There’s a story from Jim Afremow’s The Champion’s Mind that I’d like to share, as related by Anson Dorrance, who is the women’s soccer coach at the University of North Carolina: “He was driving to work early one morning, and as he passed a deserted field, he noticed one of his players off in the distance doing extra training by herself. He kept driving, but he later left a note… Read More »The Power of Unconventional Priorities
Exploring Twyla Tharp’s book, The Creative Habit, I came across this gem: “Confidence is a trait that has to be earned honestly and refreshed constantly; you have to work as hard to protect your skills as you did to develop them. This means vigilant practice and excellent practice habits.” –Twyla Tharp1 While you can pretend to be confident, false-confidence won’t get you very far. What really works – what we… Read More »Two Quick Reminders About Confidence
Creativity, especially in the professional realm, is a common goal for people working on becoming better, and for good reason. Innovation is a way to bring more value to the table at work; it’s a way to create value where there was none. This can lead to financial benefits or simply the satisfaction of contributing something new and important. We know from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s research that serious, professional or academic… Read More »Learning Deeply and Broadly
After reading dozens of self-development books and listening to hundreds of book summaries, I still think Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is the most important and most useful of any title in the genre. The first habit he prescribes is “Be proactive.”1 But what does that mean? The root “act” in the heart of that word is telling: Being proactive is all about taking action. By… Read More »7 Questions Proactive People Ask Themselves