From the Author

One of the classic interview questions is something along the lines of: “Where do you see yourself in five years?” The time frame may vary, of course, but the point is to elicit some sense of your future orientation and vision. In this advisory I’m suggesting you ask yourself the same question, not merely to […]

There’s a documentary called “Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight.” It’s full of indications and references to an attitude then pervasive at NASA that might best be termed “hubris.” While certain engineers were asking almost from the beginning for more information about the condition of the shuttle’s left wing, which had suffered an impact of

Yes you do. You may deny that you ever get angry, or you may believe you have your entirely-justified anger response tightly under control. But the truth is you experience the energy of anger – whether or not you unleash its full destructive power – far more often than you’d like to admit. Perhaps even

You’ve probably been through enough experiences to have learned that perspective is important. The way you view a situation greatly influences your emotional and practical reactions to it, as well as how effectively you can create results as close as possible to exactly what you want. This brings up an interesting perspective on perspective, because

You’ve probably heard of the “fight or flight” reaction that primes the human body to respond to a sudden change in our current situation. While that’s undoubtedly a useful feature of how our bodies operate, many experts think this classic survival response may inadvertently have given rise to something far less useful: polarized thinking. Polarized

We all have at least one of them: tasks, projects, or goals we want to put off or just plain avoid. Usually they’re important: perhaps something immediately helpful to our career or personal development, or maybe a daunting challenge we very much wish we would accept. Sometimes, completing one of them would provide a long-term

I don’t know how often I’ve heard descriptions of athletic excellence along the lines of: “Great footwork.” “A perfect swing.” “Beautiful arm position.” These are ways of praising the specific techniques in use by the individual whose work is on display. Technique may seem merely mechanical, and it’s true you can’t achieve real excellence in

The power of hope is a wondrous thing. Children given hope strive harder than others to reach their full potential. Adults given hope overcome larger obstacles than others do, and achieve more in their work and their lives. In a sense, hope is a magic elixir that flips the switch from negative to positive thinking

To some people, the whole idea of “willpower” is vastly overrated. Some believe there’s no such thing as “free will.” I’ve also heard arguments that willpower can do little to defend against the habits, incentives, enticements, and motivations that are inescapable parts of our work and our life. In my own experience, however, proper cultivation