Category Archive

Well not YOU, but I contend most of us have, or have had, someone in our life who pushes our buttons and “makes” us think, feel, or act in ways we don’t like. Unfortunately, THEY aren’t really the problem. We get to choose with whom we associate…or at least how we react to the people with whom we must associate. … Read More

A couple months ago I published a free ebook that has been downloaded thousands of times in countries all over the world. I still can’t believe it. Reading the kind messages from readers has been incredibly humbling because I struggle every day – with varying levels of success – to live out the ideas I hold dear. Whenever I am … Read More

Preston Pollard is a man on the move. I became aware of Preston because his admittedly handsome mug is featured on the cover of photographer Brian Adams’ book “I Am Alaskan” and he has connections to Joel’s Place, a skate park and youth center here in Fairbanks, so I started checking into his story. It didn’t take long to realize … Read More

Life is a short ride, my friend. Don’t presume that there is going to be more time to tell people how much you care about them. Don’t presume you can tell them their friendship, or their work, or their art is important to you tomorrow, because tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us. Send the text, fire off the e-mail, … Read More

The struggle is not only real…the struggle is necessary. Scratching and clawing to overcome an obstacle that exists between you and something meaningful is part of what makes the end result so…meaningful. If it was easy, your unique skills and expertise wouldn’t be as valuable as they are. If it was easy, we wouldn’t need you. What if you stopped … Read More

You can’t win ’em all…so why do you expect you should? Baseball teams play 162 games a season and no team has ever gone 162-0. The general expectation is that every team will win 50 games, every team will lose 50 games, and it’s what teams do with the remaining 62 games that define them. You are going to face … Read More

I have learned so much from the incredible people I have the good fortune of calling family, friends, and colleagues. To say that my work directly benefit from their wisdom is a huge understatement. I am indebted to each of these wise and generous people and the best way I know to pay them back is to extend their impact … Read More

You don’t need permission to be a leader, you just have to lead. You don’t need to read a book, take a class, or convince someone to give you a microphone in order to lead, you just have to care enough to move first. I call this being the first domino to fall. The very best leadership lessons you will … Read More

Are you living the life you want to live? If not, what do you need to do differently?

I really have to stop asking people if they are okay. Touching base with my friends by asking “are you okay?” is a great way to make them feel (even more) compelled to sugar coat their answer and pretend that things are better than they really are, because the answer is clearly supposed to be “yes.” Except I want the … Read More

When I read “Read This Before Our Next Meeting” by Al Pittampalli in less than 45-minutes on a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I was blown away by how much good thinking he was able to pack into such a small book. His assessment of, and solutions for, the broken meeting culture that exists in so … Read More

Twenty years ago I stopped attending college after about six weeks. Seventeen years ago I married the most amazing woman. Ten years ago I bought half of a printing company. Eight years ago I was blessed with a wonderful little girl. Five years ago I almost ran that printing company into the ground. Three years ago I met a friend … Read More

An assertion: a great way to make enemies is to do meaningful work that is valued by the people you hope to influence. To be loved by some for the unique value you offer the world is to be reviled by others. That’s the deal. But If you are going to have enemies – and you will – I can’t … Read More

I have just enjoyed the unique and unusual opportunity to spend the past 2-1/2 days in a room with Seth Godin and 80 other people with a “bias for action” at Seth’s invite-only Ruckusmakers event. It will take me some time to process all of the challenging material Seth covered in a really compressed span of time, but I wanted … Read More

The solution is obvious as long as the problem belongs to someone else. How would you solve the problem with which you are currently wrestling if it belonged to someone else?