When I was living in Japan, my primary goal was to learn to speak Japanese. And I became fluent. I worked in a Japanese-speaking environment, I interviewed CEOs in Japanese,…
Browsing Categorymental toughness + resilience
We are not lemmings (or sheep)
In fourth grade science class, we watched a Disney nature documentary about the migration of lemmings. I still vividly remember the aerial view of this mass of lemmings scurrying along…
The Houston Rockets’ odds-defying choke
In the world of basketball, everyone’s talking about the Houston Rockets — and not for the right reasons. In Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, they were up against…
How To Believe It Before You See It
Too often, we get it backwards. We think it’s when we reach our big goal – the seven-figure revenues, ideal weight or championship trophy — that we can believe it’s…
Are You Still Using Training Wheels on the Bicycle of Life?
Last weekend, here in Paris, I went with my sister, Carolyn, and her three kids, Emeraude, Henry and Ferdinand, to the Bois de Vincennes to do some bike-riding. For the last…
Are You Tolerating Too Much?
Wait, Renita, what are you talking about? Don’t you always say we have to get comfortable being uncomfortable? Well, let’s make a distinction between two kinds of uncomfortable: there’s the…
9 Subtle Ways You’re Already Mentally Tough
As you know, I think a lot about “mental toughness” and how we can train ourselves to have more of it. But I also think we can get so caught up…
The Iceberg Illusion of Success: Don’t Be Fooled Because You Can’t See The Failures
During one of my piano lessons at The Juilliard School, my teacher told me I “played like a mouse” and asked me if I had considered going to law school….
Want to Bounce Back From Disappointment Quicker?
Do you know the story of the Chinese farmer? When his horse ran away, the neighbors came around to commiserate, “So sorry to hear your horse ran away.” And the farmer said,…
Are You Afraid To Go All Out?
In one of the more heart-wrenching stories from the Rio Olympics, US cyclist Mara Abbott was one of two leading the pack in the women’s cycling race as they climbed the steep…