Reading Time: < 1 minYou know the other guy. The one that is up against the politician that you love. The one that you can’t understand how anyone could support. They’re probably not as good as their supporters think they are, but they’re not as bad as you try to make them out to be. Madeleine Van Hecke said […]
Empathy
If you can’t understand “how someone could think that way”, that’s a problem
Reading Time: < 1 minI see it on social media a lot, and I’m sure you do too: In most cases, people have solid reasons for what they believe. You may disagree with their reasons, but understanding where they’re coming from is a great place to start. You may not initially understand why someone could vote for “that person”, […]
Who is it for?
Reading Time: 2 minSeth Godin has talked for years about people needing to remember two simple things when creating something: “who is it for?” and “what is it for?”. I find people misplacing “who is it for?” quite often, and a funny example of that just came up. The bank I use recently went through another merger, and […]
Blind Spots scare me
Reading Time: < 1 minA couple of years ago, I shared my fear about the unknown holes in my knowledge. There are certainly some things that I “should” know, that you absolutely know but I simply don’t. The problem is that I have no idea what those are, and going on a game show could be a great way […]
There is only perception
Reading Time: 2 minIn Ryan Holiday’s excellent book “The Obstacle Is the Way“, Holiday offers a ton of excellent wisdom. One snippet that stood out to me was this: “There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.” This is […]
The why of the sandwich
Reading Time: 2 minA few weeks ago I picked up lunch for the family from Jersey Mike’s Subs. I ordered ahead, but they weren’t quite ready for me, so I sat and waited for a bit. All in all, it was a good experience and good food. While I was waiting, though, I saw something interesting. A woman […]
Hanlon’s Razor
Reading Time: < 1 minIf something bad happens to you, there are a few ways you can process what happened: It was a random error (software crash, failed brakes, etc). Someone made an unintentional mistake. Someone did this to me on purpose. There’s nothing you can do about the first item, but many instances of the third (“someone did […]
Oppositional energy is a cheap shortcut
Reading Time: 2 minIf you’re doing Pilates, oppositional energy is a great thing. In a post about it, Jen Micoleau explains an example like this: Stretch your legs away from your pelvis. At the same time, imagine your pelvis pulling away from your legs. You are creating opposition. The muscles along the bones lengthen. The pelvis stabilizes. The […]
Expand all acronyms the first time you use them
Reading Time: < 1 minThis is something I’m generally pretty good about, but I need to make sure I stay focused on it. Particularly in the world of marketing, there are acronyms everywhere that you look. While I use them frequently and know what most of them mean, those that I interact with may or may not. Whatever your […]
Your readers aren’t stupid
Reading Time: < 1 minWhen writing (or recording a video, or a podcast), there’s a fine balance between being informative and treating your readers like they’re dumb. This is something I struggle with a lot. If I’m talking about something like my move to Obsidian, I try to balance the “here is what I’m doing with Obsidian” along with […]