DRIVEN Blog
Deeper Insight: Your Growth Mindset & Self-Compassion Resource Links
January has clearly been our month to explore the drawbacks of perfectionism. I hope you’ve been following us on this journey and are already benefiting from the insight and advice we’ve been offering. For instance, in my recent article Re-Leasing Your Life: The 2 Greatest Strengths You’re Not Embracing, it was…
Reframing Perfectionism: Three Steps Toward Being “Perfectly Human” at Work
Perfectionism is a condition, a trap, and a self-imposed state of shame that affects many of us, often unbeknownst to us. It also happens to be a consequence of inevitably coming up short when our expectations were unrealistic in the first place. In my recent article Perfectly Human: Evading The Trap…
Perfectly Human: Evading The Trap of Perfectionism
The word “perfect” is a superlative. When it’s not being used to describe the ultimate in sophisticated cocktails— the Perfect Manhattan, it translates to “second to none, ideal, flawless, impeccable, the ultimate”. As such, the word can never (another superlative) be used in reference to oneself. This is…
A New Lease On Life: Discover My 2019 Word of the Year!
Before my 2019 Word of the Year is revealed, give yourself a gift: Take a momentary tour of your consciousness and assess your emotional state. Start by inhaling deeply. Go on. Pull the air through your nostrils. Does it tickle a bit? Is the air cold or warm? Feel how the air fills your lungs. Notice how…
Listening To Understand: A Socials Skills Staple Examined
The essential social skill of Listening is rarely mastered, even by those among us who pride ourselves on being great listeners. In my recent article, Chit-Chat Credentials: Sharpening Your Social Skills with Two Distinct Listening Styles, I offered what may have amounted to a wake-up call for many of us by sharing…
A Well-Oiled Mind: How To Achieve Emotional Wellbeing Through Self-Compassion
Our recent look at self-compassion focused on tending to one’s mind— you know, that crucial piece of equipment we rely upon as knowledge workers yet inflict abuse upon without remorse. I must confess that I don’t think Kristin Neff was referring to our mental energy when she wrote, “Self-compassion involves…
A Self-Compassion Primer: Mental Energy Maintenance Through Staying Present
You may have noticed that DRIVEN has been spending some serious time on the topic of self-compassion. Why, you may ask, is self-compassion so crucial to a professional’s success? The answer resides in neurochemistry. If you're not kind to yourself, you can't show true compassion for others. When you…
The Front Burner Effect: Finding Mental Resilience Through The Art of Scheduling
The precious commodity known as Mental Energy is responsible for keeping us optimally focused on our professional duties. But as you may have learned in my recent article Mastering Mental Resilience…
Mastering Mental Resilience: Energy’s Final Frontier
Grit and Resilience have been our focus topic for several months now. If you’ve been riding along with me on this exploration, I hope you’ve discovered the vital importance of spiritual, emotional and physical…
Getting Co-Creative: The Art of Becoming Mindful of Your Colleagues’ Emotions
Have you ever noticed that when you learn a new trendy word, you start hearing the word used all the time? A similar thing just happened to me with a car color. The VW Beetle now comes in…
Mindfulness Matters: The Nuts ‘N Bolts of Being In The Present
After reading my article Getting Engaged: How Being Mindful Of The Present Can Transform Your Career, have you taken note of how often you think about the past or worry about the future?
My 2017 Word of the Year: It Will Make You Think AND Act!
Definition: Done on purpose; deliberate. Synonyms Include: deliberate (as in practice), calculated, conscious, intended, planned, meant, studied, willful, knowing, purposeful, premeditated…
The 2016 Wrap-Up, Including DRIVEN’s Articles of The Year
In looking back at 2016, there’s no denying it was the Year of Energy at DRIVEN. Inspired by my own past dealings with energy crises and the related roadblocks, and more importantly my success in…
Scheduling Your Priorities: How A Simple Habit Can Revolutionize Your Productivity
Becoming mindful of time sinks….that is, all of those pesky workplace tasks, crises, interruptions and other distractions that compete with your capacity to get real work done….has been the focus of our recent article series exploring productivity. If you’ve been following…
Urgent and Unimportant: Surmounting The Tasks That Impede Your Real Work
Getting trapped in the career mindset of “busy work” is something that we professionals are all too familiar with. Frequent workplace interruptions come to mind as the mechanism for steering us…
Days of Distraction, Part 2: A True Case Study In Corporate Stress-Relief
A high level of productivity in the workplace environment is a magical state of affairs. It sets the stage for the corporate utopia that all companies aspire to arrive at, and is the driving force behind…
A Voice and A Choice: Your Inner Critic and You, Part 2:
Well? Have you given her a name yet? Your inner critic, that’s who. As you may have learned from my recent article addressing your Twin Within, this self-imposed menace lives inside the minds of us…
Eradicating The “Busy Bug”: How To Break The Habit of Saying The Word “Busy”
If you’ve read and digested my two recent articles on Why “Busy” Is A Four-Letter Cuss Word, you’ve likely learned a few valuable lessons about workplace communications. For one, you now realize how…
The Realities of Busyness: Why “Busy” Is A Four-Letter Swear Word, Part 2
The week before last, we explored how employees stating that they’re “busy” all the time can have unfortunate effects on their mental and physical health, and can actually add to the toxicity of the work…
Block It Out: How A Simple Time Log Can Restore Maximum Workday Productivity, Part 3
I’ve written about the benefits of keeping a time log from several perspectives now, including the utilization of non-prime time, increasing energy and productivity, managing your inbox, and…