You should really consider… Have you thought about… What you need to do is… I read somewhere that… The trick is… Whatever you do, don’t… You should buy... You’d be crazy not to… Why don’t you just… If I were you I would... When a sentence begins with any of the phrases above, you can almost predict what’s coming next… advice. What is advice, really? It’s guidance (invited or unsolicited) about a future action. For better or worse, it’s offered generously and often. Have you r

I sometimes lead a values activity with my students where I ask them to reflect on both a personal and a professional peak experience. The exact prompt I give them is: Think of one personal peak experience and write why it was an important event or time in your life. Think of one professional peak experience and write why it was an important event or time in your life. Now, I invite you to take it for a spin. Identify your own personal and professional peak. But what is  a tr

One of my all-time favorite movies is The Devil Wears Prada . I’ve watched it dozens of times, and still (spoiler alert), when aspiring journalist Andy is complaining to Nigel about the editor-in-chief, Miranda, I can’t help but scream at the screen: QUIT OR ACTUALLY TRY, ANDY! For a little more context, the scene goes like this: Andy: She hates me, Nigel. Nigel: And that’s my problem because… oh wait, no, it’s not my problem. Andy: I don’t know what else I can do. If I do so