Did you hear? Reading Rainbow is coming back! For those of us of a certain age, this show brings back memories of LeVar Burton narrating our childhood. Also of the “Book It” reading contest that we all participated in during elementary school that ended in a promise of a Pizza Hut pizza party in exchange for books read.
Starting a new habit may be one of the harder leadership challenges but perhaps one of the most important. Learning how to start a positive habit is key to being able to follow through in doing the things you want to do to thrive and feel fulfilled. As James Clear writes in his book, Atomic Habits, it really is all about starting the action that makes sure you get to the finish line.
In today’s world we are constantly being put into echo chambers with those who agree with us. Social media algorithms will feed you content you agree with, while at the same time vilifying those you don’t. This is a daily problem not just in our politics, but in our parenting strategies, philosophies on work and life, and even how we feel about truth and science.
Music has been an integral part of my life as long as I can remember and one of the things I gravitate towards most to ground me in the present. Music can really set the mood to whatever suits the moment in really profound ways.
Depending upon where you look there are different definitions of the various generations from the most current, Gen Alpha, going all the way back to what we definite as the “Greatest Generation” who were born generally in the first 25 years of last century. One constant throughout the last 125 years seems to be that the generations change with technology. Since technological changes have seemed to grow exponentially, it’s no surprise that current generations are defined by a shorter time span (~12 -14 years) versus older generations which tend to be about 20 – 25 years long.
For many years I was the quintessential travel snob. You know the type.
“I’m not a tourist, I’m a traveller!” That’s right, with two “L”s! “Oh you went to Florida on vacation? That’s cute, I LIVED in Florida and I TRAVELLED to Australia,” I would quip. “I don’t go on tour groups. When you really learn to travel you won’t have to.”
I still don’t go on tour groups.
I’ve heard a lot of people say “I hate small talk, it’s the worst!” I totally get it. There are many times when you just don’t feel like striking up a conversation. Especially those of us who are more introverted. Let’s be honest, we’re talking about networking here.
When I was in graduate school in Hawaii, there was no shortage of ways to embrace nature. It helped that I had a group of friends that was always pushing each other to get out there, go further, and challenge ourselves to do things out of our comfort zone. One of my friends kayaked around the circumference of the entire island of Lanai.
Successful and ambitious people have a huge future problem. They are always living in it. Striving fro the next big goal, promotion, or life achievement can cause us to always be looking ahead.
Hustle culture is killing us, both literally and figuratively. This is a product of societal norms imposed on us by a system that values numbers over people. If we aren’t constantly raising the bar at all times then we are expendable. Companies and organizations use people until they burn out. Then they replace them with someone who has yet to burn out. Good for the numbers, terrible for the culture.