Category Archives: choice
Did we gain anything from the pandemic?
The last 18 months have been a real slog, and we’re not out of the woods yet. So, as we keep moving forward, what can you do to shift your pandemic perspective from “did to me” to “did for me”? … Continue reading
If you settle for what you can get, you’ll probably never get what you could.
I was recently speaking with a friend who made a powerful observation: “Every time you settle for less than you really want, it’s like burying yourself alive.” Ouch. This really got me thinking, and I realized that settling – … Continue reading
Power habits. What are yours?
Last week I explored some ways to replace bad habits with new, more productive ones. Since habits can make or break your success, let’s delve a bit deeper into ways to make good habits your default setting. ******************************************* Strategically manage … Continue reading
Do your habits chain you to failure or slingshot you to success?
“Habits are at first cobwebs, then cables.” Hmmm…… This Spanish proverb highlights a key attribute of habits: They’re a very sharp, double-edged sword. Good habits make life run smoothly, easily, and effectively. Bad ones effortlessly screw you up. So … Continue reading
What are you choosing in this moment?
I’ve been feeling a bit blah for a few days. Nothing’s been going particularly badly; it just feels like nothing’s been going particularly great, either. In response to people’s greetings of “How are you today?”, I’ve been coming back … Continue reading
Do the stories you tell help or hinder?
Stories can celebrate or denigrate; fuel progress or impede it; make you feel on top of the world or at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The good news is two-fold. One, you can always, always, choose which stories … Continue reading
When life interferes with business: 3 lessons learned
Have you ever felt like you’ve been staggering along under a huge burden? You know, the kind of weight that leaves you feeling bereft of energy, creativity, and joy? Been there, done that, got a whole bunch of … Continue reading
Courage, change, and choice: the power of possibilities
Whether you’re one of the Americans sharing congratulatory fist bumps with other Trump supporters, one of the ones walking around in a shell-shocked daze of disbelief and fear, or one of the other billions in the world, you know changes … Continue reading
Can’t keep up? Three simple questions to streamline your decision-making
A client came to me with a marketing problem: She had two completely separate mailing lists aimed at different target markets, and she couldn’t decide which of the two should be the focus of her future marketing efforts. A … Continue reading
5 signs you may be majoring in the minors and minoring in the majors
You’ve identified THE major conference in your field – you know, the one where all the heavy hitters show up. You know it will be packed with your ideal prospects. You’ve downloaded the submission guidelines for prospective speakers. You know … Continue reading
Save your sanity in 5 minutes a day
Creativity is one of the hallmarks of entrepreneurs. Usually this is a very good thing; after all, many successful businesses have been built by those who had the vision to see an unmet need and the creativity to develop … Continue reading
Could you be the star of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”?
If you’ve spent any time in a book store recently, you’ve probably passed by a whole slew of books by Jeff Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This series explores the trials and tribulations of a middle-school … Continue reading
The seduction of possibilities
So when was the last time you were seduced? No, no, no – not by that stunning neighbor, but by those intriguing business possibilities that you come across? Let’s face it: There’s no shortage of business-building options out there. … Continue reading
Does faith or fear drive you?
Of all the things my parents told me as I was growing up, one phrase loomed large: “Be careful!!” I grew up thinking of the world as a scary and dangerous place, with many fearsome people, events, and activities … Continue reading
How well is your emotional GPS working?
I’ve come to the conclusion that the newfangled gadget called a Global Positioning System is actually magic. You tell it your destination and start the car, and it tells you where to go (in very polite terms) so you … Continue reading
Puny or powerful – what’s YOUR default setting?
Back in the old days, some comic book ads were directed toward the skinny “98-pound weakling”. This was a scrawny guy laughed at by girls and bullied by stronger guys until he took the advertiser’s magic product and developed … Continue reading
3 clues there are chickens in your family tree
In U.S. vernacular, “chicken” is synonymous with “coward.” While it’s most often used by and applied to children, even we grown-ups can get scared. The difference is that adults have (one hopes) more effective ways of dealing with the … Continue reading
Are you scared or are you excited?
October is just around the corner, and many people are already looking forward to the end of the month − specifically, October 31st. Whether you’re talking about a kid eagerly anticipating Halloween costumes and candy, or a pagan planning … Continue reading
Belief-busting for a better business
Beliefs are like bones. You can’t see your bones, but they provide the structural framework for your entire body. Similarly, you can’t see your beliefs, but they provide the structure for the world you experience every single day. Your … Continue reading
Is it an epic fail or just a mistake?
There are just two groups of people in the world: those who have experienced the fateful moment when you realize your great idea turned out to be not so great after all, and those who will experience the fateful … Continue reading
Is “power” a four-letter word for you?
What do you picture when someone says the word “power”? Do you think of it in terms of physical strength? Great intelligence? Lots of money? Does “power” have very positive connotations for you, or do you … Continue reading
Is your glass bigger than it needs to be?
George Carlin once made the following observation: “Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. I see a glass that’s twice as big as it needs to be.” There are an infinite number ways to view … Continue reading
How to move from chaos to calm: 5 steps to making easier choices
One of the most common self-sabotaging habits out there is indecisiveness. For a business owner, the number of choices to be made each day is truly staggering. What are my top three priorities for today? Is this prospect likely to … Continue reading
Here there be dragons…
Centuries ago, when map-makers reached the end of the world as they knew it, they would label the yet-to-be-explored areas with an ominous phrase: Here there be dragons. The word seems to be code for many seemingly negative things: danger, … Continue reading
How to receive more by refusing more
Have you heard the old story about the student and the tea cup? A young man who’s very proud of his existing knowledge seeks to learn even more from an older, wiser man, but the student’s pride and arrogance are … Continue reading
Warning: Bright shiny objects ahead!
Most entrepreneurs are creative and curious, and those are admirable, useful qualities. Unfortunately, too much of anything is toxic. This means that, if you take those qualities to an extreme, you’ll be poised to fall prey to Shiny Object Syndrome. … Continue reading
How to take action even though you’re a perfectionist
Perfectionism. It’s a chain I dragged behind me for many years. I hear many people admit to being perfectionists as if it were a badge of honor. However, I’ve come to believe that, in reality, perfectionism is just an excuse … Continue reading
How time-saving tools gamble with your productivity
Remember back in the good ol’ days when the advent of the computer lead to pipe dreams about the “paperless office”? Me, too. That’s just one of the more amusing examples of how technology was supposed to improve our productivity, … Continue reading
How to use love and an attitude of service as powerful business-development tools
Think of the last time you had a major problem you needed help with. It doesn’t have to be work related. It could be a problem like the one we faced recently, when our furnace quit working the night the … Continue reading
Five strategies to keep yourself safe – and small
Many of us talk about wanting to grow our businesses big. What’s curious is how frequently the “big” talk is sabotaged by small thoughts and small actions. You may have found yourself in that very situation: You have great ideas … Continue reading
What are YOUR clubhouse rules?
Back in the old days, children would create clubhouses for themselves and their special friends. Membership was by invitation only, and—depending on who “owned” the clubhouse—highly coveted. In a way, things are not that different today for adults who have … Continue reading
The minimalist guide to always getting positive outcomes
I know, I know. Speaking in absolutes, like the word “always”, is a good way to get yourself in trouble. But I contend that there is a way to always experience a positive outcome. It just depends on how you … Continue reading
Are you making yourself a victim with these 7 power-robbing phrases?
Wow – another year has flown by. Happy New Year to all! I wrapped up 2013 talking about how every self-fulfilling prophecy can work for or against you, and about how distorted thinking is a dangerously effective way to sabotage … Continue reading
Take responsibility for your success, but don’t go overboard.
One of the key lessons parents teach their children is what it means to take responsibility. The type of responsibility taught undoubtedly varies from family to family, but, unfortunately, there are some counterproductive views of responsibility that cross all kinds … Continue reading
The self-fulfilling prophecy: road to success or failure?
It’s all in your head. Wishing won’t make it come true. What makes you such a big deal? There’s an almost endless litany of messages that pound away at us, and many of them, unfortunately, are horrendously counterproductive. Are your … Continue reading
Are you prepared for success or failure? Think about it!
Your greatest business ally and your worst business enemy are two sides of the same coin. That coin is your habitual way of thinking. As Sally Kempton once said, “It’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your … Continue reading
Would you rather be comfortable or prosperous?
Jeff Olson, in his book The Slight Edge, observed that “Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do.” In other words, unsuccessful people value their short-term comfort more than their long-term results. This seems to be a … Continue reading
