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thoughts

A collection of 33 posts

thoughts

Not a Pessimist

Pessimism is an easy trap to fall in since it's intellectually lazy. It fails to acknowledge the myriad of ways we have move thru prior challenges, implies we are not creative or able

David O'Hara
thoughts

Contentment

Contentment is not something that can be given to us. It is not something bestowed by another person or things but rather it is learned. We learn contentment, or find it, only through

David O'Hara
thoughts

Optimism and Your Choices

“Unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.” — Noam ChomskyOptimism isn't optional, it's a requirement for living and for

David O'Hara
leadership

Am I a Leader?

"I never thought of myself as a leader but as I turned around, there were people following me. When did that happen? How did it happen? What do I do now?" I've heard

David O'Hara
thoughts

Personal Commitment to Excellence

I had a friend pass this along to me and it landed with me (actually, made the hairs on my arms stand up - that's saying something to me).I am the sum

David O'Hara
purpose

Learn to Work Hard

I was having a discussion the other day about a young man that's trying to figure out what to do after graduating high school; is it college? He may not be ready for

David O'Hara
thoughts

Recognizing Frustrations

Recently I realized that frustration is rooted internally. We regularly blame externalities for this feeling but those are just the triggers for our inner challenges. Far too often though, we don’t recognize

David O'Hara
thoughts

Focus to Rise

Leaders rise above context rather than just living in it. The don't contribute to the chaos. It’s not only our job to navigate ourselves and others while in the emotion but to

David O'Hara
culture

What is Culture?

Culture is the intersection of people and values such that it produces behaviors. Sometimes those behaviors are positive and beneficial; other times they are negative and destructive. Ultimately, its these behaviors that shape

David O'Hara
thoughts

Connection vs Effective

In interacting with those around you, look to be connected not just effective. Connection can bridge the rough spots that inevitably will show up. Focusing on being effective means you'll hit those bumps

David O'Hara
life

Gifted Kids are a Gift

Gifted is typically defined as 2 standard deviations above the mean (statistically). That's nerd-speak for "way out there" and often times that shows up when you talk to the kids. I'm

David O'Hara
life

So busy!

In reading this great post by Omid Safi, The Disease of Being Busy a lot resonated with me. Far too often I've answered the question, "How are you doing?" with "

David O'Hara
thoughts

Stop Trying to be Happy

As I've continued my gratitude practice, I've come to realize that more and more of my challenges come from focusing on the wrong things. When we guess at what would make us happy,

David O'Hara
culture

Great Quote...

"Maybe rounds down to a "No" when you're talking about culture. It's far to easy to make excuses than do the hard thing - say No. Especially when it comes

David O'Hara
thoughts

Why You're Not Wrong...Just Different

"I'm a logical person and I arrived at my conclusion because it's right.” "You arrived at a different conclusion; it's because you're wrong.” People start from different places. We all have

David O'Hara
thoughts

Systems Thinking (and a little money thrown in)

I just read this article Thinking in Systems and was impressed by both the way that Matt illustrated how systems are adapted, from a gaming perspective, so you KNOW that's dear to my

David O'Hara
thoughts

Programmed to See the Lack

A math professor walks into class one morning and starts the day by writing a 2 column chart on the board. He numbers them 1 to 10 in the top row and then

David O'Hara
thoughts

Screw Finding Your Passion

Ran across this post and had to share especially given the alignment with "So Good They Can't Ignore You" (a book I'd rank in my top 5 of all time) Screw

David O'Hara
thoughts

Quotes

Here's a couple of interesting quotes I've run across recently: "Trust is a peculiar resource; it is built rather than depleted by use." -- Unknown This makes me think of working

David O'Hara
thoughts

Life is a Mix

Life is a story. It’s not a set of facts or a compilation of data but a complicated interplay of the small and the large. Sure, those the facts and stuff are

David O'Hara
thoughts

Walk the Walk But Don't Talk

They say that the best way to inspire others is to model it and I have to agree. Modeling something is like magic; while people may be amazed or wonder how you do

David O'Hara
thoughts

Be Accessible

Have you ever heard of having an “open door” policy? More than likely. Have you ever found that to be a lie? Sadly, more than likely. Often times companies, or individuals, like to

David O'Hara
thoughts

Controlling Emotion and Mindset

Emotion is always a reaction and, therefore, cannot be intentional. Mindsets can be either reactionary or intentional but intentional is typically better. I say typically because if you were to see a snake

David O'Hara
thoughts

Always More Efficient

*** What is something you should do less efficiently so that you can do it more thoroughly? *** We are always working to be more efficient - we attempt to multi-task (yes, I know it's

David O'Hara
thoughts

Time For Work

Disclaimer *** This is a perspective I'm currently exploring and so I'm arguing both sides. You've been warned. *** Family When we need time for something it must be taken. It cannot be replaced or

David O'Hara
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