“Workers of the world, unite!” used to be a rallying cry for employees to have safer and cleaner working conditions. Today, the updated version of this sentiment is for workers to have ever-expanding benefits and income even as the company for which … Continue reading
Category: Daily Dose of Reason
Launching Pad
A parent ought to encourage his or her child to (quoting an old Spanish proverb) ‘Take what you want—and pay for it.’ In other words, go after what you want in life, and make sure to be reality-oriented in the … Continue reading
Tyranny is Tyranny
“The government has no business running these [auto] companies because the government does not know how to run these companies. That’s not government’s job.” –Carly Fiorina, businesswoman and former CEO of Hewlett-Packard How refreshing–and true! I would only add: Government … Continue reading
High Priced Tastes on a Government Budget
After a recent meeting between the President and a group of bankers, news sources reported that the President and the bankers agreed on essentially one thing: That they need each other. Actually, in a free market, businesses would not need … Continue reading
Failure to Connect
Q: Dr. Hurd, I failed to be connected with my girlfriend in my last relationship. What do you think could cause this problem? I don’t suffer from depression, anxiety or low self-esteem. Why didn’t it work? A: By ‘connected’ I … Continue reading
Organize, Organize
People are always asking me: How can I become more organized? Here’s an exercise to get you started. Make a ‘brainstorm list’ of as many things as you can possibly think of that exemplify ‘more organized behavior.’ Include things that you … Continue reading
Thoughts on Happiness
If you wait for happiness, you’ll be disappointed. This is because if happiness comes your way, you won’t understand why or how it did. It will all feel so fragile and uncertain. If happiness doesn’t come your way, then you’ll … Continue reading
The “Great” Nation of Iran
The current American President called terrorist-sponsoring Iran a “great civilization” and proclaimed it has “earned the respect of the United States and the world.” Here’s an alternative view from Iranian dissident Kianoosh Sanjari. “Mr. President,” wrote Sanjari last January 20, … Continue reading
Past, Present & Future
It’s best to focus on today, here-and-now, because that’s where you have control. Make reference to the past so as to look at what did and didn’t work, and why. The purpose of doing so isn’t insight for insight’s sake, … Continue reading
Mental Life Insurance
Reality is rarely a catastrophe. Repeated efforts to avoid reality make it seem like a catastrophe. Avoiding reality leads to ineffective results, which in turn–over time–can develop into disasters. But most of the time, they’re disasters that need never have … Continue reading
The Way Back to Freedom
In order to preserve and expand government programs such as Medicare, Social Security, and all the new ones being proposed, government must have money. A poor country could not create programs because there would be no capital to tax and … Continue reading
Criticism and Feedback
Constructive criticism consists of objective feedback given after the completion of a task. “Hypermanaging” consists of interfering and providing feedback–constructive or otherwise–before a task is completed. For example: “You didn’t do that right.” Reply: “I’m not finished yet.” Counterreply: “That’s … Continue reading