RWL #290
one day more
Greetings from the LHH! You might live in a college town if you see a kid wearing a tuba on the side of the road. Obviously, the marching band is back. Tomorrow is the first day of classes for the fall semester. One day more!
I had hoped to get this newsletter out on Friday, but I had a lot of family commitments this weekend and just couldn’t get it done. I’ve got an unusually busy semester in front of me - I’m teaching an extra class, I’m putting together several conferences, and I’m doing some extra teaching for a exec ed class. And all of this has me worrying about having things slide - like this newsletter did.
This is a short one this week, because one of the lessons I have learned over time is that sometimes you have to lower your standards to get things done, and to keep on track. It’s better to get something done imperfectly than it is to not get something done at all.
I had an idea for an essay I wanted to share with you - I’ll give you a sneak preview -
Meaning = Connection x Competence x Contribution
More on that next week (hopefully!).
So with that, willing good for all of you, I present you with the links!
Read
What: Harvard Business Review, A Framework for Designing Excellent Virtual Health Care
Why: As I wrote last week, if we are going to meaningfully reform healthcare and make it simultaneously high quality, low cost, and easy to access, virtual care is clearly going to be a part of the formula. This framework for integrating virtual care into a health system is an interesting read.
Watch
What: James Clear, The 2 Minute Rule Will Quickly Change Your Life (2 min)
Why: I’ve written a bunch about habit formation efforts that I’ve been trying to develop over the last year, especially after having read James Clear’s Atomic Habits, but also more recently Fogg’s Tiny Habits, from which I’m pretty sure Clear gets some of his ideas. What they both agree on is the hardest part about a habit is getting started, because motivation often comes after starting. It’s easier to continue an activity than it is to overcome the inertia of doing nothing. I’m including this one for me.
Listen
What: Conversations with Bill Kristol, Ed Glaeser, The Case for Cities (63 min)
Why: Ed Glaeser is an economist who studies cities. He makes the case that cities are sources of innovation and economic dynamism, and have been throughout human history. Glaeser and Kristol get into some of the challenges of cities, including NIMBYism, especially in places like San Francisco, and why that is so counter productive for human flourishing.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
If you’re looking for a searchable archive, you can see my draft folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jwGLdjsb1WKtgH_2C-_3VvrYCtqLplFO?usp=sharing
Finally, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend?
See you next week!
Mark
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” – Pablo Picaso