Post Election: What You MUST Do Now That It’s Over – Succeed Anyway

Never let what happens in the Whitehouse define what happens in YOUR HOUSE. The moment you blame your problems, circumstance or even your mood on an election, a government, or anyone or anything other than yourself, you take all of your power and hand it to the very person or entity you don’t want to have it.

Offended? I Hope You’re Offended. It’s YOUR Freedom

“Being offended” is how politicians, universities and others are trying to limit free speech. There is nothing in our bill of rights giving anyone the right not to be offended. In fact, freedom of speech requires the possibility of being offended. And that’s a good thing… almost every important improvement in the world was offensive at first. Love your enemies. All men are created equal. The Emancipation Proclamation. Women’s suffrage, property rights, equal pay…

Err On The Side Of Grace – The Only Way To Change The World

Err On The Side of Grace. The Unlikely and Only Way To Change The World A man got on the subway with four young children who began to misbehave, disturbing the other passengers. It was getting out of hand. Worse, the father seemed distant, not correcting or even seeming to care about his kid’s behavior. (Doesn’t […]

Is Your Business Ready For Collapse? Six Signs The End Is Near

Is Your Business Ready For Collapse? Six Signs The End Is Near Trains, typewriters, record albums, record/CD stores, VHS, network news, video rental stores, newspapers, telephones, taxis… All of these are now skeletons (or soon-to-be) in a graveyard of products, services and industries that “didn’t see it coming.” That’s they’re fault. The indicators were there. […]

Ideas Mean Nothing. The Measure of Your Success Is the Measure of Your Ability To ________?

I’ll answer this at the bottom. Don’t skip ahead, read all of it, it’s good. Why in the world would I, a guy who teaches innovation, say ideas mean nothing? To try and disrupt the all-too-common belief that innovation, transformation, and profit are all about ideas. I’ve heard it said that “We live in an idea economy.” Bull. If that’s true, I should own a small country.

Make Better Financial Decisions By Asking This One Question

I was once in a guitar store with a friend named Mike who was trying out a Taylor T-5. He loved it. It was $1,100. It came down to decision time. The salesman watched Mike and he was not sure. He asked me, “What do you think?” I said, “Well you tell me, is buying this guitar the BEST use of $1100 in your life right now?” It was like the lights went on… NO! He had other family necessities.

The most powerful motivational force is not power money, sex, or fame…

It’s a sense of purpose. Something bigger than ourselves. Two insurance agents are walking down the street. A man sees them and asks, “Hey, what do you guys do for a living?” The first agent says, “I sell insurance” The other one looks a little sideways at that answer, turns back and says, “I take care of your family when you can’t. Which one would you want to work with?

Failure and Rejection Need To Be Your Policy

Last week I shared that the reason we need to be free to fail and be rejected is that we will fail, we will be rejected, and that these are integral to success. Picking up there, successful people actually fail more than unsuccessful people. The difference is unsuccessful people stop at failure. Successful people keep failing until they succeed. The same is true for rejection; the more successful you are, the more often you’ll be rejected.

Is Your Life Worth Reliving? The Art of Action, and the Action of Art

Sometimes the best tips are not so much answers as questions. I read a great one this week: “If you were doomed to live the same life over and over again for eternity, would you choose the life you are living now?” Would you? If so, keep doing what you’re doing. If not, what are you doing to change that? I think most of us would want to relive some things but rather not relive others…

Who Packs Your Parachute? The Power Of Serving Without Expectation

Meet Captain Charlie Plumb, a man I am proud to call my friend and mentor. He’s one of the most amazing men I have ever known. Charlie was a fighter pilot in Vietnam, flying 74 successful missions. On his 75th mission, his last before going home to his new wife, Charlie was shot down, parachuted into enemy hands and spent the next six years in a North Vietnamese prison camp being tortured, beaten and isolated in an 8’X8’ cell.