You can do five pretty easy tasks, pretty quickly. They won’t have much impact, but you’d have ticked them off the to-do list and that’d feel pretty good. Today. Or you can do that one hard task. It’ll make a difference, but it demands more time and effort, and you’ll feel uncomfortable – today. What will count for more, what will feel better, tomorrow? Continue reading More, quicker, easier – kind of
I remember when I was 18 getting back from a three mile run and feeling exhausted. I more or less collapsed on the stairs when I got in the house. Today, at 45, I enjoyed nearly 13 miles with a good friend and after getting home took my dawg out for a good walk. I’ve put in a lot of training since I was 18, … Continue reading What do you want to be better at
The day itself has gone well, but the head has been unkind. “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re probably right.” Some days you challenge the noise, but it doesn’t feel like you’re winning. No matter. Keep going. You can. Continue reading One of those days
I’m reading Radical Candor by Kim Scott and as well as its explicit drive to encourage caring personally, the anecdotes have helped me care about people in a different way. Big corporations turn me off. I feel that money and market power becomes ends in themselves, rather than a mechanism for delivering positives, which I dislike. That might always be accurate, but it’s my gut … Continue reading All the people, so many people
That thing you anticipate that’s got you all wound up and annoyed – well it hasn’t happened yet. If you’re annoyed in anticipation, then you’re impacting all the things happening right now that deserve your full attention. So, use the intervening time wisely. Be annoyed when the time comes. Better yet, work out how to avert the situation or respond well. Be effective when the … Continue reading Be annoyed then, or not
I re-read this line with some skepticism: Currently, self-service support channels are severely underused, with only 26% of employees having ever used one. One of the books in most pleased to have read is A Field Guide to Lies and Statistics – I’ve thought more clearly around quoted numbers and percentages ever since. In this instance though, how 26% was arrived at isn’t as contentious … Continue reading Numbers don’t lie, do they
Today, under the heading “I will focus on” in my journal, I noted: Acknowledging that my feelings may be a poor guide to how things really are. I’m often surprised at how strong and real my feelings are, but how they don’t align to a detached view of a given situation. Indeed, we don’t always see things as they are, we see things as we … Continue reading Real feelings and reality
They’re not always the same. If you’ve got right of way and drive into the path of someone who hasn’t seen you, that’s not helpful. If you have more accurate information than someone else, but you withhold it so you can look good later, that’s not helpful. If the work can be completed satisfactorily, but you’re forcing folks to spend exhausting hours sweating inconsequential detail, … Continue reading Being right and being helpful
I read today that it “is no coincidence that Einstein, who made the most discoveries, also made the greatest number of mistakes”. Elsewhere, Neil Pasricha has written this as “lose more to win more”. Time and again, successful folks pass on the message that there is no straightforward road to success. We must be open to failure, course correction, and new information. Humility helps. Courage … Continue reading Mistakes and losses
Today has been a great day. Nothing particularly magical happened, but I felt the magic of human connection very deeply. Across time, too – driving along to Queen’s greatest hits and thinking of my Dad when he was the age I am now. His singing was never magic, but his air drumming was convincing! Nothing is materially different, but gratitude and companionship lent today a … Continue reading It’s a kind of magic
