How do you think of your teammates, coworkers, or those close to you? Do you see them as a few welcome acquaintances that you meet with a few times per week? Or are they something more, a necessary support group you can’t live without? In many areas of our lives, we may hear a term, … More Finding Your Tribe
In a comment on a recent post about learning, a person asked my opinion about new technologies called Open AI (artificial intelligence) and ChatGPT. This software is causing quite a stir in academic realms and has even made CNN and Wall Street Journal. Douglas Rushkoff, a supporter of humanity and critic of modern technologies, discussed some … More Why Write in the Age of AI?
Nearing Christmas, we are usually getting ready for family traditions. Perhaps you have a religious ritual you perform or a meal you prepare. These traditions add to the ambiance of the experience. Sometimes, though, they create a sense of sacredness, which can be harmful if it limits our ability to adapt, change, and grow. At … More Family Traditions: A Recipe For Realization
“Finish him,” was the famous phrase heard on Mortal Kombat 3 when it came time to obliterate your opponent. You might remember the drunken wobble Raiden does just before Sub-Zero uppercuts him into oblivion. Good times. As a kid, another part of the game always stood out: the opening credits. The phrase flashing across the … More Knowledge is Power: Philosophy from a video game
“No fair,” cries my son when he thinks his sister got a bigger piece of candy. “No fair,” he cries when I tell him he can’t go outside and play until he cleans his room. I politely remind him that sometimes, life isn’t fair. We see this often with children, but we don’t recognize it … More “No Fair”: Fairness isn’t real
In a webinar on Tactical Communication put on by the Verbal Judo Institute, the instructor often cited Sun Tzu’s Art of War. In Verbal Judo, one of the key parts of de-escalation and tactical communication is empathy. Several definitions are floating around, but in essence, empathy is the ability to “recognize, understand, and share the … More Learning Empathy from a Book About War
We can all learn something from our losses. Some of you may remember Yoda saying on Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery, hmm… but weakness, folly, failure also. Yes: failure, most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. Somehow, Yoda finds himself explaining how failure is a … More Re-framing Failure: Learning from your losses
One night after class, I had a conversation with a student who rarely misses. I mentioned to him about having to cut back on his training in the future if he gets married and has kids. His reply was, “I won’t get married if she won’t let me train three or four times a week.” … More Prepare for Days That Kick You in the Face
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – attributed to Mark Twain I had a friend ask me about … More Are You Using Your Fear Properly?
Have you ever felt like quitting? Whether it’s a martial art, a marriage, or a job, we’ve all felt like giving up the fight at some point in our lives. So what do we do when we face the temptation to walk away? Why people quit. Some do it because of the stress involved in … More Quitting: Should I walk away?
I had an epiphany a while back: The Neverending Story is an entirely different movie when you are an adult. I watched it with my kids a while back and they loved it. My son requested it daily for several days afterward. The scene with the wolf scared him slightly, but much like Sebastian, he … More The Books You Read Are Safe…