From the Author

In a crude and simple way, people can be divided into two groups: those who mostly believe their skills, talents, and abilities are largely maxed out, and those who believe they still have room for growth. This is important because having a fixed mindset severely limits your ability to learn new things and improve your […]

One of the important distinctions between people is their belief regarding who runs things, particularly things that are important to us. Some of us feel we have a great deal of control over what happens to us; others feel we have very little control. I’m not sure which attitude is more accurate. But I know

I’ve previously written about the power of positive thinking, here, and here. The simple idea behind it all is that a tendency toward upbeat thinking is more beneficial than wallowing in its downbeat opposite. More recently, however, I’ve begun to itemize some positive thoughts and attitudes that I believe can greatly nurture your productivity and

From our earliest days, most of us are taught to seek out success and avoid making errors. But that’s impossible. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “There is no effort without error.” Since we can’t avoid making errors, it’s fortunate there’s a way to benefit from them. Simply put: you can and probably should learn to

In previous posts, I’ve written about the importance of working well with other people, and I’ve also touched on various topics relating to power. But this time, I’m going straight to the essence of power: it’s the ability to make things happen, and to get others to do what you want. Some of what follows

In a previous post, I referred to coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success as a way to redefine success and failure so as to include only factors entirely within your control. In this way, you can feel successful, regardless of particular wins or losses, provided that you make whole-hearted efforts to do your best. That

A while ago, I wrote about resilience, which is the capacity to recover from difficulties and demanding experiences. I suggested that by building up your resilience, you speed up and improve your ability to get back to full strength after an adverse experience. I concluded that building resilience also helps you become stronger and better

Values are important because, to the extent you are working and living in alignment with your values, you’re likely to be happier, prouder, more satisfied, and more willing to strive for productivity and success than someone whose values contradict their words and deeds. Whether your values have evolved naturally from your upbringing or you have

I admit it: normally, this blog is heavily skewed toward serious topics that will almost certainly help you boost your level of productivity and success. But sometimes productivity and success can, should – and yes, even must – take a back seat. One of the primary reasons for productivity and success to take a back

Charisma. What is it? Where does it come from? How is it useful? How can you gather more of it? Simply put, charisma is a person’s ability to attract positive attention, gather willing followers, and influence their behavior. Cult leaders generally show a lot of charisma. But cults are a narrow, negative use of charismatic