My sister told me about Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement address where Jobs told three stories about his life that bring powerful perspecitve to education, work and life. Here’s my take on those three stories. 1. Education – don’t be a sheep about it I think most people know that Bill Gates was a Harvard…
… cause I don’t want my boat to be rocking.” (Bob Marley) I love this song (Don’t Rock the boat) and everytime I hear this refrain, “Please don’t you rock my boat,” I smile. How’s that for an anti-change mantra? I smile because it’s simple and yet profound. It brings up such satisfaction with life;…
If you can spice-up Old Spice what else can you “spice-up”? Saw an article yesterday about an ad that made an impression on me when I saw it a few months ago. In the commercial a buffed man wearing only a towel is standing in a bathroom looking straight at the camera and says,…
Imagine not getting that promotion you had worked four years to get, and having the person who got it, run around your office yelling and screaming that she got it, with the help of a large number of people you work with thumping her on the back, yelling in support and celebration of her victory…
Let me introduce you to my two new best friends Meet Carlos and Tony. Met Carlos on Friday night, and Tony on Saturday night (last night). They are both pilots and were in new York on training. They are two of the nicest people that you could ever meet and yet couldn’t be more different…
Saw the same guys again (see my original post on Mexican Music on May 8th, 2009.) They were waiting for the train with me at the very end of the subway platform, talking amongst themselves – there were more of them this time – and checking their instruments. Once again I was engrossed in what…
Imagine you’re the proud Father or Mother of the cutest three year old boy who barely talks, and one day as you’re walking through the mall the little darling starts screaming, “Help me, help me,” to anyone that looks in his direction. My mother related this true story to me the other day about a…
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?…
