Just the other day I finished a task that was assigned to me in one of the software programs used by my team at work. After finishing each task the software plays a gif that has confetti exploding and I have to admit it makes me feel kind of good. The software we use is Monday dot com. Monday is project management software and uses project boards and to do lists. To do lists are powerful hacks that, when used properly make us very productive.
The reason that lists are considered a hack is because of dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that the brain releases and makes us feel good. Dopamine helps move signals in our nervous system. A healthy happy person will have an appropriate level of dopamine in their body. When we cross off a list item and see confetti we trigger a dopamine release in our brains. Other ways to trigger the release of dopamine are, eating foods that are high in magnesium and tyrosine as well as engaging in healthy habits that make us happy like exercise meditation family time and petting a happy pet. Checking off things from a to do list is probably one of the closet things we can do at work that resembles petting a happy well behaved dog.
Besides dopamine, lists offer focus. So until we can bring our dogs to work I will stick with my to do list. No if they allow me I would bring in my four legged friend and keep the to do list.
Promotions are a function of proximity. My oldest son started his career during the covid pandemic. He worked for his firm for a full year without ever visiting that firms office. Now that the world is entering the endemic phase of the Covid 19 virus he has of course visited the office but his in person schedule is still a little flexible.
There are business coaches who are now encouraging young people to get back into the office even if it is optional. Putting in face time really matters. People are social and physical creatures and connections matter. I have been reading and listening to many experts weigh in on the way the current and future workspaces look and every time I hear and read about the physical office and facetime I cannot help but think about the song (They Long to Be) Close to You by the Carpenters.
I am also reminded of a movie starring Bruce Willis called Surrogates. In the movie the whole world lives in their homes and send out surrogate bodies to the physical world to work and do their business. The movie is a dark sci fi movie and you learn the importance of connection to the visceral in the movie.
No matter how much human beings try to remove themselves from other humans and the physical world the fact that we are part of community and the physical world is inescapable.
The importance of showing up is often not given as much credit as it should be.
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?
On the surface this question seems easy to answer. Of course I could find someone who seems to have a charmed life and choose them. I could find a loved one and choose them so that I could help them and or see how they see me. But what makes a person the person they are? What would it be like to be a different person?
a thinking, intelligent being, that has reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself, the same thinking thing, in different times and places
John Locke
Being a person means we can move with our imagination to different places and times. The question points to a time and place by mentioning “for a day”. The place would be the person. Every figure inhabits some position.
No to answer the tough question.. I would love to see what it would be like to be Super man. Super man is not my favorite super hero, Spider man is but I would love to have Super Mans powers if just for one day. All the physics that seem to inhibit me on earth wouldn’t exist for a day. I could fly to China in less than an hour without boarding a plane!
Ok non fiction person that I would choose or to be real.. I would probably love to be Joe Biden for just one day. I would love to get insight into what the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world is privy to. I am sort of afraid that it might be boring but what if it is not? What if the president of the United States is briefed daily on the nations and worlds secrets? Man then I would love to know all of that.
secrets are pleasant to each child of eve
Hannah Cowley
It is a fun mental exercise to change places with others but at the end of the day I am pretty happy with being myself.
I sat in the conference room and watched the presenter write the words Just over Broke on a white board. He then told everyone that the word Job was an acronym and stood for Just over Broke. The presenter let us know that he was offering a career not a job. It was a hard sell on selling. I tried the door to door salesperson thing and it wasn’t for me. I enjoyed meeting with new people everyday I did not enjoy meeting with an agenda. The agenda was to sell.
I have worked in a few industries and each business industry has its own nuances and idiosyncrasies. I honestly have not found a favorite industry or skill in the modern workplace. I have however enjoyed almost every job I have worked at. I have tried very hard to find the silver lining with every situation and my job is no different.
The jobs that I have enjoyed the most though have all the same aspects.
I accomplish things. For jobs that I have enjoyed more than others I find that getting a sense of accomplishment is important. I get such a oxytocin high from starting my day off with a list and then crossing off the tasks as I finish them. Here is a great read about the importance of accomplishment.
I worked with people who acted compassionately and kindly Jobs that I have enjoyed included teams full of positive kind and compassionate people. Work is always a team event and good teams are made up of good team members. Having a great team makes work that much better.
I have worked in companies that have singular missions and ones that have missions that are convoluted. Singular missions seem to work better Everyone at work has there own reasons for being there and usually=y that is monetary however firms have vision statements and a reason that is not just “create profit”. Firms that have all employees working towards that vision are almost always better jobs.
Collaboration is a key part of the success of any organization, executed through a clearly defined vision and mission and based on transparency and constant communication.
So I do enjoy my current job and I have no doubt it is because the workplace has me working on meaningful tasks, with great people and all of that is happening with one clear vision.
There was this comic strip panel that made the rounds in the 80’s, in the panel Garfield the Cat is wearing his pajamas and is frowning and slumped over. His thought bubble reads “I hate Mondays.” When asked in a Gallup poll how people feel about Mondays, 70 % of the people polled replied to the poll that they hate Mondays. Mondays can be tough especially when coming back from long weekends.
Monday is a change of sleep pattern and pace. Some of us are still in “weekend mode” and Monday morning requires exiting weekend mode and getting into “work mode”. Usually I am a big fan of Monday mornings. Monday is the beginning of something new. Everything that happened last week is over and now we have new opportunities and challenges. Sometimes though it takes a while for me to get out of “weekend mode”, and on those days it takes me a little longer to get started. On those days I have to find ways to start my week.
A good strategy for me is to start Mondays with a last week wrap up and begin to write out work tasks for this new week. Once my tasks are written I find one “easy win” task and try to accomplish this one first. The win helps motivate me and gets my Monday morning started.
Strategies can help us when dealing with the Monday Blahs. Whatever your startegyuis I know that you can do it! Good luck and have a great week and Monday!
The lobby of a movie theater, the airport concourse, a train station, and the snack bar at a ball game. These are places as a child and an adult that give me an energy from smell and sight and feel that is almost indescribable. I love the feeling while I am in these places. I get excited.
Watching a movie or play is an event. The audience gets to join the actors in an hour and half on a escapist treat for the mind and the senses. Taking a trip to a different place is an event, the passengers of the train plane or automobile will soon be at a new geographic destination. A sporting event involves watching athletes perform and a huge amount of escapism. before and during events like these there is a nervous energy and an excitement that feels and smells different than everyday activities.
Doing new and exciting things in a safe environment is healthy and needed for growth.
Did you feel the excitement of the ride to come? If so, then you have felt potential energy.
unknown
Generating that excitement comes from learning and trying new things and it is hard to describe or bottle up but it is enjoyable. There is a smell and feeling to it and I wish this for everyone everyday. Never be to afraid to do something that gives you this feeling. Make today awesome
He was the king of Corinth and a brilliant man. In the Iliad Homer described the king as “the most cunning of men” (Iliad, 6:153). Sisyphus was so cunning that he cheated death twice. Sisyphus tricked Hades and Thanatos. Sisyphus got his comeuppance at the hands of Zeus though and was condemned to push a boulder up a hill for all eternity. Every time Sisyphus neared the end of his task the boulder will and does roll back down hill. Today any task that feels like it will never end or is stuck is often described as a Sisyphean.
We have all been there. The project is rolling along swiftly we are making our deadlines and then we hit a brick wall. There is one task or part that seems to never end. What do we do now? How can we handle a task that seems to never end or what do we do when we are stuck?
When you feel stuck it is important to understand what you are stuck on and why. Not why you are stuck but why the project is taking place. What business problem are you addressing? Often the answer will change the direction of a project sometimes it will not. Sometimes it will reinforce the importance of the project. The most important thing that why does with projects and life is refocus.
Write down. When you write something down you use the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain for movement, reasoning, judgement, planning and problem solving.
Talk about it. When you speak you also use the frontal lobe. Speaking and writing will help with problem solving and reasoning.
Finally reach out for help. Sisyphus didn’t have the support structures that many of us have today. Friends, family and colleagues are often looking for ways to help and want to help we just often do not ask. Never be afraid to swallow your pride and reach out for help.
I goofed. It happens to the best of us, most of the time my goofs seem to only impact me but there are other times when the mistake impacts others, that is when it can really stink.
Making mistakes doesn’t always stink sometimes mistakes are insight and answers to other problems. There is a book titled “Mistakes that worked“, the book tells the story of 40 inventions that were mistakes.
“To err is human but to forgive is divine” – Pope
In his essay on Criticism Pope coined a phrase that is often cut short to just “to err is human”, but see when we are mistakes affect others and we must through ourselves to the mercy of the court we are looking for the divine and need to keep in mind the entire turn of phrase. “To err is human to forgive is divine”.
Human nature is both a forgiving and vengeful one. Here is an incredible article outlining how human nature is both forgiving and vengeful. The writer concludes with a call not to change human nature but to change the world. Forgiveness is easier to do when we are more connected and a closer community. Think about how many times you have forgiven close family members and “written off distant friends”.
I think it is kind of poetic that forgiveness is easier when we are more connected and divinity is all about connections and relationships. God is all about relationships. Almost every major religion is about how to live in harmony with life and the earth.
Be like god and forgive others and if you made a mistake look a little harder and see if this is the next invention that will rock the world.
There is this image of earth from space, it is not the first image of the earth from space but it was the first color good image of earth from space. It looks like the earth is rising much like the sun looks while we are standing on the earth. Carl Sagan goes on about the pale blue dot in his book titled pale blue dot. Sagan mentions how everyone that we have ever known and currently know are there on that tiny mote. Sagan’s words are quite poetic.
I grew up in a Baptist church with some evangelical leanings. A big part of the evangelical movement in the United States involves cultivating an us vs them mentality. Evangelical Christians are not the first or only tribe / culture to indoctrinate their participants and believers in an us versus them mentality I only mention them because I have experience with this tribe. I am also a United States citizen and live in a home.
When the first operation Iraqi freedom war started and the United States military invaded Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction some citizens of the United States took on a patriotic us versus them mentality. I see in the newspaper that the unhoused population is an ever growing issue. Almost every day I pass by a soup kitchen and the lines for people seeking help do not seem to shrink.
The Christian bible speaks a lot about good and evil. he Christian bible separates people into just two categories those who are in Christ and those who are not. I would like to point out that the demarcation line may not be what many believe it to be and that is a big thing to keep in mind when dealing with our relationships.
The Us vs them mentality can do us physical and emotional damage. This mentality puts us on the defense, and makes us unconsciously develop basis against others who are not exactly like us. It is damaging to the body and mind but is it a tenet of the Christian religion? Should it be a tenet of any religion? Let me answer the latter first. No this should not be a tenet of any religion, political affiliation, tribe or culture. Inclusivity not exclusivity, tolerance and acceptance not intolerance and repudiation should be the guiding tenants of your world view and religion.
So is the Us versus them mentality a tenet of the Christian faith? It seems on the surface that the us versus them mentality has become a tenet of the Christian faith. I see a whole market for Christian material and content but where does this idea come from? Many believers who adhere to this mentality will point to scripture like
Amos 3:3 – “Can two walk together except they be agreed?”
Ephesians 5:11 – “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness…”
II Corinthians 6:14 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers…”
John 17:13–16 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”
The scripture on its face seems to support an us versus them mentality but if you look at the scripture in context it becomes clear that it is less about us versus them than intentions and love versus apathy or hatred.
All the people of the world are on the same side there is not an us or them there is just us. The world, the universe for that matter is all one, and when one part of the body is sick (without love) the whole suffers and should help (not hurt), the others.
The us versus them mentality is toxic and needs to be dropped right now. I have done it many times. As a joke I will ask my friends and loved ones “who do I hate this week? A boyfriend that broke a sisters heart? I hate them they are not in, a driver who cut you off in traffic I hate them.”
If you read John 17:13-16 you will see that in Jesus prayer for his apostles he does not ask that God take the apostles out of the world but that they are protected. Why not just take them away or isolate them from the world? because the world needs everyone working together figuring out life.
Notice in this scripture:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector . . . ”
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10–11, 13–14 csb)
The Pharisee thought that they had all the answers but he did not and neither do you or I. The most dangerous person in the world is the one who thinks they have all the answers. Humility and learning and growing will not exist in a religion culture or tribe that believes that they know everything. Let’s all just love each other and learn together and lift each other up as much as we can.
At the end of the day all we are is this tiny blue dot in what seems to be infinite space
Yesterday my wife and I watched the movie DOG. The movie follows an US Army ranger who has had a traumatic brain injury and must take a fallen comrades dog to his funeral. The dog is also a solider and the dog and the US Army Ranger have suffered physical and emotional trauma from war.
The solider decides to drive the dog to the funeral. During the road trip the solider and the dog meet another solider and dog who have suffered trauma. The fellow solider lets him know that it is important to talk with someone about the trauma. anyone one wether it is God or a dog because without out talking it through bad things can happen.
Talk therapy also known as psycho therapy was first discovered studied and researched by Sigmund Freud in the early 1890s. Freud understood that life can be painful and confusing and that talking through our relationships and situations helps give us clarity and peace.
Computer programmers will often speak to rubber ducks when writing out complicated code. By speaking out our thoughts we can actually hear them and understand why we think the way we do. Many people do not realize what has caused their trauma and how that trauma has affected their lives.
In church as a younger person I always wondered about pray. In pray we would thank and ask for support from God an omniscient being. Why pray? If God knows everything than why do I need to mention anything to God? It wasn’t until I grew older that I realized prayers were not for the God that they were aimed at but the believer. It is through prayers (if you are praying right) that you discover epiphanies and self actualize.
Never be so busy that you cannot take the time to talk through your situations and relationships, with your God, dog, friend or rubber ducky.
The Corrigan Encore 