Life can frequently feel out of control with a myriad of commitments, deadlines, and things that need to be done immediately.  Each of us have a list of things we would like to accomplish that exceeds our available time, effort and energy by a considerable margin.  In this situation, it frequently feels like we cannot afford to stop moving, because every minute gone by is one less minute to accomplish our goals and ambitions.

However, while we are going about the work of accomplishing our dreams, it is important to occasionally …

One of the phrases that has caught hold in corporate culture is “work-life balance” or the art of balancing the demands of work against having a happy and productive home life.  This concept is very easy to talk about, but becomes more complicated when people try to put it into action.  The most important thing to understand when talking about balance is the effect of trade-offs.
What Balance Really Means
Life is a collection of trade-offs.  When you seek to get one thing, you frequently end up giving up something else.  When …

Many people have heard the popular phrase “climbing the corporate ladder” in reference to the development of a person’s career.  This conjures up mental images of pushing people out of the way to claw your way up to the top.  This hyper-competitive view of the world has created a dour image of professional success in the minds of many people.
It is most certainly true that there is an element of “dog eat dog” competition when it comes to careers, but it is also true that there are many people who …

The discussion of what makes us successful has been going on for a considerable period of time.  Many of us are tempted to fall for fads, schemes or popular culture concerning the meaning and methods for achieving success in our lives.  Many of us have come to believe that success is about setting personal goals, and tracking our progress on those goals.  Others view success as a “life purpose” that we seek to accomplish.
Many of these perspectives contain important elements of truth, but many of them are also missing some …

One of the things that we like to do is human beings is to fantasize about how our lives would be different if something were different.  It turns out that this mode of thinking produces two distinctive outputs.  The first is that it allows our minds to drift into a world where events unfold exactly as we would like.  The second is that by using the word if, it absolves our minds of any responsibility for making our dreams a reality.
The effect is very subtle, but it is still very …

The current world is becoming very polarized and divisive.  There is an increasing trend of people to think and act as groups, instead of as individuals.  The subtleties of unique individualism are being concatenated into “black” and “white” or “Republican” and “Democrat.”A  The problem that is created by this brand of mass conformity is that people stop looking to learn from people that are not a part of their group.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is famous for his belief that every person possesses some talent that exceeds his own, and that each …

In the game of blackjack, you can ‘double down’ on a hand by doubling your bet for one more card from the dealer.  (When playing blackjack, your goal is to create a hand that is as close as possible to 21 without going over)A  This action allows you to take additional risk for an immediate payoff.  Within the community of people who enjoy the game of blackjack, most will tell you that it is advantageous to double down on an eleven, or possibly a ten.  The principal reason for this …

For both individuals and business owners, negotiations can prove to be one of the most difficult and most important things that we do.  The largest purchases that most people make frequently involve very intense negotiations.  The ability to gain employment, and earn promotions is also frequently influenced by your ability to negotiate.  Negotiation has a very significant impact on personal, professional, and financial success.  Because of this, it is very important to understand the parts of negotiations that are the most important, along with the parts that are frequently misunderstood.
To …

Most of us have been in a situation where there were lots of things to do, but not much time to do them it.  In these situations, the natural response is to ask what items are the most important . . . and a disturbingly large number of managers and bosses will frequently reply: “It’s all important.”
The subtle insanity of the statement: “It’s all important” is that if everything is considered to be ‘important’ then there is no way to prioritize which activities to do first.  Thus, saying that everything …

Many people are familiar with the sentiment that “the end justifies the means” when pursuing goals and ambitions.  However, in the realm of business and life, ends and means are quite important.  In many cases, ‘how’ you go about doing something is equally (if not more) important than what you are doing in the first place.  Many times, it is easy to pursue short-term results by bending or breaking rules.  However, long-term success requires attention to both the goal and the methods used to reach it.
Most people recognize this fact …