Nicole and I were in line at an ice cream shop last week and overheard one of the young workers chatting with another while they were working. “I’m nervous about my driver’s test next week,” she confided. It’s been about 150 years since I took my driver’s test and it reminded me that the things which feel overwhelming today rarely … Read More

My wife and I have vastly different work experiences. She drives 20-minutes to her office where she runs HR at our hospital. I walk across the driveway to my office where I support small business owners over the phone. She spends most of her days in executive meetings. I spend most of my days working on my businesses, creating content, … Read More

I recently caught a clip from an interview with Kristen Bell in which she was asked about her husband, Dax Shepard.  She was recounting her first encounter with him and, after more than a decade of marriage, was absolutely hyping him up for being so much deeper and thoughtful than most people assume him to be. I immediately sent the … Read More

Nicole and I have been having a blast adventuring around Alaska in our small, new-to-us camper this summer. Our very first outing was on May 10th and in spite of months of watching YouTube videos to ensure we towed safely and set everything up correctly, things were a little clumsy and time-consuming. Each of the subsequent trips have worked more … Read More

You are going to make plans and then some unexpected twist is going to break those plans. In spite of all of your thoughtful consideration, something you couldn’t possibly see coming will tap you on the shoulder and force you to rework things at the 11th hour It’s inevitable. Here are 3 ways to adapt quickly when plans change. Grieve … Read More

I have worked with so many small business owners across the years and these are 4 lies they consistently tell themselves. Do any of these sound familiar to you? It will be faster if I do it myself Maybe, but this argument falls apart if you ever have to repeat the task. This is a great example of short-term thinking … Read More

Everything in my closet matches every other thing in my closet. What can I say? I love navy blue. Each morning when I scan my closet for something to wear I get to skip the part where I have to decide if these pants go with that shirt. Anything goes with everything. In a world where we spend our days … Read More

Here’s one way to get more of what you want, even if you don’t want to do the work required to get what you want: become so disciplined that you do the work in spite of how you feel and in spite of your environment and in spite of the pain you experience.  If you believe this is the ONLY … Read More

That feeling that the work you are producing isn’t as good as it could be is a gut punch of disappointment.  Here are three reasons why it is happening, and how to flip the script… You are trying to keep too many plates spinning. Everyone I know is competent at piloting a vehicle. Everyone I know is also adept at … Read More

I used to think doing it all myself was how I needed to prove my value and validate my worth as a small business owner. Asking for help felt like an admission of weakness or failure.  And then I got really, really busy. Suddenly I had to renegotiate terms with my ego, because doing it all myself was no longer … Read More

Almost everyone with whom I have worked has overestimated how busy they were. It’s not that they weren’t busy, it’s just that they felt much busier than the work demanded because they were disorganized. How many surgeons enter the operating room hoping that the right tools will be sterilized and ready to go? Zero. That kind of organization and preparation … Read More

Here are the two things that made it difficult for me to accomplish my goals: The pursuit of interesting goals is not like taking on a challenging afternoon hike, after which you will essentially be the same person you were before you began.  The pursuit will force you to change. You won’t have to betray your deepest values, but you … Read More

For small business owners, email is a blessing and a curse. Your inbox is likely a place that could contain exciting opportunities (they said “yes” to my pitch!) as well as time-consuming, but necessary tasks (please fill out this 40-page form to renew your worker’s comp insurance) that distract us from our highest and most valuable work. That’s why I … Read More

I’m firmly convinced that I do my very best thinking on planes, but that doesn’t mean air travel is without its share of complexities that can really stress you out. And since I spent the majority of yesterday at 30,000 feet, here are my favorite ways to make travel days less stressful… Those are my favorites, but what about you? … Read More