My Favourite Posts of 2017

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I'm so pleased to again bring you my favourite posts of the previous year, in this case my favourites of 2017.

How do I make my selections? Ultimately, three post characteristics drive my top picks:

  1. How much I enjoyed writing them.
  2. How much they resonated with others.
  3. How top-of-mind they are for me when I'm chatting with readers/friends and other bloggers/podcasters (which means they resonated with me too :). 

The ten posts below are presented in order of preference. And, as I've done previously, I'm also including five honourable mentions that you might also enjoy perusing.

Ten Favourite Posts of 2017

1. The Wisdom Paradox: By far my favourite article of 2017, this article presents an interesting side effect we experience as we become increasingly knowledgeable about a wide range of topics. The paradox? The more we know, the more we also realize how much more there is that we don't know. It's a bit like going back to childhood, really. The never-ending question of "why" leads to broader and broader answers. And it's humbling to realize we'll never get to the bottom of it all. What first appears black and white is anything but.

2. What's Your Story?: We're all story tellers. Our internal dialogue can make or break our efforts, whether that dialogue is directed toward the self or toward our perception of the outside world. This could sound depressing but the reality is that we can have a great deal of control over our perceptions, and small improvements can lead to great improvements to our quality of life.

3. What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?: It seems that I want to be...everything. I've pursued many different interests and careers over the years, and I'm nowhere near done with this exploration. It's thrilling, educational and keeps me from stagnating. And in 2018, after wandering in the desert for a bit, I'm launching into new territory yet again. 

4. Unboxing Unboxing: Are we addicted to stuff or just the experience of getting and playing with whatever's new? Whether we unbox it ourselves or we watch someone else do it, we seem to have a fascination with what's new, shiny and yet-to-be touched. And that fascination leads to unintended consequences.

5. The Ripple Effect: One of my other "occupations" involves working as a coach and personal trainer. People initially come to me because, let's face it, they want to look better naked. No one really considers the full impact that positive changes in one area of our lives can have on other, unrelated areas of our personal and professional performance. It's what I call the ripple effect and it's a beautiful thing.

6. I Wish - Why Sharing Dreams Matters: I've been fortunate to have a number of wishes granted over the last number of years, as have many of my friends and family members. Most of these positive experiences have one thing in common: we let other people know what it is we wanted. Sounds obvious, right? Then why don't we do it more often?

7. The Sexy Underwear Trick: OK. I'll admit. This title is total click bait. I'm allowed one per year, right? You already know it's not really about sexy underwear. Let's just say it's about an even sexier concept: personal freedom. Read on! :)

8. The Billboard Test : When I'm asked to do something special for someone, to treat someone in a way that might be unfair compared to how I treat others, especially when it comes to business with friends and family, I apply the billboard test. This test has served me well over the years and helps me lead my personal and professional life with more integrity than I might otherwise. Translation: it's a test that helps me screw up less...and it might help you too.

9. Lessons from Shawshank: Real or not, I have a great deal of respect for a character by the name of Andy Dufresne. That's why I've watched The Shawshank Redemption more often than I'd like to admit. His character is a great reminder of how much control we can exert over our behaviour, every day and in every situation. The story invites us to take responsibility for our actions and reminds us that doing so usually leaves us better off in the long run.

10. Don’t Be a Flatliner: This article is based on a recurring theme for this blog: we don't need to settle and we can and should question everything, including our own and society's assumptions about the way things are and how they need to be. The twist in this particular article? How these assumptions, and how we settle for less because of them, affect us in ways we often dismiss, to our detriment.

Five Honourable Mentions

These posts didn't make the top 10, but they come to mind quite often:

  1. More Than Meets the Eye - How I Read Books
  2. The Case Against Fancy Toilet Paper
  3. From Country Song to Rock Anthem
  4. Food for Thought - The Gift of a Gathering
  5. Turning it Off - Why I'm Taking A Social Media Holiday

What to expect in 2018?

More book reviews, articles about house flipping, and travel, writing influenced by talks and seminars I've been delivering to live audiences and, of course, continued musings & random thoughts as I come across them in books and day-to-day life.

And a few brand new endeavours I've been working on too! Stay tuned.

Image credit/copyright (where applicable, in order of appearance): Pixomar,  winnond,  franky242, zirconicusso / freedigitalphotos.net