First Things

Do you know how to LOOK for essentialism in your life?  How to find the essential things in your life?  Many people struggle with this vital aspect. We discuss some exercises you can do to find that “signal” among the noise of your life.  If you know what to look for, it is often easier […] The post #057 – Look (Essentialism Pt 7) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Space … we all desperately need it, yet our society does not give us space by default.  We must proactively build space into our lives. We need to set aside time to take a breath, look around, and think. You need that level of clarity in order to innovate and grow.  We talk about the […] The post #056 – Space (Essentialism Pt 6) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

You can do anything not everything.  Which problem do you want?  Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs.  It’s about deliberately choosing to be different. In this episode, we talk about the fallacy in which we think we must do everything.  The essentialist mindset, instead, realizes that we can do anything not everything. Click to Listen […] The post #055 – Anything Not Everything (Essentialism Pt 5) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Not everything in life is important … just a few … the vital few.  Most of what exists in the universe – our actions, and all other forces, resources, and ideas – has little value and yields little result.  On the other hand, a few things work fantastically well and have tremendous impact. We have […] The post #054 – Vital Few (Essentialism Pt 4) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Choice, this is the very first pillar … the first mindset we need to embrace Essentialism.  It is the ability to choose that makes us human. We often think of choice as a thing. But a choice is not a thing. Our options may be things, but a choice—a choice is an action. Click to […] The post #053 – Choice (Essentialism Pt 3) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Before we embark on the study of essentialism in detail, let’s first give an essentialism overview.  What is essentialism all about?  What is the big picture? Greg McKeown did an excellent lecture at Linkedin over this very issue.  We listen through Greg’s presentation in this episode as we prepare to land and explore the Essentialism […] The post #052 – Essentialism Overview (Essentialism Pt 2) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin? Do you sometimes feel overworked and underutilized? Do you feel motion sickness instead of momentum? Does your day sometimes get hijacked by someone else’s agenda? Have you ever said “yes” simply to please and then resented it? If you answered yes to any of these, the way […] The post #051 – Essentialism Introduction (Essentialism Pt 1) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

We suck at email … no really, we REALLY suck at email.  I’ve heard countless podcasts and read many books that talk about being more productive at email … “inbox zero” … creating tasks from emails … but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone talk about why we have such a hard time communicating […] The post #050 – Why We Suck at Email [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Depending on whom you ask, the road to success means different things. If you were to ask me, I’d say it means having a career that revolves around my real life. If you were to ask my cat, she’d say it involves finding a way to catch, immobilize and destroy her own tail. The first […] The post #049 – The Road to Success [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Cultivating your passion requires a dedication to unstructured exploration. You have to leave large swathes of free time in your schedule, and fill this time with the exploration of things that might be interesting. Of equal importance, when something catches your attention you must leverage your free time to aggressively follow up.   Faced with the […] The post #048 – Cultivating Your Passion [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Wow … 17 episodes on assertiveness!!  As we finish up this series on assertiveness, I thought it would be good to summarize what we have discussed for 17 episodes.  This episode is a bit longer than other episodes (one hour and 21 minutes, so be forewarned!). In this episode, we first go through a brief […] The post #047 – Essential Assertiveness Skills (Assertiveness Pt 18) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

How good are you at confronting someone? Do you, like most people, prefer to avoid confrontations? It turns out that the majority of people are pretty bad at confrontations and opt to dodge them whenever possible. The prospect stresses them out, and they’re even more anxious in the encounter. It’s not uncommon for people who […] The post #046 – Constructive Confrontation (Assertiveness Pt 17) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Confrontation countdown … A former colleague holds complete conversations in his head with people with whom he is angry. He rarely speaks directly with the other person. This anger in his mind continues to build because of his frustration, yet he never lets the other person know that he is frustrated and subsequently angry. His […] The post #045 – Confrontation Countdown (Assertiveness Pt 16) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Making requests … getting what you want isn’t always easy, and, for many, neither is the asking. Even so, we have learned that assertiveness is not about getting your way in the first place.  Yet, the ability in making requests that are clear and concise is a hallmark of those who achieve what they want in […] The post #044 – Making Requests (Assertiveness Pt 15) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Do you have difficulty saying “no”? Not sure you know the difference between an “aggressive no” and an “assertive no”?  Are you always trying to be nice to others at the expense of yourself? Well, you’re not alone. In the past, I was not good at saying “no”, because I didn’t want to hurt the […] The post #043 – Assertive No (Assertiveness Pt 14) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Constructive feedback is an essential element for everyone in an organization’s workforce. Giving constructive feedback is a task you perform again and again as a manager or supervisor, letting people know where they are and where to go next in terms of expectations and goals – yours, their own, and the organizations. Constructive feedback is a useful tool […] The post #042 – Constructive Feedback (Assertiveness Pt 13) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

I have a very tough time handling criticism … being criticized, corrected, or accused – of even the smallest mistakes – and I react very angrily. I’ve wrestled this instinct under control in a professional context, more or less, but I have more trouble with it at home. All it takes is for my daughter […] The post #041 – Handling Criticism (Assertiveness Pt 12) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

You may be thinking: “Telling people they’re doing a good job is easy! What instructions could I possibly need?” Sure, that sounds reasonable. But in reality, most people don’t know how to give helpful, authentic, positive feedback in the workplace. Instead, they simply offer generic compliments and bland gestures of praise. Click to Listen “Giving Positive Feedback” […] The post #040 – Giving Positive Feedback (Assertiveness Pt 11) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Most people like hearing praise but some people bristle when they hear compliments and others downright hate them. What is it that determines whether someone enjoys receiving compliments or whether they turn sour at the first hint of positive feedback? More often than not, how receptive we are to compliments is a reflection of our […] The post #039 – Embracing Positive Feedback (Assertiveness Pt 10) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.

Let’s face it … you can’t really be assertive if you aren’t giving your opinion.  But how do we do this in a way that embraces assertiveness and not aggression?  And do we have to give our opinion all the time? We cover several principles of what “giving your opinion” means for assertive styles of communication. […] The post #038 – Giving Your Opinion (Assertiveness Pt 9) [Podcast] appeared first on First Things.