Tag: Life Lessons
-
Stop trying to find a great mentor. Do this instead to advance your career and life.
What’s your question? I can tell within 2 seconds of asking that question whether our mentoring session will be of any use to me or the mentee. “Find a mentor. Find a mentor!” The mantra of those who give great advice on how to advance, improve, get anywhere in life. And it is great advice. […]
-
How to be popular: Life Lesson #27
The secret to popularity. The first popular kid I remember from school was in 4th or 5th grade. From then on, the popularity contest ran full swing until graduation night, populating the hallways of highschool with “in” kids and everyone else, “cool” kids and everyone else. These were rarified airs to travel in, and being […]
-
Life is not school. Life Lesson #26
Life is not school. “Man, I got in trouble for that one.” A friend told me about something he was called onto the carpet for at work. Really? In trouble? Define that, will ya? School, particularly the western model, begins around age 5 with kindergarden. For a minimum of the next 13 years, and often […]
-
Free Coffee is not a human right. Life Lessons #25 .
” The precedence of privilege tends to lead to the assumption and demand of right.” This one comes from Mike McClaflin, Africa Regional Director, AGWM, former military officer and king of the short one line answer. A few years ago, I heard Pastor Barnabas Mtokambali from Tanzania speaking about privilege. “We bring pastors in from […]
-
Learn to talk to a human. Life Lesson #24
Learn to talk. (credit to my older, wiser brother, Stephen Porter, on the original idea here). I speak 6 languages. Not fluently, and I have an accent in most of them. Swahili was the most recent one I learned and what a fun, challenging experience. My sixth language though? Digital media. You may be a […]
-
Scuba diving makes communication difficult. Life Lesson #17
Keep your communication above the water line. This one is a bit cultural, so you may have to contextualize. Some background might help though in understanding cultures. Culture, we often see as a geopolitical thing. Tribes in Africa, countries in Europe, regions in America. Barbeque versus Vegan type thing. But culture goes deeper than that. […]
-
Get over yourself and get counseling. Life Lesson #15
Go to counseling. There, I said it. A couple days ago, I wrote about dealing with your baggage. But it goes beyond that. I have friends who are separated. Others who are divorced. Others headed that way. I’ve got broke friends. And then I have some who have survived adultery, drugs, and all sorts of […]