It happened again. I taught a class one evening this week, and it was a presentation I’ve been preparing for and looking forward to for quite a while. But two nights before the program, I had a dream in which the class was about to begin, and I suddenly realized that I didn’t have any of my notes or materials with me. In a moment of panic, I briefly considered driving home and returning with everything I needed, but I didn’t have enough time to [...]
“Choose. It’s all up to you, so choose.” That was the bottom line to a conversation I had with a friend recently. The conversation was a seasonal one, and a typical one. It had to do with the coming of winter – the snow, the cold, the wind, and the darkness that comes earlier and earlier every day. Plus the crowded stores, the rush and crush of the holiday season, and the endless messages, everywhere you turn, to buy, buy, buy. I reminded my friend [...]
I’ve decided to go back to school. Not for a Masters or Doctorate degree, and not by attending classes along with other students, or by taking classes online and working independently. Instead, I’m designing and following my own curriculum. The reason I’m doing this is that it occurred to me recently that there are a number of activities and events I’m involved in – both personal and professional – that I am having trouble accomplishing for various reasons. My big revelation was that many of [...]
I had a medical procedure done this week, one of those “preventive maintenance” tests that should be done every so often – in this case, every ten years – once we reach a certain age. Preparing for it required following a low-fiber diet for five days. I could eat plenty of white bread, rice, and potatoes, but no whole wheat products or high-fiber cereals. Canned fruits and cooked vegetables were okay, but fresh fruits and raw vegetables were not. This was very unsettling to me. [...]
Three things. There seems to be something magical about three things – at least when it comes to getting things done. Like many people, I make daily To-Do lists, and I have a love/hate relationship with them. They help me plan and organize my day, but they often seem like an albatross around my neck, weighing me down with too much to do, not enough time to do it, and the guilt and frustration of not getting everything on my list done by the end [...]
“If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” That was the standard reply I always heard from a friend of mine whenever one of us – or anyone we knew, for that matter – was dealing with a really difficult problem or an especially challenging issue, in business or in life. And it was a good reminder, not only that it takes hard work, discipline, and perseverance to reach our goals, but that the result will be worth the effort when we get there. [...]
One of the things I find most rewarding and gratifying about writing is when someone tells me that something I’ve written has helped them or inspired them or changed their life in some way. It’s also rewarding when something I write leads to a discovery of my own that helps me or inspires me or changes my life in some way. It happened again a few days ago, as I was journaling about different projects I’m working on that seem to be going nowhere at [...]
It’s New Year’s Resolution time, and I’ve been thinking about what change or improvement in myself I most want to make this year. It’s a tough choice, as I’ve got a lot of material to work with. Should I focus on getting rid of the extra pounds that I invariably add on over the holidays? Or tackle unfinished projects from the recent – or ancient – past? I could work at developing a good habit in some area of my life, or getting rid of [...]