
Kiera and I hang’n out at Point Pelee, the southernmost tip of mainland Canada. (Middle Island is actually the Southernmost point in Canada.)
The point I’m trying to make (yes, there actually is one!) is exactly what I wrote last year, i.e., personal resources (time and money) directed towards experiences as against “stuff” are the keys to both short and long term happiness. This is one of the reasons we feel so good when we are engaged in acts of giving through its many different levels – not just money, but also time, friendship and, most important … love.

DEC 20, 2019
Merry Christmas featuring E.T.
BY KEITH THOMSON
For over 10 years the British retailer, John Lewis, has aired what has become an iconic holiday season commercial. Although this year’s version was well done I thought the parody featuring Donald Trump and Greta Thunberg was even better.
However, my favorite 2019 holiday commercial was from Xfinity. I thought it perfectly captured the spirit of Christmas with their E.T. homage that featured the original Elliot from Stephen Spielberg’s classic. Without compromising the brilliance of the original movie this commercial shares how important the season is in bringing together family and friends, sometimes after long periods of being apart and over great distances. As an aside, Spielberg never wanted to film a sequel but happily (and perhaps surprisingly) signed off on this version.

So, as 2019 winds down I sincerely hope that you too have the opportunity to spend more time with family and friends.
It is with this message in mind I wish you and your loved ones all the best for the holiday season and a very happy New Year!
NOV 25, 2019
Steve Jobs was wrong
BY KEITH THOMSON
I know I’m getting older when young adults increasingly ask me for career advice.
Most of them are surprised when I suggest that “follow your passion” is dangerous career advice. This contradicts most of what is passed off as vocational wisdom, perhaps never more famously than in the iconic convocation address Steve Jobs gave to Stanford graduates in 2005. If you haven’t watched it I would encourage you to click thru to the video below.

Here’s the thing … I think Job’s speech is profound except for his “passion hypothesis” he so strongly advocates. A number of years ago I read Cal Newport’s brilliant and counterintuitive “So Good They Can’t Ignore You”. Newport’s book radically changed my thinking from the conventional “find your passion so that you can be useful to society” to “first be useful to society in order to uncover your passion”. For those of us who would prefer a quick summary to this type of approach to career and life advice, I would encourage your to read Ben Carlson’s excellent “Useless Career Advice” blog.
OCT 24, 2019