Best of 2024: Six WORTH SHARING Posts Worth Revisiting

This year was marked by political battles. Unfortunately, most of the articles I posted here after July were influenced by those battles and included my own political rants. My apologies!! However, the first half of the year, before the political season began, I posted some good stuff that was definitely worth sharing. In case you missed these amidst the political noise, I've posted links to them below. Enjoy!

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A Dozen+ Recommended Podcasts: Loaded with Wisdom "Worth Sharing!"

A Dozen+ Recommended Podcasts: Loaded with Wisdom "Worth Sharing!"

11 Apps I Use Almost Every Day

11 Apps I Use Almost Every Day

On AI Authorship: What's the meaning of this?

On AI Authorship: What's the meaning of this?

10 of My Most-Accessed Items at Internet Archive

10 of My Most-Accessed Items at Internet Archive

A Frank Zappa Sampler: Meet My Favorite Musical Genius

A Frank Zappa Sampler: Meet My Favorite Musical Genius

From fear-driven anger to understanding: It takes effort.

From fear-driven anger to understanding: It takes effort.

10 of My Most-Accessed Items at Internet Archive

Recently I was contacted by someone who had found one of my audio podcasts at the Internet Archive. She asked if she could use excerpts from the audio Do What You Fear and Grow Stronger for a YouTube production. Of course I agreed... and happily! The whole idea of sharing this stuff is to put it out into the universe and hope it does some good somewhere. And while I have uploaded over 90 items to the Archive, I find that some of them are downloaded and used more than others. Below are some of the top 10 items accessed there. If you're looking for a little inspiration, you just might find it in one of these. Enjoy!

(Caveat: All these podcasts were created over 14 years ago. Some of the materials or links referenced in them may no longer be available.) 

👉 Do What You Fear and Grow Stronger [12 1/2 min audio]

This podcast includes inspirational quotations, war stories, a little philosophy and some practical challenges to help individuals and teams push through fear & grow stronger.

👉 Accept What Is [17 min audio]

This was designed to help individuals and teams discover the power of accepting the reality of a difficult situation in order to handle it effectively. 

👉 10 Specific Actions That Can Help You Become Happier [25 min audio]

How can you become happier? In this archived podcast I share 10 specific actions that I’ve taken to create more happiness in my life.

👉 Practice Mindfulness [22 min audio]

This audio is designed to help individuals and teams expand upon their inherent power of mindfulness — the practice of bringing your full awareness into the present moment.

👉 The Project Management Minimalist: Just Enough PM to Rock Your Projects! [2nd Edition]

This is a FREE 132-page PDF version of the book. The title is self-explanatory!

👉 Learn to Be Optimistic, Learn to Succeed. [9 1/2 min audio]

Cognitive therapy works because it helps you change your explanatory style from pessimistic to optimistic, and the change is permanent. It gives you a set of cognitive skills for talking to yourself when you fail. This audio will help you get started making that change.

👉 Worth Sharing: Essays & Tools to Help Project Managers & Their Teams [full 317-page PDF]

This is my eclectic compilation of practical PM tools, thought-provoking PM essays and suggestions for helping individual project managers and their teams stay sane while delivering good quality finished products. It consists of 54 Chapters, most of which were originally published as blog posts through my websites and hadn't ever before been released in book form.

👉 The PM Minimalist Quick Start Guide: The Absolute Least You Can Do [11 page worksheet/tool]

This Quick Start Guide is designed to help you plan and manage your first project using the PM Minimalist approach, as detailed in the The Project Management Minimalist: Just Enough PM to Rock Your Projects!

👉 Authority versus Responsibility: Find The Balance! [5 1/2 min video]

This brief video provides real-world examples to distinguish between authority & responsibility. And it makes the argument that by finding a good balance between the two, we can improve the quality of life at home, at work and in all of society.  

👉 Why Its Pointless To Argue About Politics Or Religion [9 page PDF]

This essay is designed to help you see the origins of the strong feelings of the people you are arguing with. And it provides some suggestions for improving your interactions with those whose politics and religious views may be far different from your own. 

👉 Michael Greer's Publications In Internet Archives 

See everything I've uploaded to Internet Archives (94 items!) & click the link in the item's "Description" to go directly to any of them.

From the Archives: Three Articles to Support Wellness

Here are three articles from the archives that are designed to help you stay physically and mentally fit. They include lots of tools and worksheets to help you figure out exactly what you need and to help guide you toward your own unique wellness goals. Enjoy!

5 Reasons Everyone Should Get a Regular "Tune-Up" from a Physical Therapist (1 of 2)

"... getting physical therapy (PT) should be similar to going to the dentist:

• You should go at least every couple of years for a "tune-up."
• The PT visits should be matched by your own daily maintenance routine.
• This daily maintenance routine should be custom-tailored by the PT experts to address your aging body's unique anomalies."  (Read the full article here.)

Full article ... 

5 Specific Steps to Get Your Physical Therapy "Tune-Up" (2 of 2)

If you've ever worked your way through the obstacle course that is our healthcare system, then you know how important it is to be organized and laser-focused on your goal. To get what you want from all those smart, busy medical professionals, you have to do your homework and arrive armed with some reference notes. This article includes a worksheet (also available as a two-page PDF download) that can help you take charge of the process and get the medical support you need.  (Read the full article here.)

Full article ... 

Medito: Your Free Meditation & Mindfulness Multitool

"Medito is essentially a meditation tutor, an always on-call (and completely confidential!) personal therapist, a sleep aid, a work life coach, a collection of relaxing ambient soundscapes and a handy meditation/mindfulness reference library." (Read the full article here.)

Full article ... 

Taking Care of Yourself: Some Tools & Tips from the Archives

 

This article is for the work-weary professional, manager or anyone else who feels swamped, is always getting interrupted and who feels like screaming in frustration! The selections below are from my collection Inspirations: Optimize Your Attitude, Maximize Your Results. These three are hand-picked to inspire you to take care of yourself, reclaim your humanity, enhance your job satisfaction and find some peace of mind.

Set and respect "office hours."

This excerpt from The Project Management Minimalist is a short pep talk and set of practical guidelines that will help you set aside uninterruptible office hours so you can be more productive and get into that "flow" state in which we all do our best work. 

 

Check out the book excerpt.

Leverage your signature strengths.

There is much happiness, emotional satisfaction and, arguably, higher-quality output to be had when you are doing what you are purpose-built to do.  Are you leveraging your "signature strengths?"  Learn more in this excerpt from The Project Management Minimalist.

Check out the book excerpt.

Is it time to go "off the grid?"

Ever feel like running away and simply disappearing for a while? Getting lost, going completely off the grid, can be one of the most energy-renewing, creativity-enhancing and simply joyful things you can do!  This article from the archives makes the case for doing so.  

Check out the article.

Get The Project Management Minimalist from Amazon or as a free PDF.

If you find the preceding samples to be valuable, why not go a little deeper. Specifically:

• Learn all about Project Management Minimalism here.  
• Get The Project Management Minimalist book in hard copy, paperback or kindle format here at Amazon.
• Get the entire book for FREE: Download the full book, at no cost (and no strings attached) in PDF format here. 
• Get all things related to PM Minimalism (including a do-it-yourself PM course outline, videos, audios and team-building/class materials) FREE at my Internet Archives Favorites collection.

Enjoy! 

In Case You Missed Them: Some Ideas “Worth Sharing” from the Past Couple of Years

My strategy for getting through the pandemic:
Research, create, share, repeat... & relax!  😁

Introduction

These past couple of years have been difficult for us all, to say the least. [Insert your own pandemic-related miseries here as evidence.] If you’re like me, you’ve had to make a real effort to stay positive. And if we can’t always achieve the positive, then we can at least achieve a measure of sanity by doing the little things, and maybe a few big things, that keep us grounded. As a former trainer/consultant and author, I find that the act of creating and sharing something which has potential value for someone else provides meaning and a much-needed sense of purpose. Whether these creations are actually used and valued by anyone I can’t be sure. But I do know that the act of creating them puts me in touch with my muse or Source or whatever. And I felt much better as a result of making and releasing them.

Below are links to some items Worth Sharing that might have escaped your attention as you endured the last couple of years. Here you’ll find: 

• Practical tools and info you can immediately use.

• Mental health tools and encouragement (including a few audio podcasts) that can help you acquire perspective and get through these tough times.

• Some moral and ethical challenges. 

• Some links to the creations that I’d like to share as my legacy. (Almost all of these are absolutely free.)

I hope you find something valuable here. 

10 Specific Actions That Can Help You Become Happier (an audio podcast)

Focus:  Whether you're part of a project team or a family group, when individuals are happy, the entire group will likely be happy! But how can you become happier? In this archived podcast from 2009 I share 10 specific actions that I’ve taken to create more happiness in my life.

------------------ October 2021 Update ------------------

This podcast was originally produced in December of 2009. In the 12 years since its release, social media companies and their fine-tuned algorithms have mastered the art of manipulating our consciousness. They pull us in and lock us down into contentious tribes. The sites cherry-pick news, opinion, sensationalistic rants, memes & images that exactly match our unique biases and push our buttons. Then they serve them up in a customized stream to keep us angry, warring and, most importantly to their bottom line, glued to their sites. 

If I were creating this podcast today, my highest-priority Action for producing happiness would be:

• Ration your time (or remove yourself entirely!) from social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. 

These sites are powerfully toxic to our happiness. At the very least, they generate a lot of FOMO (fear of missing out) as we see our "friends'" self-servingly-edited timelines and perfect lives unfold via their curated posts. And, at their worst, the algorithms keep us angry and outraged and posting our own venom. And all this is antithetical to happiness!

So as you listen to this podcast (or read the transcript) consider the powerful negative roles these social media sites have come to play in our lives as omnipresent aggregators of everything that irritates and enrages us. Then ask yourself: "If I am pursuing peace of mind and happiness, why am I engaging these toxic social media dumps?" 

--------------[End of October 2021 Update]--------------

(Use the control bar below to download or play the podcast. Or scroll down and simply read the rest of the transcript. Enjoy!)

[Transcript of this audio was originally published on December 7, 2009. Some links referred to below may no longer be valid]

Transcript

In this post, we focus on the individual instead of the team. After all, teams are made up of individuals. And when individual team members are happy, there’s a good chance the entire team will be happy! But how can anyone become happier? To begin to answer this question, I share 10 specific actions that I’ve taken to create more happiness in my life. (And I hope you will share your suggestions in the Comments section at the end of this post.)

Practice Mindfulness (an audio podcast)

Focus:  This audio podcast includes inspirational quotations, war stories, examples, a little philosophy and some practical challenges to help individuals and teams expand upon their inherent power of mindfulness — the practice of bringing your full awareness into the present moment.

(Use the control bar below to download or play the podcast. Or scroll down and simply read the transcript. Enjoy!)

Transcript of this audio originally published on April 26, 2009 [some links referred to below may no longer be valid]:

Acknowledgement:  The main inspiration for this post comes from various interviews and articles featuring Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  Kabat-Zinn started his career as a scientist at MIT and it is with this scientific perspective (along with his clinical research to support many of his positions) that he shares his thoughts on the power of mindfulness. He teaches mindfulness meditation as a technique to help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain and illness. You can check out the links below for more about Jon and his work.]

In this post I hope to convince you of the power of mindfulness -- the practice of bringing your full awareness into the present moment. This is very different from that "kinda sorta" awareness that you have while you are attending a meeting, firing off a text message, and eating lunch all at the same time. And it is different from the awareness you experience within a conversation while you are trying to stifle clever or fearful or angry or resentful thoughts that are clamoring for your attention. And it is different from the awareness you experience when sitting alone at your desk, working to solve a problem while thoughts of past difficulties and future fears challenge your concentration. Instead, it is a cleaner, simpler kind of awareness. It is simply being fully present, with all your attention. It is, in the words of Jon Kabat-Zinn, "paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment, without judgment." This is mindfulness.

Medito: Your Free Meditation & Mindfulness Multitool

Medito is an incredible free app that is packed with good stuff! It's essentially a meditation tutor, an always on-call (and completely confidential!) personal therapist, a sleep aid, a work life coach, a collection of relaxing ambient soundscapes and a handy meditation/mindfulness reference library. And all this is delivered to you as short audio segments with your choice of narrator voices. 

Think of this app as one of those handy folding multitools. Sometimes you need a screwdriver, sometimes you need a knife and sometimes you need a nail file or a bottle opener. And some of those fold-up tools (for me, it's the leather punch!) you may never use. But it's empowering to have all that capability assembled into one device. 

That's pretty much how this app works. If you have zero experience or knowledge of meditation, Meditio provides short, practical bits of background info, followed by choose-your-own-length guided practice sessions to get you started. Or if you've been meditating for years, like me, you'll find all sorts of useful variations that you can explore, as well as collections of soundscapes and other resources to help you grow your practice. What's more, there are other unique tools to help you cope with emergency, high-stress situations at work or in your personal life. No wonder it was named one of Google Play's Best of 2020 award winners!  

The Medito Foundation

So who's behind this app and what's their vision? This is from their website:  "Medito Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to improving mental wellbeing, including helping people to cope better with depression, stress, anxiety and any other negative states of mind... [Our] Scientific Advisory Board provides input on Medito content, to help us produce mindfulness and mental health resources that are in line with the latest scientific thinking."  

Inventory of Medito App Resources

Below is my quick inventory of what I've found in the app. It's loaded!! (And, according to the developers, more good stuff is on the way!)

A Meditation Tutor

• 5 short audio summaries introduce the novice to meditation and mindfulness.
• 10 brief audios help you learn to sit comfortably.
• 10 short audios (Mindfulness, Vipassana, Science of meditation, etc.) comprise the Beginner course.
• 10 short audios (Consciousness, Anxiety, Stress, Open awareness, etc.) comprise the Intermediate course.

A Personal Therapist & Work Life Coach

• The "Pandemic" pack includes 8 brief sessions to help you cope with Coronavirus.
• The "Emergency" pack has 5 short sessions to help you deal with anger, fear, panic, etc.
• The "Stress & Anxiety" pack has 10 brief sessions to help you manage stress and anxiety by remaining in the present moment.
• The "Empowerment" pack can help activists confront racism and avoid burnout.
• The "Work Life" pack has 10 topics to help you lead a happier, healthier work life (examples: Managing conflict, Productivity, Confidence, Creativity,  Work-life balance, etc.).
• The "Gratitude" and "Loving Kindness" packs provide 10 guided meditations to cultivate gratitude & compassion.

A Sleep and Relaxation Aid

• The "Sleep" collection provides 5 meditations to help you get to sleep, as well as 5 soothing ambient nature sounds and 14 relaxing tones and soundscapes.
• The "Body Scan" collection has 8 meditations to help you relax, release tension and develop mindful awareness of mental and physical feelings.

Other Tools to Support Your Meditation Practice

• "Daily Meditation" includes 4 voice-guided meditation session timers with 4 optional background sounds.
• "Meditation Timer" includes simple timers, including a starting bell and an ending bell for sessions ranging in length from 3 minutes to one hour.  8 optional ambient soundscapes may mixed into each of these sessions.
• The "Sounds" collection includes 22 different ambient soundscapes ranging in length from 5 to 60 minutes.
• The "Mantra" pack provides 5 audios to help you develop your own word or phrase or sound to use as the focul point of your meditation
• The "Walking Meditation" pack includes a 12 minute "Walking Inside" and a 15 minute "Walking Outside" guided meditation. 
• In the "Collections" there are compilations of unique exercises and background info from experts, philosophers and collaborators (including 4 guided sessions in Spanish)
• The "Teachers" pack (10 guided meditations) is designed to help educators introduce mindfulness into their classrooms and engage students in mindfulness practices.

So Go Get It!

The best way to realize the power of Medito's collections is to experience them firsthand. As you can see from the list above, the Medito app has enormous potential to improve your life! And, since it's free -- (Thank you, Medito Foundation!) -- you have nothing to lose by downloading and exploring it's powerful, concise and easy-to-use tools. And once you're hooked, be sure to share it with a friend. If using Medito were to go viral, I'm convinced the world would be a much better place!

• For your Android devices:  Medito: Free Meditation, Sleep & Mindfulness 

• For your Apple devices:  Medito: Meditation & Wellness

• Learn more at the Medito Foundation website. 

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Image sources/credits: 
Buddha image above from Etsy --- Gerber Truss Multi-Tool image from REI Coop --- Opening screenshot image from Medito: Free Meditation, Sleep & Mindfulness app at Google Play Store

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More Articles About Meditation & Mindfulness

• Got Thinkus Interruptus? Here are 5 specific actions to clean up your cluttered consciousness.
• Meditation Fact Sheet: Scientifically Proven Benefits & a Who’s Who of Famous Meditators
• How Mindfulness Meditation Helps Me Laugh at Mental Soap Bubbles
• Practice Mindfulness (audio podcast from my INSPIRATIONS website)

Those Spring Flowers: Pointless Bursts of Color or Anchors to the Here & Now?

2019's "superbloom" of California poppies near
Lake Elsinore blankets the mountainsides with dancing colors

It's that time of year again (at least in much of the Northern Hemisphere). Out of the gray of winter, against a backdrop of dead grasses, winter-worn leaves and bare branches, flowers pop out at us, clamoring for attention. They tease us with noisy bursts of color that don't seem to have any purpose.  "Hey, I'm over here!" they demand. "It's spring and it's warming up and I'm beautiful and it's great to be alive!" Their crazy, random shaped heads bob and jiggle around in the warm, moist breezes. Some last a few weeks, while others shrivel and die after a mere day or two.

In A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, Eckhart Tolle explains how these little colored marvels have helped shape humanity's perceptions:

"As the consciousness of human beings developed, flowers were most likely the first thing they came to value that had no utilitarian purpose... not linked in some way to survival. They provided inspiration to countless artists, poets, and mystics. Jesus tells us to contemplate the flowers and learn from them how to live. The Buddha is said to have given a silent sermon once during which he held up a flower and gazed at it."

And how can flowers teach us how to live? By grabbing our attention and, however briefly, slamming us into the here and now. Their ephemeral beauty touches something deep within us... something that is beyond words... something that compels attention and focus... something that invites us into the present moment.

And then, soon enough, our faces turn away, disappearing into our digital screens. Then our brains disappear into those mini-dramas from work or some talking head's political narrative or celebrity "news," and on and on and on. Eventually, our consciousness is completely consumed by the neverending ping's and dings of the gossip stream that is the news or Facebook or Instagram or... [insert your favorite gif-bedecked screen addiction here.]

How about you? Did you notice that short-lived flower you walked past today? Did you catch that beautiful smile that someone beamed at you? Did you really hear and process that thing your kid said that seemed to make him so giggly? Did you look into your dog's eyes when she wagged her tail at you and connect with her unrestrained love? These are examples of NOW moments. Follow the flowers to connect with your own ephemeral NOW moments and connect with your own life aliveness before it fades.

(Bonus: Online Google photo album:
Virtual Flowers for My WORTH SHARING Readers 
-- I shot all these at or near my home in Southern CA.)

Related Stuff from the Archives: 

• Download 20-minute Audio Podcast: Practice Mindfulness -- Summary: This podcast reviews the power of mindfulness — the practice of bringing your full awareness into the present moment — and how you can expand upon your inherent ability to practice mindfulness.
• Chapters from my WORTH SHARING book online:  
• How Mindfulness Meditation Helps Me Laugh at Mental Soap Bubbles
• Meditation Fact Sheet: Scientifically Proven Benefits and a Who's Who of Famous Meditators 
• Searching for a Picture: How a Camera in Your Hands Can Improve Your Vision
• How to Get Comfortable Doing Nothing: 3 Simple Strategies
• Inspirations: An Archived Collection to Motivate & Bring Peace of Mind 

Inspirations: An Archived Collection to Motivate & Bring Peace of Mind

Beyond Project Teams:
A Collection of Inspirations for Everyone

This month I've begun working in earnest toward the goal I set nearly 5 years ago with the birth of this website, WORTH SHARING. I've begun the formal archiving of all my legacy websites.

First to be wrapped up: my Inspired Project Teams collection. The podcasts and matching exercises presented at this site were always a bit too expansive for their nominal use as tools for project teams. While they certainly support project teams, they are also well-suited to encouraging the personal growth and peace of mind of any individual. Drawing on the wisdom of so many great philosophers and psychologists, it's inevitable that this collection would transcend the practical, team-based performance tools that I typically create.