Reading Time: 5 minutesWhat Theological School Taught Me About Groupthink When I studied theology in graduate school, I observed that religious groups, including my own, typically required members to adhere to a particular theology or system of beliefs. It wasn’t acceptable to deviate from the set system. Those who did were attacked and ostracized. Those who asked piercing …
Reading Time: 4 minutesWhen Saying Yes Means Saying No A little over a year ago, I had to say no to something I really wanted to do because I’d already said yes to other things. A creator friend offered me the opportunity to work with him by helping with backstage administrative support. I had to say no because …
Reading Time: 4 minutesYour Brain Is Set to Wander — and That’s Not a Problem A landmark Harvard study found that people’s minds wander 46.9% of the time — nearly half — regardless of what they are doing. Most people secretly think something is wrong with them when their mind wanders. You’re not broken, you’re human. As Steve …
Reading Time: 5 minutesWhen we think of values, we typically think of them as nouns. For example, we talk about integrity, honesty, or family as values. But values as nouns often don’t lead to actions or tell you what you need to do. For that to happen, we need to turn values into verbs. I recently read a …
Reading Time: 4 minutesI read another article recently telling me to stop buying things and start buying experiences. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen that advice. It’s been repeated in newspaper articles, magazine articles, and by bloggers and podcasters. It’s more than just advice at this point — it’s a cultural mantra. As a result …
Reading Time: 3 minutesMost of us go through the day forming intentions and making choices by default rather than through deliberate decision-making. Instead, our choices are made through habits, social contagion, and unexamined assumptions. In his recent book, Intentional, productivity expert Chris Bailey reveals that researchers have found that most of our actions run on neural autopilot. This …
Reading Time: 4 minutesOne Purpose, One Life — Who Invented That Rule? For years, I couldn’t figure out my life purpose. Everyone seemed to have one. I didn’t. That bothered me. When I was growing up, there was an assumption that everyone had a specific life purpose to discover and follow. According to this viewpoint, you were expected …
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe Question That Changes Everything About Productivity Productivity advice is everywhere. Tips, tricks, hacks, systems. The goal is always the same: get more done, faster. But here’s the question almost nobody stops to ask: Why? Why be productive in the first place? Science Has Already Figured Out What Drives You In his recent book, Intentional: …
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe Age of Anxiety Many people today live their lives filled with anger and fear much of the time. I have a friend who was one of the kindest, gentlest, and most positive people I knew. However, over the past ten years, she has become increasingly negative, angry, and hateful. She became obsessed with political …
Reading Time: 5 minutesStart with Why, Not How The majority of material in the productivity realm focuses on the “what” and the “how” of productivity. Apps, hacks, and software systems are the meat and potatoes. These typically overlook the key question of “Why?” Why be productive? What’s the point? About five years ago, I found an approach that …