success
Leading difficult people: Excited Eddie
I love spending time with enthusiastic people. I’m pretty high-energy myself. An enthusiastic follower can be a joy to work with. His excitement about his work has the potential to energize the entire team. With one exception. Let’s talk about Excited Eddie. He’s got loads of enthusiasm for his work, but only to a point.…
Read MoreOne is too small a number
A Chinese proverb states, “Behind an able man there are always other able men.” The truth is that teamwork is at the heart of great achievement. The question isn’t whether teams have value. The question is whether we acknowledge that fact and become better team players. That’s why I assert that one is too small…
Read MoreQuitting is more about WHO you are than WHERE you are.
Back in December, I wrote about the importance of starting well. In the comments, many people agreed with me, but they also pointed out the critical nature of continuing after you start. They were right. Like I said at the time, starting and finishing are the two covers of the book. The main part –…
Read MoreWhat are your fears keeping you from doing?
In a speech in 1933, American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, addressing a nation mired in a Depression and on the verge of a world war, famously stated, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” During the first century A.D., Epictetus said, “It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded,…
Read MoreStarting: The Great Separator
Do you want to be a success? As you know, many obstacles can keep even a highly-motivated person from succeeding. But today I want to talk about the ONLY obstacle that will ALWAYS keep us from success: Not starting. Starting is the Great Separator. It separates… The doers from the do-nots, The haves from the…
Read MoreDon't manage your time; manage your life!
Here’s an important announcement: There is no such thing as time management. Think about it; the term is an oxymoron. Time cannot be managed. It cannot be controlled in any way. Everyone gets the same number of hours and minutes every day. Nobody—no matter how shrewd—can save minutes from one day to spend on another.…
Read MoreThe power of words on a page
Nineteenth-century writer Walt Whitman struggled for years to get anyone interested in his poetry. He became very discouraged. But then he received a note that read: Dear sir, I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of Leaves of Grass. I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that…
Read MoreFor my friend, John Wooden
“Make each day your masterpiece.” -John Wooden On June 4, 2010, the world lost a legend and I lost a friend. Basketball coach John Wooden passed away at 99 years of age. John Wooden’s stories and quotes show up in a number of my books, for good reason. He was an amazing man. He coached basketball…
Read MoreWhat is success?
In 1986, when I was 39 years old, I began to notice a terrible trend among my colleagues, college buddies and friends: divorce. This was happening in a variety of marriages – from the shaky to the apparently strong. Margaret and I didn’t think our relationship was in any kind of danger, but then again,…
Read MoreIf at first you do succeed, try something harder
The willingness to take greater risks is a major key to achieving success, and you may be surprised that it can solve two very different kinds of problems. The problem of hitting ALL of your goals, AND The problem of hitting NO goals… because you never make any. Let’s look at #1: You’re not afraid…
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