent our energy—and, at least for me—our resilience.
How Do You Manage Your Energy? Read More »
I love to make it easy for me to do my best work. To do so, I need to think about what I want to reinforce and what I want to dampen. When I create reinforcing—or virtuous—feedback loops, I use my data to do more of what I want. However, that’s not always easy to
Where Can You Create Reinforcing (Virtuous) Feedback Loops? Read More »
CAL Newsletter: Why Is “You Got This” So Evil? My physical challenges are apparent to anyone with vision. I use a rollator (wheeled walker) when I leave the house. Heck, I use a rollator inside the house. And every so often, people want to offer me moral support. They say, “You got this!” as if
Why Is “You Got This” So Evil? Read More »
I love to get stuff done. I count various measures on my way to my productivity, but when I cross things off my lists? Yeah, I love that. I know what being productive feels like and looks like for me. It often feels like some amount of “stuff” per unit time. But creativity? I used
How Do You Know When You’re Being Creative vs. Productive? Read More »
Do you keep lists of work to do? If you’re like me, you have the work-list, the home/personal list, and the honey-do list. (The honey-do list is for my honey (husband) to please do.) I also have a potential list, which I don’t pay much attention to. I purposely do not call this a backlog.
What’s on Your “Done” List or How Do You Recognize Your Accomplishments? Read More »
This week started the Days of Awe, as some Jews call the Jewish New Year. One prayer I particularly like on Rosh Hashanah is Rabbi Jack Riemer’s A Time for Turning. Here’s a highlight: … takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking with old habits. It means admitting
How Can We Break With the Old and Create a New Season? Read More »
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
How Often Do You Choose to Reset or Readjust? Read More »