Things can go from hopeful to hateful in no time.
You’ve been watching it unfold in front of you. It just takes one person to show they’re anxious, to worry out loud, to take a hard line, or to lose their cool.
When they do, it’s easy for others to join them in a downward spiral. You’ve probably been on both sides of this lately. So have I.…[Continue Reading]
Mel asked me to meet him for a drink at an out-of-the-way dive bar. He wanted to talk away from the office where people wouldn’t overhear us.
After a quick hello, he jumped right into why he wanted to talk.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Do you think I’m losing it? I’m beginning to think I must be crazy.”…[Continue Reading]
Last Friday night, Morgan William from Mississippi State caught the basketball at mid-court with 3.9 seconds left in a tie game. Her window of opportunity opened and closed in less time than it took you to read this paragraph.
Her story is one that can inspire and instruct every one of us who wants to make our dent in the Universe.…[Continue Reading]
Cooper (aka, Coop) is a strapping 16 year-old kid who just didn’t know any better.
His ONE DREAM is to play college basketball. Okay, in full disclosure, he also seems to dream about Mexican food pretty often.
He knew the first step to his big dream was to play high school basketball. And he wanted to be ready.
He logged thousands of hours of practice and play through 8th grade. Thousands.…[Continue Reading]
You thought you were having a bad day?
What’s your worst day look like? You’re 3 months behind on your most important project with only 1 month until the deadline? You just caused a 3 car pile up and you found out you let your insurance policy lapse by 1 day?
It might even feel like you’re cursed.…[Continue Reading]
The Chicago Cubs’ success carries great news for you. What can you gain? More wins and a larger fan base.
But it might appear too risky. You decide.
The Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908. This year, they’re the favorites to win it all.
Full disclosure: I’m a lifelong Cubs fan, but this post is written for you, even if you don’t like the Cubs or baseball…[Continue Reading]
Could you boil your best life’s insights into 18 minutes? That’s what you’re expected to do in a TED talk.
Lt. Colonel Scott Mann, Green Beret (retired), is one of the most impressive human beings I’ve met. An amazing leader and teacher in combat and civilian life.
Scott just condensed some of his hard earned lessons into a TEDx talk. I think you’ll want to put them into action.…[Continue Reading]
I just watched a 30-second video clip of a most bizarre ending to a high school softball game.
These 30 seconds provide a fantastic hyper-speed-tutorial in resilience that applies to every leader who ever plans to do something great.
Whenever you stretch for a big hairy audacious goal (BHAG), obstacles, failures and surprises are mandatory.
The BHAG for both softball teams was winning their District Championship. Finesse and talent is rarely the differentiator between winners and losers.
What separates the wishers from the winners is how they recover from the inevitable setback, aka, resilience.
Resilience has at least two dimensions that matter:…[Continue Reading]
Today, Jose is a thriving college sophomore and a dear friend, one of the most wise and resilient people I know. He was once a Little Brother I mentored. I share his story with full permission.
We met when Jose was 12.
He could barely read or do math. He had just started selling drugs in a gang.
But those challenges were minimal compared to what almost destroyed him: the Mexican love song. …[Continue Reading]
I’m re-gifting a valuable gift from a friend.
When I went through a divorce many years ago, I fought hard to avoid the chaos and public humility I was anticipating.
I felt like a pathetic failure.
I holed myself up in a friend Virgil’s apartment in Chicago hoping the world wouldn’t notice if I just disappeared. I’m sure I looked pretty foolish trying to hide and hold everything together rather than move toward my next phase of life.
Perhaps you’ve tried this move once or twice, yourself? If you’ve ever fallen on your face publicly, you know what I’m talking about.…[Continue Reading]
