I stopped with resolutions years and years ago. Instead, up until now, I examined my systems and see where I might want to practice one small change. (See What’s the Smallest Change You Can Make? for one example.) That has worked well for me. This year, I’m experimenting with a suggestion via Daniel Steinberg’s Driving …
Stop Resolving: How Can You Challenge Yourself to Seize Each Day Next Year? Read More »
I’m working on my next year’s “plans.” I use quotes around that word because I use lean approaches to plan my work. I decide which work to do now, and I finish that work. Then, I pick from many options for the next bit of work. Based on my throughput, I have enough possibilities for …
Three Questions to Become More Adaptable and Resilient in the Future 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 »
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 »
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 …
Back when I was a software developer, I excelled at certain mistakes. I could write an infinite loop faster than anyone. Then there was the off-by-one mistake for arrays or tables. I repeated certain mistakes too often. Until I started an engineering notebook. Once I started to learn about my mistakes, I stopped those mistakes. I …
Mistake vs. Success: When Do You Learn from Each? Read More »
How Can You Use Optimism to Achieve Your Goals? I recently learned about “dynamic optimism” and “passive optimism.” Dynamic optimists act. They see their reality, they set a goal. They use a variety of steps to achieve their goal, using the growth mindset all along the way. They persevere. Passive optimists don’t do those things. They hope for …
CAL Newsletter: How Can You Use Optimism to Achieve Your Goals? Read More »
When I was a kid, I went to summer camp. I loved it. In the last week, I would say to myself, “This is the last Monday. How can I make this my best Monday?” I decided on one thing and did that. Those last weeks were my best weeks. A couple of years went …
How Can You Use Your Projected Last Moment to Create a Great Present Moment? Read More »
We often talk about “spending” time. I often think about spending in two ways: To expend, as in energy. To exchange some value for something else. For example, I spend money in exchange for goods or services. I’m not so sure I like the idea of “spending” time. I can’t ever get another second of …
I’ve been speaking a ton this year, primarily around the Modern Management Made Easy books. Some meeting facilitators have a little trouble with the idea I wrote 18 books. Some people can’t believe it. (Literally. They say, “I can’t believe it!” I laugh.) Some facilitators ask how many more I plan to write. (Many!) One …
Are You Competing With Others or Modeling Yourself After Their Accomplishments? Read More »