Just before I began writing this article, I received an email from a blog subscriber we’ll call Jack. He was sending me a thank you.

Jack was reading an old article of mine in his inbox. The article spoke to him about his attitude that was souring.

Reading the article reminded him to keep his attitude in check. Without a positive attitude, we can become cranky, upset, and downright ugly.

Do you know what? Jack’s thankfulness helped remind me to check my attitude.

I was feeling a bit down.

I’d let this feeling steer me in the wrong direction in how I interacted with people. I’d also let it make me feel taken advantage of.  Read more...

I recently read a story about marbles. I thought my blog readers would also love to read it. The story gives us a lot to think about. Read the story and then keep reading to read some of my thoughts.

1,000 MARBLES
(Author Unknown)

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I shuffled toward the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning became one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.  Read more...

A leader is constantly looking for ways to grow. This could be through reading books, active engagement, listening to others, or other forms of learning.

But…

Not many leaders have a GROW plan. A GROW plan helps leaders have a short acronym to remember their plans to grow.

Today, we’re going to look at what a leader can do to create a GROW plan and boost their leadership knowledge.

Have A GROW Plan

Each letter in the word GROW has a word behind it. This word will help you to push forward in your leadership learning. Let’s break down GROW into something we can understand.

G – Goals:

What do you want to learn as a leader? Are there areas that you struggle in? Do you find yourself wandering aimlessly through the book aisle at your local Barnes & Noble or bookstore?  Read more...

Do you struggle to set goals? No? Maybe you’re like me and struggle to accomplish goals? Yes? Does that sound more like you?

Either way, goal setting can be brutal. I’ve struggled with setting goals throughout my career and life. I’ve never been one to want to set goals.

Today, I want to share 5 thoughts on goal setting. I may encourage you to change the way you think about goals or my ideas may spark something within you.

5 Thoughts On Goal Setting

Goals that focus on money are dangerous:

Having a financial goal is great. Pamela and I had set the goal to be completely debt-free years ago. We accomplished this goal when we paid off the mortgage on our house.

Paying off our mortgage freed up a lot of capital. We no longer had to pay a monthly mortgage and we no longer had that dreaded PMI.  Read more...

You need a bigger house. You deserve a faster car. You have to have a larger salary.

For so many of us, we live in a world of needing, deserving, and having to haves.

What is this world? It’s the world of discontent.

Are You Content?

Are you content? That’s a big question to ask.

For me, most of the days, I think I am. Then there are days when I go and think I want a bigger house, nicer car, or larger salary.

I get discontent.

When I get discontent, I find myself in a bad place. I look at the world as if the world is unfair.

Everyone has a bigger house. That Maserati down the street looks really appealing. Or I wish I lived closer to Lake Michigan (I live 3 miles from there, come on now!).

These feelings of discontent leave me wanting more.  Read more...