From the Author

In a recent post, Weathering Change, I wrote that change is often the one constant in our modern world, and that learning to cope well with changes is crucial to maintaining your productivity and success. After that post appeared, a lot of people wrote in to complain that weathering change – even when doing it […]

It’s a confusing world out there, and while we sometimes like to think of our choices as “either/or,” or “yes/no,” the plain fact of the matter is that very often we face a situation containing a complex set of important factors with no clear pathway to the future. That’s when a simple but effective method

There are many factors that go into achieving success, including hard work, good luck, innate talent, intelligence, help from others, fruitful choices, and more. In this piece, however, I want to write about attitudes.   Attitudes are important to success because they heavily influence your perceptions, your efforts, your choices, and – yes – even

In a recent post, Easy Pathways Toward Confidence, one of the points I mentioned was the importance of strengthening your capabilities. Many of you wrote in and asked for some techniques to do just that. The basic idea there was to amass some meaningful milestones, such as degrees, certifications, awards, skills, abilities, or some other

Running a race well is a good thing, but not as good as crossing the finish line. There’s something about finishing – a race, a task, a project, a goal, or anything else – that feels extra satisfying. Plus, it marks a bona fide accomplishment you can remember, perhaps put on your resume, and sometimes

Most of us understand and easily recognize fear of failure. But there’s an equal and opposite fear of success that often hides among the more obvious obstacles to greater productivity and higher levels of achievement. This largely unrecognized fear of reaching our goals and accomplishing what we really want is fairly common. In particular, it

In many ways, confidence is the name of the game. It’s a key element in both productivity and success, because feeling confident allows for relaxation and poise, both of which support high-level performance. What’s more, confidence is itself powerful, particularly because it heavily impacts others, both positively and negatively. Confidence has a positive impact not

As I’ve tried to convey many times, a big part of your productivity and success depends on other people, and particularly on getting other people not only to do what you want and need help with, but to provide this help how, when, and where you prefer. In many situations, this boils down to delegating

The one constant in this world is change. Yet many people are uncomfortable when the familiar becomes unfamiliar, when the known becomes uncertain, when the old rules no longer apply. Get used to it: change is coming, probably faster and then even faster over the coming years. It’s just not smart to stick your head

It’s easy enough to feel motivated when you need to put food on the table, or when someone you care about is driving you – because of their need or desire – to accomplish something specific. Motivating yourself, however, to do something you care about is an entirely different kettle of fish. For one thing,