Friedrich Nietzsche was born into a devoutly Lutheran family in Rcken, Saxony, on 15 October 1844. His father, a pastor, died when Nietzsche was four, and the young boy grew up in a house of five women: his mother, grandmother, two aunts, and younger sister.

A few years later the family moved to Naumburg, where Nietzsche went to a local school, before being accepted into the prestigious Schulpforta Protestant boarding school, where he received a rich and deep classical education.

Nietzsche was highly gifted, and went on to read theology and classical philology at the University of Bonn. His studies were disrupted by a feud between two of his professors during which he sought refuge in writing music before following one of them to the University of Leipzig.

He broke off his studies for a period in 1867 to commence military service as a cavalryman, but was injured and returned to university,...

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On this day in 1900: Friedrich Nietzsche dies - Telegraph.co.uk

August 25

In distinguishing the world of love vs. one of hate, David Von Drehle cited the difference between two philosophers, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Friedrich Nietzsche [Averting humanitys deadliest tendency, op-ed, Aug. 16]. Emerson embodied the optimism and general compassion of the American attitude, whereas, in Von Drehles words, the Nazis had their Friedrich Nietzsche.

Nietzsche could be critical of Judaism, but he was critical of almost every religion (especially Christianity) and institution. Much of the Nazis alleged affinity for Nietzsche was not from reading his works but through his sister Elisabeth, who met Adolf Hitler and tried to promote her dead brothers writings.

Most important, Friedrich Nietzsche despised anti-Semitism. His sister and her husband hated Jews and shared visions of a pure race. They even developed a colony in Paraguay to realize their dream. (They failed.) Not the philosopher Nietzsche. In one book, Beyond Good and Evil, he proposed that we expel the anti-Semitic squallers out of the country. In a letter to his sister, he wrote, Your association with an anti-Semitic chief expresses a foreignness to my whole way of life which fills me ever again with ire or melancholy.

Nietzsche, regardless of his genius, certainly had his flaws. But anti-Semitism was not one of them.

Alexander E. Hooke, Baltimore

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Nietzsche had his flaws. Anti-Semitism wasn't one of them. - Washington Post

Stanely Mushava Literature TodayFrom Cecil John Rhodes in Cape Town to Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, monuments of historys bad guys are in the path of sledgehammer-wielding activists who see them as rallying points for reactionary sentiment. The call has not sat well with resurgent Nazis and rednecks, but many who fit neither category also oppose Photoshopping history to pacify any afterthought.

This year, a character who is neither colonialist nor confederate flared up her own public art brawl, one just as intense. The Fearless Girl, a sculpture of a young girl in the blast radius of the Charging Bull near Wall Street and Broadway, led some to question the adequacy of a child matador with a waving frock, rather than a grown woman, as a symbol of feminist strength.

While the feminists were at it, a grumpy iconoclast weighed in too: Arturo di Monica, the creator of the Charging Bull. According to The Guardian, the sculptor saw the installation of the Fearless Girl in vulnerable proximity to his bull as an overreach.

He felt that his work, originally purposed to represent optimism at a time of market turmoil, had been wrested out of context.

Oddly, metamodernists philosophers of art documenting new attitudes and aesthetics in politics and culture would see optimism and irony pairing just right. The sculpture fits identically into the metamodernist model where informed naivety is the dominant sensibility, where the new default is dizzy oscillation between modernist enthusiasm and postmodernist irony.

This new feeling, first explained by Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker in their 2010 essay, Notes on Metamodernism, has been proposed as the gravestone for postmodernism. The duo observes that postmodern tendencies of detachment, relativism and irony are being phased out by millennial forms of correspondence that are reviving engagement, affect and storytelling.

Whereas postmodernism largely maintained cynical detachment and pessimistic divestment from grand narratives and global problems, the turbulent 2000s facilitated a new structure of feeling equal to existential threats crawling the world, the civilisational faultlines and the moral failures of capitalism.

Fastening on to the three Greek definitions of meta as with, between, and beyond, Vermeleun and van ee Akker, place metamodernism epistemologically (its handling of knowledge) with modernism and postmodernism, ontologically (its structure of concepts) between modernism and postmodernism, and historically (its period as the dominant cultural sensibility) beyond modernism and postmodernism.

Yet the new romanticism sitting in the trends and tendencies across current affairs and contemporary aesthetics is not a hopelessly innocent one, Rather, one that basks in defiance while being to the limitations. In the essay, Vermeulen and van den Akker detail art works with lofty ideals but missing rungs, so to speak.

The reason these artists havent opted to employ methods and materials better suited to their mission or task is that their intention is not to fulfil it, but to attempt to fulfil it in spite of its unfulfillableness, notes the duo.

The Fearless Girl is not a fearless woman or a fiery matador, as feminists would have her signify, precisely to allow the irony of optimism. There is enthusiasm, but one alert to the misanthropic tilting of the setting, one that both pulls a cold calcus and thaws it with sunny optimism.

Seth Abramson explains the metamodernist concept of informed naivety as a wilful decision to act as though the facts on the ground arent the facts on the ground. Informed naivete helps us come up with shockingly fresh ideas. In such instances its not that one forgets reality, its rather that, informed by reality, one makes a quite conscious decision to temporarily sidestep or even ignore it in service of ones own mental health and/or the greater good.

Spirit is not tamed by structure. That is what the little girl staring courageously at the charging beast possesses and any alteration would be a needless variable. That is what Kendrick Lamar, precariously standing at pole with a bulls eye on his head, is chanting in defiance of the trigger-happy popo.

Smug elders who perceive in younger peers a naivety they were only plagued with before blending into the practical order of the world, who brush off zeal to change the world with knowing superchill: Thats not how the world works, my dear, are now confronted with a complicated breed of successors.

The Notes on Metamodernism duo imagines young artists telling themselves: I know that the art Im creating may seem silly, even stupid, or that it might have been done before, but that doesnt mean this isnt serious.

Postmodernism is associated with the end of history, captured by Francis Fukuyama as the neoliberal ship landing on Ararat with Karl Marx and others in its ideological body bag. Such complacent times gelled well with postmodernist distrust of meta-narratives, the emergence of late capitalism, the fading of historicism and the waning of affect where modernism had gravitated to utopism, to (linear) progress, to grand narratives, to Reason, to functionalism and formal purism . . .

Enter the turbulent millennium, with climate change, the financial crisis, geopolitical fragmentation, political instability, nuclear brinkmanship, populism, xenophobia, the digital revolution as well as its misanthropic nodes of capital, and nothing is quite the same.

New artists respond to the shifts but, emerging out of postmodernist cynicism, they can no longer move with modernist confidence or romantic abandon. Their defiance, desire and deprivation, oscillates like a pendulum between polar extremes, appropriating the insights inheriting contradictions.

Luke Turners Metamodernist Manifesto sets forth the imperative to liberate ourselves from the inertia resulting from a century of modernist ideological naivety and the cynical insincerity of its antonymous bastard child and proposes a pragmatic romanticism unhindered by ideological anchorage.

Cultural lenses for viewing the world as cynical bystanders and innocuous entertainers have become unsustainable. Artists can no longer push aside the responsibility to be morally invested in the problems of the world. When the art of late modernity self-immolated under its apathy and cynicism, capitalism and state power not only floored the poor but also compromised the planets capacity to support life.

Metamodernists know that artists can no longer treat global problems as teapot storms that will boil out on their own yet they also acknowledge the real-time limitations of their project. They are with their postmodernist predecessors, short-circuiting grand narratives but they also see what can be redeemed from them.

Metamodernism has been theorised from varied angles (I commend articles of Seth Abramson, Luke Turner, Timotheus Vermeulen, Robin van den Akker, Hanzi Freinacht and associated acts for a fuller picture) but I am interested in mapping here changes within more African art forms.

For me, the foregrounding of the prophetic text in popular culture once again is a key metamodernist shift and, tied to it, the suspension of the prophetic from the ego and the hyperliterate blending of prophetic references.

If Sheol is connected to YouTube, Friedrich Nietzsche, the spiritual father of postmodernist Antichrists, may be turning in his grave to realise that the only funeral that happened is his own, not Gods, with invocations of the divine once again reigning atop popular culture. Religion is back, not as the opium of the masses but as the language for speaking truth to power.

The prophetic text is washing away hedonistic decay from popular culture and chanting down power factions. Crucially, the prophetic is suspended from the ego and from narrow sectarianism, both to deflate fanaticism and to maintain a buffer between prophecy and power.

A persuasive case would be the vital and experimental Kendrick Lamar. Visuals and lyrics to Alright, the default soundtrack for Black Lives Matter, where defiance rubs against vulnerability, magic against mortality in metamodernist fashion.

The juxtaposition of u and i, the cathartic progression of To Pimp a Butterfly, the double conflict of DAMN. with its late-cut exclamation: It was always me versus the world until I realised its me versus me are essentially metamodernist.

The sonic experiments, the hyperliterate, part confessional, part sympathetic appropriation of prophetic texts from The Bible to Pan-Africanist figureheads, from Hiii Power mantra and gangsta rap to Hebrew Israelite doctrine, blend the canonical text with pop appeal, utopia and paranoia, the misanthropic system and personal warts into a great experiment of modern art.

In the metamodern, the collapse of the intellectual and the pop, as set for by Seth Abrahamson, is a key feature, a feasible cutting away from the post-moderns anti-world monastery. And one needs only to contrast the Lamartian document with the gore-fetishising, ego-driven, smug and resigned motifs of earlier artists to appreciate the extent of the transgression.

Then there are the midlife spiritual crises of dancehall artistes who led the break from spiritually driven and socially engaged reggae, with Lady Saw, Mr Vegas, Sasha, Stitchie, Papa San and others reaching to the Bible for meaning, and younger acts like Chronixx, Bugle and Raging Fyah making Rasta pop again.

While this cultural front may not be readily bundled into the metamodern school, it shows a resurgent motivation to transcend.

There is new hunger, there is a new feeling and as the world increasingly stares into the Apocalypse, prematurely dismissed cultural strands like romanticism, myth, grand narratives, justice, truth, prophecy, reason and faith will still be pushing out of the postmodernist body bag.

But they will not be free from the darkness and conflict of the elapsed era.

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Ain't nobody praying for Nietzsche - The Herald

You have probably heard that eating a healthy breakfast is important. After all, breakfast is often said to be the most important meal of the day. Its difficult to prove that any one meal is more important than another, but research does show that eating breakfast can lead to important health benefits.

Breakfast provides energy to start the day. This is especially important if you will be active in the morning, either through an early trip to the gym or if you have a strenuous job, but even people who are less active may find that they feel more alert if they eat breakfast and not just because of coffee.

Eating breakfast can help reduce hunger and overeating later in the morning or at lunch. This is why breakfast is often emphasized in weight loss diets. In fact, 78% of participants in the National Weight Control Registry report that they eat breakfast every day as a way to lose weight and keep it off. These successful losers have lost an average of more than 60 pounds, so their advice is worth paying attention to.

What is a healthy breakfast? Unfortunately, there is no specific answer to that question. Most experts would agree that a good breakfast should include a combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat but be low in added sugar. These broad guidelines suggest that there are many ways to create a healthy breakfast, even if it doesn't include traditional breakfast foods.

A better approach may be to identify foods that would be poor choices for breakfast. Chances are, if your breakfast doesnt include items from this list, you are on the right track. However, if any of the following are true about your breakfast, it could likely use some improvements:

I think everyone would agree that foods that are frosted are better classified as dessert than breakfast. That said, from doughnuts to Pop Tarts to breakfast bars, many unhealthy breakfast foods are covered with a layer of frosting.

Just like frosting, breakfast foods that contain marshmallows are probably better choices for dessert. Marshmallows are found in cereals, granola bars and other packaged foods that are almost always high in added sugars beyond the marshmallows.

A fruit smoothie can be a healthy breakfast, but a fruit smoothie topped with whipped cream is probably closer to a milkshake as far as sugar and calories are concerned. The same goes for coffee drinks. A mocha-caramel-latte with whipped topping may contain coffee, but it also has far more sugar, fat and calories than you might expect.

Research shows that eating chocolate may have health benefits, but the research involves consuming small amounts of dark chocolate, not chocolate donuts or chocolate-flavored cereal. Again save the chocolate for dessert.

More specifically, you got the food while you were in your car, which means it likely came from the drive-through window at a fast food restaurant. Fast food is just as poor of a choice for breakfast as it is for lunch or dinner.

Of course, there are exceptions to these guidelines. There is nothing wrong with treating yourself to a chocolate frosted doughnut once in a while. But if your daily breakfast includes items from this list, you could benefit from a breakfast makeover, and this list should help you avoid many unhealthy choices.

Dr. Brian Parr is an associate professor in the Department of Exercise and Sports Science at USC Aiken where he teaches courses in exercise physiology, nutrition and health behavior. You can learn more about this and other health and fitness topics at http://drparrsays.com or on Twitter @drparrsays.

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HEALTH & FITNESS: Tips to choosing healthy breakfast - Aiken Standard

TUESDAY, Aug. 29, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- If the cold weather makes you shiver, your blood vessels and heart may be quivering, too -- and that may be enough to trigger a heart attack in some people, new research suggests.

The study found that more heart attacks occur when temperatures drop below freezing, suggesting people with plaques in their coronary arteries may not cope well with the body's response to cold.

"There is seasonal variation in the occurrence of heart attack, with incidence declining in summer and peaking in winter," said study first author Moman Mohammad, a doctoral student from Lund University in Sweden.

"It is unclear whether this is due to colder temperatures or behavioral changes," Mohammad said.

The body responds to cold by narrowing superficial blood vessels, reducing heat conduction in the skin and raising blood pressure, the researchers explained. The body also shivers and increases heart rate, which boosts metabolism and raises body temperature, they added.

"In the majority of healthy people these mechanisms are well tolerated," said Mohammad. "But in people with atherosclerotic plaques in their coronary arteries they may trigger a heart attack."

Using Sweden's heart attack registry, the research team identified more than 280,000 consecutive heart attacks treated at a coronary care unit between January 1998 and December 2013.

The researchers also tracked the weather conditions that occurred during this 16-year period, calculating the average daily minimum temperature for the entire country as well as six health care regions.

Although the study wasn't designed to prove a cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers found a link between more heart attacks and colder temperatures. This was true across all regions studied.

This translated to four additional heart attacks in Sweden each day the average daily temperature was less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) compared to when temperatures were a more balmy 50 degrees F (10 degrees C).

Heart attacks were also linked to higher wind velocities, reduced sunshine duration and more humidity. This was true even after the researchers took other possible factors into account, such as older age, high blood pressure, diabetes, previous heart attacks and medication usage, the study showed.

"Our results consistently showed a higher occurrence of heart attacks in sub-zero [Celsius] temperatures," Mohammad said in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

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"The findings were the same across a large range of patient subgroups, and at national as well as regional levels, suggesting that air temperature is a trigger for heart attack," he said.

Other risk factors for heart attack that are affected by seasons include lung infections and the flu, the researchers pointed out. They added that dietary changes and reduced physical activity during the winter months could also affect rates of heart attack when temperatures are low.

The study was presented Monday at the annual meeting of the ESC, in Barcelona, Spain. Research presented at meetings is typically viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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As Temperatures Fall, Heart Attacks May Rise - Fremont Tribune

When asked his secret to being productive, billionaire Richard Branson's short reply to journalists was "working out". For every hour he spends working out, he gains four hours in productivity.

It's one of the quotes that Sydney-based go-to trainer for corporate executives, Greg Stark uses in his book, Sweat Equity, to highlight the mind-body connection. Healthy body, healthy mind.

Corporate health is his niche. And Stark says it's not all about achieving a six pack of abs, although that can be a welcome by-product of a new exercise regime.

It's more about helping busy executives make time for fitness.

And, as Branson is on the record as saying, many people fail in business because they feel the only way to succeed is to sacrifice all other areas of life. He said: "It's difficult to keep running at 100mph when you're on zero."

Stark, a personal trainer for 12 years, tells how his time spent looking after elite athletes such as South Sydney Rabbitohs league players translates to looking after everyday athletes.

"I could see the same principles we were applying to the elite sports world would benefit people at the top of the corporate world."

Stark says often the hardest challenge is finding the time to allocate to health and fitness.

"That is the same for a lot of people whether you're a high-level executive or a stay-at-home mum.

"The other part we find, particularly with executives, is it is not about us trying to push them harder, but trying to slow them down. To regenerate and recover, just like you do with an athlete."

He says staying healthy is also about how people perceive stress.

"People think stress is evil: that it is making us sick physically and mentally. But stress is what makes us improve, it builds resistance, it makes our fitness better, it makes our hearts stronger.

"The key is understanding that stress can help us, but we need opportunities to switch off as well.

"And that is where a lot of people struggle. The on switch is always on. We often spend the last five minutes of our sessions doing a form of breathing that is similar to meditation, to hit the reset button. So, your mind and body perform better."

His book is broken up into four sections: mindset, movement, nutrition and recovery.

"The first part of the book is about keeping perspective on where all those things in your life sit. You have to be aware of your priorities.

"I think people have to be a little bit more selfish in some ways, and look after themselves first.

My perspective on health and fitness is that, to be the best for everyone else around me, whether it is the people I am working for, or my clients or my family, I need to be in the best condition myself. I don't want to be a drain upon them, so I need to be keeping myself fit and healthy."

Unfortunately, it often takes a health issue or relationship breakdown for people to realise they need to look after their health.

"A lot of people have the mentality that they will deal with getting fit and healthy when they get enough money or enough time. But unfortunately, those points never occur. A relationship breakdown or a health decline makes them assess priorities.

"The wonderful thing about the industry I work in, is I have seen so many people rebuild themselves."

Greg Stark.

So how much time does it take to change?

Stark says a common mistake is that people go overboard.

"They will go from not training at all to training seven days a week or doing a crazy diet. People will do it for a short period of time and then it all becomes too hard.

"We say come and see us once a week for a personal training session. That will help them start to make the changes around their health."

He works with his clients to establish three keys to drive their success.

*Purpose: Get in tune with why their health is important

*Progress: Establish their current state of wellness and where they want to get to.

*Perception: Address challenges or limiting beliefs that might inhibit their ability to achieve greater health.

"People will find going for one long walk once a week or changing one thing in their diet can have a dramatic effect on all areas of their of health," he says.

And research is showing that health and fitness not only have physical benefits but improve how we perform in our working days.

Companies looking for ways to engage their employees can allow them to exercise in company time. "By valuing your employees' health, there is no greater gift than that."

Stark says another misconception is that if people exercise, they can sit at their desks for eight hours straight.

"Sitting is now the new smoking.

"Research shows that all the benefits you can get from your exercise is negated by that time spent sitting."

However, the opposite of sitting isn't standing, it is moving.

He suggests strategies to help get moving in the workplace.

"Every time you take a phone call, stand up and walk around the room.

"Drink plenty of water so that you have to get up and go to the bathroom on a regular basis.

"Just having a quick stretch for two minutes every hour helps to keep the body performing."

Walking meetings are another option.

"I do it with my team when I have a one-on-one catch-up, rather than having a sit-down meeting. They are often the best meetings we have because of that body/brain connection. The body is moving, the brain is thriving."

Stark is based in Australia but he says his book addresses universal problems.

These are universal principles and there will be one thing that you can incorporate into your lifestyle."

Sweat Equity, Simon & Schuster, RRP $35

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Put fitness into your schedule - New Zealand Herald

A long day spent sitting at work can leave you tight and stressed out. Pilates may be a solution.

KARE 11 Staff , KARE 8:37 AM. CDT August 28, 2017

How do you get moving after a day of nothing but sitting at your workplace? Pilates is one option.

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - We've heard how sitting all day really isn't good for your health, so how about making up for it when you get home at night?

The average office-based worker spends an estimated 80,000 hours sitting throughout their working career. And those who spend a majority of the work day sitting are more likely to spend a significant amount of time sitting outside of work and on non-workdays. For the working adult, it has become more difficult to create an active lifestyle largely due to the advancement of technology and industrial innovation and these modern lifestyles are the biggest indicators of these health issues.

Preston Rogers, Pilates Coordinator at Life Time Athletic St. Louis Park, stopped by KARE 11 Sunrise to show us the the best stretches and exercises to do to keep moving, along with some simple changes to your routine::

Rogers also recommends Pilates as one of the best things you can do for your body, especially if you sit for a majority of your day. Pilates elongates and strengthens the body, as well as improved mobility, which in turn improves muscle elasticity and joint mobility. A body with balanced strength and flexibility, which you gain from doing Pilates, is less likely to be injured and face the negative effects that come from sitting for long periods of time

2017 KARE-TV

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Motivation Monday: Stretching out after sitting at work - KARE

As a young or lost soul, finding the motivation to do just about anything and everything can be pretty tricky. When you dont have the motivation you need, you let yourself or even others down. You lose track of yourself and what really matters.

But theres good news for you; there are many ways to find motivation. Ill share some with you.

1. Look at yourself in the mirror (or not) and give yourself a pep talk.

2. If youre not so great at pep talks, ask for someone you know who is to give you one.

3. Reward yourself after your deed. Its not only kids who need to be really convinced to do something they dont want to do; adults definitely need some convincing. Treat yourself to that piece of cake you said you wouldnt eat.

4. OK, so maybe youre working out and you cant eat some chocolate cake. Spend a little cash on a new nice workout outfit. I saw some really cute running shoes and leggings at Nike when I first became a runner. Guess what happened? I bought those leggings and shoes and it somehow motivated me to start running every week just so I could show them off.

5. If its something you actually want to do but caught yourself in a slump, use time as your motivator. I find it useful if I give myself a time limit and do my best to abide by it. Not many people are disciplined enough to do this, but you could teach yourself.

6. Think of the future. This seems a little clich or funny to say, but who you want to be and the goals youve set for yourself will play a huge role if you constantly keep it in mind while you do your task.

7. Have a small task like doing the dishes? Fine! What do you like to do, listen to music? Dance? Include a hobby of yours while you mop the floor or do your homework. Not everything you have to do has to be boring.

8. Speaking of boring, one thing most people really like to do is play games. You can make a game out of pretty much anything. Cool teachers do it all the time. Create a game you know youd love and enjoy and mix it up with the activity you hate. That activity will turn into something you love.

Tasks dont have to be chores; we just choose to make them so. Life is for enjoyment, and finding the motivation for them is part of it.

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8 Ways to Find Motivation - Uloop News

It may arise in the context of learning what they need to do to level up in their firms, or to support the amount of income that they want, or in some other context. But whatever the context, when this demand presents itself they generally feel that they have no choice but to satisfy it and they have no idea how to do it.

In most cases these lawyers have never before had to turn their minds to expressly identifying the things that they find satisfying about the practice or to envisioning what a fulfilling, satisfying practice would look like to them. They have gone about the work that they have been given, been successful at it, spent a lot of time at it and that is as far as they needed to go. Moreover, because they have always defined their value by the technical aspects of the work they do, they havent thought about who their clients might be who they serve beyond a vague sense that their clients could really be anyone within a certain geographic area that has a problem or need that falls within their general sphere of practice.

So, when they come to me, they often dont feel themselves to be in the best position from which to start building a business. And they are right. It extremely difficult to build a business if you are going to market with a vague mindset and an overly broad definition of who you are targeting. Moreover, any practice that you do manage to build on that foundation is unlikely to be one that will be satisfying to you and sustain itself over the long term.

You improve your chances of success significantly if you start with a narrower and more specifically defined focus. You can expand from there as time goes on, but starting with more specificity makes taking the action that you need to take more manageable.

The question then becomes how does one narrow the focus?

It starts with figuring out what you WANT to build, instead of trying to figure out what you SHOULD build, MUST build or what is EASIEST to build.

The secret to figuring out what you WANT to build lies in figuring out what drives you what motivates you intrinsically. Why did you go into law? What do you get out of it? What lights your fire about it and drives you forward?

Contrary to what many people might think, for lawyers and others in knowledge-based enterprises that require creativity, problem-solving, decision making and higher-order thinking, your intrinsic motivator likely isnt money.

With that possible motivator off the table, you have to look farther and wider to uncover your intrinsic motivator(s). The framework that I use to help direct this inquiry with clients is rooted in the thesis of a book called Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us by Daniel Pink.

Though presented in a different context than the one addressed in this column, Drive expounds on the proposition that when people are engaged in knowledge-based enterprises, like the practice of law, their performance is best and their satisfaction is highest when their work provides them with a sense of autonomy, mastery and purpose the motivation trifecta. If your work delivers those three things, you will feel more connection to what you do, and get more fulfillment from it.

Unpacking these terms, I think you will agree that a practice hallmarked by these elements would be satisfying indeed:

Autonomy Independence; the ability to be self-directed in our enterprise. Autonomy causes us to pursue our work with a sense of personal commitment and engagement to it, rather than just putting in the time and fulfilling our obligation with no spark or passion.

Mastery The compulsion or desire to continually grow, stretch and advance our knowledge and skills in an area that matters to us. Continued growth is a human need that is fundamental to our feeling of fulfillment.

Purpose The knowledge that our work serves something larger than ourselves a greater good. Finding meaning in one's work has been shown to increase motivation, engagement, empowerment, career development, job satisfaction, individual performance and personal fulfillment, and to decrease absenteeism and stress.

While they are all important, the last of these may have the greatest impact on business development success for lawyer. When we believe that our work is contributing to a purpose or cause that has significance and is greater than ourselves, we enjoy the highest levels of motivation and fulfillment, exhibit greater resilience and grit in the face of adversity and will overcome more or less any hurdle thrown our way in service of contributing to an outcome that we care about.

The contrary is also true. It will be very difficult to maintain a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment in your practice, and overcome the challenges that are inherent in the practice of law, over the long term if what you are doing doesnt motivate you naturally and you instead have to rely on external motivators fear, money, rewards, recognition, status etc. to keep you going.

Start as you mean to go on. Factor these three elements in when you are cultivating your business development mindset and choosing the strategies and tactics you will use to build your practice. This will help you pursue relationships and opportunities that will be connected to the people and values that are important to you and set you on a path that will give you the best chance of coming out with a business that excites and ignites you, that you feel inspired and compelled to grow and build and that incorporates all of the things about the profession and the practice that have meaning for you.

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Autonomy, mastery and purpose: The 'motivation trifecta' at the heart of a successful and fulfilling practice - Canadian Lawyer Magazine

ATLANTIC DIVISON

Boston College Eagles

Last year's record: 7-6

Key returning players: DE Harold Landry, RB Jon Hilliman, C Jon Baker, LB Connor Strachan

Key losses: QB Patrick Towles, CB John Johnson, LB Matt Milano, RB Myles Willis

Reason for optimism: Landry has the ability to change games with his presence on the outside, and the offensive line should be vastly improved and help the Eagles get back to their physical run game.

Cause for concern: There's still no decision on a starting quarterback between Darius Wade and Anthony Brown, and game-breaking ability with the skill position players remains a question mark.

X factor: RB AJ Dillon. The former Michigan commit became one of BC's top signees in February and is working to find a role in the backfield. His frame (6-foot, 240 pounds) makes him an ideal fit in Steve Addazio's offense.

Game to watch: vs. Notre Dame, Sept. 16

Clemson Tigers

Last year's record: 14-1

Key returning players: WR Deon Cain, OT Mitch Hyatt, DT Christian Wilkins, DT Dexter Lawrence, LB Kendall Joseph

Key losses: QB Deshaun Watson, RB Wayne Gallman, WR Mike Williams, TE Jordan Leggett, LB Ben Boulware

Reason for optimism: Clemson returns what should be another elite defensive group, led by an aggressive, relentless line that will have the opportunity early on to set the tone for the defending champions.

Cause for concern: Any time a team loses a once-in-a-generation player like Watson, there are questions about how he will be replaced. Kelly Bryant takes over with new faces to rely on at running back, tight end and receiver.

X factor: Ray-Ray McCloud. One of the fastest players on the team, McCloud has spent time taking reps at cornerback in fall practice. Whether he plays both ways, or moves permanently to defense, he's one of the most intriguing players on the roster.

Game to watch: vs. Florida State, Nov. 11

Florida State Seminoles

Last year's record: 10-3

Key returning players: QB Deondre Francois, S Derwin James, DT Derrick Nnadi, DE Josh Sweat

Key losses: RB Dalvin Cook, DE DeMarcus Walker, WR Travis Rudolph, LT Roderick Johnson

Reason for optimism: The Seminoles return nine starters on defense, including the versatile James and three starters up front. Plus, Francois returns after a redshirt freshman season in which he threw for over 3,000 yards.

Cause for concern: The offensive line, shaky for much of last year, remains a work in progress. Depth at receiver beyond Nyqwan Murray and Auden Tate is also a concern headed into the season.

X factor: Cam Akers. With Cook gone, Jacques Patrick and Akers look to take on the rushing responsibility. Patrick is the more experienced player, but Akers comes in with the hype after an outstanding prep career in Mississippi.

Game to watch: vs. Alabama, Sept. 2

Louisville Cardinals

Last year's record: 9-4

Key returning players: QB Lamar Jackson, LB James Hearns, CB Jaire Alexander, WR Jaylen Smith

Key losses: LB Keith Kelsey, RB Brandon Radcliff, LB Devonte Fields, TE Cole Hikutini

Reason for optimism: Two words: Lamar Jackson. Even though the last three games of 2016 were less than ideal, Jackson won the Heisman for a reason. He spent the entire offseason working on improving his overall game, and is motivated to show the results.

Cause for concern: If the offensive line and Jackson can't work in concert, the Cards won't show anything in the way of improvement. Depth must also be developed on the defensive line and at linebacker, as a new coordinator works to instill more discipline.

X factor: DE Trevon Young. Young has made a remarkable comeback since a major hip injury nearly ended his career in the 2015 bowl game. Young was second on the team in sacks that season and is cleared and ready to go for 2017.

Game to watch: vs. Clemson, Sept. 16

NC State Wolfpack

Last year's record: 7-6

Key returning players: QB Ryan Finley, HB/TE Jaylen Samuels, DE Bradley Chubb, NT B.J. Hill

Key losses: RB Matthew Dayes, S Josh Jones, DB Jack Tocho

Reason for optimism: NC State returns 17 starters from a team that was only a few plays away from beating Florida State and Clemson last season. More than that, its strong defensive line ranks among the best in the nation.

Cause for concern: The Wolfpack have yet to prove they can get past the upper echelon in the Atlantic Division, so overcoming that hurdle is vital. Can the passing game improve to the point where explosive plays can be made down the field on a consistent basis?

X factor: Samuels. Everybody knows Samuels, but NC State coaches have all said he must take on a much larger and varied role in the offense with Dayes gone. That means getting more reps and taking more snaps in the backfield and as a tight end/receiver.

Game to watch: vs. Louisville, Oct. 5

Syracuse Orange

Last year's record: 4-8

Key returning players: QB Eric Dungey, LB Zaire Franklin, RB Dontae Strickland, WR Ervin Philips

Key losses: WR Amba Etta-Tawo, CB Corey Winfield, WR Brisly Estime

Reason for optimism: If Dungey is able to stay healthy and play the entire season, watch out. The Syracuse offense returns most of its speedy, athletic playmakers and will be in Year 2 in Dino Babers' system. Dungey already has raved about how the difference is evident in practice.

Cause for concern: If Dungey can't stay healthy, the optimism might drain away. The defense is still relatively young. And the schedule is the toughest in the ACC, with games against LSU, Miami, Clemson, Florida State and Louisville.

X factor: Philips. With Etta-Tawo gone, watch for Philips to take charge among the receivers. The speedy Philips has game-breaking capabilities and came oh-so-close to a 1,000-yard season a year ago.

Game to watch: vs. Pittsburgh, Oct. 7

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Last year's record: 7-6

Key returning players: QB John Wolford, QB Kendall Hinton, TE Cam Serigne, DE Duke Ejiofor, S Jessie Bates

Key losses: LB Marquel Lee, S Ryan Janvion, CB Brad Watson, LB Thomas Brown

Reason for optimism: The Deacons are headed into Year 4 under Dave Clawson and boast the best depth and talent since his arrival. Wolford beat out Hinton for the staring quarterback job and with experience on his side, Wake Forest hopes to vary its approach and be less one-dimensional.

Cause for concern: The run game remains a work in progress. Do the Deacons have enough returning to improve their passing game with much-needed big, explosive plays on offense?

X factor: WR Scotty Washington. Wake Forest has worked on stretching the field with its receivers during fall practice, and Clawson is banking on a big year from Washington, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound sophomore with vast potential.

Game to watch: vs. Duke, Nov. 25

COASTAL DIVISION

Duke Blue Devils

Last year's record: 4-8

Key returning players: QB Daniel Jones, WR T.J. Rahming, C Austin Davis, LB Ben Humphreys, LB Joe Giles-Harris, CB Bryon Fields

Key losses: RB Jela Duncan, WR Anthony Nash, DT A.J. Wolf, DB DeVon Edwards, DB Deondre Singleton, CB Breon Borders

Reason for optimism: Jones might be the most underappreciated quarterback in the ACC. While the rest of the Coastal is trying to figure out life with a new starter at the position, Duke has quietly developed a rising star.

Cause for concern: Last year's defense allowed 8.9 yards per pass -- 125th nationally -- and yet Duke fans are more concerned about the lack of presence up front. In other words, the defense needs to make major progress all around.

X factor: No player earned more praise from coach David Cutcliffe during the offseason than safety Jeremy McDuffie. He has track-star speed. If he blossoms into a true playmaker, he could be the steadying force Duke's secondary desperately needs.

Game to watch: vs. Northwestern, Sept. 9

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Last year's record: 9-4

Key returning players: WR Ricky Jeune, OL Parker Braun, AB Clinton Lynch, DE KeShun Freeman, CB Lance Austin, CB Step Durham

Key losses: QB Justin Thomas, RB Dedrick Mills, OL Freddie Burden, LB P.J. Davis, DE Patrick Gamble

Reason for optimism: Georgia Tech might have been the nation's quietest nine-win team last season, and Paul Johnson returns the bulk of what was a sturdy defense to go with his always reliable option offense.

Cause for concern: The loss of Mills, just days before camp broke, is big. He was a powerful runner. While Johnson's offense allows for some level of plug-and-play in the backfield, Mills was a difference-maker.

X factor: Freshman linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling could see early work, and at a position where Georgia Tech doesn't have a ton of experience he could prove to be a boon for the defense.

Game to watch: at Miami, Oct. 12

Miami Hurricanes

Last year's record: 9-4

Key returning players: RB Mark Walton, WR Ahmmon Richards, TE Christopher Herndon, LB Shaq Quarterman, DE Joe Jackson, DT Kendrick Norton

Key losses: QB Brad Kaaya, WR Stacy Coley, OL Danny Isidora, CB Corn Elder, S Rayshawn Jenkins

Reason for optimism: The defense employed four true freshmen in starting roles last season and was still one of the top units in the country. Miami returns enough talent up front to play with anyone.

Cause for concern: The quarterback spot was the biggest topic of offseason conversation, but the lack of depth behind Walton at running back might be an even bigger concern. If Walton gets dinged up, Miami could be in trouble on offense.

X factor: Dee Delaney. If there's a knock on Miami's defense, it's the lack of experience in the secondary. Delaney transferred in from The Citadel, where he was an FCS All-American, and he could easily blossom into one of the ACC's better defensive backs.

Game to watch: at Florida State, Sept. 16

North Carolina Tar Heels

Last year's record: 8-5

Key returning players: LT Bentley Spain, WR Austin Proehl, LB Andre Smith, LB Cole Holcomb, CB M.J. Stewart, DE Malik Carney

Key losses: QB Mitch Trubisky, RB T.J. Logan, RB Elijah Hood, WR Ryan Switzer, WR Mack Hollins, WR Bug Howard, CB Des Lawrence, DL Nazair Jones

Reason for optimism: The defense, long an Achilles' heel for UNC, appears ready to turn the corner. Up front, a bevy of talented youngsters will get a chance to prove the unit is for real.

Cause for concern: It's rare that any offense loses so many parts in one offseason, and aside from Spain and Proehl, there are virtually no established holdovers to build around.

X factor: QB Brandon Harris shouldered much of the blame for LSU's offensive struggles. Now that he's at UNC and working in a more wide-open offense, Tar Heels fans are hoping he'll finally make good on his obvious talent.

Game to watch: vs. Notre Dame, Oct. 7

Pitt Panthers

Last year's record: 8-5

Key returning players: WR Jester Weah, WR Quadree Henderson, OL Alex Officer, OL Brian O'Neill, CB Avonte Maddox, S Jordan Whitehead

Key losses: RB James Conner, QB Nathan Peterman, TE Scott Orndoff, WR Dontez Ford, DE Ejuan Price, LB Matt Galambos, DL Shakir Soto

Reason for optimism: QB Max Browne, a transfer from USC, should provide a steadying force for an offense that still has lots of weapons and was among the most potent in college football a year ago. Plus, Pitt can build off beating Penn State and Clemson last season.

Cause for concern: The defense, particularly on the back end, was brutal last season. While that unit has gotten younger -- and arguably more talented -- it's the defensive front that has tons of questions after Price graduated and Rori Blair and Jeremiah Taleni were dismissed from the program.

X factor: Defensive end Dewayne Hendrix arrived as a transfer from Tennessee three years ago with great promise, but a redshirt year and a season-ending injury have limited him to just a handful of snaps. He'll be essential this season if Pitt's defense is going to turn things around.

Game to watch: at Penn State, Sept. 9

Virginia Cavaliers

Last year's record: 2-10

The rest is here:
ACC preview: Defense keeps Clemson strong; Lamar Jackson gains motivation - ESPN (blog)