Reading Time: < 1 minI’ve seen a lot of people put “listen more” as a goal for 2021, and it’s something we should all strive for. The ability to really listen (and not just be half-listening while you’re thinking of the best response) is a tough thing to do, and something I continually work on. I recently saw a […]
Empathy
Calling someone “talented” is kind of an insult
Reading Time: 2 minWhile I’ve certainly called people “talented” over the years, and meant it as the highest kind of compliment, it might be taken differently than that. As Seth Godin says in The Practice, “talent is not the same as skill.” He goes on to define each word: Talent is something we’re both with: it’s in our […]
Why moderate viewpoints get squashed
Reading Time: 3 minI was recently listening to an episode of the Hidden Brain podcast (the episode was “A Conspiracy of Silence“) and it raised an interesting idea. The bulk of the podcast was on the subject of preference falsification, the idea where people will intentionally falsify their preferences when with other people. These little lies can be […]
Take a minute
Reading Time: 2 minI was recently listening to an episode of the Hidden Brain podcast titled “Screaming into the Void”, which dug into why people get so outraged about everything (and then others get outraged about the initial outrage, and on it goes). You can listen to it here if you’d like; it’s a great episode! Covington Catholic […]
Be selfishly selfless
Reading Time: < 1 minThe idea of being selfless is great. Constantly putting others ahead of you seems like an admirable way to live. It is, perhaps, but it won’t work. In order to serve others, you need to take care of yourself first. If you’ve been on a plane, you know the safety drill, and a big thing […]
Praise and criticism are both vapor
Reading Time: < 1 minIn listening to a recent meditation track from Headspace as part of a recent clarity break, the focus of the clip was on this: Praise and criticism are two sides of the same coin. If we believe in one, we believe in the other. Better not to get attached to either. A similar thought was […]
Hate your customers, hate your business
Reading Time: < 1 minWe all want to love what we do, but it’s almost impossible to do that if we don’t love who we serve. As Seth Godin has said, “if you hate your customers, you’re going to hate your business.“ While you may have a bad experience with a restaurant or hair salon, they’re generally working hard […]
Aim to serve your past self
Reading Time: < 1 minIf you run a business, there’s a good chance that your best customers are people that remind you of how you used to be. As Rory Vaden put it: You’re most powerfully positioned to serve the person you once were. It makes sense for a lot of us. We had a problem to overcome, found […]
Curiosity Drives Advancement
Reading Time: 2 minIn his excellent book “Einstein“, Walter Isaacson digs deep into what made the famous physicist so insightful and influential. One big key was undoubtedly his curiosity. When he was young, Einstein was given a compass by his father and was enthralled by it. From the book: He [Einstein] was sick in bed one day, and […]
Disagree Without Dehumanizing
Reading Time: < 1 minIn his excellent book “Never Split the Difference“, Chris Voss offered this advice regarding negotiations (hostages in his case, but he presented it for business owners): “He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered the most valuable secret of negotiation.” If you can disagree with someone while still remaining a decent human […]