People resist changing themselves, even clear improvements, for many reasons. One I see a lot, and have felt, is the fear that they’ll lose friends. The fear makes sense. The people in your life like you for the you they know. Changing your behavior means you may change things that attract them to you. Changing your environment risks them not leaving the old environments you shared. You could lose friendships.[…] Keep reading →

I reader emailed me a model he uses along the lines of the models and beliefs I put in my series on beliefs and now my book on the same topic. I’m honored and flattered that he used my format. I recommend looking at your beliefs and understanding them. In his email he described how his belief evolved as he wrote it — an effect I found too. Just writing[…] Keep reading →

Another leadership coach, Marshall Goldsmith, asked a question during a presentation: At your jobs you ask your clients and managers how you can do better. Do you ask your spouse, family members, or other people you care about if you can be a better spouse/mother/father/etc.? If not, why not? Marshall has no problem connecting your professional and personal lives. I hope you don’t. This topic is as much about professional[…] Keep reading →

I posted the following in response to a bunch of articles I’ve read about a report co-authored by over a dozen science-related organizations describing how reducing funding for science has led to research and the benefits it brings to society leaving the U.S. — The writing on the wall became apparent to me with the 1993 cancellation of the Superconducting Super Collider, when I was getting my PhD in physics.[…] Keep reading →

Today’s post is about one of the most concise yet most meaningful sayings about the workplace I’ve heard: People join good projects and leave bad management. Besides the poignant humor nearly everyone feels when, on first hearing the phrase, they remember projects they enthusiastically joined only to find their optimism ruined by an intolerable relationship with a manager, it has meaning on many other levels. My goal in this post,[…] Keep reading →

I posted my second ebook on Amazon the other day. Longtime readers will recognize I based it on this spring’s extended series on beliefs that became one of my more popular series. You can save the cost of the book by reading that series, but I edited the book to make it worth the cost. It’s more polished, with tables and reordering for better continuity. I would only post it[…] Keep reading →

I finished a book the other day I’d been meaning to read for at least a decade — Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, released in 1962. I posted a summary below. I also understood it influenced thought a lot. I had to speak to a few people who were adults when it came out to understand its impact at the time, which they assured me was colossal — a common-sense[…] Keep reading →

My mom grew up on a farm in South Dakota — the kind where she and her siblings had to walk through snow up to here miles to a one-room schoolhouse. I can’t imagine growing up on a farm like that. Her little sister, my Aunt Ellen, visited recently. I don’t remember the details of Ellen’s learning music growing up, but here’s my understanding. She got a hold of a[…] Keep reading →

When someone gets animated others often describe them as emotional: “John is acting so emotional” “Jane got so emotional when Ryan said …” and things like that. I’d like to suggest an alternative perspective I think you’ll find more precise and useful: Everybody feels emotions all the time. What’s the difference? When someone sits quietly reading, they aren’t acting or feeling unemotional. I suggest the are feeling and acting on[…] Keep reading →