My wife buys everyone in the family underwear for Christmas. It’s a tradition in her family, and we could all use some new underwear from time to time, right? Two years ago, she bought me some fancy boxer briefs. They are thoughtfully designed in every detail, as most luxury products are. There’s just one problem……
Imagine you are driving through a snowstorm at night. The snow is swirling in your headlights, the lines on the road are obscured, the road is slippery. How do you respond? Do you speed up and try to get through the snow quickly so that you can get to your destination before it gets worse?…
In “the before times,” I met with a business owner who wanted help to sell his business. On the surface, his business looked like a highly commodified local business. The kind of business that is mainly undifferentiated from dozens of firms in any large city, and therefore, is pretty hard to sell. But when he…
So you’ve got just a few goals for this year, and you must accomplish them. You want to increase your commitment, but you feel resistance. Even though these goals are critical, you’re not sure that you will follow through. What’s that about? Commitment is scary Going all in on your goals means that if you…
After Tuesday’s message, you’ve narrowed down your expectations for 2022 to just the most critical initiatives, things that have to be accomplished. Good work! Now let’s make sure that they happen. How have you done in past years? Looking back over past years, what percentage of your annual goals got accomplished? Not how many did you…
Do your goals for this year involve starting a bunch of new initiatives? Expanding your marketing efforts? Landing new clients? Offering new services? Of course they do! I’ve never seen a company founder whose goals were, “Let’s do the same things as last year – just a little bit better.” What do you think your…
None of us got to the point where we were working non-stop because we thought it was a good idea! We did it because there’s so much work that needs to be done! Or so I thought. As I’ve been learning to slow down, I’ve discovered something unexpected. Most of the work I thought was…
When I was a kid, my dad would frequently tell me, “The time to rest is when all your work is done.” It was a good lesson for a teenager prone to lying on the couch reading a book all day! But as an adult, I’ve found that the reverse is true. The time to…
Shake up a snow globe, and the flakes swirl around and obscure the view. Let it sit, and things settle down. The view clears, revealing the scene that was there all along. When I run around, busy all the time, my brain keeps track of a thousand things. All those thoughts, loose ends, and unrealized…
I’m going to take the next couple of weeks off, so you won’t be hearing from me again until after the holidays. I used to be anxious about taking time off at the end of the year. Now I know, that there’s nothing more important than some time off; baking cookies, sitting by the fire,…