• This is The Stuff That Pings Me: a curated, ongoing series about the stuff that makes me laugh or cry, makes my heart beat a little faster or takes my breath away. It’s the stuff I read, watch, listen to, and think about. Books, podcasts, films, music, quotes, articles, whatever.

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  • The Helpful Choice

    “Are you worried?”

    “Would it help?”

    This short exchange might be my favorite in any movie. In Bridge of Spies, Tom Hanks plays Jim Donovan, an insurance lawyer who is tasked with representing Rudolf Abel, a Soviet Spy caught in New York City. It’s based on a true story and garnered Mark Rylance, who portrayed Abel, an Academy Award for best supporting actor.

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  • Small Stuff

    It’s all in the small stuff. Here’s a list of small things that make my life better, in no particular order.

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  • Grandma’s Legacy

    My grandma died a week ago Friday.

    We buried her yesterday.

    Here are a few things I learned from her.

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  • Twelve Problems

    “You either learn your way towards writing your own script in life, or you unwittingly become an actor in someone else’s script.” – John Taylor Gatto

    This week I was asked the question, “what are your twelve favorite problems?”

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  • Each Wednesday, as part of the Praxis program, we have a Zoom call with our cohort—a combination of debriefing the week, discussing deliverables, and completing small exercises in real time. These calls are incredibly important to the program; however, I had a prior engagement on the night of our second call that I couldn’t reschedule. Instead, I watched the recording, completed the exercises (modified slightly since I was working alone instead of with a partner), and wrote up the results.

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  • How I Work

    This reminds me of one of those “what’s your mother’s maiden name, what’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled, what’s your favorite color” things that goes around Facebook every once in a while. Except, about work.

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  • I consider myself to be a fairly self-reflective, self-aware person. Nevertheless, it was an incredibly helpful exercise to take a few minutes to consider the five traits or areas I would most like to improve over the next few months.

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  • This week, I’ve been challenged to reflect on my top skills. What specific abilities do I bring to a team or role, and how have I exercised/demonstrated/leveraged those skills in the past? Three of the first things that came to mind were organizing, adapting, and staying calm under pressure.

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  • I’m quitting a government job with full benefits and a retirement plan to start an apprenticeship program called Praxis.

    Yes, really.

    Here’s why.

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