What’s your perspective on the JPMorgan penalty for the entire housing collapse – did you feel it was long overdue or that they were unjustly punished? As I listen to NPR, I’m reminded throughout the hours upon hours of news stories that life can certainly feel like a downward spiral, if we let it. We […]
Archive | Riffs & Ideas
According to wiki, “In jazz and R&B, riffs are often used as the starting point for longer compositions”. In our case, we’d like to think of them as the starting point for random stories. This could be the random section where even whining is allowed. Heck, it could eventually turn into a song.
The Power of Gratitude
They say that the best companies to work for are the ones where people are grateful for what they have and freely express their gratitude toward each other. This reminded of a company with whom I worked for about eight months. I loved it! My colleagues were passionate. They were positive. They gave me frequent […]
Take Me to Your Leader!
In a leadership role, whether covert or not, you are like the roots of a big strong tree, with branches that spread around the world, touching all the places you have lived and worked. The leaves that cover these branches represent the many, many colleagues who’s professional and personal lives you have touched and influenced. […]
Feelings
Almost all (positive) change starts with a positive emotional attractor. Change, whether at a professional or a personal level, has tipping points based on emotions. Positive emotional attractors, through our peripheral nervous system, help us thrive and grow. Positive emotional attractors are activated by our trusting relationships. They give us our ideal self, fill […]
Better Than Perfect
We all want to do the best we can do, to be our own version of perfect. I resolve to stop eating cheese (all those calories from fatty animal sources, messing with my HDL levels). I pledge to only spend money on the things that are absolutely needed by my family so that I can […]
Stress Reduction Tip #197
I was listening to a Selected Shorts podcast while driving in the car the other day. I can’t remember what the story was called or who wrote it, but it was a well-written and entertaining story about a woman who was rather bravely living and working by herself in The Big City (the story took […]
Being Lucky
A while ago, I heard a quote that made me stop and think: “Intentionality can change the path of our lives” Richard Boyatzis. Was the universe sending me a message? Maybe, or maybe I was at a stage in my life in which I was ready to hear the message. I had been […]
What to do?
By Agent N1 on September 18, 2013 in Fireside Chats, Riffs & Ideas, Weekly Survival, Work Life Balance
How do you make choices? Some choices are straightforward and easy. You want something. You choose it. You need something. You get it. You ought to do something. You do it. Other times, it isn’t so simple to make a choice. Recently, I found myself in the (lucky) position of struggling with what felt like […]
Superpower
Have you ever noticed how contagious emotions are? That social collective action that happens when strong emotions are expressed? I’m sure you’ve observed that if one person starts complaining, everyone starts complaining. We’re all guilty of it – sitting with a few friends at a coffee shop, and one of us mentions something about the […]
Recognizing What We Control
About two years ago, while attending an endless project meeting, I found myself getting really stressed about yet another delay in contracting someone to train my team. I understood that we had to follow proper procurement procedures. We had to advertise, to get three bids, to get senior level approval for what would be a […]
