“You teach people how to treat you.” You’ve heard that one, right? What if you could teach Mondays how to treat you, too? If you don’t like Monday, show it who’s boss. Tear it a new one. I don’t mean “Go get ’em tiger, be an unstoppable beast.” That’s great if you can do it on […]
KEEP READINGcreativity
The best Power Pose for work.
You’ve heard about power posing, right? Using your body language to generate confidence, calm, or sharpness in your brain? The Wonder Woman pose is the one you hear about most.⠀I’m sure it’s great before speaking on stage. Or walking into a negotiation. (Because a quivering lip does not back up “It’s my way or the […]
KEEP READINGHow to be disgustingly productive
A productivity workshop seemed like a silly idea for me. No, not because I’m so productive. I could win shiny gold medals for wasting time, if there were official world records. But there aren’t, because it’s a hard thing to measure: Is staring at Facebook for hours waiting for another like to show up wasting time? Is […]
KEEP READINGBe for the weirdos – and other lessons from a day with Seth Godin
I was so mad that Friday. At 6:40, I was hustling off to my 7pm House dance class, wearing my dowdy, full-length black down coat and all kinds of other thermal layers. I’d walked a block thinking, “Only for Cebo’s class do I go out in this cold.” Cebo is my teacher’s “dance name.” (All the […]
KEEP READINGDon’t let this happen to your ideas.
I found two plastic bags of moldy muffin scraps in my tote this morning. They taught me an important lesson about creativity. (OK, that’s a major stretch, but why not make old bread products a teachable moment? Plus, let’s face it, everyone’s “lessons” on the internet are pushing it.) Here’s the backstory: I can’t snack these days. […]
KEEP READING“Um, yes?” is the new “Go for it,” my father will not be stopped, and other lessons from a writing workshop in Italy
Oh hi. I’m a shitty example. Last month I was in Italy, teaching 30 people that there’s always something to write about. I even passed around a printed guide I wrote called The Art Of The Start (How To Start Writing Anything). I got everyone writing. I came back all jazzed to write about it. But I return from […]
KEEP READINGHow To Write With Detail (AKA “Mental Finger Food.”)
In 9th Grade, I handed in my Pride and Prejudice paper with broccoli stuck to it. As if this made it better, I circled the green smear with ballpoint pen and scribbled, “Mrs. Carpenter — sorry about the broccoli.” When I make presentation slides for a speech, I type plain text rather than find a nice graphic template. Instead […]
KEEP READINGIt’s tragic that we don’t all write every day.
Inside our living room credenza, I have a clear plastic tub stuffed with old sh*t. Every few months, I take it out and go through a weekend-long ritual. I shuffle through photographs from the 90s, laugh at the pencil-thin eyebrows, and scan some choice shots of me and my friends from when we still had baby fat on […]
KEEP READINGA severe case of “don’t wanna do sh*t”
Last week, I treated myself to some heavy-duty, delightfully effective Tylenol Cold and Flu. Man, do I love Western medicine! Praise Duane Reade. Blessed be CVS. My one complaint is the damn packaging that breaks off your fingernails. “Peel from this corner” is the biggest tease of all time. Why don’t they let us go through all […]
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