Triggers, Thoughts, Tendencies, and Themes
How much control do you have over your life? Your personality? Your thoughts? Whatever your answer, I assure you that a) you have more than…
Making a Pact with Ulysses
Ulysses, the hero of the Greek legend “The Odyssey”, famously tied himself to his ship’s mast so as not to fall prey to the tempting…
Procrastination: Self Sabotage on Steroids
Of the many ways to avoid success, procrastination is one of the most effective. Procrastinators lie to themselves, telling themselves that they will have the…
The Hard Thing About Milking Cows
The hard thing about milking cows is that they never stay milked. You gotta do it each and every day; no days off. Life and…
The Teacher is Always There
There is a Zen saying to the effect, “That When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Will Appear.” There is much truth to the saying…
Finding My Best Self
Sometimes I lose my best self; find myself distracted and drifting off course. Usually it is because I get busy, then wake up to find…
How Well Do You Know You?
Write down three pivotal experiences in your life. Why were they pivotal? How have they impacted you? If not positive, how could they be re-framed? List…
Three Pivotal Points of Personal Power
Lock Down Your Why To be effective you must be motivated, enthused and on mission every day. This requires that your life be aligned with…
Two Things Hyper Successful People do Regularly
Successful People are Voracious Seekers of Knowledge “It’s hard for me to understand why [getting an MBA] is a better use of time and money…
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND THE CYCLE OF INQUIRY
“There is very little difference between people but that little difference makes a big difference.” – W. Clement Stone One little difference that makes a big…
Seeking Failure Points
Every process, system, or human effort has multiple potential failure points, some more probable than others and some more crucial. I once worked as an…
Troubles Will Come, Two Ways to Build Resilience in Advance
Consciously Build Your Self Confidence/Self Esteem Get your inner voice fully on your side, not as a flattering sycophant but as a coach who lovingly…
What mistakes are you currently making today and what are you going to do about them?
It is astounding how much of our lives we spend on auto-pilot, unthinkingly performing the same, almost ritualistic behaviors. Reflexively feeling the same emotions because…
Don’t Be Your Own Biggest Problem: Three Ways to Freedom
I decided a long time ago that life holds enough challenges without the handicap of me not being fully on board, fully committed to loving…
Do These Three Hard Things to be Happy
Say no. Given that our time on this earth is limited and there are only 24 hours in a day, every Yes is a No…
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
We all have a world view, a perspective that we use to explain to ourselves, to make sense of, the reality we experience, to fit…
10 Things the Most Successful People Are Always Doing
1) Planning their Lives, Working their Plan. Ordinary folks with a plan will go further than a genius without a plan. Most folks go the…
The Back and Forth of Leadership
How to balance empowerment and control? Business guru Tom Peters quotes Alfred Sloan, former GM CEO, saying that management is “steering back and forth between: a)…
Put On Your Own Mask First
Why do the airlines tell you to “Put On Your Own Mask First”? Because before you can help others, you must first take care of…
Seven Things Most Successful People Have Given Up
1) Successful people watch less TV, spend less time aimlessly surfing the internet. Successful people tend to lead disciplined, focused lives. 2) Successful people release…
The 5 Whys: Getting to Root Causes, Fast!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Whys The “5 Whys” spring from Toyota and are a simple problem-solving exercise designed to go beyond symptoms to unearth the root cause of problems.…
Nathan Collier’s Commencement Speech Sunday, December 16th 2018 at the University of Florida O’Connell Center, to UF Warrington School of Business Graduates
DEAN KRAFT: It is my pleasure to introduce our Keynote Speaker for this morning’s ceremony, one of our most successful alumni and my friend, MR.…
Five Mindsets That Will Speed You Onward to Your Fullest Greatness
1. Own BFF Mindset: To achieve your best self, you MUST learn to believe in yourself, in your potential, in your inner greatness i.e. you…
The System Secret
I’ve long believed that a certain system —which almost any intelligent person can learn— works way better than the systems most people use [to understand…
Powerfully Productive? Possible; Not Probable
Every hour of a meeting with eight people present represents an eight hour workday, the investment of a full “Man-Day”. Was value created or dissipated?…
CTS: The Little Difference That Makes a BIG Difference
“There is very little difference between people but that little difference makes a big difference.” – W. Clement Stone One little difference that makes a…