Category: Reflections

Integrity pays off — in your network

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You have a conscience. You know what the right thing to do is. But the right thing is going to cost you. Do you still do the right thing? Today I’m going to tell you how doing the right thing paid off for me in unexpected ways. Because it turns out that people notice integrity, … Continued

The Valentine’s Day scam

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Valentine’s Day purports to be a celebration of love. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. It is a celebration of guilt. Consider all the people who feel bad on Valentine’s Day, because they’re not in a “traditional” relationship like the ones shown in greeting cards and on romantic TV shows. Well, what about the … Continued

Freelancing is better

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Here’s why. I don’t have to keep my workspace tidy. I can choose which clients to work with and which not to. Nobody tells me what to do. I can work late if I want and sleep late if I want. Nobody cares when I do the work. I can charge whatever I want. I … Continued

Oversharing

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People (including my relatives) wonder why I write so much about topics like my personal life and my health. It’s very simple. I have a blogger’s creed. It looks like this: If you learn something that would be valuable to others, share it. Privacy There’s an exception. I won’t violate the privacy of my family … Continued

Reputation and integrity have a cost. So does ignoring them.

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I lost about $18,000 this week, and gave myself a whole lot of extra work for which I’ll get paid nothing. And I regret none of it. Promises I do quality writing and editing work. I meet deadlines and never break promises. I suppose I do this to maintain my reputation. But as I think … Continued

5 ways to fix the waiting room

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Waiting rooms suck. Think of every waiting room you’ve ever been in: doctor’s office, dentist’s office, motor vehicle department, car dealership, train station, bus station, airport — they’re all terrible. Every waiting room sends the same message: your time is worth less than something else. It might be the doctor’s time, the motor vehicle people’s … Continued

Is ChatGPT creative? An exploration with book titles.

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One of the most creative things I do is to help authors select titles and subtitles for their books. While doing a book titling brainstorm yesterday, I asked the AI writing tool ChatGPT to come up with suggestions; it did a creditable job and generated some subtitle text we may end up using. But is … Continued

Confessions of a talented and arrogant colleague

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I have a problem. I have too much talent. I’m good at math. I’m good at writing. I’m good at project management. I’m better at most of those things than the people I work with. (I’m not good at humility, as you may have noticed.) I took jobs that reinforced my arrogance. I had to … Continued