I was at a farmers market over the weekend and told the person ringing up my order how much I loved a product they sell. She replied, “I really like hearing that! Would you please tell our boss? He’s over there, and he doesn’t listen to us when we tell him, but if you told […]
Communication, farmers market, ignored, messenger
I was having dinner the other night with a former professor, who is still a mentor of mine, and we were talking about how both of us still have friends from elementary school that we see on a regular basis. I asked him why he thought these early friendships had endured for so long, and […]
fish, fish hatchery, friends, hatchery, Mentor, metaphor
My mother was fond of telling me how much I loved Halloween when I was a little kid. I think I really enjoyed the creativity and the ability to use my imagination when coming up with a costume—you can be whoever you want. In our adult lives, one powerful tool when we feel stuck in […]
creative thinking, creativity, halloween, problem solving, problems
One of my favorite terms from the world of sports, particularly baseball, is the “walk-off run.” It happens in the last inning for the home team when they are tied and score to win. Reportedly, the term was coined by pitcher Dennis Eckersley. He used it to describe home runs that were hit so far […]
baseball, Dennis Eckersley, Walk Off, walk off run
A friend sent me an article about how to make the perfect cup of cappuccino. It covered all the usual things, like picking the right beans and getting the water temperature just right. But at the end of the article, there was a surprise: they suggested taking the cup and swirling it one time. That […]
cappuccino, enhance, swirl
There was a recent article in The Washington Post about a very popular social media influencer who does food reviews from his car, as many popular food reviewers do. The writer talked about how that style of filming makes things feel personal because a car is such an intimate space. For me, what’s interesting about […]
Drive, driving, inspiration, thoughts
There was a book on my bookshelf at home, J.D. Salinger’s wonderful book Franny and Zooey, that I probably hadn’t read since college. I decided to read it again, and it’s amazing how my own life experiences have changed—making reading the book feel so different. I’m reminded of the saying, “You can’t step into the […]
book, read a book twice, reading, reread
I was in a restaurant the other day that had a long counter, and it’s possible that people were leaving trash in a spot where there wasn’t a trash can. So, there was a sign that pointed from that first spot to a second spot where the trash can actually was, about 10 or 12 […]
Attention, message, restaurant, sign, signs
In a wonderful James Thurber cartoon from many years ago, there’s a depiction of a man angrily yelling into his telephone, “Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?” It’s a funny take on how we tend to get angry at others when we make a mistake. Here are three […]
cartoon, handle mistakes, james thurber, mistakes
One of my favorite stories about Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, who was inspiring in so many ways, is that he dropped out of high school at age 15 but went back to finish his GED 45 years later at the age of 60. This was a tremendous accomplishment. The reason he did that […]
challenge, GED, high school, wendys