A rational argument probably won’t have much effect on someone who's behaving irrationally. Judging them probably doesn’t help them or you either. Even more so than other times, empathy is the best course. "First seek to understand, then be understood" - Stephen Covey...

I don’t watch the news or read any news beyond our local free paper. It's still unavoidable hearing a wide range of opinions on the Coronavirus. Many people have pointed out that more people die every year from the flu. That doesn't tell me the level of risk. More...

If you want to win, you need to know the rules. You also need to know whether other people are playing by the same rules. If you assume everyone follows the rules, cheaters will catch you flat-footed. When you’re playing against someone who cheats, winning is a lot...

Honesty is one of my core values. One of my challenges is that I generally assume others are also being honest. It’s nice to be trusting and hopefully it won’t lead me too far astray. As the saying goes - "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." In...

I cannot figure out why we still engage in the seemingly pointless exercise of daylight savings time. I can’t recall anyone expressing any benefits to the exercise. Daylight is like air in a ballon. If you squeeze it out of one part, it goes to the other part. No...

There’s a saying that it’s better to ask forgiveness than ask permission. This may be true in some situations and is surely a bad idea in others. Consider the downside risk; if it's relatively small, go for it and ask forgiveness if needed. Big risks warrant a...

In these challenging times, we could all use a little inspiration. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out this video, The Great Realisation (British spelling intentional). It’s an optimistic view of what the new normal could be. What do you do to stay optimistic?

I enjoy a lot of things that I didn’t like when I was younger. I regularly eat squash and spinach, sometimes even meatloaf. I listen to all types of music, including bands and genres that I was sure I didn’t like. With food, it was just a matter of trying something...

Listening might be the most important interpersonal skill. All of the other skills will be either enhanced or diminished by our listening skills. The fact that many of us listen poorly makes the skill even more valuable. Great listeners are like Unicorns, rare and...

Our words reflect how we think and affect what we do or don’t do. Trish and I were discussing this, reflecting on how often we say, "I need to…” or "I should…” or even, “We should think about…” The downfall of these words is that they defer action. If we’re honest, we...