I recently wrote about “simple Sundays.” I’m now a believer in simple holidays, too. For many years, my Thanksgiving schedule looked like this: Awake at 4 am to make cinnamon rolls from scratch Cook up bacon and other dishes and have breakfast ready for the family and guests Feed the family and guests Begin cooking
Category: Brain hacking
‘Choice Overload’
Recently, I listened to an interesting podcast about “choice overload” (link here). Dr. Laurie Santos explains what the data show: making too many decisions creates unhappiness. The paradox of choice is that more choice can lead to a latter realization that “less is more,” that choice today may lead you to less choice. Some years
Versions
I think people are a lot like software versions. As we grow, change, and develop, we become a different version of ourselves. We can take the best parts of v. 1.0, leave behind the worse parts, and add on new “features” for v. 2.0. Sometimes, the change is voluntary, due to a new job, going
A New Hope
Here’s to hope, love and friendship. I write that because I last week saw Robert Waldinger speak at a leader development course. As I’ve written before (here), a very famous study concluded that there is a major driver of happiness: friends and family. It is not fame, money or status. Well, as luck would have
Brené Brown on Empathy vs. Sympathy
At the three-day leader development course I took last week (prior post here), they showed us a cool video about empathy and that it is not sympathy. I found it very insightful. I think it was an important video for a bunch of mid-life Harvard MBAs to see. That is because we can lose touch
The Eulogy Virtues
Recently, I went back to HBS to take a three-day leader development course. It was poignant, transformative and rejuvenating. I also made some friendships that will last, I predict, for a lifetime. One of the course’s goals was to get us to step back and reflect upon the meaning and purpose of our work life.