The pressure to perform is always there. Only one vendor wins the contract. Only one person gets elected. In any number of day-to-day situations, you’re competing for resources, attention, or recognition. For my son, it’s his tennis ranking. He loves tennis, and he loves to compete. The fact that the USTA publishes weekly rankings for
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
What difference do you see between these statements: The traffic was awful vs. I left late My schedule is crazy vs. I’ve agreed to too many things You’re making me angry vs. I’m feeling defensive She didn’t get back to me vs. I need to follow-up with her This job is too difficult vs. I’m not doing what
After college, there were two classrooms that changed the trajectory of my life. I could hardly drive to the first course, I was so anxious about taking a public speaking course. But I pored over the material and thought about it between each class. My reaction to the other life-changing class was more like respectful
With the subject line, “Worth Reading,” I dropped everything to read the email my wife sent me last week. She had linked to an article that spoke to the challenges parents have in balancing work and raising kids. My first thought after reading the article: “I’ve really grown in how I appreciate and collaborate with
It’s winter where I live. With winter comes cold, dark nights. But spring doesn’t come without winter. As you go through life, you learn this lesson about the cycle of the seasons, their ups and downs. Eventually, you discover that it applies to other parts of your life as well. I know I have. Like
Recently, some friends and I were talking about our relationships with our wives or girlfriends. One friend mentioned that he’d just gotten feedback that he doesn’t communicate well. “Did you get defensive?” I asked. “No, not at all,” he said. “I am meeting with a therapist to work on this. It’s my issue, not hers.
Last week our family fished in the mazes of mangroves in Southwest Florida with perhaps the best guide in the area. The operation is nothing fancy—just a small boat and a lot (30 years) of experience. He’s never had a website, doesn’t use social media and is only reachable by cell phone. If you get
It’s not easy to stretch outside your comfort zone. After all, it’s called a comfort zone for a reason. Outside your comfort zone is pain. And you’re built to avoid pain. It’s only natural to resist the things that don’t line up with your personality and preferences. You could call this one of the default
Years ago, a colleague of mine, Harold Knutson, was faced with a difficult decision: support the company plan to outsource, or take a stand for his belief that it was a bad idea at that point in time. As one of a handful of vice presidents, he could have put his head down and gone
Matt Norman is president of Norman & Associates, which offers Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central US. Dale Carnegie Training is a global organization ...READ MORE