Category Archives: Personal Growth

Imprecision in Thought Part 3 Not the Same Thing: Where Thinking Actually Breaks

Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In part 2 of this series, we talked about the discipline required to avoid becoming the problem you’re trying to fix—slowing down, defining terms, showing your work, and resisting the very natural urge to react before you actually understand what you’re reacting to. All of that matters....

Imprecision in Thought — Part 2 The Discipline of Not Being Part of the Problem

Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In the last post, we talked about that moment when something sounds wrong—the face scrunch, the irritation, the immediate certainty that what you’re reading or hearing doesn’t hold up. The problem doesn’t stop with what you’re reacting to. It includes what you’re about to become if you...

Imprecision in Thought Part 1 When Something Sounds Wrong—But You Can’t Explain Why

Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Don’t ya just love those moments where you start out certain you know what to do, and then a quick pause to check that all systems are “go” gives you some unexpected clarity—and you realize you’re about to make a colossal blunder? Picture this—I’m wiling away a...

Living Richly Together: Perspective, Certainty, and the Ancient Problem We Keep Pretending Is New (Psychological Richness, Part 4)

Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In the third part of this series, I teased the idea of psychological richness applied beyond the individual. If richness is a mechanism to pursue personal growth, perspective shift, and learning, what if it is applied on a larger scale? Can richness be a mechanism to approach...

Living Richly: Music, Travel, Discomfort, and Growth in Tuscany

Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Greetings and Salutations! Welcome to the third installment in the psychological richness series. In Part 1, I introduced Shigehiro Oishi’s concept of a psychologically rich life—one filled with interesting, perspective-changing experiences. In Part 2, I put on my skeptic hat and reengaged the theory: praised what works, critiqued what doesn’t,...

Time does not heal… it is what you do in time that heals.

“That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.” ~Khaled Hosseini “Don’t turn away. Keep your...

Psychological Richness Part 1 – Defining the Good Life: Happiness, Meaning, and Richness

Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction I’d like you to consider a deceptively simple question: what makes a life good? This isn’t a new question. Plato warned that an unexamined life wasn’t worth living. Aristotle proposed that the good life was one of virtue and purpose. The Epicureans, by contrast, believed happiness came from...

Running Without a Map: Why Change Needs More Than Good Intentions

Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Feedback is a mirror. Over the past two posts, we’ve looked at two ways leaders stumble with feedback: ignoring it altogether (Ignoring the Mirror) and overreacting to every reflection (Trapped in the Mirrors). Both leave you stuck. But there’s a third trap, and it’s sneakier because it...