A decade…ten years…if you have lived less than two decades, you may have little to add to this dialogue; nevertheless, I propose that even those remaining in their teens might offer some perspective on what changes they have observed over the last decade. For me, the differences between decades emerges from interactions with students, or …
Category: Habits
Quiet Ego
“Develop a Quiet Ego. Our ego is like a kid trying to fit in during middle school. It just wants to be liked.” We might locate a bit of humor in this statement, especially if our middle school years are long behind us; and yet, no matter how many candles appear on our birthday cake …
Sticky Wicket
Perhaps it’s just my weirdly curious nature that seems to be distracted by an unusual phrase that an author uses that prevents me from moving forward in a text. And, yes, I am able to clearly comprehend the passage, but the unfamiliar wording sticks with me. Do you ever find yourself reading through a resource …
Here Comes Trouble
Whether the words are quietly muttered under your breath with genuine concern over what is about to happen, or they are expressed loudly with adoration as you greet a friend, voicing the phrase Here Comes Trouble can carry multiple meanings. I admit to offering a grin every time I see a child wearing this phrase …
Tabula Rasa
Stroll down the hallways of any educational institution today with the purpose of locating a blackboard, chalk, and erasers and you are likely to come away empty handed. Although not as commonplace as they once were due to the invention of the dry-erase and smart boards, chalkboards (once made of slate) have likely been a …
Reset Button
“Is there anything more gratifying than a Reset Button? When your cell phone is acting finicky, you reset it and suddenly the world returns to normal, right? Turns out there are a bunch of household items that have one, and knowing a problem can be fixed by pushing a button — instead of shouting and …
Redefine Toughness
Using the legendary football coach Bear Bryant in the first chapter is a great method for capturing a sport-minded person’s attention to continue reading. After all, even the non-football fans living in the southern United States are familiar with Bryant’s accomplishments on the gridiron. Just look at how often any mention of football at a …
Stick-to-itiveness
Post-it Notes…this is the answer I provide to students when a discussion arises over the question, “What do you wish you had invented?” Not only would I be financially secure, I would have been responsible for creating an item with perfect balance—enough stickiness to adhere where it’s needed, but not too much that it destroys …
Eulogy Virtues
How do you want to be remembered? An awkward question to say the least, but one, I propose, if more people would ask it, might create a better world. Some people choose not to consider their own mortality, but we’ve all heard some variation of the saying, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” We …
I Quit
Dear University President, I Quit…those words appear on a sheet of paper rolling upward from an old manual green typewriter on the front cover of a workbook created by Jeffrey L. Buller for ATLAS leadership training which addresses the Great Resignation that is currently being experienced in higher education. In the following pages, Buller shares …
Flourishing @ Life 