I don’t journal. Maybe that makes me the badboy in the progressive spirituality circles, but there you go. It isn’t that I have anything against journaling, per se. It just never worked for me, and I never can manage to keep up the habit. I have a row of partially used … [Read more...] about My logbook
Self-change
What two years of publishing a weekly newsletter taught me
For more than two years now, I have sent out an email on Monday mornings, containing a few thoughts of mine, along with links to five things I thought were beautiful. I call it The Hughsletter. This post recounts how it all happened, but basically, I wanted a medium more … [Read more...] about What two years of publishing a weekly newsletter taught me
Winning
I have a long to-do list. I bet you do too. As a creative person with a large imagination and a raging case of ADHD, who is mostly introverted and moderately depressed, I often don’t get everything done I want to get done. And at the end of the day, when I am looking at that … [Read more...] about Winning
Using units to structure your time
Those of us who are in the helping professions seldom end up having 40 hour, structured workweeks. Instead, we are often responsible for creating our own schedule, which always involves other people’s schedules, which can lead to long, unstructured days. For instance, I have an … [Read more...] about Using units to structure your time
Running toward the fire
A long, long time ago, I went through Infantry School in the United States Marine Corps, where they taught us how to “locate, close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver and/ or repel enemy assault by fire and close combat.” Marines study such things, and they purport … [Read more...] about Running toward the fire
The legend of you
Fed Ex was based on an idea Fred Smith had in college. He shared the idea in a paper, which got a C because of the idea's impracticality. Nobody thought it would work. In the early days of the company, it looked like the skeptics were right - it wasn't obvious they would make … [Read more...] about The legend of you
Figuring out your calling
When I am working with people who want to figure out their calling (which, you may remember, is different than your job), I will give them an assignment to help them figure out their belief system, because I believe our calling is an expression of our belief system. Here is the … [Read more...] about Figuring out your calling
Voices of doubt: Tiny church edition
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. - Martin Luther King, Jr. I struggle with doubt. Not just faith doubt, but self doubt, vocational doubt, doubt of other people, and future doubt. I want to believe, and so am always on the lookout for hope - … [Read more...] about Voices of doubt: Tiny church edition
My News Diet
One of the best things I have done for myself over the last six months is gone on an information diet. Just like a food diet, that means I have deliberately put limits on my consumption of information, and only allow myself to consume it at determined times. Here is what that … [Read more...] about My News Diet
Don’t do it by yourself.
One of my favorite stories: A salesman was driving through the country on his way to his next appointment. He took a curve too fast and ended up in the ditch. He had no cell service to call AAA, and was cursing his luck when he looked over the field next to the road and saw an … [Read more...] about Don’t do it by yourself.