012522 — Blog — Rulerless

Giving yourself some credit

It is hard for many high-achieving people to acknowledge growth, progress, and mastery.

"Oh, I'm just stumbling around in the dark," they'll scoff in response to a compliment. Or they'll say, "I've got to work harder," when the evidence suggests they're already working harder than anyone else.

It's laudable to want to better yourself — to want to raise the bar and not settle for less than you're capable of.

Casey von NeumannJanuary 21, 2022012522, 021022, 021622, 032822, 091622Comment

Expanding capacity

Human potential is effectively infinite.

Yeah, there are certain areas in which we are approaching the limits of what individuals can do. There's only so fast that a man can run a mile, right? But we thought that nobody could run the mile in under four minutes until Roger Bannister did it in 1954. So what do we know.

Areas other than physical performance might be harder to measure. How do we know what we're capable of?

Casey von NeumannJanuary 11, 2022012522, 021722, 071822, 090522Comment

Decisioned out

Nobody really wants to hear the boss gripe about pet peeves, but let me tell you the one thing that saps my life force faster than anything.

It's when I'm asked to weigh in on something that someone else could decide, especially if I've already asked that someone else to take care of it.

"I wasn't able to reach them. Would you like me to try again?"

Casey von NeumannJanuary 7, 2022012022, 012522, 022522, 041422Comment

Exactly as hard as it should be

Sometimes, when I sit down to write, it feels like I'm trying to break into a heavily guarded fortress.

All of the times that was able to write so easily, when the ideas and words flowed smoothly, are no help. They didn't prepare me for this situation.

However, having now experienced the challenge of an elusive muse a number of times, I've got some better tools for dealing with it.

Casey von NeumannDecember 29, 2021012522, 020122, 020822Comment

Beneath the surface

Around March of each year, there's a crop of eighth graders who think that they aren't learning anything.

They are bored and frustrated with their teachers, classmates, and schoolwork. In our tiny homeschool program, they have the luxury of believing that they would feel differently if they went to a traditional public school.

They say that they're ready for high school and just want to be there already. They don't know that they're exactly where they should be.

Casey von NeumannNovember 4, 2021112521, 121321, 121421, 012522, 051722, 090722, 101122Comment