So far as I can tell, there are three ways of being in the world. One, I can decide that I’m fundamentally broken. So I try to hide my broken parts, shine up the acceptable parts, and only show people the parts they might like. This is what I call living in the false self….
The university’s President took the podium at my college graduation and said one sentence that has stuck in my brain ever since. But first, let me give you some context. I had a great time at college. Sure, I worked hard, but I also had fun! I was involved with a fraternity, a campus christian…
My chosen form of regular exercise is swimming, and most weeks you’ll find me in the pool 2 – 3 mornings. This last week I was doing my regular swim when I noticed the water in the pool was very cloudy. How cloudy? The line on the bottom of the pool that tells me that…
When I was getting started with my own business I maxim that I heard often was, “Hire slow, fire fast.” At first I heard it as, “Be slow to add costs to your business, but if things turn south, be quick to cut costs.” But as I’ve spent more time hiring and leading teams I’ve…
I’m an unabashed Ted Lasso fan. The first season was perfect for the pandemic. The second season had enough twists and turns to hold me on the edge of my seat with characters I cared about. We’ve had a rocky and uneven third season so far – but I trust Jason Sudeikis to land this…
Last week we talked about the three drivers of value, scale, scope, and uniqueness. If you want to grow your profitability, you can’t pursue all three – they have different trade-offs and strategies. You’ve got to pick one. Let’s look at those trade-offs to find out which path is right for you. Scale Agencies that…
Most of us agree that the value you can charge is directly related to the value you create. So to make more money, you must create more value. But how do you measure how much value you are creating? On a recent episode of Michael Neill’s excellent podcast, “Caffeine for the Soul” he talked about…
One of my favorite mentors (though he doesn’t know he’s a mentor) is Chris Dorris. A core message that Chris teaches is, Create the state; don’t wait. In his book of Mental Toughness Mantras, he says: One of the most magical human superpowers that we have is the ability to create any state; any and…
Before I walk into a room or turn on a zoom call, I stop and think, “Who do I need to be in this meeting?” Now I’m not talking about putting on a costume or wearing a mask. To be as effective and impactful as possible, I don’t need to be more than my most…
We (including myself in this) can get really up in our heads about pricing. “Is $X too much? Will they think I’m too expensive? What should I charge?” The answer is simple but not easy. Whatever you want to charge for your work, you can charge. Pick any number and charge it. Some folks will…