Fifteen phone messages need to be returned, 55 emails need to answered, the laser printer needs ink, a proposal needs to be written for a sales pitch, an annual report needs to be delivered in a half hour, your son called and forgot his baseball uniform, six employee evaluations sit on your desk - due yesterday, you have to reschedule a lunch meeting for twenty, oh and Hugh Jackman is on the Today Show...and it's only 9:15 a.m. What do you do first? Does your list of tasks, obligations and deadlines leave you sitting paralyzed at your desk? I recently re-read two books which continually have a profound impact on my life and career. It's hard to fathom that "Think & Grow Rich", by Napoleon Hill, was first written in 1937 because the principles still hold so true today. In fact, if you ask many of the top leaders currently,... Read more →

Some thoughts, and perhaps thought changers, on one my least favorite places to be: Indecision. Indecision is the enemy of spontaneity. Indecision is the enemy of the artist. Indecision is the downfall of the parent. Indecision is the downfall of fruition. Indecision is a self-imposed prison. Indecision is the enemy of invention. In fact, indecision cripples invention. It cripples marriage proposals, cripples IPO’s, cripples education, cripples war. And, peace. The very nature of indecisiveness stunts the very nature. Where would we be if Mother Nature couldn’t make up her mind? Would an apple tree become a river? Would an ant be dissatisfied with being an ant? Would an albatross wish it were a hummingbird? Would a sunflower decide to stay in bed? If Mother Nature waffled and just couldn’t make the definitive decision that everything in nature has its predetermined role to play, where would we be? Where would we... Read more →

Re words rock! But, one that we can all live without is regret. Someone asked the question over the holiday, “Do you have any regrets in your career?” I immediately felt for the person who was left to answer this question. Certainly it is a common query and one that, no doubt, can plague the mind if it’s allowed to. But, the word regret is so yesterday. It conjures up feelings of disappointment, sadness, guilt, self-judgment and missed opportunity. Who needs that? Seriously, there’s nothing good about regret. Certainly, we all have things in our lives we’d like to have another crack at, opportunities we’d have tapped if given another chance, lapses in judgment we’d like to take back, etc. A recent article in Scientific American Mind by Josie Glausiusz says that focusing on regret can lead to constant ruminating, rehashing and over analyzing what went wrong or what could... Read more →

I recently got an email from a reader asking me to send her a post I'd written three years ago about dissolving fear, stating "I think it would be very helpful to me right now." I happily sent it to her and decided updating and revisiting the subject might be helpful to all of us. “The key to change…is to let go of fear.” ~ Rosanne Cash The very word can stop us in our tracks sometimes. FEAR. It can keep us from making a decision, or from taking advantage of an opportunity, or from stepping into any situation that puts us out of our comfort zone. The very notion of fear can cause inertia. Let's take a moment to re-define or reframe this word, to think about it in a new way. Some define fear as False Evidence Appearing Real, in other words fear isn’t real. And, there is... Read more →

It could be rather cliche that I would post an article about freedom on Independence Day. But, what can I say? The holiday got me thinking about all of the various connotations of freedom and independence. Yes, the holiday is about the literal freedom and independence of a nation and its people. But, there's so much delicious metaphor and meaning surrounding the notion of being free and independent. To truly set yourself free from all that shackles you so as to live in a individual state of freedom, it starts in the mind. It's the only environment over which we have total control. Once you allow yourself to clean out your mind environment, you'll feel free in many new and expansive ways. What currently binds you into a certain way of thinking? It usually comes down to habitual thought patterns. Dr. Martha Beck says habitual thoughts are "like ruts in... Read more →

I read this phrase the other day. "Progress, not perfection." It got me thinking about the lightness of the former versus the weightiness of the latter. Progress is fluid and open. Perfection is rigid and inflexible. Perfection is exhausting. Progress is invigorating. Perfection wears a mask. Progress is transparent. Perfection is endless because you never get there. Progress is endless because you're always there. Perfection focuses on what's not working, the flaws, the not-enoughs, the old paradigms. Progress looks at what is working, the improvements, the discoveries, the aha moments that come from the realization of looking at things in a new way. Perfection is obsessed with time. Progress doesn't measure time because it's right now. It's a continuation to the next right-now. And, the next. Progress represents the in-betweens, the moments between milestones and goals reached. There's beauty in progress. There's simplicity. There's freedom in the unknowing of what... Read more →

George Carlin said, "It's called the American Dream 'cause you have to be asleep to believe it." Funny irony, for which Mr. Carlin was the master. But, my mindset has changed around the whole concept of this shared national ideal. Or I should say former shared idealThe term "American Dream" was coined by historian James Truslow Adams in 1931. He also wrote, "It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class." Hmmm. Now, that's an ideal I can get behind. But, instead government, business and society redefined an American Dream that everyone bought into or was brainwashed to buy into, the belief that more is... Read more →

It was a shiny new menu sign. All the yummy drink choices with the prices lined up perfectly next to them. Dollar signs aligned vertically in almost lyrical fashion. And, then… an oops. The third item from the bottom, the Ice Blended Mocha, was missing the dollar sign. The $ was “v”. v3.80? Clearly it was a typo on a freshly printed menu board, one that had likely been proofed by several sets of eyes. And, it wasn’t just a local job. This was a board that had been special ordered and hung by professionals. I’ve ordered lunch in this café numerous times and have never noticed this little flaw. So, what do you think happened as I sat there waiting for my lunch order? I was unable focus on anything except for that measly v3.80. The typo. The one imperfect note amidst the otherwise perfect symphony of $$$$$$$$$$$$. What... Read more →

During a recent cocktail discussion with a friend we got on the topic of travelling and living abroad; I mentioned that at some point in my life I'd like to live in a small town in France. "It's definitely in the realm of possibility," I said. Later I got to thinking about the Realm of Possibility and what a powerful place that is. I picture a place of vibrant color, of swirling thoughts and images, of forward moving energy that is at once knowing and brave as it forges toward the unknown, of leaping without fear and without a net. A place where yes rules and no is not part of the vernacular, where ideas spawn action. A place where a sense of quiet and calm lives amidst the questions and on the precipice of possible becoming probable becoming actual. The Realm of Possibility. To my way of thinking it's... Read more →

When Madonna appeared on one of Oprah’s last shows this week, that’s what she said we’ve learned from Oprah, “Never. Ever. Give. Up.” Ironically, I’ve been gathering notes for this article for the last few days because this phrase has been popping into my consciousness a lot lately. A profile in MORE Magazine on first time novelist, Kathryn Stockett, The Help, carried as its theme, “Don’t Give Up.” Stockett received, amazingly, 60 rejections over a three-year period until a wise agent picked up her manuscript and proceeded to sell it in three weeks time! People told her she was crazy, to move on to something else. But, she never gave up. Ever. She kept revising, submitting, revising, and submitting. There are numerous stories like this, from Thomas Edison to Henry Ford, to Diane von Furstenberg, to J.K. Rowling, where the odds were stacked against success, and success still came after... Read more →