Being a beginner is a blast when you let yourself be just that: a beginner. If you read blog 269, you know I’m learning to play drums. When I was a kid, it was a chore to practice. I had a flute and I didn’t want to learn how to play it, but I did. With drums, it’s different, I’m…
In the beginning, it’s all up for grabs. If you want to observe yourself and your shortcomings, speed bumps, mental limitations, and trigger points, try learning something new. I’ve always wanted to play drums. When I was in 5th grade, I played cello to get a start with an instrument in the hopes of playing drums in 6th grade. It…
From ChatPack: If you had to choose one scent to be carried lightly on the wind every time the wind blew, what scent would it be? Sometimes, I need a question to get my thinking started. When I first read this, I thought, “I don’t really love many smells if they are manufactured, because they trigger headaches for me.” Then,…
You’ll always find the evidence you’re looking for. I was having a conversation with my son recently about excellence. He told me other people aren’t like me; they think good enough is good enough. Fair point, and it’s true. Further into our discussion, I told him how years ago I had seen a video of Tiger Woods describing excellence in…
What a gift to have time with a friend you love. I spent the day with my dear friend Mahtab today. It was a weekday and we were both away from work. I was helping her with her vacation and we had a few things to take care of beforehand. We also grabbed brunch and talked for hours. During these…
Old habits die hard. No matter how many opportunities I have to recognize the patterns which inform my behaviors, I am continuously surprised how it confronts my thinking when a pattern is interrupted. Today, all of the parking spaces I “usually” park in were full. When I realized I was driving around our relatively small parking lot to see what…
When you travel a lot, you find ways to make it easier, more efficient, and less stressful. I’ve accumulated some tips to make it easier for me to leave on a moment’s notice and make it a full week by only packing a carry on (most of the time). Here are my favorites as I’ve been asked for them frequently.…
What happens when you believe something is as good as done, only it’s not? The San Francisco 49ers were up 10 points in the Superbowl with just 10 minutes to play. The statistics said the game was as good as theirs. Only it wasn’t. In the last 10 minutes of the game, the Kansas City Chiefs came back to win…
If you read yesterday’s blog, this one will connect well. I heard a statistic on the radio right after the Super Bowl: 22 of 54 Super Bowls have been won by four teams. That’s right! Almost half of the games have been won by the same four teams. The most winning teams are: Patriots – Won 6 of 11 Steelers…
In his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni says “Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare… If you could get all of the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market,…