Tag Archives: selfishness

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Whose World Are You Changing?

Deep down, I’m selfish. And you are too. You can call it ambitious or you can call it goal-oriented, but I promise you that—somewhere within—those feelings are hidden within the guise of selfishness.

Why You Shouldn’t Change Just Your World

Now, I’m not writing this from a position of condemnation, I’m guilty too. Rather, I’m writing from a position of warning and, possibly, encouragement.

Why?

Because I believe that wrestling this deceptive, selfish demon is necessary in embracing fullness in every aspect of your life.

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Overworked and Proud of It: Workload as Status Symbol

Is your workload a status symbol?

Overworked and Proud of It

A recent Harvard Business Review article entitled, Why Men Work So Many Hours, had a passage that totally floored me:

How do the elite signal to each other how important they are? “I am slammed” is a socially acceptable way of saying “I am important.” Fifty years ago, Americans signaled class by displaying their leisure: think banker’s hours (9 to 3). Today, the elite — journalist Chrystia Freeland calls them “the working rich” — display their extreme schedules.

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Why You Are a Bad Listener and How to Fix It

You’re probably not a good listener.

No offense. It’s just that most people aren’t.

Why you are a bad listener

No one wants to be known as a bad listener. No one wants to forget an entire side of a conversation and have to ask someone to repeat. Everyone wants to be a good listener. Few people want to become a good listener. Just like everyone wants to play the guitar, while few want to learn to play guitar.

You are likely a bad listener for one of seven reasons:

  1. Selfishness. This isn’t as bad as we have made it sound. This is normal. You are always thinking of yourself. Have you ever had a dream that you were not in? 
  2. Preoccupation. You are distracted. Deadlines, problems at home, an illness. 
  3. Your mind wanders. We speak at about 130 words per minute. You can listen at about 400. You can think at 1,000. There is a 600-word gap between thinking and listening. Your mind is going to fill that in.