If you have kids, one easy way to prepare them for life is to always ask one simple question: What have you learned? Learning isn’t limited to classrooms. If we’re open to learning, we have opportunities to learn all around us, but our kids have to be taught to look for learning everywhere. They won’t…
The day the news of Amy Winehouse’s death reached me was the same day that I had decided to listen to her albums on this great new music service that allows me to listen to almost any artist I want—for free. I had known of her of course. Fuck me pumps, Amy Amy Amy and…
All through my life, I grew up with people telling me not to offend anybody, and for the most part that’s how I lived my life. I of course have offended people, but unintentionally (for the most part), and regretfully (for the most part). But I notice the cost of that. It prevented me from…
Relationships are hard—very hard in fact. For many of us, the most important ones become strained, unhealthy, even toxic and we stay in them because we are connected through family bonds. Many others die over a period of time. Sometimes slowly, sometimes stunningly fast. What’s amazing to me, is that even when there’s distinct and…
If you thought ‘Work’ Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Wrong! But you’re in crowded company, because many people give that same answer. According to Steve Keil, the opposite of play, is depression. I agree. Play is a basic need of all human beings, a need that ranks up there with eating, sleeping and sex. Yet most people reflexively answer…
Seems odd starting off the new year without first acknowledging that it is one. So. Happy new year. No exclamation mark, just a period, or a full-stop as the British say. Not that I’m down on the prospects for 2011; it’s just that I’ve been in a bit of a “life is hard”, “business is…
Keep your shirt on. I’m not talking about the controversial military policy that most reasonable people want repealed. I’m talking about the seemingly innocuous and avoidable question … “How old are you?” The other day at a party someone asked me the question and I replied that it’s against my religion to discuss age, and…
In the quest to improve performance we’ve gone through several useful philosophies about what to manage, specifically we’ve been told to practice managing: time people projects energy These are all valuable management philosophies but they do not acknowledge the most fundamental practice: the practice of managing commitments. What are commitments? Commitments take several forms e.g….
Everybody loves simplification so here are two simple principles you can use in the practice of your life; two principles you must own to get more from life—and by “own” I mean not just understand and explain, but know and act from (without thinking) like an extension of your own mind and body. These principles…
Seems like an odd question to ask. The answer is, well … do your best; give it everything you’ve got. What does that mean, everything you’ve got? I hear people say they gave it 100%, and others say that they gave 200%. Hmmm. Makes me wonder if they have any idea what percentages mean. All…
Have you ever listened to the pharmaceutical adverts on TV? As the soothing voice says “Absolv, when taken immediately after upsetting your partner can bring on feelings of contriteness that a puppy would envy. Clinical studies have shown that 77% of users of Absolv are forgiven for extreme transgressions including not sharing with housework, coming…
Many moons ago a senior director at my old company sat with me talking about my career and said, “Peter your problem is you have no ambition.” That felt like a slap across the face because at the time there was no one working harder than I was and prior to coming to the head…
As we drove along the winding road to Maracas beach in Trinidad, my friend Ilene said to me, “You know, I’ve come to realize that there’s only one thing you really need to get when you have a boss.” “Really?” I replied; my sense of intrigue and wonder stimulated because Ilene is one of the…
If you find yourself blaming someone for some unwelcome outcome or a broken relationship, you might want to consider that nothing is ever 100% anybody’s fault. Accepting this requires an ability to expand your perspective on any situation. For example, in criminal justice it may be relatively easy to prove who robbed the convenience store…
Do you think you should acknowledge people for just doing their jobs; for just doing what they’re supposed to? Many people would say no, of course not. They’re doing the absolute minimum required and it’s only service or results over and above the norm that should be acknowledged or rewarded. If you think this way…
The essence of practice is the consciousness or intention you bring to the practice – something that you willingly choose to participate in every day. Long held practices take on a life of their own and if there is no clear purpose to the practice we call them habits. For some gossiping is a habit,…
If you take a telescope and look upwards and outwards, you’ll soon gain a healthy perspective on how small, how insignificant we and our planet are in the grand scale of our galaxy and the universe. You’ll be similarly amazed if you take a microscope and look inwards; there’s an entire universe of cells, atomic…
You heard me! It’s big, it’s round, it’s talked about, it’s yours. So learn to love it. Would like to say this is a quote from “Embracing Your Big Fat Ass: An Owner’s Manual,” but I haven’t read it … yet. I probably won’t but it is possible. While big fat asses may not be…
What is your concept of the truth, and why is it germane to the practice of your life? Well think about it. If you live your life according to things that you believe are true, and they’re only partially true or flat out wrong, what do you think the impact would be on your life?…
