I’m standing in the subway heading to mid-town Manhattan. Train is crowded and at a stop I become aware of two short guys wearing cowboy hats, one with a guitar and the other with an accordion get on. I’ve seen this before, these guys work the trains for money. They play about sixty seconds…
Oh Routine. What am I going to do with you? You make things so mundane, so ordinary, so repetitive and well … so routine. You are the enemy of passion and fun. You are the oppressor of joy. Oh how rote you are routine? How repetitive, how boring, how dull? Where is your spice? Your…
If you’ve ever wondered if work had to be … well … work, then you’ll be happy to know that there is scientific evidence and ongoing research that shows the importance of play to our overall well-being, and that paying conscious attention to a diet of play can make work more fun. There is…
You know, I would soooo like to invent a simple formula that would make my life easy. Ok not easy, some easy … more powerful, exciting and fun. James Bond meets Gandhi. Hey! It’s my life to design. Every now and then I come across, or read about someone who just seems to have it…
Below was sent to me as a joke. I think it’s brilliantly funny. Brilliant in the way Ernesto breaks bad news. Funny in the response to the news. Enjoy. At dawn the telephone rings, ‘Hello, Senor Rod? This is Ernesto, the caretaker at your country house.’ ‘Ah yes, Ernesto. What can I do for you?…
Five things I hate? Interesting, almost refreshing twist on what everyone seems to be asking these days. On the phone messages you hear “… and before you hang up, tell me one thing you love about your life.” I guess it’s progress on the road to enlightenment that I actually can’t think of anything at…
So I’m a closet visionary. I predicted electronic talking dictionaries in the mid ’80′s when the Apple IIe/c was all the rage. What that proves I can’t say, I just thought it would lend some credibility into my initial public foray into uncharted waters. In this case the Indian and Pacific oceans. With this post,…
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?…
