Thoughts while putting my clothes in the dryer: Every time you leave a light on in an empty room, you use more electrical power than Alexander the Great, who conquered an empire, in his entire life. Every time you start a car, you burn more gasoline than Napoleon, who won more battles than anyone in history, in his entire life. Every time you turn on the clothes dryer, you use[…] Keep reading →

I cringed the other day talking to a friend about some past behavior I would never do today. I forget what, partly because I wish it hadn’t happened, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Maybe it was something like using guilt in a relationship to try to keep it going. Part of me wants to forget that behavior or blame others for leading me to it. If[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on Cold Showers. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view that series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] This morning I ran about a half-marathon. I say “about” because I run for the fun of it and how it makes me feel after (and this year to train for the marathon[…] Keep reading →

The more I spend time out of school, the more I find value in non-academic things I learned. The more I see people who just work hard—by “just work hard” I mean working hard for other people for a pay check without choosing the job—the more they don’t seem to create greatness or deep satisfaction with their lives. The more I see the great people our society admires don’t seem[…] Keep reading →

A friend who grew up in Queens and became the senior ball boy at the U.S. Open told me a story about his friend who worked there too. One day he was working at the door to the U.S. Open’s VIP room enforcing the jacket-and-tie dress code. Jack Nicholson came by and started walking into the room wearing shorts and a t-shirt. My friend’s friend, following the rules, in a[…] Keep reading →

Most people look at fitness from an individual perspective—what you eat, how much you eat, how much you exercise, who you spend time with, and so on. I find that perspective useful for many purposes, but not all. I consider it the most important perspective for the individual to plan what to do about their fitness. People don’t live in vacuums. They have contexts. I find a systems perspective helpful[…] Keep reading →

When you write about achievement and beliefs, you come across a lot of “inspirational” people and quotes. I don’t mean people who inspire you, like great historical figures or people you know who have done a lot. I mean people who describe themselves as inspirational. For some reason, a lot of them tell people they can do anything they can dream if they just set their minds to it and[…] Keep reading →

Do you rely on authority to lead? The more you rely on authority to lead the more authoritarian you are. Think of authoritarian leaders in the past. Do you want to follow in their footsteps? Relying on authority means using tools of authority, like what comes with your position in the organization, group, or family. Things like hiring, firing, promotions, bonuses, performance-based pay, giving or removing responsibility, perks, and so[…] Keep reading →

The insight below prompted spontaneous applause during a keynote talk I saw at a recent conference. The speaker, whose work brings him sometimes to the White House, was talking about principles of teaching, but you’ll see it applies to managing and leading too. He said he was talking to a teacher about creating assignments and test questions. Teachers perennially face challenges of creating problems that the students haven’t seen before[…] Keep reading →