From the Author

As you no doubt recognize, there are a great many pathways toward higher levels of productivity and success. On this website, I’ve been showing you some of them, and will continue to show you more. But I want to take a small detour this time toward the motivational side of the issue. If you’ve been […]

I’ve written before about psychological ways to build your confidence, including this column, and this column. Now I’d like to suggest some behavioral practices that demonstrate personal confidence. Exhibiting these behaviors in your work and your life can be helpful in at least two ways: Signaling your confidence to others so they’ll be more likely

There’s much talk about the power of “multi-tasking,” but generally it’s all wrong. Scientists have discovered that it’s difficult or even impossible to do two things at once. Sure, you may be able to hum a tune in your head while performing a simple task with your hands. Sometimes, you can think one thing and

Regardless of your abilities, regardless of what you do, regardless of the role you play in doing it, a key element in getting where you want to go in your work and your life is the strength of your relationships. That’s why learning, polishing, and making good use of your relationship skills is – or

It’s simply not possible to navigate your work and your life without experiencing a crisis or two. While it’s important to try and avoid them as much as possible, it’s even more important to cultivate your ability to minimize their impact. Crises come in many different varieties and degrees of difficulty. Each one requires a

Life is a journey. Actually, it’s many journeys. And one of the most important of those journeys is from wherever you are now to the land of increased capabilities. This is an important journey because the more you stretch your capabilities, the more easily you can dial in the life you want: doing the activities,

There are many characteristics that are important in building a productive, successful career and life. But none of them is more important than gaining and keeping other people’s trust. Why? Because when other people trust you, they are more willing to help you, to listen to your ideas, to accept your opinions, to respect your

You can sometimes cajole, nag, or even force people to help you accomplish your tasks, projects, and goals. But none of that will get you anywhere near as much cooperation, effort, and enthusiasm as you’ll receive when you earn their “buy-in.” In certain situations, people will be ready, willing, and even eager to join you

As a person who’s interested in productivity and success, you’re probably already working at or near your maximum capacity. Even so, you probably find that people sometimes ask you to do something more. Why? Because they recognize the truth of the aphorism: “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.” But

As I wrote a while ago, here and here, resilience is the capacity to recover quickly and well from difficulties and demanding experiences. Resilience is an important and powerful capability because it leads you to come back quickly to full strength after the inevitable setbacks and problems we all experience, from time to time. In