When I started my business in 1999, I was less than organized in my approach to success. I tried to keep my calendar organized through a combination of notepads and memory. It was not a winning combination. I started my business in September of 1999, so my 4th Quarter came quickly. I missed an appoi...
I have been fascinated by the human mind for most of my life. One particular aspect of humanity that has interested me is the ups and downs of the human outlook. I have coached a number of people who have set big goals, accomplished them, and then felt somewhat depressed afterward. It was the letdow...
Each of us operates under a certain rhythm we have developed throughout our lives. Everyone is driven by this rhythm, but most never know what it is. The rhythm has been called a habit loop, daily patterns, preconscious thought, and a host of other labels. No matter what it is called, it is what dri...
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 think of us. Th...
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 hours of effo...
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 base...
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 that...
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 matters is ...
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 employees real...
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 they n...
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 be...
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 isn’t...
