I would describe myself as a high-energy person. But I haven’t always been that way, and it’s certainly no accident. I am very deliberate about managing my energy level.

Evernote upped its prices last month. The Premium package, which is what I use, jumped from $50 a year to $70. That’s a big hike, and people are complaining like crazy. I can’t tell you how many Twitter and Facebook rants I’ve seen about this. I won’t join the chorus. To me it represents a […]

We’ve all heard the benefits of becoming a morning person. But how do you become one? In this post I provide a nine steps you can take starting today.

The weekend gives most of us the chance to downshift and recharge. But how often do we seize on it to catch up or get ahead on our work instead? If researchers are right, more than ever before. Not only are we working more hours on the weekend, we’re cramming the time with more chores, […]

Why are some people so good at what they do whereas others struggle with the most basic of tasks? Have you ever wondered if you were capable of achieving more in your work and life? This question is what researcher Anders Ericsson has spent most of his career pondering. And the answers might surprise you.

Whenever I speak with leaders about their greatest struggles, the answer I hear more than any other is a lack of confidence. It’s a universal affliction. Early in my career, I suffered from almost crippling social anxiety. At formal office functions, I’d sweat like crazy and my hands would go ice-cold. Later, as the CEO […]

We usually take our workplaces for granted, don’t we? But skyscrapers are colossal achievements. Architects must design them with variables like winds, earthquakes, communication, traffic, and the surrounding environment in mind. It’s impossible to imagine building one without architectural plans. But here’s the thing: The lives of everyone working inside those towers are infinitely more […]

What do you do when you find yourself down on the track while the race goes on without you? We all trip and fall. The question is what comes next? Heather Dorniden, now Kampf, is a highly decorated runner with an impressive string of accomplishments. But what’s most impressive was the time she won first […]

Whether we’re in our homes, in our cars, or in our offices, we spend most of our days removed from nature—and it’s not good for us. I just returned from a week in the hills and woods of East Tennessee. One of my favorite moments was fly fishing Hesse Creek. It’s world famous for trout, […]

I love the ocean. Being out on the water fishing is a thrill, and you can see for miles. But being just a few feet above the waves makes all the difference. Jump overboard and you suddenly have trouble seeing much at all. You’re bobbing up and down. The waves are coming at you, blocking […]

I can hardly believe it. My new book, Living Forward, coauthored with my longtime friend Daniel Harkavy, is out today. This launch closes a very important circle in my life. Three years ago Daniel and I met on a Florida beach to get away and dream about this project. By then I’d worked with Daniel’s […]

This past year I have noticed how my vocabulary impacts my attitude. Words have power. They impact others, of course, but they can also have an impact on us. Here’s how.

I’ve been writing about marriage and family for the past four years. This is the equivalent of the time I spent getting my undergraduate degree almost twenty years ago. I never had a successful career in anything related to my degree. But my career as a blogger, author, and speaker in the area of marriage […]

About 150 million Americans make New Year’s resolutions every year. That’s a lot of disappointed people. A quarter of those people will abandon their resolutions in just a week. Fewer than half will still be on track by summer. Ultimately, only 8 percent will be successful. But don’t think about the percentages. Think about all […]

Steve Mura was a Triple-A baseball pitcher. He was starting one night in an away game, but he almost lost before leaving the dugout. Why? “I can never win on this mound,” he told his pitching coach and shook his head. For Mura, the game was already over, and he hadn’t even thrown the first […]

What does it take to accomplish your goals? Some people think it’s mostly about luck, smarts, good looks, and social connections. Nope. Researcher Angela Lee Duckworth studied West Point cadets, National Spelling Bee contestants, teachers in tough schools, and sales peoples, asking who would succeed and why. “In all those very different contexts one characteristic […]

We are almost in the holiday season, and that means a lot of great things: fun memories, good food, and more. But it also means a few challenges. You know one of my big ones? Let’s visit the Honest Planet for a minute. It’s awkward conversations. You probably know what I mean. With all the […]

I hear from people all the time who feel stuck in bad jobs, bad habits, and bad relationships. And when it comes down to it, I have one single piece of advice. It’s pretty simple, actually. Ready? Here it goes: Stop thinking about it. No, I don’t mean live in denial. What I do mean […]

It’s been fascinating to watch Dr. Ben Carson’s recent rise in the polls. Whatever your political bent, he deserves attention. What’s his secret? The deck was certainly stacked against him. He grew up in dire poverty, raised by a single mom in Detroit, Michigan. Success wasn’t even on the radar. I had the honor of […]

I love a good conversation. When I think to the most meaningful moments of my life, many of them have happened around a table, talking with the people closest to me. But we all know some conversations are better than others, right? Maybe you’ve had conversations that felt more like competitions. Everyone around the table […]

I recently read a post about how to give advice. It had some good pointers. But do you know the one thing it didn’t say? That people giving advice should know what they’re talking about. I don’t know about you, but I get advice from people all the time. Some of it’s good, some of […]

Everyone knows the old line from the real estate business, “Location, location, location!” But did you know it can have a direct impact on your professional success and satisfaction? I’ve lived just outside Nashville for almost thirty years. It’s been a major center for the music business for decades, but Nashville is now a major […]

Ever since I was a boy, I’ve enjoyed fishing. But the older I get the more I realize I don’t just enjoy it. I really need fishing. I recently went fly fishing on the Bighorn River in Montana. I was lucky to go with several other guys. Some were old friends, others I had just […]

Norman Vincent Peale published The Power of Positive Thinking in 1952. But it’s only more recently that we’re learning about the destructive power of negative thinking. A few years ago, an author cornered me at a publishing conference to complain about his agent, gripe about his publicist, and grumble about his publisher. It was beyond […]