Quick and Dirty Tips |
- Educating Through Desire: Lessons about Transcendent Leadership
- How to Focus Intently and Beat Procrastination
- How to "Be Where Your Feet Are" In Work and Life
- Not Feeling Valued at Work?
- How to Do a Chest Workout Without a Bench
| Educating Through Desire: Lessons about Transcendent Leadership Posted: 01 Jun 2021 06:00 AM PDT  Transcendent leaders don't insist on the primacy of their own desires. They don't make them the center around which everyone and everything must revolve. Instead, they shift the center of gravity away from themselves and toward a transcendent goal, so that they can stand shoulder to shoulder with others. Maria Montessori built her approach to education with a keen insight into the nature of desire and tailored her work with children to it. In 1906, while Montessori was still a young teacher, she was charged with a difficult task: she was asked to be responsible for teaching sixty young children, most of them between the ages of three and six, who lived in an apartment complex for working, low-income parents in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Rome. It was one of the poorest places in the city. Because the parents had to work and older children were off at school, the younger children were left alone to wreak havoc during the day, running up and down halls and staircases, scribbling on walls, and creating general disorder. Montessori remembered them in her memoir as "tearful, frightened and shy, yet greedy, violent, possessive and destructive" when she first met them. The housing authorities had called her in to help. For weeks, she'd been making slow progress. The simple act of setting up small tables and chairs in the room she was given went a long way toward creating order. Still, there were no breakthroughs. One morning she had a new idea. She had noticed the children struggling to control their runny noses and sneezes. She conceived a lesson plan: teach the children how to use a handkerchief. A simple, practical, human act. She began by pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket and showing the children different ways to use it: how to fold it, how to wipe their noses, how to wipe the sweat from their brows, how to wipe a crumb from the corner of their mouths. They watched with rapt attention. The children were simply learning how to use a handkerchief, but it was as if they'd been given a new iPhone in 1906 and were learning how to unlock its world-transforming power for the first time. Their excitement was palpable. Then Montessori, trying to be funny, told the children that she was going to teach them how to blow their noses in the most unobtrusive way possible. She folded up and obscured the cloth in her hand. The children drew close and tried to find it. She cupped her hands over her nose, closed her eyes, and twisted the handkerchief back and forth, blowing so softly that she didn't make a sound. She expected that her exaggerated motions and totally silent blow would provoke laughter. But none of the kids laughed or even smiled. Their jaws were hanging open in wonder. They looked at their friends to confirm what they had seen.... Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips |
| How to Focus Intently and Beat Procrastination Posted: 01 Jun 2021 06:00 AM PDT  You're reading this book because, no matter what you're trying to learn, you want to make sure every minute of your studies counts. So let us start by giving you one of the simplest, most powerful mental tools in the world of study: the Pomodoro Technique. This clever method will definitely help boost your concentration—we know this from research. Even if you already know the Pomodoro, you'll discover modern twists that can make the Pomodoro even more powerful. And there's much more in the chapters ahead that will be new to you! The Pomodoro TechniqueUse this approach to structure your study sessions:
POPULAR POMODORO APPS: focus booster (PC), PomoDone, Forest, Toggl Sounds easy, doesn't it? It is easy. Sometimes your mind may struggle while doing a Pomodoro, but the reality is almost anyone can keep their focus for 25 minutes. Why the Pomodoro Technique WorksYou might wonder how something so simple can be so powerful. The reason is that the Pomodoro Technique captures important aspects of how your brain learns.
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| How to "Be Where Your Feet Are" In Work and Life Posted: 01 Jun 2021 06:00 AM PDT  What has the Coronavirus pandemic taught us about living in the moment?My oft-given challenge to: "Be Where Your Feet Are" became truly substantive and less metaphorical over the past year. You can actually find more authentic joy, inspiration, security, peace, and meaningful human connection when you are restricted to one place. I know there are a lot of terrible things that came out of this, but there have also been so many lessons from this pause. At the time of me typing this, 1 in 1000 Americans have lost their lives to this pandemic...so, yes, appreciating moments and being where your feet are in life really matters because life can be fleeting for those we love. Family dinners matter (and I hadn't been to too many of those in the last 20 years), and you can engage, even with those teenagers when phones are banned from the kitchen! People are more fragile than their Instagram posts might lead you to believe. We have this incredible opportunity to check in with reconnect with people when they cross our mind, or we think of something that reminds us of someone—reach out just to check in! I learned that when I do something for my mind, something for my body, and something for my soul every day, I am mentally healthier and more apt to help others. I learned the power of gratitude through sitting down with my youngest teenager and hearing about her three-year streak of recording what she was most grateful for each day. Listening to her happy-thoughts clicker each night reminded me that gratitude is the essence of being where your feet are. If you are committed to leading a present, purposeful and passionate life, then you must confront and change or accept that which you uncover in your self-reflection. How has the concept of work-life balance evolved, for you, into being where your feet are?Work-life balance? I don't see it—it's a myth at best and a quixotic windmill chase at worst. When you are at work, be at work and be amazing! When you are at home, be at home and be amazing! Does this mean you cannot take a call from your partner or text your kids from work? No, but it does mean that when you do it, you are 100% engaged. The line is becoming thinner and thinner between work and home and we need more discipline, process and focus. The reality is that you have limited windows to engage with your family each day. To stay grounded and thriving in life, you need to know when those times are and dig in, put your phone down, silence your ringer and be where your feet are. And, I have yet to come across anyone in life who... Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips |
| Posted: 01 Jun 2021 12:04 AM PDT  You're doing your thing at work – you're hitting goals, making magic, keeping the train on the tracks, and … [birds chirping]. Where, you're wondering, is the love? The pat on the back, the feeling of being recognized for your effort and achievements? Does your company value you? Feeling underappreciated at work can be painful. We spend roughly a third of our lives working. Shouldn't we feel good about what we're doing there all those hours? If you've been feeling like your hard work is going unnoticed and underappreciated, then let's talk about what you can do to reclaim your value. Tip #1: Find your professional "Love language"Nearly 30 years ago, relationship counselor and author Gary Chapman published The 5 Love Languages. In this book, Chapman explains that each of us expresses – and wants to receive affection in different ways. And understanding how we choose to receive that affection is critical. Personally, my love language is Acts of Service. This means that when my husband wants to woo me, he knows that dropping off my dry cleaning or getting my cracked phone screen repaired will mean more to me than gifts of flowers or candy ever could. These, for me, are the greatest expressions of love. But he only knows this because I've told him so. Too much information? Perhaps. But I believe the same concept applies in the workplace. Not in terms of affection, but rather recognition. In order to feel more appreciated, it's important that you understand what your version of appreciated looks and feels like. So ask yourself this question: When do I feel valued? What has someone said or done to leave me feeling this way? Some of us may be seeking a private thank you, while others want public recognition. Some feel appreciated upon receiving an award or spot bonus, while others strive to have their opinions sought out. There are no wrong answers here, so be honest with yourself. In order to feel more appreciated, it's important that you understand what your version of appreciated looks and feels like. Tip #2: Expand your view of recognitionSo now you understand how you like to feel valued or recognized. But before you go ringing the alarm bells, ask yourself – is it possible that you are being recognized, but not in the ways you're looking for? Just... Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips |
| How to Do a Chest Workout Without a Bench Posted: 31 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT  A Get-Fit Guy listener named Duncan wrote to me the other day looking for some pec building advice. This is what he said: "After 15 months of working out at home (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), I finally feel like I have a handle on it. But the one thing that still eludes me is how to do a good chest workout without a weight bench. I looked into buying one but they are way too expensive. I have resistance bands and dumbbells. Is there a way to use those effectively without a bench?" No Weight BenchI know exactly where Duncan is coming from. I too have dumbbells, resistance bands, yoga balls, and foam rollers galore but no weight bench. And with a decent new one selling for $200 and used benches not being much cheaper, I am reticent to buy one. They also take up a lot of space and aren't particularly attractive. So, what is a chest-focussed fitness fiend to do? When you walk into a well-stocked gym, there are usually a number of different ways to get a good chest workout. There may be a chest press machine, a fly machine, a squat rack with a barbell and bench under it, and a few benches lined up near a wide array of different weight dumbbells. Then to top it off the benches also come in a variety of sizes and angles. Along with the requisite flat benches, there are incline benches, decline benches, adjustable benches, ones with slots for your legs to lock into, and even ones with fancy adjustable headrests. When that is what you are used to, it can seem hopeless to get a decent chest workout at home, laying on your linoleum floor, hoisting a hand-me-down dumbbell. But I am here to tell you that it is far from hopeless. In fact, it can be kind of ideal. I mean, let's face it, most of us are pretty bored of the regular old chest workouts anyway so why not mix it up? Your muscles and your brain will thank you! Let's face it, most of us are pretty bored of the regular old chest workouts anyway so why not mix it up? Your muscles and your brain will thank you! Chest Workout BasicsAs I wrote in my episode Want a Bigger Chest? although the chest is made up of one single mass of muscle that is broken into major and minor, we are actually best off training it like it is actually three parts - the upper, middle, and lower portions of the chest. The reason for this is that each region is stimulated best by changing the angle from which you exercise the muscle.
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