EQ

A man for whom I have a great deal of respect offered me a simple comment in passing at an MEA event. He said, “I’ve found it helps a lot when I take full responsibility… for everything,” placing a strong emphasis on “everything.”

Chip recently asked in a blog, "How do you ask for help when you're embarrassed to do so?" It's been a week of reflection for me. For I too used to resist asking for help. That was my identity. I built a remarkable career with that trait. I was the "essential one" – key to winning the biggest-of-big pitches, a magnet for press interviews, the one who C-suite clients were drawn to.

“The planet does not need more successful people, but it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind.” - David Orr

Here are the top 10 careers that 10-year-olds want to be when they grow up (ranked in order): doctor, teacher, athlete, firefighter, police officer, astronaut, veterinarian, actor/actress, scientist, and chef.

In a recent MEA workshop titled “The Roadmap to Your Soul’s Expression,” guest faculty member Ken Daigle unleashed this quote that felt like a thousand white doves emerging from a gigantic cage. Ken’s superb point was that naming and claiming your soul’s desire is an essential first step to creating your ideal life. Vagueness doesn’t help.

There’s a well-known fishing term called “catch and release.” You catch the fish and then release it back into the water, allowing it to live another day. The essence of fishing lies not in killing but in the act of catching. Some people apply the “catch and release” philosophy to their dating life, prioritizing the thrill of catching a hot date over committing to a long-term relationship.

Rudyard Kipling's poem “If” is one of my favorites. I swoon when I arrive at the line, "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same."

The other day, I was talking with my college friend Jeff, whose athletic spirit has always impressed me. He is pushing his mid-60s, telling me he’s about to embark upon the 250-mile John Muir Trail for an extended hiking and camping trip.

"Small talk" is defined as "polite conversation about unimportant or uncontroversial matters, especially as engaged in on social occasions." Sounds rather quaint, right?

This animated short won this year’s Oscar, and I recently got the chance to watch it with a couple of MEA alums, Michael and Debbie Campbell. The Campbells asked ChatGPT what the most meaningful thoughts expressed in the film were, and here’s what AI offered: