Blog: Well-being
How to deal with our weaknesses
I grew up with the belief that 'fixing' my weaknesses was something I should consistently work on. Given I have no shortages of weaknesses, I had my work cut out for me. 😕 It was only a few years ago, when I was introduced to "StrengthsFinder"1 and trained to become a...
Reading more: My 5-month reading challenge
As an only child, I adored reading. I made frequent trips to the public library and relished the process of selecting and then immersing myself in a book. I rarely read more than one book at a time, but read a lot. Most of the above still holds true, except the 'read...
Should I celebrate my 50th birthday?
I'm having a first world problem and it has to do with my birthday. The problem is that I'm highly ambivalent about whether I should celebrate my 50th birthday in a "big" way. Not a big deal, you think? Why I feel stress around this choice It goes something like...
How to save time by simplifying
Should I write first or do mindfulness? Should I respond to emails that are piling up or write? Should I check social media or do something more productive? Should I exercise or grade papers? Those might be some of the decisions you need to make at the beginning of...
Doing meaningful work through volunteering
In this post, I describe how my desire to do meaningful work has shaped my career and a recent volunteer activity. I briefly recount an experience I had this summer that brought me great joy because it hit a "10" in my own doing-meaningful-work scale. Finally, I...
Why we worry and how to worry less
I want to worry less. Are you with me?! This is me The other day, I crossed a small group pre-schoolers walking outside with their teacher. They were taking a slow stroll along the sidewalk of a quiet street on a sunny morning. "Watch out," cautioned the teacher. "Be...
When values and habits don’t align
Purpose Inspires. Values Guide. Habits Define. - Adam Fridman I've been working on changing my ways. Not all of them, of course: 'just' the ones that trip me up constantly. One of these is when my actions don't reflect my values. In this blog post, I'm skipping past...
How do you think about achievement?
Achieving: Too much of a "good" thing Achieving is really important to me. In the world of CliftonStrengths, 'Achiever' is in my top 5. This basically means it's my way of being and my default. My need for achievement (ticking both big and small things off my to-do...