Last week we talked about narrowing your focus to the most important things, things only you can do so that you can slow down the speed of your life. I’ve found that when I slow the pace of my life, I see more, notice more, and have more vitality. One of the most significant results of slowing down my life has been an increase in gratitude. When I have more time between commitments, when I’m not rushing around, it’s easier to see the progress we’ve made. I notice how much I enjoyed my time with my client or how nice my yard looks in the autumn sun. When my days have more moments of spontaneous gratitude, it does wonders for my energy and perspective. Things seem possible; roadblocks … [Read more...]

What happens when life speeds up? When my day gets packed with meetings, my work gets pushed into the evening or the weekend. If I’ve got commitments with my family or friends, I have to skip those or reschedule them. To keep my head above water, I start to drop commitments that I have made to myself, times to exercise or relax, then health care (doctor, dentist, etc.), then sleep. When my life gets “full” like that, things start to become a blur. I lose track of what day it is. I miss milestones like birthdays, anniversaries, or other important events. I’m not making memories or connections with my family and friends. I feel like I’m missing things. My creativity and capacity are … [Read more...]

You have something you want to accomplish in your life. It might be building an outstanding studio that creates the most impactful, award-winning work. It might be to sail around the world. It might be to write the great American novel. Whatever it is, it's a dream because you don't have a direct path to get there. You can see it in the distance, but if you knew how to get there, it wouldn't be a dream; it would be a plan! What's standing in the way of that goal? When I ask people, "What's standing between you and achieving your dream," most people think about three things: Time, they don't have the time to pursue it. Money, they need more money to achieve it than … [Read more...]

You know what I’m talking about, that thing; the pivotal project or crucial task that could change everything. That’s going to unlock the door to the growth and fulfillment you’ve never had before. What’s stopping you from doing that? It’s not knowledge. We live in a time when there’s more access to information than at any time in history. You’ve got Google, YouTube, online courses… The knowledge you need is available. It’s not time. We know that you have all the time that you want to put toward it. Your busyness is just an avoidance tactic. “Do the thing, and you shall have the power.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Is it clarity? Do you have a clear view of what the next step is; a vivid … [Read more...]

My father had what many would say was a very successful career. He graduated from college with an Industrial Engineering degree and went to work in a management role in a factory. But he wanted more from life than that, so he entered a part-time MBA program that led to a job with (what was then) a “big seven” accounting firm doing consulting. He became a partner at a young age and went on to open the Asia/Pacific office for that firm, running it for several years. He retired when he was young, in his late 50’s, expecting to spend years traveling, fishing, and playing with his grandkids. Unfortunately, he passed away at 62. Rethinking your career As you can tell from our … [Read more...]

Life is short. The life expectancy of college-educated Americans is 78.8 years. Take off 20 years for childhood, and our adult life is about 515,088 hours. If we sleep for a third of those hours, it leaves us 339,958 hours. If we work for 40 years at about 40 hours per week, that’s 80,000 hours or 25% of our waking adult hours are spent at work. We spend a quarter of our lives working. There must be something important about the thing we spend a quarter of our lives doing. I’d expect that you’d want that time to be significant! To mean something.  What does work mean to you? Beyond making a living, why does it matter? Why do you work? If you find a clear answer to that … [Read more...]

Hi, my name’s Brad, and I’m addicted to achievement. I love to get things done. I love the feeling I get when my business is going well when I’m closing new deals and seeing progress with my clients. But when I know there’s another endorphin hit just around the corner, when do I stop? What is enough growth or enough wins? Breaking the cycle The only thing in nature that grows without limits is cancer. Everything else has rhythms of growth and dying back, of breathing out, then breathing in, of rising and falling. As we reach the turn of the season, from summer’s growth to winter’s rest, how can you reflect this rhythm of nature in your own life and work? Where do you need to … [Read more...]

I read a remarkable book recently that I can't stop thinking about. A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a short, beautifully written story that imagines a future in which humans set the robots free for 200 years and then come back into contact again. One quote, in particular, has stuck with me. A robot and a monk travel together for some time, and after experiencing the monk’s insecurity, the robot turns and says, You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that or earn it. You are allowed to just live. Can you take that idea in today? Can you live, just for today, … [Read more...]

In my work with agency owners, the topic of uncertainty comes up constantly. Uncertainty in the sales pipeline. Folks say yes, then back out. Deals drag on without a yes, or a no. Budgets shift. Decision-makers change. Uncertainty with the team. People problems are universal. Good folks disappear on you or just get distracted by life. Can you hire when you need folks? Uncertainty with the market/economy. The post-pandemic market is filled with uncertainty. Will the services our clients loved in 2021 be what they need in 2022? We’re always looking for ways to reduce uncertainty. Why can’t we get a solid forecast from our sales team or better estimates from the production … [Read more...]

I got on the phone with a client this week; this is what I heard... “We’re busier than we’ve ever been, we’re booking more projects, bigger projects, and more of them with our ideal clients, that’s the good news!” "The bad news is all that new business has really impacted our culture! We’ve canceled most of our team building and training. We’re just too busy! Everyone is nose to the grindstone all the time. “I think our team is starting to feel like they are just machines and we’re running them too close to the limit!” For the last year, clients who had a solid value proposition and were targeting a receptive market pre-pandemic have been reaping the rewards of lots of new … [Read more...]