Honne Tatemae
The Japanese have two words – Honne and Tatemae – that describe recognized social behaviors. According to our friends at Wikipedia: “Honne refers to a person’s true feelings and desires. These may be contrary to what is expected by society or what is required according to one’s position and circumstances, and they are often kept […]
Worry Brings Benefits
Do You Worry Enough? Part 3 This is the third and final installment of the series that started here with “Do You Worry Enough? Worry brings benefits. That sounds odd to us. Let me rephrase it: Spending time thinking about problems brings good things into our lives. There are two types of “focusing” on problems. […]
How to Worry the Right Way
Do You Worry Enough? Part 2 Last time we discussed “Do You Worry Enough?” We started by framing a workable definition of the word worry. Now we know what worry is. How much worrying is the right amount? That’s difficult to quantify. I believe we need to think about the problems in our lives enough […]
Do You Worry Enough?
Just as There’s Good Stress, So There’s Good Worry There’s a lot of “universal” advice out there. The always-present everyone says don’t smoke, exercise more, eat your fruits and vegetables. One piece of universal advice is to stop worrying, or at least reduce the level of worry in your life. After all, we have plenty […]
Multiple Life Lines
One of the things you have to remember about work is that it is NOT your life. It can be an important part of your life. It can be extremely fulfilling. When there’s stress at home, going to work can be a relief. And when there’s stress at work, going home can be a relief. […]
Do You Know How To Ask for What You Want?
Not too long ago I found myself in two very different settings that resulted in similar, uncomfortable results. In each setting the following scenario played out: – People were given the opportunity to ask a room full of experts to help them with their businesses. Name any problem with your challenge and we’ll all brainstorm […]
Living on the Edge of Incompetence
How do you feel about being incompetent? Honestly: Is it good to be incompetent? I say yes! I was reading a book recently and one section was about how no one wants to be seen as incompetent. One character in the book was having a crisis of incompetence. That got me thinking about the times […]
I Moved My Cane Today
Prop the mental cane against the corner and leave the pain where it belongs – in the past.
Are You Living on THAT? – and Other Misconceptions
Reality is an interesting concept. Sometimes I think I’m the master at being mis-understood. Why? Because I work a lot with people who aren’t like myself. They interpret the world differently than I do. Reality has three components: – Events, actions, or statements – Context (other things going on more or less at the same […]
Make Your Year-End Goal Setting Meaningful
Tis the season for people to start putting together their “to do” lists for next year.
Goals are great. Goals are necessary. But real, meaningful goals have to be coupled with action plans. Think about it this way: When I ask an audience of any size whether they want to be millionaires, virtually everyone raises their hand. Then when I ask how many have a plan to get to that status, I might get one or two hands.
