Let Go & Lead

November 6, 2012  |  11 Comments

Ever since my hometown was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy last week, it's been a huge change of living standards for me. I've had hardly any phone or internet access. I haven't had any power all week. My dog Victor broke his leg running around our backyard. My wife's car got swamped by four feet of water. I don't even remember what it's like to wash my face with warm water!

It's not my proudest moment, but it all got to me and broke m...

Is groupthink right for you?

October 24, 2012  |  7 Comments

I have been watching the vigorous presidential debates and last night was no different than the rest. I see a lot of rhetoric from politicians who take each others' words and try to turn them around and against each other. It's all spin. And at the end of the day, unless you go and fact check everything they're saying, there is no way to know which side is telling the truth.

It reminds me that everyone sees the world through a lens that makes our personal view the right one. In politics, you have a bunch of people who see the world throu...

Want to Get More Done? Don’t Worry – Be Happy

October 16, 2012  |  9 Comments

My purpose in life is to give you a pattern interrupt. I am looking to be an inflection point in your life where you literally "wake up" to the power you have to change everything for the better.

This past year has been a tough one for me. When I'm feeling anxiety, it comes when I'm worried about something in the future that is out of my control. The typical things I feel this for is the great unknown: any threat to my security. Fear is a little different, because it's based on past experience and projecting what could happen based on that experience. Anxiety is worry about the unknown that hasn't happened yet; fear is worry of what's known that may happen again.

I used to thi...

Proactive = productive

October 12, 2012  |  1 Comment

Earlier this week, I had a bunch of administrative tasks catch up to me that had to be taken care of. These activities put me on my heels, and took a couple hours of my time. How do you deal with it when things pop up like this and take up time that you didn't account for?

The reason those things came out of left field is because I didn't properly take care of them when I should have. I didn't take care of them when they were urgent, so I was forced to take care of them when they were urgent AND important. The little things that are urgent must be dealt with. If not, they'll come up later, and put you into reactive mode as you take time away from your goal-oriented actions (proactive m...

Business or busy-ness?

October 9, 2012  |  1 Comment

Sometimes I won't feel inspired or clear as to what I want to get done in a day. If you operate from that space, you'll end up doing all kinds of peripheral and non-important tasks instead of the purposeful action that drives you closer to your goals. You'll just sit there and bang your head against the wall if you try to break through it that way. Instead, try this: remove yourself from that space.

I personally do this all the time. I'll walk away and take Victor for a walk, go to a coffee shop, or go to the gym. Do what you have to do to get out of there and stop thinking about the problems or challenges you are facing. Your conscious mind is not capable of solving them at that momen...

Sooner or later, good or bad, it all comes back to you

October 3, 2012  |  14 Comments

Life is like a boomerang. All of our thoughts are energy, and what we put out either comes back to us (like a boomerang) or hits its target. There is a certain impact to the thoughts going through your mind every day. That energy from your mind comes from your body.

A guy named Shawn Achor studies this stuff... Shawn is a happiness researcher (no, not the kind who lives in a bubble and is disconnected from the world); he studies the psychosomatic effects of happiness. He finds that there is a direct correlation between the kinds of thoughts in your brain and the way your life is going. This is measurable proof that your results in life are grown from the seeds of your...

It’s the fourth quarter. It’s time to win.

October 1, 2012  |  No Comments

We've entered the month of October, and it is now the final quarter of 2012. In terms of goals and accomplishments, I have daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals to go along with the bigger yearly goals. For me, quarterly goals are among my favorites to set because you can get a lot done in 90 days. But it's not so long away that you lose sight of how long you have to accomplish what you're going after, like a yearly goal might be.

90 days is enough time to learn a new skill to take yourself to the next level in your business. It's enough time without being too much time. And right now is a perfect time to think about where you want to be by the end of this year. To do this, think...