Wandering Into Wisdom

This blog chronicles the knowledge, insight and wisdom I encounter every day as a leadership consultant, executive coach, educator, father, friend and citizen. This site is dedicated to my father, Louis (Jack) Laughlin, who passed on to me an appreciation for wisdom. A special thanks to my friend Isaac Cheifetz, a businessman and journalist, who helped me understand the value of blogs and encouraged me to write one.

Feelings

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Maya Angelou

The Pursuit of Happiness

Using examples from vacations to colonoscopies, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman reveals how our "experiencing selves" and our "remembering selves" perceive happiness differently. This new insight has profound implications for economics, public policy -- and our own self-awareness.

Stress Relief

Navy Seals go through intensive training to think clearly in stressful situations. In addition to training drills they use four practices to combat stress. My son recently used these practices to help him pass the road test for his driver’s license.
  1. Goal Setting – Set small achievable short term goals
  2. Mental Rehearsal – Visualize success
  3. Self Talk – Keep an optimistic internal dialog
  4. Arousal Control – 4x4x4 breathing (Inhale four seconds then exhale four seconds for four minutes)

Big Brother Robot

In this TED video Eli Pariser talks about the information distortion we each experience as automated filters decide what to show us on the internet.

It’s Complicated

In “The Fifth Discipline” Peter Senge talks about the difference between detail complexity and dynamic complexity. Detail complexity necessitates data capacity and analysis while dynamic complexity requires intuitive pattern recognition and flexibility.

Impulsive

“The difference between impulsive and decisive is direction.”
Nick Tasler author of “The Impulse Factor”

Investing

My financial adviser gave me an article titled “The Seven Immutable Laws of Investing.” One law seemed particularly relevant during the great recession which began when overly complex investment vehicles collapsed. Link to Article

Law #7 – Never invest in something you don’t understand.