Attention to detail is seen as a good thing. Nit-picking is seen as bad thing. Where’s the difference? Perhaps in the intent – are you looking to attentively move something forward, or hold someone back? Perhaps how it’s received – does the recipient helped, or hindered? Attention is important – to feelings, too. Kindly, keep going. Continue reading Nit-picking – good or bad
Is what you do helping you to grow in the areas you care about? Are the challenges you face the ones you want to tackle? If neither of those are true, is what you’re doing really going in the right direction? Sometimes needs must. Sometimes you need to make a difficult choice, lest you suffer the consequence of not doing so. Kindly, keep going. Continue reading The right growth and challenge
When I run with a friend I enjoy saying “you’re only cheating yourself” if either of us take an iddy biddy shortcut. Over time I’ve come to (mostly) avoid those shortcuts as a matter of principle. If there’s a task I’m reluctant to do, I sometimes line up a reward for when it’s completed. In the past I’d often indulge a seductive voice that nudged … Continue reading You’re only cheating yourself
A good friend asked me a question about goals and the danger of spiralling thoughts if they’re not reached. In replying I thought about the Stockdale paradox and noted that I’ve been that broken optimist around some of my own desires. If setting a goal that isn’t entirely within your control, or is a remarkable stretch, it might be better to choose merely a direction … Continue reading Goals and direction
It’s impossible to cater for everyone, especially in contexts that are focused on individual preference. Aiming to do so is the right thing, though there comes a point where a decision must be made on the best compromise. I don’t like to compromise, though there may be no better way when there are finite resources or opportunities. Where compromise is made, we must be conscious … Continue reading Pleasing everyone, all the time
I wrote a quote I like on my notice board as a reminder today, changing the pronoun as I did so. “Nobody made a greater mistake than they who did nothing because they could do only a little.” Through the week I gently nudged a senior colleague, for using unnecessarily gendered language that could have a subtle negative impact. It’s not much, but if we … Continue reading Doing just a little
I went to an indie cafe today and paid a princely sum for a fairly bland muffin and very average coffee. While there, I enjoyed a book left on the table by the owners. It wasn’t the experience I hoped for – it was better than that. The book was self-published and while touching, isn’t one I think I’d have picked out myself. I read … Continue reading Value for money is more than an exchange
As I thought about my next career steps today I wasn’t feeling enthusiasm for what seems the obvious next step. Unsure of what to aim for, I pulled back from thinking of paths and asked myself in what areas I most wanted to grow. There, where my curiosity is naturally engaged, seems the best way forward for the long term. Kindly, keep going. Continue reading Where do you want to go
At the end of The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris, he makes clear you ultimately have two choices in any situation. Accept it, or take action to improve it. How often we won’t choose which is really acceptance by default and dismay at finding this is so. Or, we procrastinate over the action because we’re unwilling to find the time, energy, money to commit. In … Continue reading Accept or act – pick one
From a student I’m mentoring I heard that “COVID has ruined our working years”. They didn’t mean it quite as it sounded, though talking it through the young person’s words highlighted, for me, some over-dramatised thinking of my own. Have unfortunate events had an impact? Certainly. Will I really never reach my goals? Very unlikely. Is the future bleak and my working life for nought? … Continue reading Perspective from unexpected quarters
Sometimes You Learn 