Personal Development
Tactical Mediocrity
I’ve been playing with a concept I call tactical mediocrity. My definition:
A conscious decision not to develop your level of accomplishment or explore your potential in a given field.
You don’t want to be the best, or even great, because of all the crap that comes with it: pressure, scrutiny, attention, responsibility. You just want to [...]
In praise of brevity (thoughts on Twitter in considerably more than 140 characters)
Like many other people in recent weeks, I’ve seen and heard a lot about Twitter, the highly flexible micro-blogging platform that has a real feel of open-sourcery about it in the ways that its users have taken it, turned it and created conventions for its use.
I’ve had a Twitter account since March 2007 (check out [...]
The Power of Positive Engagement
Ever had trouble motivating yourself for something?
Ever done battle with procrastination?
Ever struggled even to get out of bed in the morning?
Yeah, me too. Honestly I don’t think anyone can beat those ogres all the time. We’re human. We’re fallible. Big deal.
So I’m going to look at something that will get you moving most of the [...]
Optimism vs. Cynicism
Cynicism is everywhere. It’s so easy to be cynical.It gives you a little boost to know that you’re cynical enough to see through the evil plots that surround you in every aspect of life. It’s also easy to be cynical with others, a little mutual back scratching showing each other you can see through the [...]
Diversify Your Life
The advice to businesses is always to diversify like crazy, not to keep all their golden eggs in one slightly fragile-looking basket. The idea being that if one market you’re in zigs, hopefully the other one will zag to make up for any fall in business.
I believe diversification is important for individuals as well as [...]
New Beginnings
I’ve got a new job. As of next month I’m going to be a productivity trainer. Just like David Allen. In fact almost exactly like David Allen. That excites me very much.
It’s a huge change of direction in my career. I’m giving up the warmth and security of the civil [...]
Addiction, Substitution and Withdrawal
Have you ever given something up? Alcohol? Chocolate? Smoking? Cookies? I have, and one of the effects I experienced was substitution. I had to find something to fill the void left by my abstinence. I was suffering from withdrawal.
What is addiction? Dictionary.com offers:
The state of being enslaved to [...]
The Movie of Your Life
Movies are generally split into three acts: the setup, which ends with a major plot development; the main part of the story where the characters try to reach their objectives, usually encountering one more major plot development; and the conclusion, where all the loose ends are tied up before the credits roll. Beginning, middle [...]
How You Conspire to Beat the Procrastination Busters
photo credit: atconc
I have plenty of personal projects and goals I want to pursue in addition to my paid employment, but the time I can spend on them is relatively scant and must be shared with my other non-work activities.
Sound familiar?
At the end of the day or at the weekend when I turn my [...]
How to Benefit from Your Finite Capacity for Worry
photo credit: javiekitela
Do you find that you’ve always got something on your mind or something to worry about? Have you ever noticed that the fewer worries you have, the more time you devote to each?
I seem to have a finite capacity for worrying or debating things with myself. If there are lots [...]
