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Cognitive dissonance is a powerful psychological force. It’s the mental discomfort we experience when holding two contradictory beliefs. Like when an entrepreneur has the opportunity to engage in a business deal that makes economical sense, but at the same time, feels opposed to his self image. Should he pull the trigger on this new project, or pass on the deal? Should artistic sensibility take a backseat to commercial consideration, or…

America is long past the nostalgia for a golden age of company loyalty. The idea of the company man, someone with an excessive commitment to serving the interests of the organization which employs him, is an outdated movie trope at best, and a misguided dream at worst. Woolridge wrote a popular article at the turn of the millennium about this trend. She observed in the early nineties, the corporate…

Core values exercises are highly useful in helping us figure out what’s most important to us, so we can prioritize our lives accordingly. As my mentor used to tell me, values make all decisions easier. Once you know who you are, all you have to do is execute your actions against that framework, and you’ll have a greater probability of authentic fulfillment. But there’s another compelling aspect of core…

We spent some time with an old friend recently, and something was glaringly different about her. Both visually and energetically. Did she change her diet? Restyle her hair? Start a new career? Find love with a new partner? Couldn’t figure it out. Regardless, it was delightful being around her, and in a way that felt refreshing to us. At the end of the evening, I asked my wife if…

My public speaking mentor once told me that the content of someone’s presentation was irrelevant, because anybody can deliver any given material. What he focused on was the speaker’s humor, because humor is the only universal language. Humor is one of the few things in this life that has the capacity to override people’s native defenses, he instructed. Laughing lubricates people’s intellectual digestive system, the surprise of humor creates…

Homeowners are always renovating with an eye on resale value. Whether it’s a basement remodel, deck addition, roof replacement, kitchen counter upgrade, or installing a multi lane racer waterslide from your bedroom window into your saltwater swimming pool, anything you can do to boost your selling price down the road is a worthwhile investment. Even if it’s frustrating and expensive and not especially gratifying in the moment. During my…

Gallup’s annual poll on employee engagement has collected survey results from nearly forty million people. Here’s one question from their inventory: At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best? This sounds like a dream job, right? Who doesn’t want walk into the office every day and stretch their best muscles? Sadly, not everyone has this luxury. The daily experience of using one’s unique talents…

Gallup has been conducting public opinion polls for the past eighty years. Founded by one of the great market researchers of the last century, their name has become synonymous with relevant, timely, and accurate research on what people around the world think and feel. If you’ve never read their annual happiness and well being index, it’s a fascinating study on human behavior. Their survey questions ask people to think…

Dreams in and of themselves are meaningful, but only to the extent that we know why we have them in the first. That’s the cleanest and truest fuel that drives us to move our story forward. Without it, we’re just postponing our happiness until some imagined moment in the future when everything is just right. Except that time never comes. Just when we get there, there disappears. Think about…

Churchill, the legendary politician and writer, once said that if you have enemies, good, because that mean you’ve stood up for something sometime in your life. Anderson, the great muckraking journalist, said that nothing produces such exhilaration, zest for daily life as a protracted, ugly, vendetta that rages for years and exhausts both sides, often bringing one to ruin. Plutarch, the famous essayist, said that the existence of enemies…