Rick's Blog

Great Reads: Flow

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

This book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi started an entirely new field of research, and defined many terms that you’ve probably heard, but perhaps don’t fully understand.

Most of us would choose play time over work time, and that’s often the wrong choice if we value our happiness… facing challenges well matched to our skills gives us the opportunities to learn and grow that are essential to happiness. When we choose leisure activities that are essentially passive we lose these opportunities for growth and happiness.

If you aren’t fully satisfied in any facet of your life (and especially in your work) you need to read this book.

What do you Optimize For?

Once a year, I spend a weekend with my “tribe” at the World Domination Summit in Portland Oregon. There are any number of reasons I keep coming back… including exposure to ideas that force me to reconsider my life and priorities.

In 2015 it wasn’t until the closing speaker that an idea seized my mind and wouldn’t let go. Derek Sivers told us about how he sold his company, and donated most of the proceeds. He told us it was an easy decision, because he “always defaults to freedom…” whenever faced with a decision, freedom is what he optimizes his life for.

I’d never considered my priorities in quite that way, so I asked myself… if I had to pick only one thing as the most important, what would it be? Continue reading “What do you Optimize For?”

You’re the sort of person we’re looking for…

I didn’t get involved with disaster relief to improve my customer service skills, but…

In a job interview with Amazon I was asked: “We pride ourselves on customer service. Can you tell me about a time when you exemplified customer service?”

My response: “Absolutely. Let me tell you about an experience I had as a volunteer with the Red Cross in New York City, on a disaster relief call in the South Bronx, by myself at 1 am with a family who had just seen their house destroyed.” Continue reading “You’re the sort of person we’re looking for…”