Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy. To make changes the kaizen way is to take small steps, rather than large leaps, with the goal of continuous improvement. It’s what writers do when they focus on the day’s page of work rather than the hundreds of pages still to be written. Or[…]
All posts under Change
Don’t Know What to Do? How to Make Better Decisions
I used to think I was hot stuff when it came to making good decisions. I didn’t realize that in my closed little world of work, work, and more work, I was committed to just putting one foot in front of the other. There really weren’t that many decisions to[…]
Happy to Be Lost. Searching for a New Identity in Retirement
The last time I wrote about retirement, I was feeling pretty smug. Oh sure, I acknowledged that I was still in the neutral zone of transition–that chaotic, fluid time of possibilities. But I had ideas for three books I might write so I ended the post suggesting that I was[…]
How to Craft Your Ideal Day… and Live It
Sometimes I write about what I know. And sometimes I write about what I need to learn. This post falls into the second category. I am failing at the task of living my best life. Since life is a series of days, one after another, I know that I need[…]
The Myth of the 21 Day Habit
Do you remember playing the game Telephone when you were a child? You would whisper a comment to a friend who would repeat it to another friend and so on through several people. When the whispered comment finally came back to you, it was unrecognizable. Belief in the 21 day[…]
Your Transition to Retirement is Supposed to Be Difficult
Your transition to retirement is supposed to hurt. If you are doing it right, there will be a lengthy period of chaos and loss occurring sometime in the first few years of retirement. My fingers itch to backspace through that phrase, “If you are doing it right.” I mean no disrespect[…]
I Resolve to Enjoy More Pajama Days in 2017
On January 1st this year, I broke a pattern that had gone unchallenged for better than forty years. This year, January 1st was one of three holiday pajama days. I wore my dark blue pajama pants and appropriately embroidered “Expect the Best” light blue pajama top all day. After a[…]
Superior Alternatives to Old-School New Year’s Resolutions
Let’s begin by stating the obvious. If you make New Year’s resolutions, you have an 8% chance of success which means a 92% likelihood of failure. Oh, well. At least you’re in good company. 92% of business startups fail within the first three years, and 92% of drugs never reach the[…]
35 Ways to Strengthen Your Willpower and Self-Control
Self-control: the ability to resist the temptation of an immediate pleasure so you can enjoy the deeper and more meaningful satisfaction of achieving a long-term goal. Put that way, doesn’t self-control sound like a no-brainer? Simply use your willpower to say ‘No” to whatever is tempting you, and you will[…]
Karen’s Immunity to Change Map for Weight Loss
Last week, I wrote a long post about immunity to change. This week I promised to share my immunity to change map and to explain how to test big assumptions. Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead! But in the comments section of last week’s post, tribe member Susan Millard stopped me[…]