ARTICLES & Posts

Most pianist understand the importance of “Middle C” in orienting themselves as they begin to play. In leadership “middle C” represents compassion – both the ability and the desire to feel for and with those you are called to lead.

As you set goals, especially those tied to very “narrow” constraints, be careful that you don’t substitute one level of uncertainty and frustration for something far more “pressuring” and unpredictable. Read on if you’ve ever set a goal but struggled to reach it.

We are all trying to “puzzle” our way through life. As you piece together your identity, consider the people, communities, and values that impact you.

You’ve likely heard the children’s story about the ugly duckling. What difference does a change in perspective make? Read on to find out how you can relate to his experience.

You’re on a journey… not just to discover the light shining within you, but to let it out and let it shine. That moment when you discover who you really are and why you’re really here—your ultimate, individual “why”—and then align your life so that you’re living it… it’s absolutely glorious. To you and to everybody else.

You are capable of greatness. In fact, it is already within you. You just need to discover it, and then work to bring your life into alignment so that your life’s mission and your life become one and the same. That’s when you’ll shine. That’s when you’ll experience full joy and fulfillment, when you’re actions align to your purpose. We can help.

The night I quit my job I had a decision to make: wait, or just start. I chose to just start and held a seminar the next day. People in motion tend to stay in motion and people at rest tend to stay at rest. So whatever it is you’ve been waiting to do… just start!

The world needs the light and magic you have inside of you. Your journey itself—and the promise of what is to come—is more important than any position you currently occupy.

Being terrified doesn’t mean you’re weak, it means you’re human. And the most important steps we take in life are often going to be the most terrifying. The world needs you to take that next step.

We must make a fundamental change to how we view ourselves—not as the product of our past, but for the potential of our future. Watch Rusty Lindquist use his personal story to introduce a foundational aspect of Escape Velocity at TEDx.

Put down your device and live a real life, not a virtual one. A poem written and performed by Gary Turk, called “Look Up.”

The hardest handicaps to overcome are mental. It happens when we tell ourselves the wrong story. Change the story.

The funny, but insightful story about how we tend to destroy what is most precious to us. A video from an international speech competition.

These four truths about mastery and personal progress will help you find fulfillment, purpose, and direction in life, and will help you get past your failures.

Life Engineering has become a major movement, and it’s time to up the ante. Now there’s a scaffolding of products and services to power the movement and give people more control in life.

Strength and perspective come when you climb life’s mountains instead of avoiding them.

Little things can give us a sense of accomplishment, which can be good in building momentum; but they can also help us justify putting off the big things that really move the needle.

There are lots of noble reasons to seek change in life. According to Vince Lombardi, chiefest among them is love.

Sometimes we give too much credit to our failures, when what we really need is just a little more of this one key thing.

Sometimes it helps to look at life through a different lens—using a powerful analogy. This one tends to be highly effective in helping us view our life objectively.

The inspiring story of Ted Williams, and why you should never judge a person by your first impression of them.

In 1939, Montgomery Ward asked employee Bob May to write a Christmas story for them to give away at Christmastime. It ended up being one of the most well-known original Christmas stories of all time. Why did it strike such a chord?

The truth is, we often let the things that matter the most to us die, not because of anything we do, but because we don’t do this one thing that is critical to all life.

The poem Invictus teaches us that we can’t control the cards life deals us, but we can control what we do with those cards. We are the masters of our fate, we are the captains of our soul.

The key to dealing with stress is in your perspective. If you have a strong foundational perspective of yourself—of where you’re going and what you need to do to get there—stress can become fuel that propels you, rather than a gravitational pull that holds you back.

A common decision-making error called “lock-in”, which plagues so many people and prevents them from changing paths or moving forward in their lives.

For our change initiatives to be successful, we have to get down the the core, what really drives change, this is what really matters.

Misery in life is the result of living without direction. For a life of happiness, fulfillment, purpose, and meaning, you need a strong moral compass.

Alex sings “I am very special”, melts my heart, and inspires me to write “so are you”.

When you have a vision—when you really believe you can make a difference, do something great, or create something meaningful—you’ve got to learn to allow your critics and failures to motivate you.

Our schools are the incubators of the future, and right now they’re scarcely lukewarm. Our nation’s education ratings are among the lowest of all developed countries.

The key to living a life of fulfillment and happiness is ensuring that these ascending needs are met.

Change becomes biologically easier when facing personal disaster. Here’s how you can take advantage of it.

Amazing things happen when you become extremely good at something.

Change is difficult, but by understanding the biology behind it, we uncover 10 powerful steps that can increase our chance of success, and even make it easier.

For us to find fulfillment and peace in life, it’s critical that we regularly find time do this one simple thing. Stop.

Driving awareness and empathy to the issue of homelessness in America. Be aware, and help by sharing.

Simon Sinek describes how it is that great leaders inspire action—why some people are able to achieve things when others are not. He explains a new way of looking at how people approach what they do.

Ken Robinson gives a TED talk on “Do Public Schools Kill Creativity”, and then makes a poignant argument about the failure of public schools.

The inspiring story of how a young man was saved by a simple expression of how important he was, in this touching story of “Who I Am Makes a Difference.”

Finding fulfillment, purpose, and direction in life isn’t hard, once you realize these four fundamental truths about the pursuit of mastery and personal progress.

It amazes me how many people I talk to, even those well into advanced, seemingly rewarding careers, are actually not happy. Is this you? Have you found yourself thinking recently about how much you’d rather be doing something else? Do you know someone who is currently going through this?

Creativity is an attribute that plays a substantial role in our ability to differentiate ourselves. In whatever you do, there’s a need to be creative. Read on for 4 tips to boost creativity.

Even a small degree of fault tolerance in one’s perspective can be enough to lead to a catalytic moment. Often, it involves discovering the light within, a realization of our own human potential.

These three things will increase your chances of success, and you’ll learn why airplane windows are round.

There are times in our lives when we will be called into action, when we will be required to move, when the opportunity to do something great will lie before us. The question is whether or not we’ll be strong enough and prepared enough to act.

In life, rough patches just happen, and you can’t control when they hit, how hard they hit, or how long they last. Appreciating their inevitability helps you take them in stride.

Here are some questions you should consider asking in an interview. They will not only give you vital information about the company, the job, and your would-be peers, but also help make you look like you know what you’re doing.

Engagement leads to flow. Flow describes those moments when you are so engaged in what you’re doing that you lose all sense of self, all sense of time, all sense of everything. You are wholly, utterly consumed in your focus.

When you accept the inescapable nature of the mastery asymptote, you realize the joy isn’t in the destination (which will forever elude you), rather, it’s in the journey. The joy is in all the little wins, the little discoveries, the gains you experience along the way.

The key to accomplishing all that you ever wanted, the key to changing who you are, the key to reaching new heights, the key to limitless personal power… is just believing in yourself.

Abraham Lincoln failed many times before he succeeded. Learn a lesson from him when you feel like you’ll never reach success.

If you’re talking about the life or lives of others, control is an illusion; influence is what matters.

As I’ve continued writing my

CONTROLLED FAILURE articles As I

A microcosm is just a small version of something much larger. It’s usually very similar in the most important regards, but much simpler. To do something big, try working up to it by degrees.

As we set about to achieve our goals and pursue our dreams, we are often pulled and distracted. The ability to focus, when the pressure is on and your mind wants to be elsewhere, is one of the truly inspirational highlights of a hero.

Things rarely happen “all of a sudden.” They happen incrementally, by degrees; slowly, over time. The problem is, we usually don’t see them happening until “all of a sudden” it’s too late.

The important thing to remember when you’re in a valley is that you won’t stay there forever. Valleys are temporary, even when they seem to last an eternity.

Shaun had all the ingredients to engineer his life for success. He showed early on that he had the passion, the commitment, the drive, and the willingness to work hard. But he had two more things that played a critical role for him to succeed and become the top snowboarder in history.

People tend to view failure as weakness. But I think it’s the other way around. If struggles make you stronger, what does it mean if you’ve stopped struggling?

When you fall, you have to get back up. You have to face your demons. You have to overcome the fear of crashing again. Crashing is part of the process, in any endeavor. What matters is that you get back up and do it again.

The inspiring story of Petra Majdic, who persevered despite the pain.

The inspiring story of Lindsey Vonn. Who didn’t start out as the most naturally gifted skier. But she was committed and put in the time and effort she needed to become the most successful American woman skier.

THERE IS BEAUTY ALL AROUND

True champions are able to overcome great odds to achieve greatness because they know, at a very fundamental level, that they can do it.

Opportunities don’t sit and wait very long. Often, you’ll no sooner spot one worth pursuing than it’s washed away. You have to act fast. You have to be prepared to move, and move quickly.

This single principle can have an exponential impact on how much you get done in life. It’s a productivity powerhouse that, once understood, can be a game changer.

In our efforts to achieve greatness, we must be very careful to not forget the value of the things right in front of us. Often a more sound appreciation of what we have is a faster path to happiness than trying to acquire something more.

If there’s something you want to accomplish, if there’s a position you want to hold, if there’s someone you want to be, if there’s a goal you want to achieve, then go through the dealership process. All of it.

In weight lifting, you work and work to overcome a plateau, a particular weight barrier, only to be immediately confronted with another one. And no sooner have you overcome that, when you hit yet another.

The more positive you think, the more positive you feel. The more positive you think and feel, the more inclined and motivated you are to act, create, improve, and change. Want to change your future? Then change your thoughts.

These are the things from which we try to escape. And the principles and practices which allow us to do just that is what I call “Escape Velocity.” Escape Velocity, the title of my new book, describes how a person can generate the momentum necessary to escape their limitations and realize their true potential.

We all find ourselves subjects of circumstances that would bring us down and keep us from achieving individual greatness. Stories like those of Efren Peñaflorida simply help us realize that if people can overcome such great odds, and choose to make a difference, so can we.

sacrifices are in no way independently substantial, but in accumulation begin to carry some weight, and there’ve already been tears shed.

You’ve got to work with the cards you have. When you look around you with the right attitude, you’ll find all kinds of opportunities to create something extraordinary out of something very ordinary.

What does it take to be a hero? In truth, not much. Being a hero doesn’t always require heroic effort, just the right effort at the right time.

I love… the turn of the new year, largely because we take the opportunity to reevaluate our lives, assess where we’ve been, and plan where we’re going. It’s a phenomenal event, pivotal, and magnificent. An important part of avoiding personal spiritual entropy.

Life is not casual. Life is engaging. Spend too much time as a bystander, and you find your life is filled with more regret, than accomplishment and opportunity… (read more)…

An inspirational poem about conquering the complexities of life and rising above.

Any time you want to push yourself well beyond what you have done before, the amount of effort required will be dramatically disproportionate to the increments by which you increase.

Each one of us is filled with potential. Each of us has the makings of greatness. As we continue to mold and shape ourselves, we become the actual manifestation of our vision.

The inspiring story of Michael Phelps. Believe in yourself and don’t stop pushing, and you can be great too.

COP is an acronym where each letter stands for “Competency,” “Opportunity,” and “Passion,” where they all intersect is the sweet spot, the area in your life/career that you will be the happiest and be at your very best.

Michael Phelps set the astonishing goal of winning eight gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. People like Phelps make their own reality by daring to hope, daring to dream, and daring to do the work necessary to make it all come true.

The inspiring story of little Lin Hao, who set an example of courage, commitment, and love in the face of trial and turmoil.

An important lesson learned from a dream about being aware of those around you.

A good leader sees the principles that lie at the heart of every issue and instructs on those principles as they’re naturally encountered. Learning principles as they’re practically applicable makes them easier to remember. What kind of leader are you?

Does your consumption include a healthy portion of things of real substance and eternal worth, or is it primarily made up of empty calories, fats, and sugars that provide short term pleasure at the sacrifice of long term health?

Porter is an example that we should relentlessly pursue our dreams in spite of whatever disability we might have that would otherwise stand in our way. The future is only what we make it to be.

A short story about a spider and a fly and the lesson we can learn about not heeding flattery.

An article about the pricelessly propelling power of hope. Hope brings dreams to reality. Hope makes the impossible possible.

Optimism and disappointment are not antithetical. They co-exist in perfect harmony. In truth, the relationship between hope and disappointment is symbiotic, not mutually exclusive.

We all market ourselves. Consider ways that you might change your message or your approach. Pick a few things that matter the most, and make them more friendly, accessible, and engaging. Customize your message to your audience.

You never know when the lives of those who hear you will be divinely aligned in just the right way to prepare them for what you have to say.

An amusing poem about not assuming responsibility.

Is it possible for a cat, a rat, and a dog to get along? If animals can be taught to get along, so can people.

Life seems to have become focused on how much more you can take on. How much more you can do. How much more you can acquire. All too often, we mistake complexity for progress.

At this moment, is anything trying to pull you into being someone you’re not? For in reality, the more you try to become someone you’re not, the sillier you look.

Keep a-goin’ Keep a-Goin'Frank L.

An inspirational poem by Maltbie Davenport Babcock about being strong no matter what.