What we learned in the last post about immunity to change based on Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey’s book of the same name is that resistance to change isn’t about inertia or lack of will, but is the result of an unrecognized competing commitment. These hidden commitments cause us to behave in ways that seem inexplicable, …
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When the Desire to Change Isn’t Enough
Have you ever wanted to get better at something but every effort has produced little or no result? Did you resolve to exercise more, be more available to your children, listen better, delegate more, or have a better work/life balance only to fall back into old habits in a few weeks or months? If so, …
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Listening as a Spiritual Practice
I read two quotations in the March Richmond Friends Meetingnewsletter and stopped breathing for a second. You know that feeling—something out of the blue—a quotation, a poem or a comment–strikes you forcefully and you must pay attention. Who knows why a comment means so much to one person but not to another. I take a …
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To Learn, Find Your Edge
I’m flying down the Powderline from the top of Bald Mountain at the White Grass Ski Touring Center and I’m going faster than I’ve ever skied before. Conditions are perfect and I’ve thrown my usual caution to the wind. About two thirds of the way down my exhilaration (mixed with a little fear) turns to …
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Life’s Challenges Are Your Personal Curriculum
In As You Like It, Shakespeare declared “all the world’s a stage.” Actually, if we are to reach our full potential, all the world’s a classroom. Our triumphs and especially our failures provide wonderful opportunities to learn and grow when we are open to what they can teach us. It’s as if all the pain …
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Do You See the Beauty?
I was looking through a box of old photographs and found a picture of myself taken when I was in college. A friend interested in photography wanted to practice and had taken and developed this picture and several others. I remember distinctly how disappointed I was when I saw the result of his work. Disappointed …
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Profound Change Begins with a Single Step
I have the privilege of working with so many wonderful clients and I am grateful each day for the many lessons they have taught me. One of the most profound is the power of a single habit conscientiously cultivated to create positive change in unexpected ways and places. I’ve seen this happen so many times …
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