Reading Time: 5 minI’ve always considered myself to be a pretty good planner, but as I’ve learned more I’ve realized how poor a job I often do. Over the past year, I’ve refined my processes quite a bit and I feel I have things in a much better place (though always looking to improve). For me, planning really […]
Learning
To write more, read more
Reading Time: < 1 minAs I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m trying to write every day. So far, so good. It’s been excellent, but it’s not always easy. There are times when I’m not sure what to write, and I find the reading is often the solution. David B. Clear sums it up rather nicely by saying that […]
Goals are a commitment to the process
Reading Time: < 1 minSetting a goal is easy enough: “Lose 20 pounds by March 1” sounds great. If you follow something like the SMART framework, that simple goal essentially checks all of the boxes. While losing 20 pounds might be the goal, setting that goal really means that you’re committing to a process. This likely means eating less […]
The two types of failure
Reading Time: < 1 minIn Atul Gawande’s amazing book “The Checklist Manifesto“, he suggests that there are two types of failure in the world. The first is ignorance—we may err because science has given us only a partial understanding of the world and how it works. There are skyscrapers we do not yet know how to build, snowstorms we […]
My list of daily goals
Reading Time: 2 minA few weeks back I started tracking a list of daily goals. These are separate from any to-do items I might have, and unrelated to anything on my calendar. They’re simply a list of things I’d like to accomplish every day. As of today, it’s a list of four main goals with five sub-goals in […]
More about clarity breaks
Reading Time: 2 minI mentioned the idea of a “clarity break” yesterday and thought I’d unpack it a bit more. It’s a concept that I’ve struggled with over the years, but find great value from when I do it regularly. The EOS Worldwide blog defines it as: A clarity break is a regularly scheduled appointment on your calendar […]
My big reading shortcut
Reading Time: 2 minOver the past year I’ve been trying to read a lot more. I’ve succeeded in reading quite a few books, but I’m also “semi-reading” quite a few more. Michael Simmons has coined this as Fractal Reading, and while I don’t follow his practice exactly, it’s pretty close. Full books First, there are some books that […]
Blogging beats journaling
Reading Time: 2 minA recent episode of the Focus On This podcast talked about the benefits of writing a daily journal and they were spot on. The three benefits they highlighted were to: Learn from your own life. Train your mind. Cultivate your self-awareness. You can listen to their full episode to dig more deeply into each of […]
Blend It All
Reading Time: 3 minThere’s a thought that everyone should have a clear “work/life balance” — one part of your life is work, one is personal, and never the two shall cross. While that may be necessary for some of us, for most I think it can be a nice blending of the two. I see three areas where […]
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 […]