My graduate advisor, the late Dr. Walter O’Brien, rarely told me stories from his personal life. However, after I expressed concerns over my own future, he shared with me a little of his own past. Graduate school takes a lot of work and seems to […]
Category: motivation
How to Make a Big Decision
“We want you to come, Tony.” I’d just been offered a job that would mean leaving my current position, packing up, and moving my family across the country. What started a few months earlier as “just looking around” had become a very real, and very […]
The Stories We Tell
“How do we stop people from texting while they drive?” I remember the speaker asking this question during a seminar on creative problem solving like it was yesterday. The audience instantly jumped into brainstorming mode, listing solutions such as “automatically lock phones over a certain […]
The New Rich
The first thing I can remember borrowing real money for (other than student loans) is a TV. I followed this with a brand new car, a furniture set, a vacation, and (my favorite) the moving bill to move all of that stuff across the country. […]
Three things everyone should focus on this summer
We made it: it’s summer!!!!!! Here’s a season where everyone gets a chance to let off the gas a little bit and recover from the grind that the first months of every year seem to hold. I’d like to offer you a bit of advice […]
200: It’s Complicated, to Put It Simply
This is the 200th post at tonyferrar.com! I started writing here in August 2016, just under three years ago. I set out to create a place for students to find advice from a positive voice. What I didn’t realize is how much I would grow […]
When Things Go Wrong
To be honest, I feel like there’s been an uptick in the number of negative experiences going on around me lately. I’m not talking about the things that make it into the national or international news. Not politics. In the last week, right here around […]
Finding Your Energy
My typical day begins at 4:30am. I wake up, spend 2 hours working on The Intentional Academy*, then spend a bit of time on self-care before leaving for work at 7:00. By 7:30, I’ve walked a mile and a half, taken a train ride, and […]
I have to reapply for my job this week
“Finally, he’s taking a dose of his own medicine.” If you’ve been following along for any period of time, you know I give a lot of advice about how to hunt for, apply to, and land a job that you love. The seeds for the […]
When you can’t find the time
It never takes long. A new semester starts (or year, or whatever increments of time your life refreshes on) with excitement about the new projects ahead. Your load seems light as you begin exploring your new roles with enthusiasm and curiosity. Unfortunately the honeymoon doesn’t […]