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I realized today as I was looking at my two committed actions that they were commitments not so much to actually get a result, but to take an action that was one particular way to get that result. I found a much easier way to get my end result, which meant I didn’t have to…

Why would a distinction, a purely mental construct, actually give you power? What do I mean by power? Is power some abstract concept, like the genie in Aladdin, to make things into whatever he wants by simply willing it? ……Yes. Kind of. Power is simply the ability to do work, where work is directed force.…

Distinction Another great distinction from Straight Line Leadership (I really need to do a quick post on why distinctions are not some mental trick to make yourself feel better that is actually rooted in our basic relationship to our environment; pretend this parenthetical tangent didn’t make you forget the beginning of the sentence): Obstacle Vs.…

Advent is my favorite liturgical season.  I’m actually not a big fan of Christmas, and I think that makes it easier for me to live in the moment of anticipation.  6 year old asks me, “can you not wait for Christmas, Mama?” and I’m like, “Nah, I’m cool.”  I savor the 3 or 4 weeks…

Core actions -> things that make a difference. Surface actions -> things that look like they’re doing something. Great distinction from Straight Line Leadership. And to be honest, at least some of the things I’m doing right now are surface-level. Maybe many. Do we need to make “great” products to see if we can sell…

I’m drawing a blank.  Life has gotten a little more more in the last couple of days, and I’m struggling to keep up with the new normal, or even just my expectations and fears about the new normal.  That kind of seems like a waste of energy, since I don’t really know what life will…

What do you do when your plans get exploded? Strangely, as I have been learning to choose to be more direct and resourceful (i.e. just go straight at the obstacle instead of wanting it to go away), plans getting totally wrecked hasn’t been bothering me as much. We got a flat tire tonight on the…

It’s been a long day.

I missed a commitment to make 5 products for my online store. I have more than 5 concepts and ideas and almost done things. But I don’t have 5 actual products in my store. I’m recommitting to doing that, and breaking it down into actions, instead of projects. You can’t commit to a project, but…

It was a busy, exhausting day, and I had a bit of a meltdown at dinner making time, which is, to be honest, not something that doesn’t happen from time to time.  Parse that sentence.   However, I pushed myself to write a bit of content for one of my nascent blog ideas, and to pick…

I did not blog yesterday. I also have not formally committed to blogging every day. It’s more like an informal commitment, or something that I will do, like dishes, every day, but if I’m really tired and the day was a lot and I want to go to bed, I will let it go until…

It’s been a pretty good day.  Baby 1 year old slept all the way till 5 or 6.  I’ve been driving around all day from appointment to errand to drop off to pick up to errand to pick up, which I find exhausting, but every single thing was a good thing that was worth the…

Just when I was feeling super overwhelmed and underwater, it looks like my schedule will be opening up.   We will be dropping most of 9 year old’s appointments (and it’s a good thing!)

When there’s too much to do, and not enough time in the day, and there’s just no way you can figure out what’s next…. how do you respond? Wait a minute! Step back further. Are any of the first things I said even ‘facts’? Are they indisputably real? We choose, at a very basic level,…

My mom always used to say, about outcomes that might not have been thrilling but were still good (like making a few dollars selling something she made, even though it took way too long to do) “It beats a zero”. I decided to write every day, because one of the things I struggle with is…

While reading this book Straight Line Leadership, he talks about choosing interior stances. What stance could I choose with my kids, who are driving me batty today? All of them are having meltdowns. And there I am telling them “The problem is how you’re thinking about this”. Meanwhile I am getting angry because they’re all…

I feel overwhelmed.  I keep getting confused about what this blog is supposed to be about, and husband keeps reminding me that it’s supposed to be about our experience of this crazy year.  So really, I can write whatever the muffins I want, because it’s all relevant.   What is my role?  Before we started this…

A good friend texted me to ask about the ethics of one of the ecommerce businesses the wife and I are working on (i.e. is it aimed at a sufficiently good thing, or is there any reason to do it other than making money). My first reaction to this (which was actually just him asking…

Remember, it’s the deed—not the doer—that gets you the results that you are after. Straight Line Leadership, Dusan Djukich All your feelings, all your mental noise, all your fear, all your hesitations, all your talking, all your enthusiasms, all your excitements, all your desires… None of those get the results. None of the qualities of…

October flew by at a pace which I found perturbing.  Why?  Because I knew that November and December would be even more whiplash paced.  So now we’re here, nearing the end of the year, and I’m wondering where it all went.   It’s Thanksgiving.  We usually host, but this year we had planned to go up…