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#29: Some Days

Some days you get a lot of praise for work well done.

It can feel like this praise isn’t deserved, or that it is for things that came easily to you, or that it is not worth all the fuss. Often this means that you won’t allow yourself to fully hear the gratitude and appreciation that someone expresses.

Other days you toil and sweat and put your heart and soul into a thing and nothing comes back. Or, worse, it’s exactly your best work that engenders criticism or nit-picking or downright resistance.

Sasha DichterFebruary 9, 2018Sasha DichterComment

#28: Doing the Dirty Work

Before I lived in El Salvador, I really didn’t find much joy in doing the dishes. I mean, if they required minimal rinsing and then they all fit in the dishwasher seamlessly in one fell swoop, then some joy, yes.

But it wasn’t until I lived in a rural town with a great deficit of economic opportunities, potable water and healthy food sources that I really began to find the joy in doing dishes. I read something that said something like, “Be grateful that there are many plates to be washed, for that means you had a meal to be shared.”

Jaime PosaFebruary 7, 2018Jaime PosaComment

#27: Many Questions and an Answer

Yesterday was the third day I spent pre-interning in an elementary school about thirty minutes from the University of Florida. I think I’m about as emotionally invested in these kindergartners as someone who’d worked with them for years. In fact, I’m almost 100% sure they are some of the sweetest little souls I’ve ever met.

Amanda PosaFebruary 4, 2018Amanda PosaComment

#26: Trust and Fear and Danger

I have the following whacky counter-cultural thoughts and then a vulnerable story about my vulnerability.

++ Trust is scalable because of its transitory property. If persons A and B trust person C, then A + B can trust each other immediately.

++ Trust can be generated in an instant. It doesn’t have to take time to build.

++ Transparency is NOT trust. Transparency is a method for accommodating the lack of trust.

Pip CoburnFebruary 2, 2018Pip CoburnComment

#25: Vision

Last week I met with the founder of a young startup to go over the financial model for their company. As we started digging into the finer points of his spreadsheet, I stopped and said, “This is all great, but how are you imparting the vision to your group? Does everyone know their role? Do they understand the vision, its importance to the world and that it will not come to pass without them?” We quickly ditched the spreadsheet and went to the whiteboard.

Brinton JohnsJanuary 29, 2018Brinton JohnsComment

#24: We Can All Walk With Strangers

The power inside every single human being never ceases to amaze me. And despite a world that appears increasingly divided and argumentative, every Monday night my hope that people lean towards good and not evil is strengthened.

Lauren CulbertsonJanuary 24, 2018Lauren CulbertsonComment

#23: About pink elephants and red cars

When I was in junior high one of my teachers taught me to ‘never say what you don’t want to do’, because subconsciously you can not deal with that. Apparently it will plant a seed in your head leading you to do exactly what you didn’t want to do. In Dutch (and I don’t know if it translates well into English) we use the metaphor of ‘pink elephants’ to illustrate this. When you say to someone: don’t think of a pink elephant, a pink elephant will immediately jump into your mind.

Jörgen Van der SlootJanuary 22, 2018Jörgen Van der SlootComment

#22: No wonder(ing)

During my first proper summer internship, working in Washington DC, some colleagues and I got into a friendly argument over lunch about whether pinball was a game of skill.

To resolve this heated debate, we agreed that the “ayes” would have it if and only if we could prove, by the end of the working day, that there was such a thing as pinball competitions or tournaments.

Sasha DichterJanuary 22, 2018Sasha DichterComment

#21: The Subtle Art of Becoming Ordinary

As I peruse the nonfiction bestseller wall at the bookstore in the airport, these are the titles that jump out at me. They probably say great things. The titles make me want to pick the books up. They even make me feel a little special. My chest puffs out a bit. “That’s right, I am a badass, different and completely special. Thank you for noticing.” I think to myself. (My wife says you can learn a lot about me from that last sentence!)

Brinton JohnsJanuary 17, 2018Brinton JohnsComment

#20: Quick backgrounder on the Chinese language

My family immigrated to the U.S. when I was 11 so I learned both Chinese and English through grade school education. Throughout the years, I found Chinese to be helpful in giving me a different way to think when when pondering... Here is one account...

Julie SunJanuary 14, 2018Julie SunComment

#19: Making Lasting Change

About 22 months ago, I started playing with a “formula” to organize “making lasting change”.

One day I asked our brand new Fellow Amanda:

“What conditions are required to make lasting change?” and she set off for eight weeks thinking and writing and having fun with the topic.

Pip CoburnJanuary 12, 2018Pip CoburnComment

#18: Water Your Lettuce

It was a bit of a rough holiday season for my family. The day after Christmas we had to say goodbye to our beloved Golden Doodle Daisy. I’ll say this: cancer sucks. But, as she did for her 12 years on this earth, Daisy made things as easy for us as she possibly could. It was as beautiful, and immensely sorrowful as anything we’ve ever been through. Because of their unrelenting and unconditional love, there’s a saying that has been around for some time that says “we don’t deserve dogs”. I don’t know if we deserved Daisy or not. But I do know we are infinitely better humans because of her.

Robert RoseJanuary 10, 2018Rob RoseComment

#17: Peace by Pieces

I’ve been home for three weeks on winter break from the University of Florida. It’s been a bit chillier than I expected. Brutally cold actually. Yet even though the skin on my face now feels like sandpaper and my chapped lips hurt and the top of my hands are cracking, even bleeding, I love going to Rockwood every chance I get. Rockwood is a state park near my house. The forty-minute loop I walk with my dog Sam is revitalizing.

Amanda PosaJanuary 7, 2018Amanda PosaComment

#16: Things I learned in Pre-K

I have this thought that sometimes when conflicts arise between two adults a wall goes up between the two people. Each may feel inclined to defend and protect themselves and soon enough the other person feels like an enemy.

Jaime PosaJanuary 6, 2018Jaime PosaComment

#15: Crazy Idea List

It’s so tempting to strive for that empty To Do list, to dream of those moments when you’ll have only a few items left on the list and then tick them off.

But those moments only come if you’ve got a certain kind of To Do list, one with concrete, discrete, easily quantifiable and achievable tasks, all of which you’re sure you will start and finish.

Sasha DichterJanuary 3, 2018Sasha DichterComment

#14: Mind the Tailwind

There’s a mesa behind our house where I go to run, think, recharge and listen. Recently, I looked down at my watch to find my pace a full minute faster than usual. “Wow, I’m getting so much faster and I don’t even feel like I’m trying that hard!” I thought.

Brinton JohnsDecember 28, 2017Brinton JohnsComment

#13: Too Much Room to Assume

A few weeks ago, I accidentally left my iPhone in an Uber on a trip to Philadelphia. After frantically calling it a number of times, the kindhearted driver eventually picked up and offered to ship it back to New York. Once I had the assurance that I wouldn’t scrap together money for a new one, I settled into a new rhythm of daily life. Those few days without my phone, I felt more clear-headed, creative, and self-assured than normal.

Lauren CulbertsonDecember 22, 2017Lauren CulbertsonComment

#12: My Penpal

“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”

-Bryan Stevenson, Founder of Equal Justice Initiative

Two years ago, after attending a talk by Bryan Stevenson, the Founder of Equal Justice Initiative,

(EJI), I raised my hand to become a penpal to one of their clients, a prisoner who had been tried and incarcerated as a youth.

Brynne ThompsonDecember 21, 2017Brynne ThompsonComment

#11: Tea Kettles and Iced-Coffees

Last week my best friend at college, Maureen, gave me a call and said with spontaneity in her voice, “What’s up? Wanna go to Micanopy and visit some antique shops?” Hmm… There were a lot of things on my to do list. I’ve been to Micanopy many times before because I’ve interned in that small town. And, well… I really don’t like antique shops very much.

Amanda PosaDecember 19, 2017Amanda PosaComment

#10: Sundance 2010

I think I am finding that hearing “no” provides me an incredible moment to advance relationships.

This is a story with a happy ending…

I remember vividly in May of 2010 getting off the interstate on to a back road just about 20 minutes away from the tiny mountain oasis of Sundance, Utah where we were just about to host our second annual gathering of 30 dear friends to be offline for three days to work on our craft as investors.

I LOVE Sundance.

Pip CoburnDecember 18, 2017Pip CoburnComment