Words On Wednesday

It has occurred to me that despite participating in the beer cart for nearly two years now, I have yet to describe that in the most obvious place: Thirsty Thursday Eve at Words on Wednesday. Oh, the beer cart. During the phone interview that landed me here, the manager was explaining the benefits and mentioned how on Thursdays, they push around a stadium cart and everybody grabs a beer from it. That sounded awesome. My understanding was that you grab a beer from the cart, then you take it home to enjoy after work. Imagine my surprise when, instead of giving us a beer to take home, we got a beer to open and drink right there in the office. I was excited about the prospect of trying new drinks on someone else’s dime. I had no idea we would be drinking the beverage as soon as we picked it up. I’ve worked in offices where the Christmas Eve breakfast always involved someone sneaking in a bottle of alcohol and sharing it with a few coworkers. Never would I have guessed that it would be so re...

After publishing my book report post last week on “ The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, ” I want to unpack that idea a little more and give some personal anecdote on what it means to me. First things first (see what I did there?), I need to be honest with both myself and my audience here. I have neglected a lot of maintenance-type obligations in my life. My health is not the best, as my eating habits are frankly awful, and I haven’t exercised in probably over a year now. My weight is the highest it’s been in even longer. I was supposed to have a yearly physical on the day that I started my current job. I’ve been here now a year and a half, and still haven’t gotten that well-check visit. Beyond my physical condition, I think my mental condition has also fallen by the wayside. I spend more time being acted upon, not consciously deciding to act. I don’t think I would call it depression, but it certainly feels like I’m not in control of my life and decisions. There is an element of ex...

Because of some work initiatives, I’ve started digging into books on leadership. My manager recommended a few, and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” (or just “7 Habits”) was the first available from the library. With little else to go on, I decided it was a reasonable place to start. My expectations were admittedly set very low. At a glance, “7 Habits” looks like just another book about self-improvement, with a bunch of buzzwords and very little actionable material. However, I wanted to give it a solid attempt before I panned the book as complete trash. The funny thing about the habits themselves is they aren’t exactly hidden; Covey has them listed and described in plain view on his site. I’ll even drop them right here, it isn’t a secret. These are not some ancient gnostic wisdom that get you into an occult club. It’s just a way of thinking about things. Habit 1: Be Proactive® Focus and act on what you can control and influence instead of what you can’t. Habit 2: Begin With the...