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]
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]
Part 1: When we moved into our current home, we inherited a yard that had 17 separate flowerbeds.
Out of desire and necessity, Brenda (my beloved) became an avid gardener overnight.
The gardens included many old rose bushes and Brenda became smitten with roses. Because the previous owner had neglected them, she quickly became a rose nurse, reviving a number of struggling rose bushes.
One such rose bush stood along the stone walk that led to our front door. Brenda’s care kept it from dying though it never produced a single rose bloom for our first four summers here.…[Continue Reading]
A wise client made a comment to me the other day. It was short and sweet, and it helps you look at yourself in the mirror in a new way.
He said, “It’s hard to fight and win against your competition when you keep fighting yourself.” He was referring to some senior leaders in one of his divisions who had been unknowingly and unintentionally taking each other down and holding their business back from success.…[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]
Last Friday was Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. He would have been 207. He still inspires us, today.
Perhaps we should rename Presidents Day to “Underdogs Day.”
Heroes we celebrate today were almost always underestimated for large stretches of their lives. They were underdogs.
This year when people are predicting your failure, remember the underdog. Even the last three US presidents elected were laughable underdogs early in their campaigns.…[Continue Reading]
