From the Author

Productivity, earnings, and success grow from working smart and working hard. But they grow much faster and better when you root smart, hard work in a nurturing environment. In this piece, I’d like to help you understand the elements of a nurturing environment, and suggest some ways to review and possibly improve yours. Nurture Your […]

In many – perhaps even most – situations, the biggest and best wins are usually those that take a lot of effort, resources, and time. But even there, taking steps to deliver a quick win or two can offer some important benefits: Building or reinforcing your confidence. Demonstrating your abilities and competence. Providing a solid

Most of what I write about in this blog contains a large component of objective, tangible, practical considerations or criteria that make the ideas and practices pretty easy to implement. This one is different. That’s because finding work you love inherently depends on subjective, intangible, sometimes even ambiguous considerations or criteria that require you to

As the famous and highly successful basketball coach at UCLA, John Wooden, wisely counseled: “When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. … Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time.

As you make your way through your work and your life, you’ll meet lots of people, both good and bad. Most of them will appear, hang around for a while, and then slowly or suddenly disappear from your world. However, some of them will be keepers: people you enjoy, admire, appreciate, or otherwise want to

In a previous post, I reminded you that feedback is great, and I suggested three ways to get more value from any and all of the valid feedback that comes your way. I also cautioned about the importance of distinguishing between useful, helpful feedback and feedback from people who: 1) don’t really know what they’re

Feedback is great. It’s an important and easily available way to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses, as well as to identify the best available opportunities to improve your level of productivity and success. Of course, this is true only of feedback that comes honestly and earnestly from people who accurately see who you

Survey after survey shows that something like three quarters of all people are afraid of speaking in public. That’s an important disability, because so much of your productivity and success in your work and your life involves sharing your ideas, trying to gain cooperation, and generally communicating both with people you know and with strangers.

One key element in maintaining or improving your level of productivity and success is your positive mindset. For a variety of reasons, feeling stressed, worried about the future, and/or inadequate to meet your challenges tends to degrade your performance. That’s why people with a naturally positive attitude often find it easier to maintain their productivity

One of the opportunities, and consequences, of becoming more productive and successful tends to be encountering additional leadership responsibilities. For a handful of good reasons, people who accomplish more than most others are often asked to lead both people and projects. Even when not asked, productive and successful people often see and want to pursue