Category Archives: Parenting

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Why Understanding the Back Story Helps You Solve the Problem

  Whose photo would you rather see on the news, the killer or the hero?   Should we be deconstructing the life of a murderer?   Or honoring the lives of the heroes?   In

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Are Your Metaphors Ruining Your Relationships?

  I admit it; I’m a language junkie. I believe that words matter.   I was recently in a business situation that revealed how much our word choice can affect our relationships.   A major

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Why it’s Never Just One Thing (Even Though We Pretend Otherwise)

Life is complicated. We know this, but yet we always want to find the one thing. The one thing that made everything go wrong.  Or the one thing that will make everything go right. The

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Why I Want To Invent a Time Machine for Empathy

Do you ever wonder why other people act the way they do? I had an experience with a friend recently that revealed just how much of our backstory we bring into our interactions, and how

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One Big Idea From Improv That Will Make You More Successful (And Stylish)

The first rule of improve is “Yes, and.” The “Yes, and” rule means don’t negate or reject things; accept what you’re given and build on it. If you’re on stage and someone hands you an

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What Are The 10 Best Days Of Your Life?

If someone asked you to describe the 10 best days of your life, how would you answer? Most people start off listing the days their children were born, the day they got married, and other

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2 Secrets to Being Perceived As Helpful Rather Than Critical

Have you ever experienced any of these scenarios? You have an idea or project you’re excited about. You work on it. You share it with someone you care about, whereupon your friend (colleague, boss, spouse,

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How to Build a Great Relationship in 15 Minutes a Day

Good relationships – professional or personal – take time.  But you don’t have to spend endless hours to have a positive impact on someone.  Regular snippets of focused time add up. Here’s how I set

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The Gorillas in Our Midst

I was at the zoo recently where I witnessed a scenario that made me both frustrated and empathetic towards men. (Note – this is not going to be a rant, it’s about science.) As my

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“But We’ve Already Spent the Money!”

This single phrase is responsible for more bad decisions than almost any other. Once we’ve spent some money, we’re reluctant to back out. Whether it’s millions on an IT project or a hundred dollars for

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Why Shared Commitment gives you Courage

Martin Luther King said, “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” I’ve interviewed several combat veterans.  Most admit to being afraid. But there are two reasons soldiers are able

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