About Michael Hyatt

Years ago, I heard a motivational speaker encourage his audience to “eat that frog.” The line has a long history. And it makes sense: Stop procrastinating and just do the thing you fear. Once you do that, everything else is easy. While that may be helpful in overcoming procrastination, it’s exactly backwards for big goals […]

Leadership and entrepreneurial breakthroughs depend on creativity. But we don’t always feel very creative, do we? Thankfully, research suggests we all have access to the kind of creativity we need to get the results we want—even if you don’t feel especially creative. Last week I went fly fishing on Hesse Creek in East Tennessee. Nothing […]

I’m not much of a baseball fan. I played in high school, but I lost interest after breaking my elbow. So while most of my friends were deep into game seven of the World Series, I went to bed. Then they woke me up. Several of us were staying in a vacation home for a […]

I used to watch Apple’s product events with eager anticipation. But when I watched the most recent one, I was disappointed. I’m a serious Machead. But if I’m honest, I think they’re losing their mojo. It’s a cautionary tale, one that Steve Jobs actually warned about. Using IBM and Xerox as examples, Jobs explained the […]

When I was the CEO at Thomas Nelson, one of our authors was frustrated. In response to a disappointing sales report, he fired off a blistering email to one of our divisional leaders. He complained about poor results. He criticized the sales strategy and our failure to execute. Worse, he challenged the leader’s intelligence, competence, […]

Ever wonder why some people are likable and others aren’t? Without a high likability quotient, it’s tough to succeed in almost any area of life—especially as a leader or entrepreneur. If you want to win with people, they not only have to know you; they also have to trust you. Likability is the bridge between […]

Good conversationalists have great influence. In this post, I share five strategies I have learned for having better conversations.

Recently, I was talking to the leader of a nonprofit organization who was complaining that volunteerism was at an all time low. “Even when people volunteer, most of them don’t show up or follow through,” he said. “They just don’t seem to be engaged.” This is a common problem in the for-profit world as well. […]

Setbacks are inevitable. They make us stronger and develop our character. But only if we maintain our perspective and use them to grow. Here’s how.

Leading others starts with leading ourselves. That means leaders must be be committed to personal development if we’re going to have long-term success. But some paths to personal development are more direct than others. My friend Ian Cron is both a priest and a therapist. He’s also an expert in the Enneagram, an ancient personal-development […]

During a recent Launch Conference, my friend Ken Davis joked from the stage, “All you have to do to become an expert is read five books on the same subject.” Everyone laughed. But in our get-smart-quick culture, it sometimes seems that way, doesn’t it?

Trust is to an organization what oil is to a car engine. It keeps the moving parts from seizing and stopping forward motion. But trust is not something you can take for granted. It takes months—sometimes years—to build. Unfortunately, you can lose it overnight.

We all have things we do really well. In our businesses, these are usually the tasks that drive revenue. But if you’re like most entrepreneurs and executives, you probably only spend 20 percent of your time on these tasks. The rest goes to solving other people’s problems, wading through oceans of email, attending inefficient meetings, […]

I’ve been a serious student of productivity for a couple decades now. As the primary income earner in a family of seven, I had to be. When I first started in business, I lived in a constant state of feeling overwhelmed. Work took my best, and I struggled to find time for my family and […]

A year after the New York Times published a brutal exposé on Amazon’s 24/7, on-the-job culture, the retail giant announced it was experimenting with a thirty hour workweek for some of its employees. As far as I’m concerned, this is great news. When I talk with entrepreneurs, executives, and other leaders, I regularly hear they’re […]

I’m an assessment geek. I’m always looking to improve my own performance as well as my team’s. And I find measurement essential for upping our game. I first started using personality tests over a decade ago when I became the publisher of Nelson Books. It was a way for me to peek under the hood […]

If you are feeling distracted and unfocused, here are seven steps for becoming more productive. They are not that revolutionary on their own. But practiced together, they are like a defibrillator for that stuck project that’s still on your to-do list.

The way we’re doing productivity isn’t working. I hear stories and regrets that confirm it whenever I talk with entrepreneurs, executives, and other busy leaders. The old methods are no match for all the interruptions and distractions of today’s environment. Thankfully, there’s a new, emerging science of productivity—and you’re invited to listen to eight of […]

If you want to be a great leader, you must first become a great follower. Great followers share at least five characteristics.

When it comes to work and life, most of us know what it feels like to be out of balance. But do we know what it feels like to be in balance? It’s not a trick question—even if it seems so at first. A few years ago, I took my mentoring group on a ropes […]

When I started in my career, the key to success was having the right answers. Now it’s more about having the right questions.

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 […]

I don’t have to go to the doctor very often. But when I do go, I notice they follow the same routine. It only takes a few minutes, but they start by checking my weight, pulse, blood pressure, and other vitals. The idea is to get a quick read on my overall health. Getting a […]