When I was a kid, I had a hard time making decisions of any sort. It’s the stuff of family lore, and I am regularly reminded of how often I’d come to tears over having to choose between chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Fourteen years as an entrepreneur has sharpened my decision-making abilities, but that doesn’t mean every choice is easy peasy lemon squeezy. We all face the tough choices from time to time. The ones with no easy answer and no certain outcome. How do I handle my suddenly rebellious teenager? Which job offer should I accept? Is it possible to make ends meet if I stay …
Maintain Perspective
It’s a Good Morning
It's a good morning, isn't it? If you're having a hard time agreeing with that statement, let me ask you some questions... Are you alive? Can you see? Smell? Hear? Talk? Walk? Do you have a job? Do you have a roof over your head? Do you have something to eat today? Does someone love you? Do you have a dream in your heart? Is today a chance to let go of yesterday and start fresh? No, you may not have said yes to every single one of those questions. But you only need to say yes to one of them for it to be a good morning. …
Shake it Up
Andre Cassagnes, the dude who invented the Etch-a-Sketch, was an electrical technician. Cassagnes came up with the idea in his garage when he peeled a translucent decal from a light switch plate and found pencil mark images transferred to the opposite face. Initially dubbed the Telecran, the toy was renamed L'Ecran Magique, or 'The Magic Screen,' and made its debut at a toy fair in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1959. Funny thing about Etch-a-Sketches. Using one is ridiculously easy. (Especially if you want to draw, you know, stairs.) But making anything worthwhile with it is really, really hard. …
You Should Have a Mid-Life Crisis Every Week
If it means reassessing your achievements in terms of your dreams and, if necessary, instigating a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of your day-to-day life or situation, then you should have one at least once a month. It's the best way to stay out of the ruts that lead to a story you never intended to live. …
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The Seasons of Life and a Stress-Reducing Secret
I became a father a little over four years ago. Before that, my wife and I had been married for eight years and worked together on our small business. We were used to working long days, coming and going as we pleased, and eating out at nice, quiet restaurants. We used to have a Cheerio-free backseat in our car. But now we have two kids, which practically makes me an expert at parenting. An expert at knowing how little I actually know about it, that is. …
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You Can’t Have it All. So Choose What You Want Wisely.
Does the more time you spend with your family lessen the impact you can have through your career? Since becoming a father, that is a question I have struggled mightily with. …
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Savoring Details (And a Reminder from Ferris Bueller)
One of Kim’s favorite words is “savor.” The dictionary defines the verb this way: “to have experience of, to taste or smell with pleasure, or to delight in.” …
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The Sweet Spot of Somewhere In Between
Some kids get more attention at school than they ever do at home. And not the positive kind. They spend more time watching television than they do talking to their parents, who feed them junk food, allow them to run wild, and don’t show up for parent/teacher conferences. Other kids are sent to the best schools and feel pressure to score high marks. They participate in a dizzying array of extracurriculars, with the goal of gaining acceptance into a prestigious university in order to embark upon a lucrative career they'll only marginally enjoy (if they’re lucky.) Both seem pretty extreme …
Why Life Balance is Like Dancing
Do you often measure a day's success by how many things you were able to check off your to-do list? …
The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying
Bronnie Ware worked in palliative care for many years. Her patients were those who had gone home to die. She wrote a fascinating post detailing the top 5 regrets of the dying. Here they are: …