Competence is the most neglected contributor to self-esteem. So much emphasis in the “self-esteem movement” that began in the 1970s was placed on ensuring that children felt loved that the role of competence in developing self-esteem has either been ignored, minimized, or misapplied. Competence is so important because it provides the foundation on which children [...]
A fascinating article in The New York Times describes how superstitions actually do work, but not in the way you think. What they do is reduce worry about an event.
Frustration may be your most significant obstacle to achieving your cycling goals. We’ve all experienced the feeling of frustration when we get reeled in by the peloton after a breakaway or our legs turn to Jello with a mile until the summit of a climb. We feel stuck and discouraged, we tense up, and we [...]
Of course you love your children and would never consciously reward your children with love and attention when they, for example, first sit up or walk, score their first goal, or get an A on a school test, or punish their failures with anger or rejection. The challenge is to become aware of the unconscious, [...]
I'm honored to have been asked to give two talks at the Young President's Organization (YPO) central division annual conference in Napa, CA later this week. YPO is an international association of more than 20,000 CEOs of companies around the world. Other speakers will be Jim Abbott, the retired Major League Baseball pitcher who was born [...]
I'm pleased that my latest Huffington Post blog post, Are Self-Published Authors Really Authors or Even Published?, has received the #1 Featured Blog Posts position on the Book page today.
Disclaimer: Four of the 14 books I have written have been self-published with the ready admission that I couldn’t find a traditional publisher to publish them because of their decidedly niche nature. The topic of self-publishing, which I include to mean both printing one’s own books and paying a so-called vanity press, is one that [...]
If you have kids, I think you'll enjoy this commentary by Ashley Merryman that, in support of my own view, argues that praising innate ability and giving so-called participation awards actually hurts children. To read my perspective on praise, read my blog post, Don't Praise Your Children, which, interestingly, is the most-read post I've ever [...]
I was recently interviewed for an article about spoiled children for U.S. News & World Report online.
There’s no doubt that technology is the new “panacea du jour” for public education in America today. Hundreds of millions of dollars (and much more on the way) are being spent on getting iPads and other tablets into the hands of teachers and students all over the country in classes as early as kindergarten. This [...]