[Discussioni] author/researcher needs your help

[Steve Lawler]

Dear Colleague, 

I am writing to ask your help for a book I am writing about life practices. I am an ethics consultant and writer. I give workshops on issues of ethics, values and culture. Lately I have been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor and on Workforce.com to name a few. 

I am looking for examples of those simple things that we all do that are essential to expressing and maintaining our values as we face life's ups and downs. I am focusing on practices one uses when dealing with the following situations: 

Beginning - 
Mistakes - 
Accepting responsibility -
Being part of a group -  
Committing to a relationship - 
Honoring special talents - 
Ending -

Three examples may help here. 

One person I interviewed said that their life changed when they went from seeing mistakes as awful to seeing them as the first step to learning. They even had this made into a sign that hangs on the wall in their office. 

A second person learned from their grandfather to "buy the best materials you can afford." This has provided a model for their life's work - they are in their late 70's still actively building things and more to the point of the book, they are still building their life out of "the best materials they can afford." 

Another person said that whenever they see something being done well they acknowledge it as soon as possible and in some tangible way. The least that they do is to complement the person doing the thing well. What they try to do more often is write a note to the person or give them a small gift. 

I am gathering these practices from people from many places and with a wide variety of backgrounds. The book will feature some of the material I gather with some commentary.

I will be grateful if you would send me a practice that you use to attend to one of these areas. Please include some brief biographical information as well. Also, if you would like to share in what I am learning, please let me know as well. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Steve Lawler
swl a lawler.org