I can be a nerd when it comes to words. In school I never gravitated towards anything that required writing but in teaching, the semantics of words has fascinated me. Unique insight can be found in the meaning and nuance found in words. There are two words I was pointed to this week that got me thinking.
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Often when I talk to friends or colleagues, I will ask them “what are you reading” and I get some great book recommendations from this question.
My colleague recommended to me Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath and a week or so after finishing the book he asked me what stuck for me. I was surprised at how little I remembered.
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A little over a month ago my wife and I heard a crash just down the hall. Our 13-month-old son had managed to find the cord to the crock pot plugged into the counter and tugged on it just enough that the contents of the crockpot fell on him and the floor. My son sustained severe burns and we spent the following three weeks in the hospital with him as he healed.
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I have been in the “corporate” world for nearly 10 years and only recently arrived at an insight that I knew intellectually but have not actively put into practice. This story will sound familiar.
A new year is coming and the business needs to forecast and prepare for the future. Meetings start to spin up on reviewing or creating a strategy for the team. It takes weeks (sometimes months) to get everyone aligned and decide on a strategic direction, the north star, for the near future.
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When an individual sustains a deep burn (2nd or 3rd degree) it destroys the nerve endings and they do not feel pain. The ideal burn healing looks like this: First blood returns to the wound site and appears bright pink or red. Next new skin reforms underneath the visible layer and pushes out the old dead skin. While the new skin is forming underneath the wound site the nerve endings are also regenerating. Pain returns until a layer of protective skin can cover the nerve endings.
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Micro learning is a trend in Learning and Development that has been building momentum over the last few years. Tik-Tok and Instagram Reels has fueled this momentum with more and more influencers in the educational space.
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Over the last several weeks I have pondered ways that I can add greater value to those who read my post. In my work I use and am exposed to several tools to help me to be a better leader. I want to start sharing those with you.
The tool I’ll share today is called a “trigger diary”. I learned about this tool from my good friends Simon and Fiona at Purposeful Change. But first some context.
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For those who have been reading the blog, it is no surprise that I have been working on my purpose and my values. As I have done this, I have followed a loose process that in hindsight has been instructive to me.
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Last week I attended a Growth Summit and connected with one of my good friends who has run a 200-mile race. I have always been in awe of her ability to run that race – the physical endurance required seems virtually inhuman. The even more challenging part of training she told me was the mental training. Then in the context of both physical and mental growth she shared the following formula.
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Several months ago, I learned about an organization that serves individuals whose lives are impacted by the effects of OCD, anxiety, and other forms of mental illness. The challenges these people face are very real and, unlike physical illness, are often unseen. The things they teach are based in psychology and are meaningful and impactful to all. One of the tools is a distress tolerance skill called “radical acceptance” which helps us when we experience pain.
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I teach and invite people to act. Proud husband, father and amateur pizzaiolo