Act, Learn, Refine. Repeat.

In the book Now, Discover Your Strengths, authors Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton advocate building strengths, not correcting weaknesses.

In doing so, you'll make great progress, but you'll sometimes slip.

The process is simple:  act, learn, refine. Act, learn, refine.They call it the essence of strong living.

Carl Jung captured this spirit, "Fidelity to the law of your own being is...an act of high courage flung in the face of life."

The book is focused on work-related success, but the mantra applies to all of life.

So, here's to stumbling with grace.

http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Your-Strengths-Marcus-Buckingham/dp/0743201140/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336754514&sr=8-1

Word Nerds.

You might be a word nerd if:

* You own a word-a-day calender
* You're on a first name basis with a librarian
* You buy books of poetry
* You own a Knidle or Nook
* You were a high school debator
* You correct your friends' grammar
* You once won a spelling bee

Lessons Learned From The Voice.

Like much of TV-watching America, I am hooked on The Voice.

What I am most struck by is the repeated advice from the judges to the artists to maintain their originality.

Contestants who morph into copycat performers get axed; those who continue to challenge the contours of their own unique style succeed.

The same sage advice can be applied to writing: stick with your authentic voice. Explore its edges, but keep it your own.

Take Time to Waste Time.

That's the advice of Jonah Lehrer in his new book Imagine: How Creativity Works.

New science shatters the myth that a select few are creative.

Instead he recommends taking a break when you feel stuck: get outside, take in a movie, tour an art gallery. He also talks about embracing the rut and pooh-poohs brainstorming.

http://www.amazon.com/Imagine-Creativity-Works-Jonah-Lehrer/dp/0547386079/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335192250&sr=8-1

Relentless Change Requires Reinvention

The Wall Street Journal recently ranked consultant Gary Hamel as the world’s most influential business thinker.  Fortune magazine has called him “the world’s leading expert on business strategy.”

Hamel has some compelling ideas about how reinventing management.

http://www.youtube.com/das_captcha?next=/watch%3Fv%3Daodjgkv65MM

Where Creativity, Culture and Commerce Intersect.

"Creativity is the biggest mandate in business today," says Teressa Iezzi, editor of Cocreate.

Fast Company's snappy blog is must reading for creative folks.

 http://www.fastcocreate.com/

19 Outstanding Words.

Mental Floss has rounded up some doozies, as my dad used to say that will impress your friends and colleagues.

My favorite: Kummerspeck (German): Excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, grief bacon.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/110995#ixzz1qvXOLUNU