“My job sucks,” Joan told me.
She was head of a small department in a major corporation.
“Every day,” said Joan, “Is like a nightmare in slow motion. None of the departments will cooperate with the others, nothing important ever gets done, and any project that would count for anything dies from terminal pettiness.”
I asked her [...]

You’ll need to let yourself do some dumb things now and then if you really want to succeed.
The story goes that a young employee, just hired, asked the company president how to rise in the company faster than average. The president told him, “You’ll need to let yourself make more mistakes than average.”
We all want [...]

Is your personal growth and self development complete? Have you gone as far as you intend to, or will you continue shaping, polishing and improving?
Each of us is both artwork and artisan, working to shape ourselves into a “product” that pleases us. Or if we’re not pleased with the result, at least our selves might [...]

I lived for a couple of years with my grandparents on a farm in North Georgia, and in addition to his other businesses and holdings, my grandaddy also grew several acres of corn.
If you’ve ever seen corn in the field, you’ll know that all the stalks grow tall except for the ones along the edge [...]

So why are most people terrified to speak in public? Well, let’s face it — they know they don’t know what they’re doing, and they fully expect high-visibility failure.
But some people DO know.
Patricia Fripp is one of those people. Here, she explains how she coaches awkward, fearful speakers to pro-level in mere hours. Pay close [...]

Here’s an easy little tip that can make the things you say more persuasive, memorable and believable.
For some reason, when we package ideas together in sets of three, our listeners (or readers) tend to accept them more readily. They somehow seem more comfortable in three-packs.
In this guest article, Patricia Fripp explains how you can use [...]

Ever feel manipulated by others and not sure how to defend yourself from people who are only out for themselves? Wish you could learn a little of what they know, so you could use it to do some good in the world?
Here’s an excellent chance to do that — and more.

The movies have it wrong, you know.
You remember, don’t you? Darth Vader keeps urging, “Come to the dark side of the force, Luke.”
But evil just about never approaches you in such a direct, easily recognized way. No, it’ll sneak into your life sideways, under the pretext of “this is for the greater good” or “you [...]

Putting your thoughts and feelings across to someone else — we call that communication.
There are times when, no matter what you say, the other person takes it the wrong way or gets the wrong idea. And yet, at other times, it seems like you and the other person are on the identical wavelength, almost like [...]

Sometimes our conversations just don’t go the way we want them to go.
We all have people, whether at home or in business, who are easy to talk with… but then there are also the other kind.
Let’s face it, we don’t need any help with the easy ones. But when it comes to the hard ones, [...]

I was feeling great that day, so naturally I decided to screw it up.
Feeling happy was not a common thing for me. In fact, I spent a LOT of time depressed from the age of 15 till I was around 30. After that I mellowed out a bit, and how that happened is a story.
When [...]

When it comes to our little day-to-day challenges, most of us tend to over-emphasize their size and importance.
In fact, it’s very common to try and outdo our friends in describing our most recent “disasters” and “tragedies.” We want everyone to think we’re struggling heroically to meet and master every little blip on the radar screen.
But [...]

Ability is FAR more relative than we may suspect.
When I was a kid, I was considered non-athletic. Back in my school days, when our teachers would take us out for gym class, they’d make us do sports stuff, and as a fat, clumsy kid, I hated that.
One day in late spring, our teacher announced, [...]

Everybody has days when the confidence sags a bit.
And let’s face it, sometimes our confidence can even take a major dive, facedown in the dirt. When that happens, it may take real guts to keep moving forward. What we’d rather do — when our confidence has just been squashed — is slink away and disappear [...]

The Japanese describe a big, life-changing decision as:
“Kiyomizu no butai kara tobi-oriru.”
That tongue twister translates as:
“Leaping from the high porch of Kiyomizu Temple.”

If you’ve ever been to Kyoto and visited this temple, you’ll know it’s built high on a steep hillside. You can stand on the wide porch that runs all round the temple building, [...]

I smiled and nodded to everyone as I entered, but they all either ignored me, or worse, gave me a slightly distasteful look and turned away.
This happened every time I entered this restaurant. I ate there two or three times a week, and though everybody knew me, and the food was always good, somehow they [...]

“I’m just a slow starter,” Artie told me. “While I’m still getting ready, everybody else is in motion and racking up points.”
I asked him why he thought that was.
“Well, as you know, I’m planning to start a website, but there’s just SO much to learn. And I just can’t start before I know what I’m [...]

You’ve heard it over and over - your thoughts control what happens in your life.
So you buy books and tapes on positive thinking or mental programming. You attend seminars and workshops on NLP or hypnosis. Or you try any of a dozen other methods and systems. All in an attempt to retrain and redirect your [...]

Michael liked earning $280,000 a year.
But everything else about his job stunk: the 90-hour weeks; the pressure; his boss.
Yes, the pay was good. But as Michael said, “It takes a big chunk of cheese to keep a rat running this maze day after day.”
Occasionally he thought about quitting - just walking away. Then he would [...]

Drive down any street in your city, or thumb through the Yellow Pages, and notice all the different kinds of businesses you see.
For every single one of them, someone is failing at it, while someone else is succeeding. And someone is even becoming very wealthy. This is true whether it’s selling used cars cleaning [...]