Reading Time: < 1 minI made it most than two years without contracting COVID, thanks to a good degree of caution, mask-wearing, and vaccines, but it finally caught me last week and knocked me down. All in all it wasn’t too bad, but it was rough enough that I had to end my daily blogging streak at 620 days. […]
Encouragement
First, go fail 49 times
Reading Time: < 1 minIt’s surprising to me how often “fail more” can be a great way to help a person ultimately succeed. Seth Godin says that if you’re struggling to come up with a good idea, to “show me all of your bad ideas first“. I’ve even tried to “fail” on purpose at times; when trying to find […]
Enjoy your obscurity
Reading Time: < 1 minWe all tend to want to reach more people, whether that’s through our creative work, sports, acting, etc. Even on this blog, which I’m doing almost entirely for my own growth, it would be kind of fun to have more traffic. That said, a bit of obscurity can be a good thing. If you look […]
Pray for help, but put in the work
Reading Time: < 1 minWhen you have a lot that you need to accomplish, it’s ok to ask for help. That could be in the form of prayer, asking friends, or wherever you’re most likely to turn. As I’ve heard said before, though, “faith can move mountains, but don’t be surprised if God hands you a shovel.“ Or, as […]
Make time for the right things
Reading Time: < 1 minA study by the Management Research Group showed that 97% of CEOs said that the key to their organization’s success was “long-term strategic thinking”. In a different survey, 96% of CEOs said that “they don’t have time for strategic thinking”. Clearly, something is lacking. Dorie Clark unpacks it in this excellent TEDx talk from 2021: […]
Someone should do something about that
Reading Time: < 1 minI’m sure you’ve had a friend lament a bad situation and say that “someone should do something about that”. Perhaps you’ve said it yourself, and I’m sure I have at some point too. Perhaps the person to “do something” should be you. It’s a tricky line, because when things look bad, sometimes the best solution […]
Take some time to do nothing
Reading Time: < 1 minSometime in the next few days, see if you can carve out a bit of time to just do nothing. For many of us, that time needs to go on the calendar or it’ll never happen, so do that if you need to. As Austin Kleon said in “Steal Like An Artist“: “Creative people need […]
Don’t try to be the best – just be better
Reading Time: < 1 minStriving to be the best at something can be a great approach in some areas. If you want to win a gold medal in the Olympics, you literally have to become the best at your craft. For most of us, though, becoming the “best” isn’t attainable, or often even measurable. If I wanted our marketing […]
Problem Solving versus Problem Finding
Reading Time: < 1 minYears ago, salespeople had all of the knowledge. If you needed information about a specific feature on a car, or a list of homes for sale in your area, there was no Google to help you out — you needed a human. The best salespeople were great problem solvers. These days, much of that has […]
Routines versus practices
Reading Time: < 1 minHaving strong daily practices can be a great way to get ahead in life. With solid practices you can consistently work to become healthier, smarter, and more well-rounded. When I was using the Full Focus Planner regularly, it focused a lot on daily practices (which they call “daily rituals”) and it got me to reconsider […]