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Here is chapter three in my new book: Self-Aware: A Guide for Success in Work and Life. This chapter is about the importance of “Discovering Your Passion.” The book, thanks to the great editing by my collaborator, Dunrie Greiling, should be ready as an e-book next week. Stay tuned for details. [edit 9/19/2016 – available in ebook format and softcover from Amazon.com] Cover photo, “Take Me Home,” taken by Michael H. Samuelson, used with permission. https://samuelsongallery.com CHAPTER THREE Self-Discovery Step Two: Define …

Do a Strategic Retreat with Your Family Carrie and Steve both have high-powered jobs — Carrie in graphic design and Steve as a CFO.  Steve wants to make a job change, but to find a job that pays as well, the family may have to move.  They were conflicted about this and having trouble sorting everything out. I suggested that they treat their family as a business enterprise and do a strategic retreat.  Go away for a couple of days or …

Recognize Your Blind Spots Research shows that often it’s not what we see but what we fail to see that causes us to self-destruct. So it’s really important to become aware of our blind spots. Are you a perfectionist who can never admit your failings? Do you teeter constantly on the brink of burnout because you overdo everything? Are you so power-hungry that you’d fire your mom to win points with the boss? Do you micromanage people (even your family) …

Grief is an emotional reaction to loss.  It is what we feel when we lose someone, something, or even a goal.  Grief is the process we go through in the aftermath of that loss.  Our problem is that our grief is often short-circuited.  We have not been allowed, or do not allow ourselves, adequate time to grieve over our losses.  Beginning with boyhood and continuing throughout the life cycle, we are told that the appropriate way to handle loss of …

  Well-being begins with self-awareness. A key example of this insight comes from the research on emotional intelligence. Beginning with Professor David McClelland, whom I had the honor to learn from at Harvard University, and through the work of researchers Daniel Goldman and Rick Boyatzis, research consistently demonstrates that self-awareness is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence. In order to understand other people, we must first understand ourselves. In order to manage any relationship, we must possess self-awareness and other awareness. In order to manage …