What can we learn from how the Soviets trained pushups? Quite a bit actually. The way that they would increase their max-reps for this exercise is counter-intuitive.

Why is there something rather than nothing? In a beautiful article about Being, Johan Kutz invites us to spend more time marveling at the fact of our existence.

“How can I change my discipline?” The human behavior expert Chase Hughes opens with this question in a short interview clip. Before giving a solution, he gives the following definition: “I define discipline as your ability to prioritize the needs of your future self ahead of your current self.”

“While all truth is true, not all truth is helpful.” This thought-provoking  statement is made by Jason Jaggard in his excellent book, Beyond High Performance. He is drawing a contrast between blame and ownership.

Your flight is delayed. You spill your coffee. You are turned down for an interview. What if how you respond to these kinds of situations says more about you than about the situation itself?

Sure, the 3D images of burly Greek-god-esque warriors in this video on the Stoic secrets of magnetic communication are cheesy. Nevertheless, it raised something that continues to challenge me.

According to this short talk on productivity, using “if-then” language to define your vision for change is much more effective than typical goal-setting. In the study the talk cites, students who were hoping to exercise over Christmas break were divided into two groups. One group was asked to set goals and the other group was given “if-then” statements to define their routines.

How many people does it take to change a culture? In his book Beyond High Performance, Jason Jaggard tees up an interesting response with this hypothetical objection: “Jason, I’m only one person. How can I change my entire team, organization, or culture?”

I find it fascinating to ponder this question: “What if I were to actually live out the lessons I’ve learned from my mistakes, big and small?” One of our mentors at Sól Recruiting, Coaching, and Consulting is a former turn-around CEO who has successfully transformed multiple companies over his career. He shared that one of his favorite questions for himself and for his employees is, “Well, didya learn from it?”

This summer, I (along with 145 million other people) binge watched the gripping miniseries Adolescence. The premise is stark: a teenage boy murders a girl in his class after a spiral of rejection and online humiliation.

100,000 hours. That is how much the average person will spend at their work over a lifetime. Jason Jaggard shares this information in his book Beyond High Performance.

One of our mentors at Sól Recruiting, Coaching, and Consulting is a former turn-around CEO who has successfully transformed multiple companies over his career. During a recent workshop he shared a great way of upgrading how we share problems.

Most people avoid boredom. When I was little, one of my most frequent complaints to my parents was, “I’m so bored!” I always wanted to be doing something.

When I directed high school Shakespeare productions, I had a different experience of the show than the rest of the audience. As the director, I knew the lines, the blocking, the jokes, and when these were missed or delivered imperfectly, I noticed and was frustrated.

Recently, I’ve had a season of joyful contentment and gratitude. I’ve been pondering what has changed, since the season before this one had more frustration and discontent.

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” This quote from G.K. Chesterton highlights how our mindset shapes our experience. 

“What is the crossroad at which I find myself at this point in my life?” This is one of my new favorite coaching questions. I found it in the book The Answer to How Is Yes by Peter Block.

“What is my contribution to the problem I am concerned with?” This ownership question comes from the book The Answer to How Is Yes by Peter Block. When Ifeel frustrated or stuck, I find this type of question powerful.

Until recently, the story I told myself was that watching my kids on my own for an extended period of time was stressful. It seemed that my patience was finite, that I could only take so much before I needed a break or lost my cool. These experiences could lead to an apparently logical and convenient conclusion: that I’m just not that good at parenting small children—that it just doesn’t suit my nature and therefore perhaps my wife should take this part of running our household.