I have discussed this before, but I still marvel at the phenomenon. I blog daily. I love it. It makes my heart sing. Work gushes in. I mean gushes in. Like a fire hose. There is no cause and effect I can identify, but I end up tempted to give up blogging. The pressure to [...]
As an English major in college I did a lot of writing, but I found it difficult to sit in a room, alone, and write. The blank page was just too much. I found that the ideas flowed better when I found a comfortable seat in a busy public place. I needed the stimulation. If [...]
Miss Karen and I visited the Morgan Museum to see Drawn to Greatness, Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection. The exhibit had sketches from some great masters, but the work that intrigued me most was this one: It is called Fantastic Castle at Twilight. The artist, I was surprised to find, is Victor Hugo, author [...]
I have an affliction. It is incurable. It was first identified by The Buddha, who called it Kapicitta. Today we call it monkey mind. The incessant chattering of internal monologue. Monkey Mind sufferers are easy to spot. They can't sit still. They can't finish a task. They walk into rooms and forget why they went there [...]
Where is the modern Algonquin Round Table where artists and thinkers from a variety of disciplines come together to discuss big ideas? Where are the coffeehouses of Vienna where the likes of Jung, Freud, Zweig, Klimt, Loos and Adler would get together and toss about some bon mots? Where are the non-fiction Central Perk, Cheers or [...]
I have done some reading lately by and about a Dutchman named Wim Hof. For years Hof, using himself as a guinea pig, has done experiments on the limits of human endurance (okay, some of them were stunts), specifically resistance to cold. Hof discovered that exposure to cold increases the number of brown fat cells, [...]
Path Dependence is a fancy way of saying, "We have always done it this way." It is defined by the Business Dictionary as, "Tendency of a past or traditional practice or preference to continue even if better alternatives are available." Examples of Path Dependence include the QWERTY keyboard, Microsoft Word (if you are going to [...]
Today they call it anxiety. They used to call it worry. It is the same thing, running a problem through your mind over and over, with no solution or resolution. I suffer from worry occasionally, and when I catch myself (I have no idea why it takes so long), I re-read Dale Carnegie's How to [...]
My mom never let us watch television in the morning when we were growing up. At the time it probably had to do more with getting us out the door on time than anything else, but as always, there was wisdom behind my mother's many rules. In the past few months, sucked into politics like [...]
I am on the Superprimo plan on Audible, so I am always pleasantly surprised that I some credits for "free" audio books waiting for me when I log in. On a lark, I downloaded The Magic Question: How To Get What You Want in Half the Time by Bart A. Baggett. The concept of affirmation has [...]
As you know, The Ol' Prophet is keen on technology and productivity. Here are some recommendations that may help you get more connected and efficient: ToDoist This little gem of a Task Manager is worth its weight in gold. ToDoist works on all platforms: Apple iOS (there are iPhone and iPad apps), Android, Google Chrome, [...]
"The optimist is right. The pessimist is right. The one differs from the other as the light from the dark. Yet both are right. Each is right from his own particular point of view, and this point of view is a determining actor in the life of each. It determines as to whether it is [...]
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less is a new book by Greg McKeown that tackles the Unimportance of Practically Everything. Or, put another way, if you don't prioritize your life, someone else will. I originally bought Essentialism as an audiobook, but after I got a cold and was forced to stay home (and rest, and drink [...]
A friend recently mentioned that she is reading John Maxwell's How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life. She was a little puzzled. What does thinking look like (as opposed to reading, web surfing or sitting like a lump)? Her question brought a quote from Wallace D. Wattles to mind: "Thinking is the hardest [...]
I committed to reading two books every month in 2013, one fiction and one nonfiction. These are June's selections. A friend of mine recently asked if I really do read two books per month. The truth is I that read more than two books, but I have a secret: I don't feel obligated to finish [...]
I committed to reading two books every month in 2013, one nonfiction book and one book of fiction. I cheated a little this month and read two nonfiction books, but both were really useful and made me think. A lot. Steal Like an Artist: Ten Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon. Austin is [...]
I committed to reading two books every month in 2013, one nonfiction or business book, and one book of fiction. Here are this month's selections: Riding the Dragon. Ten Lessons for Inner Strength in Challenging Times by Robert J. Wicks. Dr. Wicks is a psychologist and a writer on spirituality and personal growth. Riding the Dragon refers [...]
I committed to reading two books every month in 2013, one nonfiction or business book and fiction book. Here are this month's selections: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. A new age-y story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd who travels to the pyramids in Egypt in search of his (always capitalized) Personal Legend. The new age flights of [...]
I committed to reading two books every month in 2013, one "business" book and one non-business book. Here are this month's selections: The Frontiersmen by Allen W. Eckert. A history of the settling of the "western" frontier (Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana), told as the story of one man's life from his birth in 1755 to his death [...]
Along with my DOTIHNDB commitment http://bobgagliano.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/one-new-thing-december-2012/ I also committed to reading two books every month in 2013, one "business" book and one non-business book. Never one to take commitments lightly, here are my December 2012 choices: Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander. A fine motivational book, the basic message is this: have a think skin, charge ahead and don't let anything [...]
