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. …
When my older daughter was in high school, we battled often about her clothing. Her school had a dress code that said girls couldn’t wear spaghetti strap tops and their shirts had to cover their backs and bellies. I thought it was my role as her mother to fight that battle on behalf of the …
When did you last exchange a business card with someone? I’m sure it was either in March 2020 or earlier. Over the past (almost) two years, we’ve proven we don’t need paper business cards. Yet, some people still print them. I wonder how many of these pre-pandemic rituals we will retain and how many we …
How Can We Rethink Business Card Rituals and Still Connect with Each Other? Read More »
I wish I could tell you I was perfect at doing all the work on my list. Nope. Every so often, I procrastinate and delay on some specific task. In the past, I worried because I didn’t finish that work. (The more I worried, the less I did.) I created a reinforcing feedback loop that …
What Games Do You Create to Succeed in Life and Work? Read More »
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 …
How Do We Plan for Both Cascading Effects and Catastrophic Success? Read More »
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 …
How Do You Choose Between Short-Term Convenience and Long-Term Pain? Read More »
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 …
When Do You Choose to Embrace or Reject Personal Change? Read More »
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 …
I spoke with a treasured colleague, Alex, a couple of weeks ago. He told me he was so busy he couldn’t “find” the time to write. I asked about his family and the house. No, everyone’s okay. Cooking, cleaning, kids—all good. He’s not working out any more than usual. I then asked this question: “How …
Do You Offer Your Attention to People Who Deserve It? Read More »
Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open this week. Why? Because she would have to meet with the media right after her play. This is a big deal. She’s one of the top tennis players in the world. I suspect that she’s a big draw for the television rights. Naomi asked for what she wanted. …