Never Good Enough This summer, I rode a bike up Alp d’huez, the most famous mountain in road cycling’s most famous race, the Tour de France.  After pedaling on the same roads as my cycling heroes, reaching the summit in a better-than-expected time, and achieving something only a fraction of cyclists can do, my thoughts immediately turned to how I could have ridden faster.  Rather than revel in...

Failure to Launch If the journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step, why do we fail to start, and how can we make it easier to begin?   It is not about the adequacy or absence of planning.  In fact, planning may cause paralysis by analysis.  You are still in the profession you wanted to leave years ago because contemplating the innumerable possibilities puts you in a state of suspended...

Dealing With It I had diverted Bob’s attention long enough; it was time to address his grief.  I am not going to solve grief over lunch or in 700 words (or ever), but I can offer some thoughts for the grieving.   There They Go Angst about my granddaughters leaving behind their friends when they moved from Utah to Tennessee reminded me of the thousands of people I have interacted with through...

Be There For Them My lunch partner became teary-eyed and revealed that a 40-year-old friend had passed away after a long illness.  Bob sought relief from the pain of losing a loved one. At these times, we are understandably sad, turn inward and think about other losses we have suffered or our mortality.  While you cannot and should not avoid your grieving process, the most immediate and highest...

To Yourself Too often, we talk to ourselves like no one has ever spoken or would speak to us or in a manner we would never speak to someone else.   Negative self-talk is the enemy of a fulfilling life by fostering doubt about our abilities and creating a standard for ourselves below our true potential.  We tell ourselves we lack some attribute (not smart or good-looking enough, did not come from...