From “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol S. Dweck, PhD No one knows about negative ability labels like members of stereotyped groups. For example, African Americans know about being stereotyped as lower in intelligence. And women know about being stereotyped as bad at math and science. But I’m not sure even they know […]

From “Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation” by Steven Johnson This is a book about the space of innovation. Some environments squelch new ideas; some environments seem to breed them effortlessly. The city and the Web have been such engines of innovation because, for complicated historical reasons, they are both environments

From “Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner” by Frederick Buechner TO TOUCH ME AND to feel my touch they come. To take at my hands whatever of Christ or comfort such hands have. Of their own, my hands have nothing more than any man’s and less now at this tottering, lamewit age

From “Listen To Your Day: The Life-Changing Practice of Paying Attention” by Paul Angone Many psychologists recommend the idea of taking microbreaks at work to be more productive. In the report on the “Qualitative Study of Daydreaming Episodes at Work,” a group of researchers concluded that “mind-wandering may be able to be used strategically to

From “The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of Our Hearts” by Jeff Crosby  I first encountered Chalmers by reading Ben Patterson’s book, The Grand Essentials. In it, Patterson quoted Thomas Chalmers as having said, “The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”

From “Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life” by Luke Burgis ESTABLISH AND COMMUNICATE A CLEAR HIERARCHY OF VALUES A hierarchy of values is an antidote to mimetic conformity. If all values are treated equal, then the one that wins out – especially at a time of crisis – is the one that

From “How Will You Measure Your Life?” by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon Let me explain in management terms: police chiefs need to look at the numbers of each type of crime, over time, to know whether their strategy is working. The manager of a business cannot see the complete health of

From “Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life” by Richard Rohr If you have, in fact, deepened and grown “in wisdom, age, and grace” (Luke 2:52), you are able to be patient, inclusive, and understanding of all the previous stages. That is what I mean by my frequent use of the phrase

From “Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work that Matters, and Make Smarter Choices About Giving Back” by William Macaskill Research shows that the most consistent predictor of job satisfaction is engaging work, which can be broken down into five factors (this is known in psychology as the job

From “Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation” by Parker J. Palmer The God I know does not ask us to conform to some abstract norm for the ideal self. God asks us only to honor our created nature, which means our limits as well as potentials. When we fail to do