Order is a concept that I don’t see often discussed when I read about creative work. And I guess that makes sense. After all, think of the stereotypical creative genius. What comes to mind? A frazzled, disorganized, scatterbrained mess, right? Order is often the last thing you associate with creative genius. However, order has a… Read More »The Miyagi Method for Better Creative Work
A Trick to Talk Less, But Say Much, Much More When was the last time you learned something while you were talking? The answer to that question is very likely never. The learning happens after you shut your trap and someone else begins talking. I’m not saying that every person is baring their soul and telling… Read More »The 3:1 Principle for Radically Better Communication
image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/donp17/ On Giving Others a Chance I grew up going to Catholic school, despite the fact that my parents were not very religious. I did the altar boy thing, I went to confession, I learned the rosary prayers — the whole kit n’ caboodle. As I got older, my belief and involvement in the church waned.… Read More »The Practical Case for Mercy
And you thought you were struggling… By now you probably don’t have to be reminded that focusing on breathing is at the root of re-calibrating yourself — both body and mind. This is the main principle that underlies pretty much any form of meditation you may undertake. That’s because it works. The great thing is, it’s an… Read More »The Most Creative Thing You are Already Doing
c/o: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/ A piece of unintuitive advice Every day, I catch myself thinking something that I know I shouldn’t. Someone cuts me off on the way to work, and I immediately think terrible things that I dare not repeat here. I see someone with a bumper sticker or pice of clothing bearing some slogan, and… Read More »Give Way to Your Worst Impulse
How Information Bloat is Endangering our Mental Fitness, and What We Can Do About It It is old news that in recent years a staggering amount of people have become obese. From 1990 to 2010, the amount of adults who are obese in the United States alone increased a staggering 57%. Other developed countries have seen… Read More »The Next Obesity Epidemic
Right? The morning of September 11, 2001 was clear, quiet, and warm in Northern Illinois — the way most Americans remember it. The phone in my dorm room woke my roommate and I at about 8:30am CST. It was my roommate’s friend on the east coast, urging him to turn on the news. As I jumped down… Read More »15 Years Later, the Goal is Still Peace
The virtues of a new creative era We hear a lot about passion these days. Everyone is passionate about this, or has a passion for that. Life coaches and personal development authors push people to find their passion. But I’ve always suspected that passion is not what gets us to do our best work — our boldest stuff.… Read More »Actually, It’s Not Passion You’re After
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nattokun/ How the “Worst” Jobs Can Make Us All Better People I was at a sandwich provider the other day — a well-known national chain whose employees are known as “sandwich artists”. I stood in line, holding my 2 year-old daughter, waiting patiently for my turn to tell the artist what kinds of sandwiches I wanted and exactly… Read More »We Should All Work in Food Service
Don’t worry, you will. A little trick for all of us whose mantra is “later” Your Problem Almost everyone procrastinates. Perhaps it is part of human nature, and some just do it more than others — but it is almost always a negative phenomenon. It usually manifests in the same way. You begin working on some task, usually a… Read More »Make Your Procrastination Work for You
