Practicing in Public
I’ve grown accustomed to experimenting with ideas in public. Those who know me know that is true. To be honest, it grates on my perfectionist tendencies, but it’s been great for my personal growth. “Hi. I’m Bryan, and I’m a recovering perfectionist.” 😎 Year after year as a teacher, even after hours of preparation, I […]
Dream Crazy BIG!
Yesterday I texted a friend, “No dream is too crazy. No distance is too far.” Those close to him were asking him why he wanted more. Why dream bigger? Don’t you have enough?, they said. Someone who loves learning, loves to grow. And if you grow, everything about you takes on new shape and proportion. […]
Bothers, And All That.
What’s bothering you today? That question used to capture a lot of my days in the past. I’ve shared quite a few of those bothers on social media through the years. There certainly is a lot to be bothered about. If I begin to list them, this post will get very long. So I won’t. […]
Build On Your Own Superpower
Five years ago, I decided it was time to exit a work environment that had become obsessed with standardization, expecting similar and increasingly uniform results from a clientele that was wired to express themselves entirely in unique ways. Those two things, sameness and uniqueness, can’t be developed simultaneously. Friction results if you try. This conflict […]
Learning Never Ends
What you formally learned in school will never carry you through the demands of your career and personal life. That includes all your college degrees and professional certifications. Why is that? The answer is complicated. Do you have the ability to answer that yourself with what you learned maybe ten years ago? Twenty-five years ago? […]
Stinky Stuff
Everything in life, taken and stirred together, effects our future. Positivity alone will not feed a thriving and sustainable life. Salvaging our negative experiences is part of the whole. There are lessons there. Manure makes good fertilizer. The stinky stuff is as important as the perfume. Use it to grow your next dream.
Dragging The Best Forward
2022 is a wrap. What are your learning goals for 2023? Mine are characteristically too many, so I’m trimming them down to those I can commit to with genuine intent. I use questions like these to guide me. – What deep learning did I gain this year that I can drag into the new year […]
The Best Is At The Bottom
The best way to get to the top is to begin at the bottom, and stay there. Anyone who has ever reached the top of their game will tell you that it was the set of values they began with that got them there. So, staying at the bottom means that you never move away […]
Oxford On My Mind
I returned from Oxford a few weeks ago. I was invited to join a friend of mine who was returning to Kellogg College for his reunion, an event they call a Gaudy Night. It was an invigorating visit to be among 36 college campuses that make up one Oxford University, which is unquestionably one of […]
One Wide Grey Line With Fuzzy Edges
One of the most difficult things I have faced in recent years is coming to realize that much that I thought or hoped was clearly a black or white; either/or issue was more realistically like a friend once described as “a wide grey line with fuzzy edges.” Politics, religion, and every other topic we can […]