Category: Essays

Why are some people content to do their tasks quietly and never aspire for more? Why do some people want all of the trappings of success but don’t want to earn them? Why do some people accomplish great things by guiding the efforts of others? How do some people build success from scratch? It’s all about work styles. Let’s look at a few: DOERS Some people are content to find their success in a job well done, be it painting houses, writing code, or putting food on the table. They may have simple needs, finding satisfaction in the completion of one task and moving on to the next one, or they may reserve all of their creative energy for other endeavors or personal projects.  In other words, they are content…

So let’s talk about jerks ((I wanted to title this “10 Ways To Know That You're The Asshat.” That’ really what I was thinking when I wrote this.  I mean, really; some people are just asshats, and some are just plain assholes. In the end, I succumbed to the cultural idea that “nice boys shouldn’t write essays with naughty titles,” and went with “jerk” instead.  I doubt if I would get much in the way of search engine love from the word “asshat” anyway.)) We know they’re out there. You see them everyday. Worse, you may be one. (Update: I was asked for a printable one-sheet short version, so I did it.) As Jeff Foxworthy might say, you might be a jerk if: 1. You think it’s all about you.…

A while back, I found myself in the middle of some heavy-duty business debt. How the debt got there wasn’t really that important, although that story will probably make its way into another essay at some point. What is important is the way that debt took over my life and the life of my family. Everything we did became colored by money – how much we had and how we could get more. It defined nearly every waking moment and every conversation, with questions like: “Can I spend an extra $10 this week?” “Can you wait until payday to buy that item?” “How will we pay for this?” “Can we afford it?” “Can we juggle this account to offset that account?” It really had an impact on my wife, who…

mensch |men ch | noun ( pl. menschen |ˈmen ch ən|or mensches) informal a person of integrity and honor. ORIGIN 1930s: Yiddish mensh, from German Mensch, literally ‘person.’   “A friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body.” Some friends are real friends, tried and true. If you need something, they’re right there for you, no questions asked. If you do something for them, they thank you and acknowledge the effort. While the best friendships don’t involve scorekeeping, there remains a certain quid pro quo in the relationship. Everybody gives and everybody receives. These are the relationships on which you should build your life. (For additional help in choosing friends, you can refer to my handy infographic.) Some friends are well-intentioned, but hopelessly disorganized…

I’m a polymath ((Polymath via Wikipedia)). That means I am a “Renaissance soul,” ((On Amazon - The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One)) a “scanner,” ((another link on Amazon))  a “Jack of all trades,” or a “multipotentialite” ((Psychology Today)) on my best days. I have a wide diversity of shifting passions which takes me from one field of interest to another. In many cases I am a dilettante, which most often means a person with a superficial or feigned expertise in a given area (we’ll go with superficial in my case). At the end of the day, I like to think of myself as a Renaissance Soul. It sounds more romantic and creative. I like who I am. As a matter of fact, I’m…

I guess I need to channel my inner crotchety old man.  Sometimes, I feel like I just want to sit on my front porch and yell “You kids get offa my lawn!”  I don’t usually feel like an old crank, but sometimes it happens to the best of us. Lately, I’ve been looking around at other folks who write things that seem similar to mine.  Apparently, by blogging about authenticity and personal change, I fall into a category of bloggers that commonly refer to what they do as “Lifestyle Design.”  Quite by accident, I also learned (the hard way) that some people who write similar things are rather offended by that phrase.  No matter how hard you try, you never know how people will react. What I have noticed after…