Have you ever been good at something, but struggled to perform it under pressure?
I took piano lessons growing up, and can play decently, but found recitals excruciating because my hands shake when I’m nervous. I can speak or sing under those circumstances, but playing the piano is rough. If someone judged my piano-playing ability only on recital day, they’d definitely slot me as a beginner.
Continue reading “Piano Recitals”When was the last time you were the new person in the room?
New job? New school? New club?
For many of us, as we get established in our career and networks, it doesn’t happen nearly as often as it used to.
I was one of the new people last week at an event in Croatia called Synergy – The Retreat Show. It was a good reminder of what it feels like to be new. Here’s what I left with.
Continue reading “The New Kid”“I want to dance more.”
One of the activities we enjoyed during the “Reimagine your Story” retreat I ran in southern France last week was to write down 100 things you want.
Continue reading “100 Specific Wants”I recently wrote about the importance of choosing your peers wisely. It’s not just true for teenagers! For those interested in more on this, I enjoyed this conversation between Molly Graham and Bill Gurley on the podcast WorkLife (we read Bill’s book Runnin’ Down a Dream in book club last spring)
Another way Angela Duckworth recommends changing your situation to affect your thinking and actions is to adjust your physical environment. It can happen in minor ways (e.g. tidy up your office and put your phone farther out of reach), but sometimes a major change of setting is worth putting on the table. Getting into a whole new environment has a way of unlocking fresh thinking that we can rarely access from our desk.
Continue reading “Change of Scenery”“I want to be surrounded by people who make me more .”
How might you finish that sentence?
Fun? Caring? Effective? Wise? Brave?
What provocative conversation would those finished sentences initiate in your organization if you dared to ask?
Continue reading “Fill in Your Blank”