Anyone who knows me knows my tendency to talk too much. I find most people seem prone to talk too much in certain situations. So how do you learn to reign yourself in? People usually don’t like when someone else dominates a conversation, so it helps to learn when you are talking too much and how to stop doing so. Talking a lot doesn’t necessarily mean talking too much. Some[…] Keep reading →

When you think of great orators, Winston Churchill has to be near the top of the list. His speeches include I would say to the House as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on “Mental models and beliefs: an exercise to identify yours.” 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.] When I worry about a difficult choice I have to make I think of a parable. Some martial arts students ask their teacher how he always[…] Keep reading →

When I talk about freedom here I usually mean your mental freedom to think and believe what you want. I consider this freedom more fundamental than, say, political freedom, not that I see much point in comparing them. Everyone benefits from both and few, if anyone, has to choose between either. Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning described how fundamental he considered the freedom to believe what you want, the[…] Keep reading →

I hear people talk about those who have less — usually less materially or less opportunity — as deserving help and compassion. With due respect to their problems, I’d like to consider another challenging situation: having too much. First let me preface the huge difference between having too little and too much: people with too much can cut back. People with limited access to resources or opportunity can’t usually create[…] Keep reading →

Despite my posting on how I find asking “so what do you do” a boring question, apparently everyone I meet hasn’t read every post on my site, so they keep asking me what I do. It’s hard to answer the question when you know they want to know your work when work is such a small part of your life. You can talk about making art, writing, travels, etc, but[…] Keep reading →

A reader asked about how to meet people once you’re good at it. I’ll start with a current example for me. Actually, first I’ll note different categories of meeting people since I meet people in different situations in different ways. Today I’ll look at an entrepreneurial business situation. Another time I’ll look at regular business situations or social situations. An entrepreneurial business situation means I’m trying to do something big[…] Keep reading →