Setting direction, choosing what matters and making room for the important work.
A few years ago I planted 20 raspberry vines. The person who sold them to me told me not to expect berries the first year. They need to root the first year. Fair enough. The second year I did get some berries. My total yield that year was less than a pint from 20 plants!…
Leaders are always asking me, “Brad, how do I find time to do the really important work? When do I get to think, or look at what’s next? I spend all my time trying to keep the wheels on the bus and the clients happy.” I think of one of my very first clients whenever…
I’m trying a new experiment that I want to share with you. If you’ve been following along for a while, you know I’ve experienced considerable financial anxiety throughout my entrepreneurial journey. While I’ve made a lot of progress toward equanimity, I still worry about money more than I’d like. A few years ago, I simplified things. I moved…
I am guessing you have some big plans for 2026. You may be aiming to grow your business, launch a new service, or finally land that next-level role. I have been there. In the past, when I wanted to reach a big milestone, I would set aggressive goals—deadlines, targets, the whole bit. And when I…
Every December, we sit down with our spreadsheets and fresh notebooks, feeling a mix of exhaustion and hope. “Next year will be different,” we tell ourselves. Next year we’ll be aligned. No more weekends. The team will step up. We map out revenue targets and key initiatives. It feels good. It feels like control. But here…
If you’ve been reading for a while, you know I’m constantly beating the drum for you, as a leader, to do less. When I look at your to-do lists, I see more things to do than hours available to do them. How do we, as leaders, consistently identify the one or two things that deserve…
I was talking to a founder about her biggest headache: a recurring bottleneck in her sales pipeline. Every quarter, the same issue would surface. She’d review the deals, spot the friction, step in, and fix it. She’s the hero in the moment, but the cycle keeps repeating. She told me, “I know the answer is…
Sometimes a client will come to a call with an excited, nervous energy, tinged with fear and dread. They’ll say something like, “I have this idea, but it feels a little crazy,” or “Is it too much to think about this right now?” They’re sitting on a big dream—something that seems too good to be…
As you’re reading this, I’m out on what I call my “yearly walk.” For me, that means I’m somewhere in the mountains or on a beach, pushing myself on a long, strenuous hike. I’m in unfamiliar territory, soaking in new sights, and leaning into a different rhythm. In our busy lives, where the to-do list…
A farmer plants a bamboo seed in the ground. He waters it every day for the first year, but nothing seems to happen. The same happens in the second, third, and fourth years—nothing visible grows above ground. However, the bamboo is developing a strong root system beneath the surface. Finally, in the fifth year, the…