Author: Eric

One of the reasons COVID has been so tough on so many people is because our time is limited, and we feel that we lost two years to the pandemic. For children, that might have been two very important formative years. For older people, two years may have been a big percentage of the time… Continue reading COVID’s Lasting Effects

Hindsight is 20/20, but being able to see clearly after the fact is only beneficial if we actually learn from our mistakes. When we do, that’s what allows us to have foresight in future situations.

We never know when an emergency will arise, so it’s a good idea to think through things ahead of time. We do this in elementary school, don’t we? My Mom did bomb drills. In my days, we did fire drills. Nowadays, kids do active shooter drills. As adults, we can prepare for the unexpected by… Continue reading Prepare for the Unexpected

Regular maintenance can extend the life of vehicles, A/C and heating units, and other expensive items. But it’s easy to forget when it’s time for a tune-up. So be sure to add it to your crystal ball calendar so you don’t forget. And, while you’re at it, be sure to set your personal maintenance reminders.… Continue reading Maintenance is Cheaper than Replacement

“I’m too old for that.” Are you really? Probably not. But our ideas of fun do change as we age. At 50, I have absolutely no interest in some of the things I used to consider entertaining. But I don’t think I’m boring – I don’t just want to sit around and grow old. On… Continue reading We’re Changing Too

In the movie Office Space, Peter explains that he just stares at the desk when he arrives to work each day and only does 15 minutes’ worth of real work every day. If you want your employees to be productive, if you actually want to get something out of them, you need to give them… Continue reading Work is Changing

Think back on all the people you know the songs you know the shows you’ve seen the pieces you’ve been the things you have it seems like things don’t change very quickly but in reality new things happen all the time.

Things change a lot more quickly than people realize. During Tom Brady’s time in the NFL… In just a few short years, kids stopped learning cursive and how to tell time, eating fat and avoiding carbs became the way to lose weight, we stopped writing checks, and we started using our phones to take pictures.… Continue reading Things Change Quickly

We see it a lot in football – there’s a turnover, and on the very next play the team that just got the ball throws for the endzone. They try to seize the opportunity immediately. In boxing, as soon as one fighter looks like he’s hurt, the other unleashes a series of punches to try… Continue reading Strike while the iron’s hot

Have you ever had a day where your money just seems to disappear? Of course you have. Maybe you go out to lunch, you end up getting appetizers and dessert. You stop by the store and make an impulse buy. You remember a bill that’s due tomorrow so you pay it over the phone. Pretty… Continue reading It adds up

Women’s gymnastics in the Olympics. Have always been impressed because young people are the best in the world. Yes, I know that it’s largely because of the toll the sport takes on young girls’ bodies – most cannot continue to participate at a high level for very long. But what I’m fascinated with is the… Continue reading Starting Early

That’s a hard question to answer, partly because it’s hard to think of everybody or to remember everyone but partly because it’s difficult to define the term “know.” We all may have different definitions. Is it somebody who knows you? Is it somebody who you’re friends with? Acquaintances with? Once knew but haven’t talked to… Continue reading How many people do you know?

Hurrying normally doesn’t save much time think about how we can get in our car 30 miles away from our destination in our phone knows exactly the minute we’re going to get there obviously people have tried to hurry it’s hard to beat the clock though the better thing to do is to adjust the… Continue reading Hurrying is Pointless

Find something you can do on a regular basis with people you know and like. Poker night. Golf game. Football pool with uncle – gave me an excuse to talk with him once a week for four months. We became closer as a result. Embrace small pleasures in life. Stop and smell the roses. Watch… Continue reading Quality Time

I recently heard my sister-in-law say “I don’t like winter – you can’t do anything.” Is that true? Or do you just have to do different stuff? Find different activities for different seasons. Variety is the spice of life. And it’ll give you something to look forward to. Mix up your vacations – some hot,… Continue reading Variety is the Spice of Life

Think about all of the “seasons” there are. Yes, summer, fall, winter, and spring. But also the holiday season, tax season, hunting season, etc. Certain things happen at certain times of the year. They help shape time for us. Is time linear or circular? Most would say linear, right? It’s not like we can return… Continue reading The Circle of Time (Circle of Life)

We do more before 9 am than most people do all day. What a great principle to apply to  your own life. Ben Franklin said “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise.” That’s true. So go to bed early, get up early, and get a head start… Continue reading Head Start

Workation and Digital Nomads: https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/more-people-blending-work-and-travel-4653953/ Staycation. Some people like to travel. Others either don’t have the money and time to travel or prefer to stay home. So if we’re going to be at home most of the time, especially if we’re working from home now, we need to create our own personal oasis. That means… Continue reading Staycations, Workations, and Medical Tourism

If you do something again and again, whether it’s on the computer or in “real life,” why not use this “assembly line” or “template” idea to speed up the process. For instance, if you’re cooking a number of dishes and will need the same ingredient for several, you could save some time by preparing all… Continue reading Assembly Line

Do you have a Plan B? A contingency plan. Should you? The fact is that most people don’t even have a plan A. You don’t need to prepare for every possible scenario as long as the problem has an easy solution. For instance, Rick Steves says not to take headache medicine with you on a… Continue reading Plan B

People can only hold one thought in their mind these days. I blame that on Twitter and texts. People read headlines, and that’s it. Everything’s one item at a time. If you put two questions in an email, most people will only answer one. So you need to learn to be concise, regardless of how… Continue reading Be Concise

Can I get any good quotes or lessons out of Paradox of Choice presentation? Expectations lesson and life enjoyment. Everything was better back when everything was worse. Crumbs on cruise ship. If at first you don’t succeed, lower your expectations. You will enjoy life more if you adjust your expectations. Instead of focusing on what’s… Continue reading Setting Expectations

It wasn’t pretty, but we got the W. We often hear this after winning quarterbacks when their teams salvage a victory in an ugly game – one with a lot of mistakes on both sides, one they definitely could have played better. We all have bad days – ones in which we don’t feel particularly… Continue reading Salvaging a Bad Day

Today, with the health of technology and social media, we can learn to do almost anything. We can even monitor our health better than our doctors sometimes. Where’s my flying car? Almost here – Uber. Artificial intelligence

Remember growing up when video calls seemed so futuristic? Now we take it for granted. But it is really cool that we can now have face to face meetings from a distance. We can have intimate conversations with people we care about without the time and expense of travel. Is it a replacement for in-person… Continue reading Video Calls

Death is certain, so we should prepare for it. How do you want to be remembered when you die? What do you want them to say about you in your eulogy? People ask that question when talking about how you spend your time because, obviously, if you spend your time well you’ll be remembered well.… Continue reading Death and Taxes

Life is short Marbles – jar – one marble each Saturday

Do you know anyone who’s passed away before their time? In their 20s, 30s, 40s, or 50s? Or even their 60s or early 70s? The average life expectancy in the United States is 78, so anyone who dies before that age is getting cheated. Do you think any of the people you know who died… Continue reading Life – Leave it all on the field

Managing time on vacation my cousin is of the opinion that if you can’t do it right if you can’t take a long time in a single place and it’s not worth doing my wife and I have been on a number of cruises where we know that just isn’t true you can do an… Continue reading Managing Vacation Time

Because thoughts are things, record each one as a separate idea. Instead of a list of bullet points in a presentation, each point can be its own slide. If you are writing a book, each separate idea should be on its own notecard so it can be rearranged. Or, better yet, how about a digital… Continue reading Thoughts are Things