THINKING IS A SKILL…MANY ARE UNSKILLED AND DON’T KNOW IT
Simply because they have thoughts (i.e. words form) in their heads, most folks believe they know how to think. But if you define thinking as…
Where Does Your Miss Havisham Reside?
Miss Havisham is the central character in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations who was jilted at the alter and chose to wear her wedding dress for…
Who Is Writing Your Programming?
The short answer is, for most folk, everyone and no one. All too many drift through life like a ship without a rudder (or at…
To Live a Better Life; Avoid These Two All-Too-Common Forms of Self Sabotage
Self-Doubt You must believe in yourself (even if it takes a leap of faith at times!) before others will. Folks tend to sense your self-appraisal…
I’m a North Star Person; I Sail a Steady Course
Our self-concept, how we see ourselves, is a powerful determinant of our lives. Who we believe we are is a construct we’ve picked up from…
The Double Tap Response: Specific AND Systematic
Successful people approach problems differently than others. They search for solutions at multiple levels; solutions that are both Specific AND Systematic. Yes, they want to…
Choose Heaven
More than we often realize, how we choose to view our world shapes our world. The frame we give events, the way we interpret the…
Our Hurts Become Our Fears; Our Fears Become Our Limits
Our hurts often become our fears and then all too frequently our fears become our limits… if we let them, if we live an unaware…
AMY isn’t Your Friend
The amygdala, or AMY for short (from AMYgdala) is an almond-shaped cluster of nuclei located deep within the temporal lobes of your brain. AMY is…
Small Blessings Count Too
Elizabeth Gilbert (‘Eat, Pray, Love’) once said “You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings.” I take her words to mean…
How are your Refusal Skills?
Refusal skills are communication strategies and pre-rehearsed scripts that help you say no without feeling guilt or shame, particularly when under social or peer pressure…
Solvitur Ambulando
Solvitur ambulando means “it is solved by walking” and refers to the way a good jaunt can clear the mind and sooth the soul. Getting…
Taking in the Good
There is a theory out there that our brains are hard wired with a negativity bias as a survival technique from ancient times. In a…
A Subtle but oh so Sure Path to Failure
Want to try hard? Be Sincere? Really care? And yet achieve far less than you could? Easy! Pick vague, fuzzy goals! Develop Team Members! Grow…
Pssst! Want to Hear a Secret?… The Secrets of Success Are Dull and Boring
And what is more, you probably already know them! You just aren’t doing them! Why? Well, there are also lots of “secrets of success”; each…
Don’t let Life get in the way of Your Life
We can all get busy; very, very busy. The day to day can turn into a whirlwind of ringing phones, dinging messages, strident, urgent demands…
5 Simple Steps That Virtually Guarantee Success (Yet Few Do Consistently)
Goals: Written, Specific, backed up by Action Plans with Deadlines/Accountability Checkpoints; Reviewed Regularly to ensure what YOU want, reflect YOUR passions, not social/parental/peer programing. Yes,…
Stressed? Or Blessed?
Stress is not an event but rather a learned reaction to an event. That reaction can be modified or at least mollified. It can be…
Little Things Make Big Things Happen
The details matter because big success is just the steady accumulation of small wins piled one on top of another. Everything is connected, all is…
9 Ways to Get More Happiness in Your Life
Go Toward Your Goals: Progress and building a sense of forward momentum builds confidence and lifts your spirit. Count Your Blessings: Listing all the things…
Choosing the World You Live In
Believe it or not, in large measure, you are choosing the world you experience. As has been said in many ways and many times, “we…
How to be Miserable… and the Antidote
Want to be miserable? Complain! Constantly! Construct a never-ending litany of things you deplore and fixate on them. Focus on all that is wrong with…
What You Choose to Emphasize Sets the Course of Your Days
What you focus on expands; thoughts held in mind attract in kind and every thought has emotional consequences. When you wallow in the downside, your…
Some folks feel the rain. Others just get wet.
Life. Stuff happens. Some of it beyond bad, other stuff beyond a doubt awesomely wonderful. But most stuff lies in between those extremes and that…
It’s Your One and Only Life, Right? So Own Your Days. Totally.
Everything is connected. Every action you take, every thought you have, every word you speak has consequences. Individually small perhaps, but collectively incredibly powerful. So…
Eight Powerful and Very Learnable Traits of Highly Confident People
They are voracious learners Insatiably curious, confident people continuously seek out new knowledge, ask intelligent, interesting questions, and listen to the answers. As lifelong learners,…