What Happened to Downtime? The Extinction of Deep Thinking & Sacred Space
Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you catch yourself every so often falling into an informational abyss: at home, in your pajamas, passively scrambling to collect information and justifying it by calling it relaxation. And maybe you’ll get uncomfortable enough about it to want to do something about it. If you want a change of pace, or want to know why you should want to curb... Read More
A Plug for p:ear
Your business can make a difference. p:ear is an innovative program for homeless youth in old town Portland that my business, friends and family support. This organization is in its seventh year of providing positive mentoring relationships for these valuable young people through education, art and recreation. p:ear’s vital work is made possible through the generous contributions... Read More
Invisible Labor
The subject of work in fiction is the topic of Jennifer Schuelssler New York Times essay, “Take this Job and Write It.” The concern of the commentary is mostly that today’s work is missing in our writing. I’m adding this clip from Granta about their Work issue and am going to stay with this thought for a while before I publish any conjectures. Maybe just... Read More
One Thing #6
Forget the past. Sometimes I find that I think events in the past happened to me, and I am living the present trying to avoid or change those things. I sometimes forget that I was there all along, an active agent participating in my life. I know, they have a word for that… Even being hyper-aware of my patterns inhibits me from making decisions that are free of my baggage.... Read More
One Thing #5
Negotiate. As business owners, we spend a lot of time working to find our ideal, to serve our employees, customers and community, to compete, to optimize and fine-tune our business. We work so hard that we think others should deliver the results we do: the best workers, quality product, on time delivery and dedication. The small business owner’s world has become so entrenched... Read More
One Thing #3
Start a conversation with your customer and community then take action. It’s not enough to have an online presence, to be-friend your customer, to talk about change. Follow these steps to accomplish something: Start a conversation Find out what you can do better Test it Do it Announce it Read More
365Awesome.com
Get inspired by awesomeness and check out I Spy Joy’s new 365Awesome.com. Read More
An Exercise in Changing Yourself
I just read Marshall Goldsmith’s article, “An Excercise in Changing Yourself,” on Harvard Business Review. This is a wonderful article about a powerful teambuilding exercise from psychologist Nathaniel Branden. If you don’t have time to read the entire article, I’ve taken an excerpt from the article to use as an exercise, below. Keep in mind that this... Read More
Learning, Life, Lou Lou
First, my apologies. I had a sick day yesterday on account of Lou Lou needing a couple trips to the vet, minor surgery, a cone around her head and some TLC. Lou is my first cat and I’m lucky to say it was my first run-in with pet hospitalization. It took me to the next level of understanding what some people do for their four-leggeds. Frankly, I took it worse than she did.... Read More
One Thing #1
I am starting a Monday entry called, “One Thing.” This is designed to help you to perform one meaningful and simple business task per Monday or per week that will help you connect with your customers, your staff and your work this week. One Thing will be inspirational, pragmatic, a friendly reminder, and a hopefully surprising and refreshing idea and tool to help you... Read More