As kids, whenever something would break in our house, my dad would shout at my brother and me: “Who did this?!”

We’d both look at one another, then back to my dad, and in unison say, “He did.”

There were only two siblings, so the only way one of us could be innocent when something “bad” happened was to ensure the other person was deemed guilty.

We had previously tried blaming the cat for incidents such as broken windows and holes in the wall, but surprisingly, my parents’ sense of believability only stretched so far.

As young boys, we truly believed the safest, and surest, path to freedom was to imprison the other one.

It’s not surprising that my brother and I were not the closest of friends growing up.

Continue reading →

After the release of the book / movie, The Secret, many people wondered, “Can I really achieve my dreams simply by changing my thoughts?”

It’s such an alluring concept – the idea that you can have anything you want if you simply focus the right thoughts, energy, and attention.

When I was six years old, I had one – and only one – professional goal for my life. It wasn’t to be a fireman, doctor, or even an engineer. Not a business person, public servant, or scientist.

Nope – none of those held any interest for me.

I wanted to be a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys.

Continue reading →

One of the most common pieces of wisdom dispensed to people who are suffering from stress, sadness, sleeplessness, or any other such malady is this:

Just stop thinking about it.

As if a switch can be thrown and whatever is troubling us magically disappears.

Of course, the logic behind the wisdom is sound. If we could, indeed, just stop thinking about whatever is troubling us, then we would feel better.

That’s why distractions seem to work. For a moment, our mind is engaged in something other than our problems, and the pain is (temporarily) gone.

Until our mind comes right back to the problem – which it inevitably does.

Continue reading →

For several years I worked for a very large computer company. So big that it brought in over seven billion dollars each year. And for a while, a good chunk of that business was very profitable.

One of the things that made it profitable was the company’s ability to outsource certain parts of the business to outside people who could do it faster, better, and cheaper than we could.

And it isn’t just big companies that benefit.

For startups to be successful, they need to figure out which pieces they are going to do internally and outsource the rest. Otherwise, the startup would need so much up-front money that the company could never get off the ground.

But outsourcing can also lead to disaster.

Continue reading →

There’s a thought-provoking line that reads:

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?

Think about that question for a moment. Really let it sink in deep.

What would you try doing that would bring joy to you and others – if you knew for certain that you wouldn’t fail?

Does thinking about that bring a smile or a sense of excitement to you? The sense of certainty that you can’t fail removes all worry, all doubt, all fear.

And what is left once you strip away worry, doubt, and fear is pure joy.

Continue reading →