Like many others where I grew up, I was raised to be an avid hunter. If you aren’t keen on guns or hunting, you might want to stop reading right about now. However, in my personal experience hunting with my father was one of the fondest childhood memories I have. During my early teenage years, my father taught me how to be a man and to live life fearlessly, and how to know when to lead and when to follow. He also impressed upon me the importance of respecting Mother Nature fo

If you want to change a behavior, using the phrase “I don’t” is more than twice as effective as a simple “no.” As a matter of fact, it’s is up to eight times more effective than saying “I can’t.” The Journal of Consumer Research conducted several research projects on this simple difference in terminology. One of the studies divided the participants into three groups. GROUP 1 was told that anytime they felt tempted to lapse on their goals or commitment, they should “just say n

Since I began working in business, I’ve received every type of feedback you can imagine. Mostly regarding my performance, but some were bits of feedback critical in propelling me forward. However, there have been times where performance reviews and feedback stung me every bit as much as a bee sting. It was even more hurtful when it came from a person I respected and trusted. If you’re like me, you probably have gone through similar “tough love” situations. You know it when it

Like many others where I grew up, I was raised to be an avid hunter. If you aren’t keen on guns or hunting, you might want to stop reading right about now. However, in my personal experience hunting with my father was one of the fondest childhood memories I have. During my early teenage years, my father taught me how to be a man and to live life fearlessly, and how to know when to lead and when to follow. He also impressed upon me the importance of respecting Mother Nature fo

There is a common misconception within the business leadership community, that the busier you are the more valuable your work is. In reality, chaos does not equal quality. We’ve all seen them, leaders who do nothing but run from meeting to meeting, chasing down new ideas without ever leaving any time to implement what they learn. Their business life is much like White Rabbit, the character in Alice in Wonderland who is always rushing around worried that he will be “late for t

Everyone has heard the old saying, “The hardest part of any journey is taking the first step.” However, identifying what makes it difficult is the key to understanding this saying. As a consultant, I recognize procrastination and its death-like cycle immediately in some of my clients. I also identify the cause behind their procrastination as fear or resistance to change. Surprisingly, what we most fear is often far less important than what we make it out to be. The longer we

Some of my fondest memories as a child came from spending time at my grandparent’s home in Junction City, Kansas. I can remember every square inch of the place. The big oak tree in the front yard, the concrete retaining wall that bordered one side of the house, which I found myself traversing almost every day, and my grandpa’s camp trailer bordering the other. To me it was paradise, but essentially, it was a simple home. It had everything you could need to live life to its fu