In this blog I try to cover what I consider one of the main skills of leading others and yourself — the ability to manage your emotions no matter what comes your way. It shows up in many ways. One of the simplest is the phrase I use a lot: Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. … as I wrote about in my posts “A model to handle pain” and[…] Keep reading →

I’ve written before about on opening up, allowing yourself to be vulnerable in business and personal relationships, and the risks involved, mainly to your emotions. Probably the most important one was on my experience that choosing to care about something and to act on that caring means you’ll hurt. And the more you care the more you risk getting hurt. I wrote that post, “Leadership, personal development, choosing to care,[…] Keep reading →

Last month the New Yorker wrote a defense of learning and teaching English. It says English Departments are under attack. What kind of fool would take on the magazine many call the best in English about English? I guess I’m that kind of fool. I wrote the following in the comments.  “We need the humanities not because they will produce shrewder entrepreneurs or kinder C.E.O.s but because … they help[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on people who succeed despite adversity. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Ask yourself which helps more — having advantages or learning to overcome adversity? I base this series on noticing how many extremely successful people had problems that mediocre people claim[…] Keep reading →

When the topic of meditation came up the other day I heard the same thing I’ve heard many times before. I’m sure you’ve heard and said similar thing for similar activities: “Oh, I can’t meditate. My mind is too frantic. I wish I could.” Maybe you’ve heard or said it in this form: “Oh, I can’t go to the gym. I’m too out-of-shape. I wish I could.” or: “Oh, I[…] Keep reading →

I wrote before about “Business school’s first major lesson: how to resolve ethical dilemmas.” Today I’ll talk about another important lesson I learned in business school, also within the first couple weeks, also applying in many places in life I would not have expected from a vocational school. Context First I have to note my mindset before starting business school. I considered the most relevant parts of my life that[…] Keep reading →

I keep reading about how some technology has or will save billions of lives from starvation or disease. A perfect example comes from the opening paragraph of Wikipedia’s page on the “Green Revolution.” Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production worldwide, particularly in the developing world, beginning most markedly in the late[…] Keep reading →

Have you noticed that people who behave wildly differently can still base their behavior on the same underlying philosophies? Or that people who behave similarly can also base their behavior on different philosophies? Pick a way people behave and you’ll find people saying that behavior comes from any source. For example, among the most peaceful people some base their behavior on being religious, some on being atheist, some on not[…] Keep reading →

Speaking of running, as I did yesterday — “More benefits of burpees” — I’ve been meaning to post something I expect will get me in trouble, but I’ll post anyway. If you run a lot in Central Park you see a lot of five-kilometer run/walks — usually charity events to get people donating for some type of medical research. With all the regalia, I wonder how much money makes it[…] Keep reading →