I read this on writer Seth Godin’s blog: “Passion comes from feeling needed, from approaching mastery, from doing work that matters.” The standard advice is to find work you are passionate about and pursue it. Godin says that kind of work doesn’t start that way. The three conditions laid out here have merit: Feeling needed. It comes when the team remains open to new people, and an atmosphere of connection exists. If passion has a

I listen to a leadership expert named Tim Kight. He talks about the importance of pausing before responding to challenges and situations in the world. Pause.  Gather yourself.  Then respond.  Reacting spontaneously has its risks.  If you can pause, you ought to do so. Kight digs deeper by describing three distinct types of pauses: “Proactive” Pause. Take a proactive pause before a situation arises, considering beforehand how the situation may play out.  Create an intentional

“Life is difficult.” That’s the first sentence of A Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck. I read the book about 40 years ago, and it has stuck with me ever since. I’ve frequently gifted the book to graduating high school seniors, hoping they will read it and adjust their expectations about what’s ahead in life. For me, time has proven Peck’s observation true. Life is difficult because it’s full of complexity. It has other people in it,

As you face the pressures of life, being resilient is a character trait that is often recommended. What does resilient behavior look like? In a TED Talk, Jane McGonigal described four types of resilience. When defining them, she said that people who practice these behaviors regularly live longer than those who don’t. Here are the four types: Physical resilience. You are physically resilient if you don’t sit still longer than an hour at a time.

Olympic runner Alexi Pappas says that when trying to do something hard, you should expect “crappy” days. “My Olympic coach told me after a particularly challenging workout… ‘that’s okay, it’s the rule of thirds,’” Pappas recalled. When she asked her coach to explain what he meant, he said, “When you’re chasing a dream or doing anything hard, you’re meant to feel good a third of the time, okay a third of the time, and crappy

Despite what you may read and see, everyone experiences disappointment. There’s no avoiding it. You win some and lose some. Health changes. You fall short on goals. Circumstances conspire to prevent desired outcomes. An article in Psychology Today by Dr. Melanie Greenberg described strategies for overcoming setbacks. I jotted down some thoughts about her guidance. Face the truth. Every disappointment deserves assessment. Some get stuck at extremes. They ignore or avoid the reality of a situation,

“Pressure is a privilege. If you’re under pressure, it means someone cares what you are doing.” – Billie Jean King, Hall of Fame tennis pro Most of us regard “pressure” to be a dirty word. We associate it with tension, nerves, and headaches. I know there are times when the pressures of the day seem so intense that I’d do anything to relax and kick back. But King’s quote reminds me that to live life

I recently read that “hope” is a skill. Candidly, never thought of hope as a skill.  Maybe an attitude.  Maybe wishful.  But not skill. But someone broke it down this way: Hope happens when we set goals. Setting goals directs our view to the future.  Gives you a target.  Refines your focus.  It’s the first step toward building a future. Hope happens when you have the tenacity and perseverance to pursue the goals. There’s a mental toughness that comes with pursuing