May you create, share, and savor powerful moments
in the coming year and beyond.

-Happy New Year. Scroll down to view my Gratitude Video to you.-

While sitting in an Austin hotel room at the end of May 2010, I wrote my first post for this blog. At that time, I had three goals:

• Experience a new (for me) aspect of social media (remember, it was 2010)
• Develop and flesh out new ideas
• Provide something of value—not just another cyber rant.

I believe I have accomplished the first and the second. It is up to you whether I have accomplished the third. My blog posts contain videos, book recommendations and summaries, questions to ponder, and always a takeaway to apply immediately to life.  I have remained true to my commitment to publish one blog post per week. This post marks the 501^st consecutive week.  And I know that I am #alwayslearning!

Since the first post, this blog evolved into www.thegrowthandresiliencenetwork.net. 

Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing.  I would love to hear what you find of value on this blog. And, please feel free to share any ideas you have for future post

As has now become tradition for this blog, this last-of-the-year offering lists each of the previous week’s posts I added this year. Along with each title, you will find a teaser about each. Perhaps a nugget or two will provide inspiration. I have linked each title to the actual blog should you want to read it, re-read it, or share it. Thank you for your continued support and comments.

I also have included (1) top five blog posts (by number of views/visits) since I started this journey in 2010; and (2) the top five blog posts from 2019.

*Top Five All-Time Posts by Views on this Blog (Since 2010)* 

1. (#194) Honor the Past. Celebrate the Present. Embrace the Future.
2. (#86) A Model for Critical Thinking
3. (#18) Crab Pot Mentality
4. (#93) SQ4R: Strategic Reading Strategies for the Classroom and Beyond
5. (#219) The First Day of Class: People Before Paper!

*Top Five 2019 Posts by Views on this Blog*

1. (#451) The Conversation Starter
2. (#499) The View from the Rainbow Bridge
3. (#498) 30-30-30-30-30-30-30
4. (#464) Food. Family. Farewell.
5. (#472) Action, Gratitude, and Community

 *2019 in Review*

1. Respectful Relationships * Respectful relationships help build lasting, meaningful, accepting, loving, nurturing, and sustaining communities.
2. The Conversation Starter * There are no strangers; only friends she has yet to meet.
3. Cognitive Distortions * Can you say, “fake news”? Or “leading statements”?
   Or “inferences based on limited information or examples”?
4. Beyond Hope * We articulate what we want to see happen. Yet that does not finish movement to improvement.
5. Recognize the Stories in the Room * No matter how far-sighted leaders may be on an issue, if they cannot connect to the emotional responses of their constituents, relevance is missed, and opportunity squandered.
6. Resources: Find. Learn. Use. * Discover and use RESOURCES to increase chances for progress, growth, learning, and connections.
7. Rainbows * This week’s blog post draws on the fourth core value from
   Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019):  Give voice to our RAINBOWS—our dreams and aspirations—and act to move toward them.
8. Responsibility: Important Questions to Consider * This week’s blog post draws on the fifth core value from Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019): Act with RESPONSIBILITY toward others and ourselves.
9. Reflection as a Non-Luxury Good * This week’s blog post draws on the sixth core value from Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019): Taking time to consider, ponder, remember, analyze, evaluate, and appreciate the various connections of life.
10. Resilience: Where Can You Make Changes? * This week’s blog post draws on the seventh, and final, core value from Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019). Resilience: The ability to connect adaptability, recovery, growth, and discovery.
11. Gratitude for the Journey * My background has been my driver, my brake, my accelerator, and my protector.
12. Projects or Purpose? * If something, however, seems to be missing it might be time to pause, hit the reset button, and ask why you do what you do?
13. The Power of the Stumble * May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. – A Franciscan Blessing –
14. Inside Out * What are your prearrangements with yourself when it comes to your stated priorities?
15. Family. Farewell. * But we get distracted and believe we can wait to make the connection, lend the hand, or offer a shoulder. There will always be tomorrow . So, we postpone.
16. Gratitude: A Reminder * If we give a gift expecting a return, then we have not offered a gift. We have tendered a loan. Not gratitude.
17. Spoiled? * As the sun popped up over the ocean, I thought if that is being “spoiled” then I like it.
18. Learn. Lead. * To lead, you must first listen (hear; respect; ask authentic questions).
    Then learn from the exchange (willingness to change).
19. Thank You, Mom * Shortcuts shortchange the long run.
20. Taking a Stand * It, however, did lead to a deeper conversation with myself. And, even if on a minute level, a deeper appreciation for people who stand up for what they believe.
21. A Reminder about Noise * Are you adding to clarity or compounding the noise? How do you know?
22. Confronting the Bullies * What we do in these situations defines our characters, our communities, and our destiny.
23. Action, Gratitude, and Community * While thinking about gratitude feels good, action creates greater benefits.
24. Legacy. * What is your hope for your community? What do you want to see, and more importantly, what will you do to make it happen? What legacy will you help build and contribute to for the coming generations?
25. Lose. Laugh. Learn. * Fear can lead to growth inhibiting action or inaction.
26. Purposeful Relationships Require Deliberative Efforts * Consider how you can incorporate deliberative efforts for deeper organizational relationships—one person at a time.

Video Recommendation for the Week.

2019 Gratitude Video.

And now for the remaining blogs for the year 2019….

27. Red Team Analysis * Reaching critically reviewed, dissected, and discussed decisions may require creative thinking about how to do it. Critical thinking, though, is not a synonym for creative thinking.
28. Call-Out Culture: Increasing Understanding or Volume? * If you have to name-call, then you have no argument; you have admitted your lack of understanding and/or
    inability to intelligently debate the issue at hand.
29. A Possibility Conversation * Dig down … why do you remember this and
    why does it speaks to your soul? Eulogy or résumé virtue?
30. Lessons by the Numbers * Six short video strategy lessons.
31. Community Building Components * Building community requires that we consider our subject mindfully, hold conversations driven by authentic questions, and then engage in collaboration to do the needed work.
32. No Parental Instruction Manual * They—like so many (all?) parents then and now—had to write their own parenting how-to guide.  A half century later, I am grateful.
33. Political Pyrotechnicians * Unfortunately, because they refuse to listen, a fruitful give-and-take becomes more of a chimera.
34. Think in Reverse * Ask yourself what you need to do to create what you do not
35. Nutritious People and Purpose * The key is to understand the story and the associated people, because there can be a danger if community devolves into tribalism.
36. Human Beings with Human Challenges * Benefiting from human connections.
37. A Metaphor for Growth and Resilience * Some will experience a metamorphosis they never dreamed they could attain. Others will quietly walk away.
38. Community Resilience Through Affordable and Sustainable Home Ownership * We have the know-how in the world to house everyone. We have the resources in the world to house everyone.  All that is missing is the WILL to do it. -Millard Fuller

39. Reflect. Respond. Repeat. *  Reset as needed.
40. Opportunities to Notice *  The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice….-RD Lang
41. Calling for Deliberative Dialogues * Acknowledge common ground to build a more unified and proactive community.
42. Premonitions and Weak Signals? * The point is obvious. There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches….-Ray Bradbury-
43. Using Demonstrations for Team Building and Prioritization * Regardless of the topic, demonstrations can drive home a point, that may be lost in a lecture or in a reading.
44. Mind Enema * Tell the negative committee that meets inside your head to sit down and shut up. –Ann Bradford
45. Communication: So Easy, Yet So Hard * You have a story. It belongs to you. It is powerful. How are you helping people understand it?
46. Just What I Needed * We all make a difference each day of our lives. Some days, that difference packs more impact than you could imagine.
47. Thankful for Civility * Civility does not mean we always agree. It does mean, though, that we accept each other’s humanity and dignity as a person.
48. The End-of-the-Year Review: The 6 Ds *  How does your 2019 retrospective set the stage for your 2020 journey?
49. 30-30-30-30-30-30-30 * If you have no difficulty identifying, setting, and achieving goals, you don’t need this post. I don’t want to get in your way. Pass it along to someone who can benefit from it.
50. The View from the Rainbow Bridge *  As the dog looks back, she sees life as it was before she got to the bridge. Now, there are memories.
51. 2019: The Year of Gratitude! *   Reaching out, instead of lashing out. 
52. A Blogger’s Retrospective: 2019 in Review * This last-of-the-year offering lists each of the previous week’s posts I added this year.

Make it a great week and HTRB has needed.  May you create, savor, and share memories in the coming year.

Stay tuned for my new book to be released in early 2020:
Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit.
Well, actually, my dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story. In the meantime, check out her blog.

And you can still order:

• My latest book, Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019), (print and e-book) is available on  More information (including seven free podcast episodes that spotlight the seven core values highlighted in the book) at www.stevepiscitelli.com.
• Check out my book Stories about Teaching, Learning, and Resilience: No Need to be an Island (2017). It has been adopted for teaching, learning, and coaching purposes.  I conducted (September 2019) a half-day workshop for a community college’s new faculty onboarding program using the scenarios in this book. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same.  The accompanying videos would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

My podcasts can be found at The Growth and Resilience Network®.

You will find more about what I do at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

©2019. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®