As we start a new year and a new decade, many people are setting goals and resolutions for themselves as they feel energized by the possibilities as the calendar turns. And yet we all know that our motivation for these goals and resolutions quickly declines, and we often fall back into our old routines by […]
Category: selfdesign
2019 Year in Review
I ended my 2018 Year in Review with the intention that for 2019, “I will stay focused on my priorities of my family and my coaching, and will figure out the rest from there within the remaining capacity that I have.” And that turned out to be a good summary of how I spent my […]
Changing the Rules to Play the Infinite Game
A client in a recent session identified that they were living their life with a “transactional model” where they did things for the outcome they provided. This is how many high achievers were raised e.g. work hard in school to get good grades to get into a good college, work hard to get good grades […]
My Coaching Journey (so far)
I recently realized I announced my recent career transition on LinkedIn, on Facebook, and have even been interviewed about it on the Corporate School Dropout podcast, but somehow forgot to talk about it on my own blog. Oops. The summary is that I left Google in July after working there for almost 11 years, to […]
Bikepacking as a spiritual practice
As I mentioned in my last post, I went on a week-long bikepacking tour along the Lost Coast in Humboldt County a couple weeks ago (pictures here for those interested). I found the bike tour to be a surprisingly spiritual experience, so I wanted to share a bit about my experience. I realize that “spiritual” […]
Gratitude or Greed?
Last week, I went on a week-long bikepacking tour along the Lost Coast in Humboldt County (pictures here for those interested). For three of those days, we biked along desolate dirt and gravel roads through nearly untouched nature, camping at primitive campsites with no running water (we purified the water from creeks like the picture) […]
Find Meaning in the Present Moment
Earlier this week, I was listening to this Reboot podcast conversation between Jerry Colonna and Parker Palmer, which discusses how leaders measure their lives. In particular, the podcast summary has this line: “For many leaders, the draw can be to gaze upon external outcomes as a manifestation of our life’s meaning, allowing our worthiness to […]
Immunity to Change™ methodology
I attended the facilitator’s workshop for the Immunity to Change™ methodology a couple weeks ago, and was surprised how powerful this simple methodology was at uncovering assumptions that hold people back from change. It can drive insights even when done in a perfunctory fashion, as when I did it on my own before the workshop; […]
What will you do differently?
As I have been doing more coaching over the last year, I have been seeing how some people tend to employ magical thinking. They believe that if they just think of what they want, then somehow it will magically happen. This is influenced by books like The Secret, which tout that visualizing what you want […]
Flip your default
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to fly away for a long weekend on a day’s notice (e.g. booking a cheap flight on Thursday to leave Friday morning). My immediate reaction was “I can’t do that! I have all these things I have to do! That’s crazy! It’s irresponsible!” So I decided not […]
