[I wrote a new introduction to my SIDCHA series. I’m happy enough with it to share it as a regular post.] Most people seem to want improve themselves, personally or professionally. Reading, watching, and listening to people tell you how you can develop yourself professionally or personally doesn’t change anything beyond give you a bit of information. People don’t succeed because they have more information. They succeed because they act.[…] Keep reading →

I get it. Exercise is hard. At least useful exercise is. I wrote about it in yesterday’s post, “Defining moments.” I know the feeling before starting exercising. You don’t want to. But rarely do people tell me they don’t exercise because it’s hard. Far more often people tell me they don’t have time to exercise. If you want to exercise and you think you’re not doing it because you don’t[…] Keep reading →

Have you stood on the edge of an open airplane door, looking at the sky beneath you and the ground miles below it, parachute on your back, trying to will yourself to jump? Have you stood outside your boss’s door, after days and weeks working up the courage and what to say to ask for a raise or promotion, trying to will yourself to knock and enter? Have you sat[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series on responses to the New York Times column, The Ethicist, looking at the consequences of one’s actions instead of imposing values on them, here is a take on an earlier post,”Tourist Retractions.” I recently spent several days at a relatively expensive hotel. The place was deplorable and unsanitary, with an unresponsive front desk. I gave it a poor write-up on TripAdvisor.com, the travel website, titling my review[…] Keep reading →

I woke up this morning with pain in my back. I felt it yesterday morning too. It had woken me up both nights before, I guess when I moved in ways that caused it to hurt more. Then this morning when I did my burpees the pain got searing. I had to stop at seven. The pain was bad enough I had trouble breathing. The pain was in the same[…] Keep reading →

Within the first few steps of this morning’s run, I could tell I didn’t have the energy I normally did. I kept running anyway. I don’t know why sometimes my body has less energy. Sometimes my legs feel like lead. Other times I have tons of energy. I haven’t done a long run, nor pushed myself hard on the rowing machine lately. I surfed earlier this week, which takes a[…] Keep reading →

Scroll down for the picture I’ve held back from posting since this site is mostly about leadership, meaning, value, importance, purpose, emotional awareness, emotional skills, etc. First a few words. I find people’s attitudes toward diet and exercise become self-righteous so I prefer not to bring up diet and exercise in conversation, so I’d generally not bring it up here. Plenty of sites show before and after pictures of people’s[…] Keep reading →