Perfectionism
I’m Interviewed at the Vegan Business Connection
You can learn about my current and past work here; also some tips for entrepreneurs. Link
Read MoreWhen Adversity Strikes Be Sure You’re Framing It Properly
New York Times health columnist Jane Brody writes about a new book, The Gift of Adversity: The book’s titular message — that adversity can be a gift — is especially relevant now, as millions of Americans who have lost jobs struggle to reinvent themselves. After 20 productive years as a researcher at the National Institute…
Read MoreWhy the Middles of Projects are Tough (Part 3): Middles Have Middles!
I previously wrote about how the middles of projects are tough: *They’re the place where the work seems to get much tougher right at the same moment that your enthusiasm starts to ebb. *They’re a much bigger part of the project than most people realize. (Around 80%!) However, there’s another problem with middles: they have…
Read MoreWhy the Middles of Projects are Tough (Part 2): Plus, How to Have Fun Revising!
Middles are Tough. Last time I wrote about how the middles of writing and other projects can be difficult, citing Dante’s Inferno, which begins “midway upon the journey of our life,” and John Bunyan’s classic The Pilgrim’s Progress, in which the protagonist, Christian, literally bogs down midway, in the infamous “Slough of Despond.” Middles are…
Read MoreWhat To Do If You Are Stuck in the Middle of a Project
Middles are tough. It’s no accident that Dante began The Inferno, his allegorical journey through Hell, thusly: Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost. Or that Christian, the pilgrim in John Bunyan’s allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, encounters the bog called the…
Read More“Her Face Went From Scowl to Peace”: 7 Secrets of the Prolific Helps Lifelong Procrastinator and Her 12-Year-Old Daughter
From the mailbag: I just wanted to thank you for putting together this comprehensive book. I’ve suffered from writers block/perfectionism my whole life, and once in a while I break through, but then get bogged down again. Your book confirmed some of the core discoveries I made overcoming my blocks, but has done so much…
Read MoreIra Glass on Developing Your Creative Skill: Go for Quantity, Not Quality
The below 2 minute video of Ira Glass explaining how the secret to artistic quality is to do a lot of art is well worth your time. Bayles and Orland make the same point in their terrific book Art & Fear. They tell a (true, I believe) story of two pottery classes: One class was…
Read MoreMargaret Atwood, Anne Enright, and Garry Kasparov, on Failure
Meditations on failure, from some leading writers. I like this quote from Margaret Atwood: Failure is just another name for much of real life: much of what we set out to accomplish ends in failure, at least in our own eyes. Who set the bar so high that most of our attempts to sail gracefully over it…
Read MoreWhy You Shouldn’t Mock Beauty Pageant Contestants
[Note: I’m pretty sure none of my readers would mock a contestant, so please don’t think I’m speaking to you personally, so much as the entire Internet. – Hillary] It seems to be evolving into a seasonal pastime to mock beauty pageant contestants who garble their speeches, but here’s why you shouldn’t do it: 1)…
Read MoreNew Articles on Procrastination and Perfectionism, and How to Help Your Kid Kick the Video Game Habit
Just posted new, updated sections on how to recognize and overcome Procrastination and Perfectionism. Please check them out! Also posted a new article called How to Help Your Kids Kick the Video Game Habit. It’s adapted from one I published a while back on the Psychology Today blog, andit will be useful to anyone (not…
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