Success Archives - Cup and Quill

Why a “Bad” Choice Can Be the Best Decision

March 18, 2020

Life’s Templates My life has never fit standard templates. So, I have always trusted my gut when making decisions. Many of my worst choices, according to most standards, became my best decisions. That’s because they rarely adhered to rules or templates about what, when, and how one should do things. When we “should” all over one another, we build traps and cages for one another. We need to stop that because the best lives are spent exploring myriad roads. That’s how we discover our passions, our gifts, and our purposes. I dropped out of high school in the 11th grade.

Wine & Words 2019 Comes to an End

January 5, 2019

Today Sara, Shannin, and I head home from our Wine & Words Writing Treat in Branson, Missouri. We’ve had a lovely and productive time since we arrived on Wednesday. Each of us tackled a range of writing and work related projects ranging from a scholarly article on “Pretty Little Liars” to freshman composition syllabuses. We “pommed” religiously, more or less, in keeping with the practice we’ve established through our Facebook writing group called Write-ins for Academics. “Pomming” is the term we use to describe our way of keeping our butts in the chair when writing. It’s a tried and true method of

Running Hills: Why We Should Do Things the Hard Way

May 7, 2018

Hill Training Sometimes doing things the hard way is good. Any runner will tell you this. In junior high and high school, I ran on a city track club called the Edmonton Huskies–if you’re from Alberta, there is no connection to the football team, if you’re wondering. Hill training was a big part of our program. As I recall, we usually ran hills on Wednesdays or Fridays during outdoor season. Sometimes we did “30 X a hill” on a long, moderately steep grade. Other times we did “6 X a hill” on a very steep grade, usually made of grass

Don’t Pursue Happiness; Follow These Steps to Get Happy!

April 25, 2018

There is no point in pursuing happiness. That is, there’s no point in doing stuff that you think will one day lead to being happy. I can almost hear you thinking, “wow, this one’s going to be a downer. No thanks!” Before you stop reading, stay with me for a minute or two. You’ll be, um, happy you did. I am a huge fan of Shawn Achor, positivity psychologist and author of The Happiness Advantage. His Ted Talk is among the most watched of all time too. Here is a link to it. Shawn Achor’s Ted Talk In both his book and Ted Talk,

Why We Should Measure Success on Our Own Terms

April 8, 2018

As an undergraduate student, I did not start university with any goal other than to do my job to the best of my ability. I followed three rules from day 1. Rule number one was “never miss a class.” Rule number two was “go to class prepared.” Rule number three was “begin assignments and/or study for tests well in advance of the due date.” I used my grades to measure success. I printed those rules and they were posted in my home office throughout my university career. I followed them religiously and they paid off. I was, and am, proud

Finite Players vs. Infinite Players: Which are You?

March 27, 2018

This is a fantastic motivational talk by Simon Sinek. I’m certain it will resonate with everyone who takes the time to watch it. “The goal isn’t to be the best everyday. . . . That’s a finite construction. . . . Infinite players play to be better than themselves. . . . The joy comes not from comparison, but from advancement.”

Category: Success