Then do this with it — Here’s what happened when I challenged myself one Saturday to come up with a list of 100 things I want. The inspiration I was intrigued by the idea to make the ‘100 wants list’ from a podcast episode by Rich Litvin. He apparently has all his new clients do it. As a…

What you need to know to start dismantling this form of strategic racism — A dogwhistle is a word or phrase that sounds harmless on the surface, but contains a secondary meaning intended solely for an in-group. It’s called a dogwhistle because it’s a metaphor modelled after a literal dog whistle — a sound made at a pitch that only dogs can hear. Dogwhistles…

Get into flow quickly with structure and delight — There are a lot of things I don’t want to do. On days when I’m feeling especially unmotivated, my inner rebel and thought gremlins form a bad 1–2 combo. Here’s how I overpower them all and get stuff done anyway. Give yourself a simple getting started routine A while back, I spent a huge chunk of the…

Metaphors are your view into another’s world — Humans are sense-makers. We use language and all its creative affordances to help us interpret and share our understanding of the world. Even though we may hardly notice the metaphors we use in our everyday speech, they are an integral part of making sense of things. With just a little…

Separating science from pseudo-science — As an American living in England, there are times when differences in the meanings of words lead me astray. “Would you like chips with that?” Do they mean American chips or British chips —thin, round potato slices or the related, chunkier, potato sticks? Or did they recognize my American accent…

And how to make that true — It’s not possible for someone to waste your time. After all, nobody has that much control over you. Or of time. Here’s what’s happening when we feel like our time has been wasted. And how we can turn that around. What we are really saying When we say that someone or something wasted our time…

A sensible guide for talking to ducks — and becoming more like one — In software engineering, there is a simple yet clever trick for getting unstuck. It is called rubber duck debugging and it works a charm for finding a way out of a tangled mess. The steps are simple: First, get yourself a small, bathtub-variety rubber duck. If no ducks are immediately…

Give your advice monster a new job — As a curious problem-solver and endless ideas person, it’s hard work to resist giving advice. But it’s also my job not to. Here’s how I deal with that. Your coach doesn’t lift the weight for you There’s a huge misconception that coaching involves giving advice. The reality is, to be more coach-like, you want to be enabling others…

Proven ways to get rid of ANTs — aka, Automatic Negative Thoughts — Perhaps you don’t notice those pesky negative thoughts. Or maybe you do, but aren’t aware of the impact they’re having on you — and other people around you. Either way, if not dealt with, destructive thoughts can seriously ruin your days. …