This is going to sound crazy. After all, I run an online content business. But the best reading app for comprehension, emotional engagement, and more is … paper. Whether we go back to the ancient Egyptians or the Chinese, there’s nothing new about paper. What is new is the understanding that reading on paper is […]

When we think of the fear of commitment, we usually picture a guy who’s been dating a girl since forever and won’t get off the dime, right? But there’s another kind of commitment phobia we need to address. Forget about relationships. Think instead about deadlines, deliverables, benchmarks, and budgets. How willing are you to make […]

Exercise used to be the last thing on my mind. Now it’s a regular part of my life, and I can’t imagine missing the benefits—especially as an entrepreneur. Most adults don’t get the regular exercise they need, according to the CDC. As a high-achiever, I totally get it. Carving out time to run or strength […]

I have written and talked a lot about how the right morning routine can set you up for a productive day. The same is true for nighttime rituals. The right activities before you sleep can set you up for success the next day. I used to have the worst time getting to sleep at night. […]

I sometimes talk with people who say they don’t have enough time to exercise. The older I get the more that reminds me of people who say they don’t have enough money to save for retirement. I can relate. When I was younger and rising in my career, I rarely made time to exercise. I […]

I write about fear a lot. I write about more than just rational fears like when you go to Chipotle and try to order queso and they tell you, “We don’t have queso.” I write about irrational fears as well. People often ask me, “Where do you get all these ideas about fear?” and they […]

Life comes at us in waves. Sometimes the surge ripples gently by. Other times it can pound the daylights out of us and leave us gasping for breath. How do we respond when that happens? I live with my family in Colorado so my kids are more familiar with soaring mountains and sweeping plains than […]

We’re over seventy days into the New Year. How are you doing with your goals and resolutions? Some people I talk with are building momentum and making big gains. Others are struggling—especially when it comes to developing beneficial new habits. For decades now I’ve heard that it takes twenty-one days to form a new habit, […]

I start a lot of books. I quit the bad, finish the good, and come back again and again to the truly great. Michele Cushatt’s newest, Undone: A Story of Making Peace with an Unexpected Life, is one of those. Michele is one of the most gifted communicators I know. I love the way she […]

Donald Miller’s newest book, Scary Close: Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy, is out and off to a great start. I can see why. It’s his best book so far. I’ve known Don for over a decade. He was one of our bestselling authors at Thomas Nelson, during the time I was publisher, president, […]

It’s about that time. Based on the statistics, a large percentage of people who made New Year’s resolutions are thinking about throwing in the towel. Some already have. According to research from the University of Scranton, nearly 4 out of 10 people quit their resolutions before reaching the month of February. Even more will fall […]

I have been in and around the publishing business my entire professional life. So I understand the potential impact of a great book. In business, the right book at the right moment can tilt the playing field and give you a crucial advantage. These thirty-seven business books have personally made a huge difference for me. […]

As I talk about setting goals for the New Year, I get a lot of questions like these: “How do I know if I’m being too aggressive with my goals? How do I know if my goals are realistic?” If you’re asking these questions, you’re already on the right track. Why? Because you’re already talking […]

I’m a big advocate of goal setting because I’ve personally benefited from it. But I’m also amazed how much the science of goal setting explains my personal experience. Whether working as an independent entrepreneur or a corporate executive, I’ve seen personal and organizational goal setting reap big rewards—and the research shows why.

People often ask me how I’ve been able to build a successful business that’s doubled every year for the last three years. I had similar wins in the corporate world. I was able to set some audacious goals and beat them again and again. This has been a pattern for me professionally, but I have […]

Do you ever get uneasy—or even afraid—when you’re close to achieving something big in your life? I do. In our recent relaunch of Platform University, for instance, we started with fewer responses than I anticipated. I began estimating the results for the entire campaign based on those early results and didn’t like where things were […]

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story on the trend in slow reading. The idea is that intentional time in a book can improve our minds and reduce our stress. If you’re a book person like me, this is no surprise. It doesn’t matter if it’s paper or digital, just taking thirty minutes out […]

If you want to find more creativity, satisfaction, and happiness, the single best solution I know is adding more art to your life. Music has been a big part of my life since I was a young boy, though my tastes have broadened a lot since I was first learning chords on my guitar. I […]

There aren’t many phrases in English more recognizable than “the pursuit of happiness.” But what could happen if we turned it around? That’s exactly what Chris Guillebeau does in his new book, The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life. At just 36, Chris has already led an amazing […]

Have you ever noticed how the people in your life affect you? The impact can be so significant that one of the best things we can do to change our lives for the better is change our peer group. In the 1930s C.S. Lewis started a small literary circle called the Inklings. The group started […]

We all know our words are powerful. We can slice someone to pieces with just a few syllables. That’s bad enough, but what happens when we turn that power on ourselves? As a young man, the writer Peter Leonard showed a short story to his famous father, novelist Elmore Leonard. Instead of encouraging his son, […]

Emotions are powerful, especially if we let them work in our lives without paying full attention. They can derail our goals if we let them. In my experience there are four emotions that usually come mixed in a powerful cocktail, sure to undermine our goals: fear, uncertainty, doubt, and shame. Most of us succumb to […]

When I left Thomas Nelson a few years back, it seemed like every other person I met asked if I was retiring. I bristled every time I heard the question. In fact, the more I think about the purpose and meaning of work, the more I’m convinced that nothing destroys our sense of purpose and […]

You might be familiar with The Shawshank Redemption. Remember the storyline? Andy Dufresne, innocent of any crime, is saddled with a life sentence in Shawshank Prison. The experience nearly kills him and his hope for freedom. I filtered the movie through my own experience. Stuck in my day job, I felt imprisoned from my potential. […]