From the Author

I always enjoyed bridge building in children’s cartoons, mostly because the traffic starts running both ways even while the bridge spans only half the river. But in the real world, building half a bridge is pretty useless. So is a contract signed by only half the parties, a promise only half-kept, or a project that […]

It’s a simple concept, but few of us do enough of it: We celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, milestones and triumphs of various kinds. We celebrate successes at the moment of victory. But we rarely – if ever – review our past successes and retroactively celebrate what really counts, such as: Taking the time to celebrate

Duh! In developing this idea into this finished piece, I grappled with the apparent obviousness of the point I’m trying to make. But that doesn’t make it less valid. And perhaps my point is not quite as self-evident as it first seems. Larger projects generally take more time, involve more people, and develop through more

For decades, I’ve believed – and told others – that almost anyone can produce a top-notch performance, deliverable, or result on a sunny day when they feel fine, when resources are plentiful, and when everything’s going right. But on a cold and rainy day, when you feel weak and ill, you’re running short of the

I’m still on board with the whole To-Do list thing. But it seems to be falling out of favor with some people. “It’s too rigid and inflexible,” they say. “It’s better when used as a list of options rather than requirements,” they suggest. I understand and accept these criticisms, and I take them into account

Few of us are performing at 100%. There are many reasons for this, but among them is one simple fact: we allow emotional and psychological issues to divert us from a full-on, maximum, nose-to-the-grindstone effort. If you search for intangible factors diverting people from success, you’ll find a great many of them, ranging from simple

There’s a ton of advice floating around about taking risks. Most of the time, the advice primarily says that it’s good to be willing to take more risks. That’s a kind of “one size fits all” advisory that might not apply very well to you, as an individual. The reason is, these advice-givers don’t know

I, for one, don’t like constraints. Within civilized limits, I’m not good with rules that don’t make sense, and I particularly don’t like being told arbitrarily what I can and cannot do. But I also recognize that constraints are more than merely straightjackets and guardrails. They can provide encouragements and incentives that may propel you

Misunderstandings. They’re at the bottom of far too many arguments, break-ups, rejections, refusals, and failures to make positive progress. It happens so often: you have a great conversation with someone and leave with a strong conviction the future is bright. Yet somehow the possibilities fizzle, and very little or nothing ever happens. Fortunately, there are