Juan Martin del Potro was amped and frustrated. It was the finals of the 2018 US Open Men’s Championship, and he was losing to Novak Djokovic. The tension only mounted as spectators and his tennis club from Argentina sang at the top of their lungs like it was a soccer match, reminding him of the
All posts by Matt Norman
I hope you’ll enjoy this guest post by Isaac Vogel of Roell Painting Company as much as I did. What humble leaders (fictional or real) inspire you? Growing up in central South Dakota, because there’s no real “local team” to speak of, cable television informed my rooting interest as much as anything, and thanks to
It was startling to find out Linda doesn’t use email. Not only that, her office assistants are instructed not to take messages but to send callers to voicemail. When they get there, they’ll hear this message: “Thank you for your call. I only check and return messages on Mondays. If your call is urgent, please
Several years ago, I went to see a prominent psychologist. I’d been having persistent stomach aches, shortness of breath, difficulty swallowing, and sharp pains in my head. My doctor said I was healthy. Nothing was wrong with my body. What could be the problem, I wondered. After ten minutes and a few questions, the psychologist
Parenting feels heavy for school-aged children in the weeks leading up to a new school year. What little structure afforded by camps and summer activities is mostly over. Open-ended, self-directed “together” time increases amid the looming change of a new school year. Bickering increases. Demands get louder. Complaining is at its peak. This angst that
Ever since I wrote about courage, I continue to see examples of how confidence determines your willingness to do difficult things. Confidence allows you to say “yes” to a good but hard thing or “no” to something bad yet alluring. It’s trust in yourself — your values, self-image, and capacity. I’ve especially been noticing it
When is a question more than just a question? Here’s a good example: Have you ever thought about seeing a therapist? That’s actually advice disguised as a question. The problem is, rather than generating dialogue, these kinds of questions often elicit a defense like: I’ve tried…I’ve thought of that…That won’t work because… Do you ever ask
I spent time last Saturday preoccupied with my failings from the week. Over and over I processed frustration with myself for the way I’d responded to a few questions in a radio interview I’d done. You should have prepared more. Why did you say that? How did you forget to say that? Are you ever
My first “real” job was working the floor at our local Musicland store. When the store closed each day, we’d lower the metal gate to the inside of the Eden Prairie shopping mall. One of my managers, Jeff, would always start the store closing rituals the same way: He’d play Van Halen music super loud.
Over the holiday weekend, I got to connect with my dad, who spent his entire career speaking and coaching adults to develop more effective relationships using the Dale Carnegie concepts and methods. We talked about my dad’s belief that we all have levels of relationship “capital” in invisible bank accounts that exist between people. Our