Self-esteem is self-respect. Self-respect is having integrity. Having integrity is not fooling yourself. Not fooling yourself is difficult. The difficult part is you are the easiest person to fool.
Author Archives: John
Empathy
People become infinitely fascinating when you get out of your head and into theirs.
Showing Up For Ourselves
When there’s a work meeting scheduled for 1pm, we show up on time and ready, even if we don’t feel like it.
But when we tell ourselves that we’ll go to bed at 10pm or work out at 8am, or eat at 6pm, we often do not show up on time. We let circumstances, excuses, and energy levels guide our decisions, which we never apply to work meetings.
What if we treated our own schedules like we treat the schedules of others? what if we showed up for ourselves?
Perspective
What if impressionist painters just had poor eyesight?
The Difference Between Wisdom And Advice
The difference between the two is that wisdom must be lived out, while advice does not have to be.
Wisdom is the lived experience of following, not following, and learning from the mistakes of not following one’s own advice.
Advice can be given by anyone, regardless of their personal experience.
Be wary of those who don’t follow the advice they dispose. Trust the wise instead.
Speak First
When a question is posed to the group: always immediately raise your hand and answer. After a question is asked there’s a moment of hesitation that silences the room for a split second. What follows is an avalanche of hands and volunteers. Don’t let that hesitation sink in. Raise your hand even if you’re not sure what you are going to say.
Does anyone have a question for the speaker?
Would anyone like to volunteer to be in the magic trick?
I just found this $100 bill. Does anyone want it?
Don’t hesitate. And don’t be afraid that you won’t know what to say. You’ll figure something out.
Metrics
The inner scorecard is the only scorecard that matters.
Costs Of Persuasion
Each time you allow someone to influence you against your will — whether through convincing you to buy something you didn’t want, doing something you didn’t want to do, working on something you don’t have time for — there are costs on others. Those closer to you bear a higher share of these costs. Because we feel uncomfortable letting down the requester, we pass the costs on to our loved ones instead.
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