1: Many people believe they are the only ones who don’t fit in.
“Feeling like you don’t belong can change how you interpret everything you experience,” writes Kelly McGonigal in her powerful book The Upside of Stress.
“Conversations, setbacks, misunderstandings,” she notes, “almost anything can be viewed as evidence that, in fact, you don’t belong.”
“The belief that you don’t belong also feeds into many destructive states of mind, … continue reading
1: What is the effect of showing smokers graphic warnings on cigarette packs?
When doctors are asked this question, “In general, they believe that the images will decrease smokers’ desire for a cigarette and motivate them to quit,” writes Kelly McGonigal in her terrific book The Upside of Stress.
Actually, studies show the warnings have the opposite effect.
“The most threatening images (say, a lung cancer patient dying in … continue reading
1: Each day when he’s not traveling, Kevin Deshazo, CEO of Fieldhouse Media, drives his son Gabe to and from school.
“While in transit I normally check my phone at red lights for emails and posts, trying to see what the world is up to,” he explains.
“Everything changed,” he says after learning about the 5 Gears framework.
The 5 Gears is both the title and the central metaphor … continue reading
1: “I love professional wrestling!” the man said.
Jeremie Kubicek raised his eyebrows. “Alright then,” he thought.
“The funny part,” he writes in The 5 Gears, the book he co-authored with Steve Cockram, “was that his answer was the last thing I thought he would have said.
“If he had stated, ‘I like to collect stamps,’ that would have matched up to my expectations based on what he … continue reading
1: On July 2nd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Britain.
The following day, July 3rd, final revisions to Thomas Jefferson’s draft of The Declaration of Independence were agreed to.
Which brings the story to the 4th of July, 1776.
“In later years the excessive summer heat of Philadelphia would frequently figure in accounts of Thursday, July 4, 1776,” David McCullough writes in his … continue reading
1: Jennifer’s father was ill.
“The two things that he could do to improve his physical condition most significantly are to eat better and exercise,” she tells Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram, who write in their book The 5 Gears: How to Be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time.
And, “the two things he refuses to do are eat better and exercise,” she says.
Jennifer … continue reading
1: Why pay attention to the stories you are telling yourself?
And why devote the time, effort, and energy to change these stories?
It’s not going to be easy, Crucial Conversations authors Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Emily Gregory warn us.
There are two reasons you may want to change the stories you are telling yourself:
Reason #1: Bad results.
Maybe you … continue reading
1: Author Joseph Grenny had been married for just a few years when his travel schedule became hectic.
He and his wife, Celia, had two young toddlers, and she served as the sole parent when Joseph was on the road.
One evening, he arrived home from a long trip, Joseph and his co-authors write in their classic book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.
“Celia was … continue reading
“Nothing in this world is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” —William Shakespeare
1: “Even if you don’t realize it, you are telling yourself stories,” Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Emily Gregory write in their classic book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.
Even right now. Even as you are reading this.
Yesterday, we looked … continue reading
1: When Diane Button was new to end-of-life care, so many questions flooded her mind.
“I wondered if I would ever get to a place where I would feel comfortable stepping into the home of a dying person with ease and grace,” she writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living.
Fortunately, she had a mentor. “Hospice chaplain Clarence Liu was was … continue reading
