Category: I Believe
-
Stay Curious, Keep Asking Questions
If you’re a parent, teacher, caregiver, or someone that spends any amount of time with children then you know kids ask a lot of questions. Some studies suggest that kids can ask an average of 200-300 questions a day. That’s a lot. This begs another question: How did parents answer those questions before the golden age…
-
Blue Sky Thinking in Business
If you’ve spent any time with a child you know they are the epitome of imagination. The simple act of going for a walk can be an elaborate adventure. Suddenly, you’re catapulted to an extraordinary new world. Don’t step on the grass! There are monstrous alligators living there that are invisible due to their magnificent…
-
Imposter Syndrome
What is imposter syndrome and why does it matter? In 1978 Psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes developed the concept, originally termed “imposter phenomenon,” which focused on high-achieving women. They stated that “despite outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, women who experience the imposter phenomenon persist in believing that they are really not bright and…
-
Learning not Losing
How do you adapt to a “learning” mindset instead of a “losing” one? From an early age, we are taught that losing is an undesirable outcome. As children, we never want to be the last to cross the finish line. This becomes detrimental to our development when the fear of losing causes us to not…
-
Dropping the Rope
There was a time in my life when I held an unnecessary amount of tension. My natural set-point was stress. I enjoyed being busy and felt lost whenever I had downtime. This was not sustainable and I realized that this way of living was doing more harm than good. “Sometimes holding on does more damage…
-
Happiness Formulas
Happiness Formulas. “I figured it out. I know how to be happy.” A few years ago my friend Jet and I had a conversation that has stuck with me to this day and is becoming increasingly relevant in how I manage my perspective. Jet is the kind of person that everyone loves to be around.…
-
Speak Less and Think More
I believe we should speak less and think more. Speaking less and thinking more demands vulnerability, which is perhaps why many of us fail in this regard. Instead of dialogue, we engage in duelling monologues. We eagerly wait for a break in the conversation so that we can insert our own brilliance—solicited or unsolicited. We…
-
Drinking the Good Coffee
I believe in drinking the good coffee. In 2015 I spent a month travelling through Vietnam, I was amazed by the country’s beauty and rich heritage. I particularly loved Hoi An, a town that is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At sunset paper lamps light up the cobblestone streets, illuminating the bright coloured…
-
Target the Toxicity and Crush It
In 2006 I was a young officer commanding a troop of 36 soldiers in Kandahar, Afghanistan. There, we were met by the Taliban—a fierce and tenacious enemy with very little to lose and everything to gain. Notwithstanding our vast technological superiority, they were a skilled insurgent force, capable of exploiting our weaknesses. But one does…
-
Experiential Vertigo
Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn’t tell which way was up? Now imagine having that same feeling submerged deep underwater with a depleting supply of oxygen. This feeling, known as alternobaric vertigo, can strike scuba divers during periods of transition from one pressure zone to another, temporarily rendering them unable to…