I recently finished reading an extremely disturbing book, Missoula, by John Krakauer. Krakauer is the author of two other fascinating, non-fiction books I had read, Into Thin Air and Into the Wild. While Missoula was disturbing, I couldn’t put it down. Subtitled “Rape and the Justice System in a College…
One of the best things I watched on TV this year was the HBO miniseries, Show Me a Hero. It was a bit long (six hours) and it was a bit slow, but the takeaways from the show were worth every minute. As I said in this blog post, seeing the…
A bunch of years ago, when my company moved into the office building where we still reside, a number of people began using the stairs to get to our offices on the fifth floor. I had not been a part of that group until returning from a vacation in Positano,…
I was talking with my friend Jeff about the way I cannot get myself self to spend a ton of money on a fancy restaurant. He is very willing to spend a lot of money on a particularly good meal. Once in a blue moon I enjoy a super fancy…
I almost never have a problem falling asleep. But, when I wake up in the middle of the night (which happens more, the older I get), I often have had a hard time falling back to sleep. I know the reason—too much on my mind. As soon as I start…
Just over two years ago, after seeing the movie Fruitvale Station, and coincidentally, around the same time, reading the book The New Jim Crow, I wrote a blog post about the importance of seeing the humanity in people, and how that relates to being a leader. ("Be a Leader" is one of the Six…
I often tell the story of my experience, soon after college in the 1980s, searching for an apartment in NYC. I was eager to move out of my parents' house and into NYC for all of the reasons that readily come to mind (the easier commute to my NYC job,…
Over and over I talk about making changes that stick because it’s something most people want. (During speaking engagements, when I ask if anyone makes New Year’s resolutions, nearly everyone raises their hands.) My method is one you’ve heard me talk about here many times: take big changes, break them…
Since the publication of Six Simple Rules for a Better Life three years ago, I have read more and more evidence of the soundness of my method for making changes that stick. (Breaking down big goals into small pieces, and then working on them one small piece at a time for…
I was speaking with a business associate I hadn't spoken with for about a year. The last time we spoke she was pregnant and now she is enjoying her baby son (her third child). She and her husband had waited a few years between their second and third children and…
Living in a state of mindfulness is a worthy goal. Living mindlessly is not normally something to strive for. Yet, mindfulness and mindlessness both play a part in habit change. First, a definition I found for mindfulness in Psychology Today: a state of active, open attention on the present. When…
Over the last two weeks I shared some background, and then some highlights from a wonderful book, Zen Habits: Mastering the Art of Change by Leo Babauta. As Leo explains, quitting a bad habit is harder than starting a good one because you have the urge to continue the bad habit. Here…