Change is hard. In a way, that’s good (so you don’t make bad changes too easily). But what about good changes? The ones you both need and want to make? How do you make those changes? You must master* the following three “meta” skills: Awareness There are things that are hidden, unseen or otherwise obscured that you…

I just read yet another article on how retirement isn’t the panacea people think it is (at least for those financially prepared for retirement… ). People seem to have this idea that they will do everything they want when retire (i.e., all the things they said they couldn’t do while working) and live a life of…

“We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.” – Stephen Covey When we learn that what we do matters, we more carefully – and intentionally – do what we do. When we learn to do…

“I really do think that any deep crisis is an opportunity to make your life extraordinary in some way.” – Martha Beck A crisis is an opportunity. It is a wake-up call. It is a clear signal that what one has been doing will no longer work. It is a chance to begin anew, with…

“Just because you don’t take an interest in politics, doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.” – Pericles Ignorance of the law is no defense. A police officer and/or judge doesn’t doesn’t care if you were aware of a law or not if you get caught breaking it. For example, when you get…

“We are not creatures of circumstance; we are creators of circumstance.” – Benjamin Disraeli This is both true and not true. It’s not true – in practice – for most people. Most people are creatures of circumstance, they are “reactors.” They (merely) react to what happens to them, as they go about their daily, weekly, monthly and…

I subscribe to the Early to Rise daily newsletter and I don’t think I’ve read one that wasn’t useful in one way or another. Some are particularly good. Every once in a while, I want to share something from one I’ve read. Today’s (I am writing this on 2/6/13) main article was Mark Ford listing…