“What is the best route to become CEO of a corporation?“ For people driven to reach the top it’s a common question. A classmate asked it of Ralph Biggadike, professor of Top Management Processes, which, when I was at Columbia Business School, was the class in highest demand. Ralph is an excellent teacher, as knowledgeable about top management as you’d expect one of the top professors at one of the[…] Keep reading →
Following up on yesterday’s post about one aspect of behavior — how much stuff you carry and how functional you are — that correlates with importance is how calm or rushed you are. Likewise, how purposeful or reactive you are. People who know their priorities tend not to be rushed. They know what should be done in what order and they do it. So it’s not surprising that people who[…] Keep reading →
Important people do things differently than unimportant people — that is, behavior correlates with importance. If you want people to consider you more important — to trust and defer to you — you should pick up on how behavior correlates with importance. And with unimportance if you want to avoid being lumped in with unimportant people. The more important you are, the less you carry. The following corporate examples are[…] Keep reading →
I’ve been loving the rowing machine I bought last fall, but I’ve been waiting to use it six months before posting about it to make sure its value endured a reasonable time. I’m going to write about my experience with it, but if anyone has other experiences, please let me know because I’m still new to it and would love to learn more. This is the one I bought (used,[…] Keep reading →
“I love to do X, but I’m not good at it” or “I think I’d love X, but I can’t do it.” Such common excuses not to do something. People just stop thinking or motivating themselves after saying that. Result? Even as they watch others have the times of their lives, they don’t sing, they don’t go to the gym, they don’t dance, they don’t get on stage, they don’t[…] Keep reading →
The summer after high school, my friend Tuan and I rode our bikes from Philadelphia to Bar Harbor, Maine and back, about 1,500 miles. We were both sixteen at the time. The trip was amazing — not that I remember many details anymore… quite an independent experience for kids that age. Everything went great. An amazing growth experience. We mostly found random places to camp, but also stayed in back[…] Keep reading →
A reader emailed me about mindfulness and self-awareness. I mentioned to him a meditation retreat I did a few years ago and found an old post I wrote about the experience, answering another reader’s questions about the course. I did a ten day Vipassana course a few years ago. What it’s about: It teaches you a meditation technique and gives you the time and space to practice it. It’s based[…] Keep reading →
Following up my previous post in this thread, I forgot a few judgmental words and some tips on avoiding sounding judgmental. The judgmental words see frequent usage: Should Ought to Impressed A friend once said “there are very few shoulds in life.” I found his observation helpful. I have found avoiding telling people what they should or shouldn’t do helpful. When you say someone should do something they aren’t doing,[…] Keep reading →
“Josh, I really want to do X, but I can’t. Things are too complicated right now.” “I’m so stressed because my life is so complicated right now.” “I wish my life were simpler so I could enjoy it.” “So-and-so is making my life complicated!” We’ve all heard it before. Most of us have probably said it. Complication is like beauty — a subjective opinion of the observer — not like[…] Keep reading →