All growth is on the other side of incompetence. This means that the enemy of growth is an unwillingness to embrace incompetence. In order to do something you can’t currently do – like speak French, bench press 150 pounds, or make it through the day without feeling overwhelmed – you will have to enact behaviors you aren’t currently capable of … Read More

A long time ago some dude named Newton came up with some incredibly popular ideas called Newton’s Laws of Motion. One of these laws, basically, is that objects at rest stay at rest and objects in motion stay in motion unless something interacts with them. This law parallels neatly with Geoff’s Law of Clean Countertops which states that clean countertops … Read More

I don’t know a single small business owner who hasn’t felt overwhelmed and exasperated at one time or another because the demands on their time are out of control. It’s not uncommon to feel like there will never be time for OUR plans because we can barely keep up with all the stuff that gets thrown at us. Yeah, same. … Read More

Last week I hit you with a list of things you should stop doing and today I’m going to pull a tight 180 and offer three things you absolutely cannot delegate. Let’s dive in. The vision for your business. No one else can decide why your business exists and what you want from it. No one else can decide the … Read More

Stop doing these 7 things in 2025 and watch your stress decrease while your team levels up. STOP Keeping everything in your headIf you do it because no one else knows how, document it. No one can help you if you don’t have an instruction set for them to follow. Capture it while you do it and you’ve given yourself … Read More

Every year on the day before Thanksgiving I drag storage boxes containing our Christmas decorations from the shed into the house.  Unfortunately, after 11 months in storage, the contents of these boxes look completely foreign to me. I start to get my bearings after I sort through the boxes for a few minutes, but there are always questions like, “where … Read More

Taking effective action on YOUR priorities won’t happen by accident. In fact, without a bit of planning, and some focused effort, it won’t happen at all. I use three anchor activities in my week – the Workday Startup, the Workday Shutdown, and the Weekly Review – to keep me oriented in the right direction. This is part 3 of a 3-week … Read More

Taking effective action on YOUR priorities won’t happen by accident. In fact, without a bit of planning, and some focused effort, it won’t happen at all. I use three anchor activities in my week – the Workday Startup, the Workday Shutdown, and the Weekly Review – to keep me oriented in the right direction. This is part 2 of a 3-week … Read More

Taking effective action on YOUR priorities won’t happen by accident. In fact, without a bit of planning, and some focused effort, it won’t happen at all. I use three anchor activities in my week – the Workday Startup, the Workday Shutdown, and the Weekly Review – to keep me oriented in the right direction. Today starts a 3-week series that will … Read More

Hoping your business will become what you want it to be is not going to cut it. To make 2025 the best year yet, you are going to have to get specific about what you want and start employing behaviors that make it possible. Here are five steps that will help you get there. Figure out what you want more … Read More

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Nicole and I were on a weekend getaway at a Nordic Spa, enjoying a relaxing moment in one of the warming pools with a handful of other guests who were conversing in disparate groups.  A new couple entered the pool, found a place to sit near us, and began their own conversation that … Read More

Before you start setting goals for next year, do these 3 things: Setting new goals is much more effective when you account for the things that helped you succeed, the obstacles that slowed you down, and celebrate as many victories as you can conjure, because doing so helps you apply what you’ve learned in the past 12 months to the … Read More

I recently heard someone offer an exercise to small business owners: Take your core product offering and develop a version that costs 1/10th the current price, and another that costs 10x the current price. At first this exercise seems very difficult, maybe even impossible, but intentionally adding a 1/10th constraint or a 10x expansion forces you to look at your … Read More

During our summer camping trips, Nicole and I played a lot of Gin. We were pretty evenly matched, but each of us would find ourselves on a hot or cold streak from time to time. During a particularly chilly series of hands I found myself being playfully derided by my wife, which led me to a profound and liberating realization: … Read More

Once upon a time my daughter developed a rash that kept getting worse. After a few days it started bleeding and my mind wandered to some dark places. Will it leave scars? Is it contagious? Is it some sort of flesh-eating bacteria?  My overactive imagination wasn’t doing me any favors. Anxious and afraid, we took her to the doctor. After … Read More

Only a tiny percentage of projects are going to work exactly as you expect. Here’s the weird part: most people know this, like in their bones they know it, and yet they are still surprised and frustrated when the unexpected shows up. That’s kind of like being flabbergasted that the sun came up AGAIN today or that small children will … Read More