I threw away some medals from some marathons I ran a few years ago during a stint of simplifying my life and getting rid of stuff. As far as I know, you can’t get replacements. When getting rid of them I thought, “The joy and value of a marathon is in the running, the training, and the experience. A medal is just to show off to other people. I didn’t[…] Keep reading →

Today’s exercise builds on the one in my post, “An exercise in knowing your beliefs; so you can change them,” so please do that one first. It’s easier for most people, more general, and develops skills that you can use for this post’s exercise. Still, you can do this on its own if you want. It also looks similar to, but is subtly different from, yesterday’s exercise, “An exercise to[…] Keep reading →

Post-event update: see a write-up and video of the event here — http://flavorwire.com/477424/history-begins-here-starting-a-legacy-in-nyc. Everybody who attended it seemed to love it. My event had a packed room with enthusiastic participants. I made several great connections at my event and the others I attended. I hope to see you next time. See me next weekend The event is free and there’s lots more than just me presenting on leadership. My part[…] Keep reading →

Today’s exercise builds on the one in my post, “An exercise in knowing your beliefs; so you can change them,” so please do that one first. It’s easier for most people, more general, and develops skills that you can use for this post’s exercise. Still, you can do this on its own if you want. It’s similar: It only takes a few minutes a day It costs nothing You don’t[…] Keep reading →

Here is every TED talk ever in 99 seconds.

I don’t like Myers-Briggs tests. People make them look scientific and use scientific wording but they aren’t based in science. They don’t promote self-reflection any more than a horoscope. Most of all, they imply that you don’t change much, a belief that discourages personal growth and exploring and using different skills for different situations. People who believe in Myers-Briggs tests say things like, “I’m an ESTJ [or whatever], so I[…] Keep reading →

All my habit and SIDCHA talk leads to talking to a lot of people about starting and keeping habits. I’ve seen that nearly everyone who keeps a solo habit long-term started the habit with something simple that they can keep going without trying too hard. People who bike to work keep up their biking habit longer than people who bike separately because they have to go to work anyway. People[…] Keep reading →

What do you do when you see ineffective or counterproductive leadership of a group you’re in and you’re not one of the leaders? Do you just let it happen? Do you act? Do you talk to the leader? Usually I don’t step in if I’m not in a position of authority and no one asked me to act. Rarely I step in. In 2008, I spoke up on a mailing[…] Keep reading →

I visited a site designed to help people start new habits called lift.do. You would choose one of the many habits from their list and they’d support you with instruction, pairing you with other people starting the same habit, sending you graphs of your progress, and things like that. A lot of hand-holding. I get their intention, but I find it counterproductive. I think it’s effective at getting people to[…] Keep reading →