From the Author

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

I received a lot of positive feedback on my recent discussion of ways to Make Your Team Better. Naturally, I also got some questions and some requests for more on the same topic. I’m reluctant to say too much about teams and teamwork because my focus here is primarily on productivity and success, which need

There’s a fine line between stress and pressure. Stress is primarily a feeling, a normal reaction to pressure. Pressure, on the other hand, is not a feeling. It’s a demand to perform – usually at a high level, often at a specific place and time. This demand can come from your own internal thoughts, feelings,

There’s a story I like, which may or may not be true, about the building of Disney World, which opened in 1971, five years after the death of Walt Disney. Many of the speakers at the opening ceremony lamented that Walt couldn’t be there to see Disney World. Then his widow spoke, and said something

I’m sorry to report – in case you haven’t already noticed – that parts of your work or your life that you thought were solid and safe can totally fall apart, sometimes without very much warning. This may never happen to you. If it does, it may not last very long. But it’s an eventuality

One of the things I’ve tried to do my whole adult life is expand my personal limits. Early on, I realized I inherently gave little or no credence to the limitations that others tried to put on me (“You can’t do that!). Where I faltered was in my encounters with the limits I subconsciously or