Marvelous Marva: How to Keep Joy in Your Life
“Name one thing in your life that you are in total control of,” Marva said. “Think about it; what is the one thing you’re in absolute control of?” I paused, running through an inventory of my life and searched for things, then she answered her own question. “You’re in...
What Power Will You Use to Make the World More Beautiful Today?
What are the things in your life that you enjoy making beautiful? Is it your garden? Your family? The company for which you work? A spreadsheet? A book you’re writing? Yourself? Pause for one minute and make a list. Are you back now? Good. Now ask yourself, what...
Giving Five Minutes of Hope
“Five minutes of hope can stop a person from committing suicide.” I learned that lesson in theory, first, then I learned it in real life shortly thereafter when I talked a man out of the .357 he had pointed at his temple. For twenty years I served as a minister of a...
Creating A World In Which You Want To Live
Are you exhausted with the negativity you see in the news and on social media? Do you have to work or live with someone who is negative or critical of everyone and everything? As the old saying goes, “A crazy person will even make a sane person go crazy after a...
How to Handle the Critics in Your Life
The Jealous Critic is hard to spot because they’re sneaky; no one will ever admit they are jealous of you. But they point out your faults, not so much because you’re wrong, but because they want to be superior to you. Their criticism is more about their inadequacy than it is about your faults.
A 3,500-Year-Old Lesson on Fake News and Misleading Marketing
Do you ever feel like you're being misled, not only by Fake News but by misleading marketing and advertising? In 2016, Hunts made a commercial that stated, “No matter how far afield you look, you won’t find a single genetically modified tomato among our vines." Why...
Life as a Swizzle Stick
Who are the people in your life that have stirred up the good in you? What did they do to cause good things to happen in you and through you? Like you, I’ve had a few swizzle sticks in my life that have stirred up the good in me. When my ship...
Seeing What Others Can Not See: Leadership Lesson #8
Visionaries don't think outside the box; they're already outside the box. Visionaries are out in front of the wagon trains moving west, looking for new territory, better ways of crossing mountains and easier paths to cross the river. Often, they do this alone....
The Unenviable Truth About Leadership: Be Ready to Fight – Lesson 7
If you want to be a leader, be ready for a fight. You will be attacked. The hardest lesson I ever learned about leadership was that when you are elevated to a position of authority, you have a new bulls-eye on your back. Don't believe me? Ask the person who recently...
Good Leaders Inspire Others to Improve Themselves: Leadership Lesson #6
Coach Bill Snyder – Kansas State University’s legendary football coach – inherited a zero-and-twelve football team in the early ‘90’s and, three years later, they were ten-and-two. He retired once and the team spiraled downhill so they brought him back. The Wildcats...