Hi. My name is Eric. And I'm a time-aholic. I have a time problem. I abuse time. Afterwards, I stumble through a time hangover, blacked out wondering what I did for the last few hours. It's easy to let time slip away when you haven't identified how you want to invest it. It's hard to know how you want to invest it if you don't have investment goals. Our investment goals define how we invest our money. If we're retiring soon, we might work to preserve what we have with a … [Read more...]
What are you thinking!?
October 11, 2012 by
The world changed. Work is different. Companies are different. The economy is different.Knowledge is different. Buying is different.Childhood is different. Learning is different. Family is different. Friendship is different. Liking is different. A lot is different. Are you still thinking the same? Related articles The Power of Negative Thinking Why Data Will Never Replace Thinking How to Make Huge Decisions … [Read more...]
4 Reasons To Kiss When You’re Angry
September 24, 2012 by
Jen told me about a friend who hadn't kissed her husband in 4 days. They were angry with each other. That seemed odd to me. It seemed like they were dooming themselves to fail. It's Easy to Stay Angry. It's Hard to Move Forward. It's easy to get angry with someone. It's easy to embrace our anger. And it's easy to become justified and obsess about how we're right and they're wrong. It's hard to get past it if being angry is what you focus on. There are so many people and … [Read more...]
Are you in the Rabbit Hole?
September 6, 2012 by
Mobile devices. Text messages. Email. Unintentional side conversations. Web research that turns into an Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole. It's no wonder it's easy to get lost doing nothing (results) while doing something (activity). It's easier than ever to live walking in circles day after day. We call each step progress. Yet the steps lead to nowhere. Then we mount the excuses for why we're not getting anywhere. Too busy. Too much to do. Too tired. Not enough time. … [Read more...]
Do you want something?
July 17, 2012 by
Yesterday I wrote about my mishaps and poor performance at my church's first open mic night. The stakes were low. The mistakes were high. My disappointment matched the mistakes. I was unprepared. I was uneasy. My friend asked me to do this open mic because they weren't sure they'd have enough performers. I got there. I saw no shortage of performers. I could have backed out. I didn't. I committed to my friend that I'd get up there. I also committed to myself. If we won't … [Read more...]
Do you want to be “One and done”?
July 16, 2012 by
I plugged the cable in. No sound. Nothing. Then I tried another cable. Again. Nothing. Thirty people were sitting around. Waiting. I took someone else's guitar. Plugged it in. It worked. I threw the strap around my neck. And stepped up to the microphone. 3 and half minutes flew by in the blink of an eternity. I got through the song. Barely. I was planning on singing two. I changed my mind. I strummed the last chord. Looked at the MC. And said, "That's good enough. … [Read more...]
What are you addicted to?
June 29, 2012 by
"She's getting so big." A tear welled up in my eye. My girls aren't little babies anymore. They're turning into toddlers. With wills and tempers. They're starting to look like little people. And I'm sad. I'm a mourner. I look back and mourn what's passed. I could look forward and embrace what's coming. I'm learning to do that. But undoing decades of looking back takes longer than I'd like. It's hard to create what I want in the world, in my life and in my family when … [Read more...]
Easy to please. Easier to displease.
June 14, 2012 by
My wife, Jen, was exasperated with me. I don't remember what the back and forth was about. There are too many times to choose from. "You're so hard to please!" she said. "No, I'm not. I'm easy to please ... I'm just easier to displease." This is not the best thing to think about myself. I give power to factors out my control. Then I feel a reduced sense of power and control in my life. This leaves me displeased. There are a lot words for this. I'll call it … [Read more...]
How are you making it easier?
June 7, 2012 by
I'm beating this horse this week. The girls stopped eating. We found out their bottles flow rating was too low. Babies won't work too hard to eat. They'd rather not eat ... then drive their parent crazy as the scream because they're hungry. We bought them new nipples. They make it much easier for the girls to eat. They started eating more than before and 3 times faster. It's easy to get caught up in make the tool or the process 'perfect.' If it makes people work too hard, they … [Read more...]
What why are you giving?
June 6, 2012 by
I learned recently that babies won't work too hard to eat. They'll stop eating if their nipple makes them work to get the milk. We learned this because our girls stopped eating a few weeks ago. We bought new nipples with higher flow. They ate faster than ever. Babies don't know that food is worth something. So they won't work too hard for it. Show your team why it's worth doing what you're asking to do. Give them a big why. Or they might just act like babies. … [Read more...]
