Charles Cooley suggested that we are not simply what we perceive ourselves to be. Instead, we are what we imagine others perceive us to be. His theory, known as “The Looking-Glass Self,” proposed that we create the value of ourselves based on paying attention to what others around us...

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he talked about the 10,000-hour rule as the basis for a person becoming an expert in a given area. I was fascinated with the book and have always loved his writing. He told a number of stories demonstrating that experts in various areas gave 10,000...

One of the great fallacies of our thinking is looking at those who do the same thing as us and believe they are the competition. Things changed significantly in my life when I realized the only real competition that existed was who I used to be. This realization shifted me from making decisions...

Everything we want in life comes at a price. If we want success, we trade time, discipline, talent, and often more to get the success we want. If we want a great relationship, we trade arrogance, deceit, and self-centeredness. If we want a great life, we trade our bad habits and laziness to get...

I believe we overcomplicate our lives through indecision. We try to imagine every possibility of how things can turn out. We imagine what others will think of us, what we will think of ourselves, and even worry at times that others won’t think of us. But none of that really matters. What...

As employers, we often think we are selling a paycheck and discipline to potential employees. I just don’t think they want to buy those things with their time. This is likely why most employers immediately think they are short-staffed because they don’t pay enough. But what is it that...

I was thinking about the motivation required to pursue anything in our lives and had a realization. Anything we do, we do because we are seeking a specific feeling. When a person hoards things, they are seeking the feeling of security, knowing that the thing they own will always be there when...

We are in a place where the real talent war begins with leaders who can attract and keep great talent. We have organizations that are struggling to let go of some of the old ways of leading and others struggling to get over some of the new ways of messing up a work culture. We must go back to the...

Perhaps the most accurate common denominator for all people is that we face problems. The better we become at facing and resolving problems, the more opportunity we are given in life. This is the irony of success. People often think that being successful means you no longer have problems. That...

My wife and I were talking about our experiences from yesterday. She told me about working with her class and how she was helping them focus beyond their limitations. She described 2 words that start a sentence that determine the direction of a person’s thoughts. Used in one way, these...

Dr. Joe Dispenza said in a video I watched recently… “The average human thinks 60,000 thoughts per day, and less than 1,000 of those thoughts are any different than yesterday’s thoughts.” Hearing that made me wonder why we spend so much of our life on repeat. We get up...

I was working with one of my clients that runs a feed yard, and he told me a story that he had once told his kids. He was getting across the message that we often fight with others over things that simply don’t matter. He wanted them to get the proper perspective in their mind before...