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It’s Never Finished
There’s that moment in summer, when you’re just finished mowing the lawn, trimming the edges, cleaning up all the clippings. You put the mower away and look over your yard, the smell of fresh-cut grass filling your senses. And for just a moment, you feel the satisfaction of completion. Aaaah….. Then a moment later you…
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My Top Reads of 2014
What did you read last year? I started 2014 with a hope of focusing more on long reading, rather than merely snacking on blogs and social media. While there’s so much great information available online, focusing on a single book or idea for a longer period is a valuable practice. A more deliberate pace and…
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Maybe This Christmas
Christmas is upon us, complete with its full calendars, packed parking lots, and growing to-do lists. My annual fear is that, amidst the flurry of activity surrounding Christmas, I will race from store to event to activity without taking so much as a single deep breath to soak in all the richness around which the…
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Perfectionism
“Perfectionism will ruin your writing, blocking inventiveness and playfulness and life force (these are the words we are allowed to use in California). Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived. Clutter is wonderfully fertile ground –…
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Hide or Seek
If you want to do work that matters, you need to choose: Will you hide, or will you seek? You can choose to hide from discomfort, skirt around chances to lead, avoid the risk of failure. There are lots of great hiding places out there. Or you can learn to seek. To stand up, to…
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Stepping into the Darkness
Caminante, son tus huellas el camino, y nada más; caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Al andar se hace camino, y al volver la vista atrás se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar. Caminante, no hay camino, sino estelas en la mar. Wanderer, your footsteps are the…
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Your Chance to Shine
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.…
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Speaking in Your Underpants
If you’ve ever asked for advice on how to overcome pre-speech nerves, no doubt you’ve heard the sage advice: “Just imagine your audience is wearing nothing but underwear.” Helpful advice? Maybe for some. What’s interesting to me though, is how this advice masks what’s really going on when you step on the stage. When you…
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Delivery & Discovery
Delivery and discovery are both important if you want to make an impact. Delivery is deadlines, to-do lists, responsibilities, carrying out your commitments. Discovery is trying something new, tinkering, following a rabbit trail. It’s “play” for grown ups. In the spectrum between delivery and discovery, where do you spend most of your time? If you’re…
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Radiology, Avatars and Human Connection in the Digital Era
In To Sell is Human, Dan Pink tells about the Israeli radiologist Dr. Yehonatan N. Turner, who did an experiment in making his work more personal. “Radiologists lead lonely professional lives. Unlike many physicians, who spend large parts of their days interacting directly with patients, radiologies often sit alone in dimly lit rooms or hunched…
