Reminder as we close 2020

Begin with Character

When a person wants to make a big change for the better, there will be a few things present. First, a resolve to make a defined and total change. Second, a plan to accomplish the goal. Third, a lack of character**. Yes, I said it. We often don't have the most important thing to make a real change. Ben Franklin observed this problem when he wrote, " What you seem to be, be really. ” - Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1744 In other words, the very thing you want to become, be doing those things when no one else is looking. For this is the basis of character and character becomes the foundation for personal achievement. People who want to lose weight need to work on their character as much as their habits. People who want to want to save for retirement have to work on their character as much as their spending. In the end, we can be whatever we want to be if we will develop the strength of character. My challenge is, "What you seem to be, be really.” **Webster's dictionary defi

Telling is not Teaching

I work in an hospital environment that includes 500 different people with various degrees of computer competency. This makes work very complex at times and challenging. As I grow in my position, now nearly twenty years in technology, I find that people hear a lot of information during the day and their amazing brains somehow organize, shuffle, and prioritize it. How well do we organize, prioritize and share information in the workplace? Apparently not very well. We have conversations with people about technology and they appear to hear in the moment. After something goes wrong, we sometimes hear, "IT never told me." Has this ever happened to you? I've learned that teaching is not telling from Ben Franklin who said, "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." What kinds of teaching are best designed to help people learn and remember? Practice (taking time to learn by failing and trying again) Ritual (this means do

Problems To Solve List

W e are told not to "dwell on our problems" when sharing our issues with friends and family. This is bad advice because most will continue to think on their problems anyway. Ben Franklin's 13 Virtues included Tranquility and Industry. Ben described tranquility as "Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.” For Industry, he said "Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.” Dwelling on your problems is both an attack on your tranquility and industry. It has a simple cure. Get the problems out of your head and in a trusted system (like a notebook) where you can write your cares, concerns and thoughts. I have a "Problems To Solve" list that includes just about everything I am facing. I write to get issues off my mind and leave them there. They also make great for future "goals" since they represent a change I want to make. The power of a "Problems to solve" lis

Go Ask Ben

Search This Blog