From the Author

You’ll often hear various people say “anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and also “do something every day that scares you.” I’m on board with these ideas. In fact, I believe there’s great value in the experiences you gain from working through troubles and surviving difficulties. It all boils down to the power […]

A lot of the advice you’ll see offered in the world – and let’s face it: a lot of the advice I give – centers around things you can to do make yourself and your world better. But the other side of that coin is just as important. I’m talking now about the things you

As I’ve suggested quite often, “one necessity for increasing your productivity and success is the ability to work well with people. Your performance often depends on their performance in more ways than I care to count.” You can learn more details here and here on specific ways I’ve suggested to keep your relationships strong. But

A key but often overlooked foundation of most problem-solving attempts is the assumptions you accept in analyzing the situation and searching for a solution. Although at times you may not be fully aware of some of them, they’re always extremely important. For example, if your sales pitch is working poorly on too many prospects and

I’m at it again: writing a tricky headline to catch extra interest in hopes of spreading this idea a little wider than it might otherwise go. The truth is I’m not praising pessimism as better than optimism, or suggesting that pessimists have a clearer, more accurate view of the world and where it’s going. In

In this space, I write about productivity and success, some of which comes from technique, some of which comes from smart choices, and some of which comes from solid self-management. This time, let’s consider how to get more and better results from your time, energy, and efforts by improving some of the ways you manage

Some of us are more readily susceptible than others to the feeling, but we all hate boredom. Although we’ve all experienced long periods of it, few of us have learned to recognize the power of boredom as a signal of opportunity. Think about it: One definition of “boredom” is simply “feeling that the moment lacks

Much of what we think and believe is an illusion. There is a growing body of science to support this idea. One of the main takeaways from this understanding is the importance of recognizing what’s real and what’s not, and – in the context of productivity and success – what we control and what we

I remember being very impressed with the book “The Inner Game of Tennis,” which pretty much began the trend of looking inward to find and reduce the sources of many different performance problems. Later, I was happy to lead the editorial work of a similar approach to productivity, this one aimed at improving stock and

I’ve been studying productivity for more decades than I care to remember, and much of my effort has gone into developing and teaching practical techniques to get more of the important agenda items done sooner rather than later. But underlying all of that effort must be a productivity mindset: the positive attitude that you can