The gauntlet had been thrown down. What choice did I have? We were on a road trip...somewhere. The details don't matter, but I'm pretty sure we were rolling up to Dairy Queen for some Blizzards. Someone in my family, probably my wife, challenged me to request extra "nipkins" at the drive-thru window. Not napkins, NIPkins. And with that, my honor was on the line. I could not allow myself to be shamed in front of my own children by failing to accept this summons. On that day, I am proud to say, I rose to the challenge, growing three feet taller in the eyes of my wife and children …
Caught Not Taught
Teaching is overrated. Oh, did that get your attention? Good. Now let me tell you what I mean. As parents who homeschool, Kim and I have thought a lot about our role as teachers. And I've been fortunate to speak to thousands of educators over the years, encouraging them in a job that's become more difficult with each passing year. I don't think that teachers are overrated, just one particular part of their job. The teaching part. I've made many observations over many years as a homeschooling parent. It's clear to me that kids have no trouble learning. It's a built-in feature. …
In Pursuit of Greatness
Ron Swanson, Timothée Chalamet, and my dad walked into a bar. Out came this article. Let's start with Mr. Chalamet, the brilliant young actor who received a Screen Actors Guild award for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. His acceptance speech caused a stir, not because it was controversial, but because it was so uncommon: "I know the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role and how much this means to me, but the truth is this was five years of my life. I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. …
Expectations Are the Thief of Peace
Recently, I had a wonderful, tremendously productive day that felt like a failure thanks to one crucial mistake. It's a mistake you and I make all the time. I'll start by saying I find it incredibly helpful to plan my day the night before. As I've gotten older, my approach has gotten wiser. Rather than trying to squeeze everything into unbending blocks of time, experience has taught me to build in breathing room for the inevitable swerves that arise. Still, some days never have enough breathing room. On this particular day, one project took waaaay longer than I expected, …
No is a Gift, Not a Monster
"NO" is a monster that frightens many of us. It's so intimidating that we'll forfeit the chance of getting something awesome because the mere chance of hearing "No" keeps us from even asking. Granted, no one likes to be turned down for a job, a date, or entry to a school we hoped to attend. But No doesn't have to be the enemy we think it is. Our team once worked with a sales consultant who helped us to see the value in a No. She conceded that because No is so powerful, prospects are afraid to say it, so they offer up a maybe instead, which she warned is worse than a No. "No is a …
The Prepper
When my wife told me she was pregnant with our first child, my heart filled with joy. Two seconds later, panic arrived at the party. All I could think about was how profoundly our lives were about to change and I didn't have the slightest idea of how to prepare. I immediately began searching Amazon for the latest owner's manual for babies. Kim, on the other hand, seemed to calmly slide into the nesting phase that's common to many moms in the animal kingdom. In preparation for a new life, they instinctually work to create conditions for that new life to thrive. In the years since …
My Dumb Resumé
The whole reason Kim and I started our own business was so that we would never have to write resumés. Ok, maybe not the whole reason. But it's at least 79 percent. Kim recently took one for the team when she was required to write our resumés for an organization that wanted to hire us to speak. The funds were coming from grant money and apparently, a resumé would make it more likely we'd get the job. She was, let's say, less than thrilled about having to do it. I'm just glad she did it because I would have refused and we wouldn't have gotten the gig. To be honest, I'm not sure if we …
One Piece at a Time
The time between Christmas and the New Year is Puzzle Season in our household. (Except for my wife, who is not the least bit interested in them, but is eager to take advantage of the fact that we are all distracted.) Me and the kids usually enjoy the 1000-piece varieties but hate the unnecessarily hard ones. (All double-sided puzzles, or those made entirely of pieces that are mostly one color, should be rounded up and incinerated.) Our biggest accomplishment thus far was a 3,000-piece behemoth that featured Peanuts characters. At first I thought, "This is totally …
Do You See What I See?
Kim and I may have named it in 2005, but it's been around for centuries. Dickens wrote it into the essence of Ebenezer Scrooge. It was personified in the Grinch by Dr. Seuss. And Buddy rescued his birth father Walter Hobbs from it in the holiday movie Elf. I'm referring, of course, to Adultitis. Do you see what I see? It's everywhere this time of year, in one holiday tale after another... The people who don't believe in Santa Claus have Adultitis. The other reindeer who make fun of you for being different have Adultitis. The people who run the Eastern Syndicates that run …
Do You Ever Feel Invisible?
The sun has disappeared. Stolen, perhaps. Or maybe it's sleeping, on vacation, or vanished into thin air. Not really, of course, because its morning light enables me to clearly see everything in my backyard. And yet, I cannot see the sun, the source of the light. I can't even tell where it might be, because it is hidden by such a dense layer of fog that I can barely see the lake beyond the yard. I take it as a good reminder for those times when I wonder how much of a difference I am making. It never seems to be as much as I'd like. But maybe the light I put into the world has a …
