Aug 2
What do I want to be when I grow up? This is an age-old question many of us re-visit on a regular basis (I’ve only been working for 13 years, and I’m already on career #4).
For a work project, I recently asked people to share the names of the best career books they’d ever read. Many of the usual suspects made the list, but I thought it was a useful collection to share nonetheless. Read more
My great, great aunt — a role model for healthy aging — always seems to bring something special when she comes over for a meal. Self educated and worldly, she has a sophisticated grace about her that shows through in her day-to-day way of living, the questions she asks, and her impeccable taste in seemingly everything. As a college student, her recipes are the first one’s I’d ever seen with no measurements, just ingredients. Read more
“I sound like an idiot.” “I’m not trying hard enough.” “I’m not writing anything interesting.” “I’m not doing enough good for society.” “I should be a better [mom/daughter/wife/friend/employee/boss/citizen].”
I never knew what to call this silent-but-mighty voice until I started reading and learning more about psychology, interacting with more coaches, and reading more self-helpy stuff. I can now proudly name this voice: it’s my inner critic. Read more
Earlier this week I tried an app called Zombies, Run! Don’t ask how I found it. It certainly didn’t involve neatly typing in zombies + running, but instead a meandering journey into the black hole we call the Internet (Yahoo! Mail –> click on newsletter –> view recipe for how to make your own power bars –> click on link at the end of the homemade power bar article –> find some random list of “cool fitness apps” –> get curious about zombies). Lured by the promise, “Get Fit. Escape Zombies. Be a Hero,” before I knew it, I had spent $3.99 in the app store to install Zombies, Run! on my phone. Read more
My mother, that is (not me).
Maybe it’s because of all the wisdom she accumulated raising three kids, or maybe it’s just plain old Midwestern resourcefulness, but she seems to often (not always) know best. She knows how to paint rooms and arrange flowers and install screens and strip floors and sew comforters and fix almost anything. She knows how to make people feel special and loved, no matter who they are. And most impressively to me these days, she knows how to get kids to eat vegetables. Read more
“Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.”
– Mary Schmich Read more
I used to dream about opening a breakfast and lunch cafe. Years of sitting in New York City cafes sipping espressos and eating croissants and browsing through magazines made me think it would be amazing to start my own. I longed to create a place where people came for community and warmth and strong coffee and wholesome, chic breakfasts. A place where children and elderly people in the neighborhood could mingle or simply co-exist. Where the menu was small, but mighty. Read more
Milwaukee International Airport (MKE) has lots of things most other airports don’t have — cheeseheads for sale, one of the best used bookstores around, ping-pong tables, an Alterra coffeeshop, lots of friendly Midwesterners, and most notably, a “Recombobulation Area.” Read more
We all need inspiration sometimes…here are a few places I often find it.
Where do you turn when you need a burst of inspiration? And have you ever thought of simply making a list to remind you?
“At work we hail the person for whom science and teaching is above all else, who forgets to eat and drink while working feverously on getting the right answer, who is always there to have dinner and discussion with eager undergrads. At home we admire the parent who sacrificed everything for the sake of a better life for their children, even at great personal expense. The best scientists. The best parents. Anything less is not giving it your best. And then I had an even more depressing epiphany. That in such a world I was destined to suck at both.”
This is an excerpt from an essay Radhika Nagpal, a Harvard Professor of Computer Science, wrote for Scientific American today. I’m far from her situation — fighting for tenure in one of the most competitive academic fields and institutions around — but I really related to much of what she talks about. Read more
Learning from parenting and life, while trying to get dinner on the table
A quixotic quest for the bright side.
don't sweat the baby stuff
by SBK & Associates
hacking health, designing life
Rudey's Room
Posts with strategies and tactics on building great products and how to be a better leader
Tim Ferriss is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers and host of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast.
hacking health, designing life
Marginalia on our search for meaning.
hacking health, designing life
wellfesto 