Photo Credit: Denys Nevozhai via unsplash

Most weeks, I send clients and friends a summary of the most inspiring and thought-provoking content available about leadership and about well-being. Here are some excerpts from this week’s newsletter:

Articles
"Why Are We Here? Purpose is the key to motivation—and motivated employees are the key to realizing your purpose. Get this symbiotic relationship right, and your organization will thrive."

"There’s a Tolstoy quote I love: 'There is no past and no future; no one has ever entered those two imaginary kingdoms. There is only the present.' When you realize there is no such thing as 'quality time' when you become okay with 'garbage time,' you end up getting the best kind of time there is. You get the moment right in front of you."

"With everything happening all the time, it’s easy to forget to take care of yourself. How can we focus on ourselves when there is so much going on around us, not even to mention worrying about careers, families, money, stress and everything else that comes with modern life?"

"Most of us live with a constant stream of internal statements, criticisms and commands running through our heads. But we have a choice: We don’t have to let them define us — or our days." "Neither head nor heart can survive on its own, and negotiating their symbiosis is a challenge...It’s not about whether intuition or analysis is best...The real skill in decision-making, problem-solving, creativity, whatever, is blending those two things together." "The brains of fit, young athletes dial down extraneous noise and attend to important sounds better than those of other young people." "For his impact on health and healthcare, Bernard Tyson is being inducted into the Modern Healthcare Health Care Hall of Fame. Tyson will be honored during the Health Care Hall of Fame Awards Gala, March 22 in Chicago." TED Talks/Podcasts

"In a complex and changing world, how can we make sure unconventional people and their ideas thrive? Business executive Ipsita Dasgupta introduces the concept of "co-conspirators" -- people willing to bend or break the rules to challenge the status quo -- and shows how they can help create new ways of thinking, acting and being."
"Valorie Kondos Field knows a lot about winning. As the longtime coach of the UCLA women's gymnastics team, she won championship after championship and has been widely acclaimed for her leadership. In this inspiring, brutally honest and, at times, gut-wrenching talk, she shares the secret to her success. Hint: it has nothing to do with 'winning.'" "KEXP DJs Cheryl Waters, Kevin Cole, and John Richards pick their favorite songs of the decade...and discuss the personal and cultural impact of music in the 2010s."

Blog Posts (excerpt below with links to the full post)

"The possibility that lies before us, the chance to connect, to lead, to be heard–it’s bigger than it’s ever been."

"Today, what you’ve proposed may not come to pass. Your plans may well be dashed to pieces. And so? Shrug it off. It was never your call anyway—all you were entitled to was a request. Then the chips fell. Now you have to respond. And propose what you plan to do about it."

Arts & Culture Corner

"Robert A Caro's 'Working' is both humbly straightforward and almost comically understated. Yes, the 83-year-old’s book is a precise and detailed set of recollections about his painstaking, near-mythically thorough job of researching, interviewing, and writing about political figures... Caro, of course, is responsible for two totems of American political biography: “The Power Broker,” about the New York public servant Robert Moses, responsible for nearly 50 years of sweeping development projects, and “The Years of Lyndon Johnson,” a multivolume account of the life of the 36th president." "Born into a farming family in Lyon, France, Daniel Boulud knew at 14 that he wanted to be a chef...In 1993 he struck out on his own and opened Daniel, spawning a culinary empire that now includes 16 ventures."

"Don't count the days. Make the days count."