When I was in high school, I worked at a sub shop. One day, there was a little kid at the counter who was covering and uncovering his ears. If you’ve ever done that in a noisy environment, you know it changes your perception of the sound around you. A few people were looking at […]
advice, Confidence, self confidence, sub shop
My grandmother once told me,” If you are wanted a lot, go a little. If you’re wanted a little, don’t go at all.” It was her ways of helping me avoid wearing out my welcome, but it also brings up how much life can be lived at the level of acceptance and rejection. Although you […]
acceptance, advice, grandmotherWhen I was 19 years old, I had the great fortune of being trained and mentored in sales by legendary South Jersey salesman Sam Kligerman. Sam was an old-school gentleman who wore a suit every day and didn’t take that jacket off no matter how hot it was outside. When we were going out on […]
I had lunch with two colleagues at a restaurant and when the server came over, I asked what the soup of the day was. She said,” Vegetable.” I said,” How is it?” She immediately took half a step back, her head started going left and right, she made this face like she was smelling something […]
action, actions speak louder than words, conflict, honesty
Mark Twain said,” There are two kinds of people in the world. One kind separates people into two kinds of people and the other kind doesn’t.” I’m the kind who separates people into two kinds of people, and in this case there are people who ask for help when they have a problem and there […]
ask, ask for help, problems
In the township in southeastern Pennsylvania where I live, the parking meters have a button on them that says “Press For Free Time.” If you press that button, the meter starts counting down from ten minutes. And you often see people after pushing that button rushing around trying to accomplish all the things they can […]
conservation, Energy, recovery, restorative, time
In a survey by the American Psychological Association, more than half of US adults (56%) reported significant stress related to the 2020 presidential election. It is not surprising that this percentage was an increase over the 2016 election (52% reported election-related stress). And it is not surprising that so many people feel anxiety about the […]
election, Stress, stress management
One of my favorite concepts in psychology is called “Parkinson’s Law.” It suggests that work will expand to fill the time that was allotted for it. You might think of it as a measure of inefficiency. For example, if we leave three hours to do something, that tends to be the amount of time […]
efficient, leadership, time, time management
A longtime New York City psychotherapist Robert Akeret wrote a book called Tales From a Traveling Couch. In it, he describes a cartoon; In the first frame, a man is riding on his bicycle to his therapist’s appointment and there’s a monkey on the man’s back. It’s a representation of a problem or burden that […]
gettinghelp, help, sharing
Whether or not you are feeling stressed at this time, there are likely people in your life who are coming to you with the things that they are stressed or worried about. Here are three things you can do to help them: First, if somebody contacts you to talk about the things that they’re upset […]
coping, Stress, stress management, stressed