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
The more I’ve read about great people accomplishing great things, in their own words where possible, the clearer it is that they’ve made their share of mistakes. Not big political divide style mistakes where ideology is the judge of what’s right and wrong. Personally recognised mistakes, that honest self-accounting has shown up. It’s liberating for me, learning of these. If we show up wanting to … Continue reading Honest mistakes
I’m reading ‘Lost Connection’ by Johann Hari again. It tells a powerful story about the impact of pharmaceutical company profiteering on how depression is treated. Regardless of whether or not he’s right about that, there’s a clear acknowledgment of the placebo effect in the medical profession. Placebos work because of the stories (which may be implicit) we absorb about them. For good or bad, humans … Continue reading Clutching at stories
In the midst of the confusion and controversy around grading in the absence of exams, I’ve been thinking about what defines us. Certainly our choices are impacted by the qualifications we hold, especially as a young person who hasn’t had much opportunity to demonstrate other facets of themselves. We’re not defined by these qualifications though. Whether a perfect system assigns grades or not, no matter … Continue reading What defines you
I enjoyed an online training session yesterday, aimed at getting comfortable with selling. Asking for money is very difficult for me, however necessary it is and even though I feel I have much to contribute. A key point of the training was to be “available for a yes, and a no”. You put you what you have on the table, and without any pressure invite … Continue reading Being available
To search, in earnest, requires hope. Without it, you become inattentive and might very well miss the thing you’re looking for. This is true for those keys you’ve misplaced in the house, for the tragic loss of aircraft at sea, and everything in between. The scale of the search doesn’t change the need for hope – it only makes it harder to sustain. We still … Continue reading Lost and found
This will pass, things will get better. It’s a common reassurance given to people experiencing hardship. It’s well intended, but to me it feels a little hollow. There’s no guarantee and so we cannot merely hold on and hope, confident that better will arrive soon enough. But, things definitely CAN get better. Hope is a key part of that happening. Optimism isn’t a failure to … Continue reading It may, it will, get better
Because it’ll be easier to get up, and to fight through. You can make a difference. Believe in yourself. Keep going. . (Photo by Shane on Unsplash) Continue reading Believe you can
Sometimes You Learn 