Tag Archives: Self-help Tuesdays

Life is like publishing a book (Part II)

Posted on by

Coming up with an idea isn’t such a big deal. The real key is taking your idea, or even the germ of an idea, and getting it to the place where you can develop an actual product.

The process of researching, writing, and then publishing my own book was a major step forward for me. The early portion of my life was filled with lots of ideas. At one point, I had a book that had scraps of writing, lyrics for half-written songs, even various chord progressions to song snippets. I once even bought a four-track recorder to lay down song sketches with dual-tracked guitar parts. None of these ever ended up amounting to anything more than another series of unfinished projects. Continue reading →

Life is like publishing a book (part I)

Posted on by
Book publishing teaches many life lessons.

Book publishing teaches many life lessons.

What motivates people to make changes in their lives? Why is it that some people embrace self-improvement and personal growth, while others stay stuck in the same old rut?

As mentioned before, I was stuck in self-defeating patterns of behavior for a good chunk of my young adult life. Even in my early 30s, when I began looking for answers not bound by spiritual precepts, I had a hard time accepting the power our minds hold over us. Often, how we think, and what we choose to fill our heads with sabotages the best laid plans. Continue reading →

Stop Talking and Start Doing

Posted on by
Nike's winning logo.

Nike’s winning logo.

Nike’s marketing slogan, “Just Do It” might be the greatest pitch tagline of all time. Those three words capture everything that their ad campaign sought to convey. The cash registers haven’t stopped ringing since Nike launched that line back in 1988. It helped them double their already healthy market share in the decade afterwards. And the profits just keep coming. Continue reading →

Calling (out) Dr. Oz

Posted on by
Photograph by Ethan Levitas, The New Yorker.

Photograph by Ethan Levitas, The New Yorker.

There is a fascinating article in the latest (February 4) issue of The New Yorker by Michael Specter, on Dr. Oz. I say fascinating because the man that Oprah dubbed “America’s doctor” has bounded over the barricade that separates celebrities from the rest of us relegated to anonymity, or perhaps semi-obscurity. Continue reading →

Blue Mondays, Peace Pilgrims, and three day resolutions

Posted on by

I wanted to cover this yesterday, given that it was actually Blue Monday. But since it was Inauguration Day and even a national holiday, I decided to save it for Self-Help Tuesday, today.

Apparently Blue Monday is the most depressing day of the year. Actually, until last week, I’d never heard of it.  Someone I was talking to mentioned the term and when I asked her what “Blue Monday” was she said, “It’s the day when most people bail on their New Year’s resolutions.” Continue reading →

Taking that first step

Posted on by

A few weeks ago, I had an interesting discussion with a friend about dissonance. In the course of our conversation about boundaries and having the courage to say, “enough is enough,” the topic of dissonance came up and whether the presence of turbulence or dissonance in our lives was an indicator of something bigger and more important. Continue reading →