What does the word “work” mean to you? Image by KaitlinLiu Is it your job? Is it your career? Does it make you happy? Does it make you cringe? Is it something you have to do, or want to do? Is it the root of your status and identity, or is it the fruit of your character and talents?Continue reading "Your Work: Root or Fruit?"

Would you believe me if I said the reason you have stress in your life is because of you? You’ve allowed it into your life. You’ve opened your mind and your heart to external elements that affect your emotions. They affect your state of happiness. It’s taken me a long time to learn that circumstances,Continue reading "What’s Your Baseline?"

I stumbled across Thomas Chalmers’ The Expulsive Power of a New Affection this week. Two hundred years ago, Chalmers (1780–1847) wrote it to persuade practical moralists that they cannot effectively displace from the human heart its love of the world by simply withdrawing its affection from an object that is not worthy of it. Rather,Continue reading "The Human Beaker"

There is a great piece on The Black Swan Group’s blog, The Negotiation Edge. In an article titled, How Leadership Failure Can Look Different Than You Might Think, Derek Gaunt concludes: Great leaders are driven by Tactical Empathy. They understand exactly where their employees are coming from and they are governed by that perspective. At the same time,Continue reading "Leadership and Happiness"

Everybody has a story, and here's a fair question to ask yourself, "Is my story working for me?" If the answer is "no," then perhaps it's time to write a new story. If your current story, which has been built over time as a function of your circumstances, isn't taking you where you want to go,Continue reading "Your Story"

Who buys bars of soap anymore? As I reflect on this question, I am reminded of the time my mom taught me a valuable lesson by washing my mouth out with soap. Certainly, Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers know what I’m talking about. For Millennials and Gen Z'ers, kindly let me enlighten you. Washing outContinue reading "Creating Conditions for Replacement"

In one of my morning rituals this week, I studied Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” In that verse, Moses is speaking to the Israelites on the shore of the Red Sea as the Egyptian army is approaching them. However, one verse later, Exodus 14:15 says, “ThenContinue reading "Balancing Patience with Action"

Because we feel dissatisfied with our lives, we constantly pursue more. More money More fame More “friends” More “likes” More success More stuff We confuse needs with wants. We’re constantly grabbing at that which will never fully satisfy. Humanity’s first sin was pursuing more than was intended for us. We thought we knew better andContinue reading "Simple is More"