Character vs. Reputation

Ideas must work through the brains and the arms of good and brave men, or they are no better than dreams. – Emerson Ideas are nothing, really, without action. I would put a slightly different twist on Emerson’s words by saying ideas not worked through the minds, hearts and bodies of men are mere fantasies….

Belief creates the actual fact. – William James What you believe you create. How? Simple. You act in accordance with your beliefs. Your beliefs are the thoughts you no longer question. They are unlike the myriad thoughts you have forgotten or dismissed. Your beliefs are the thoughts that have hooked your attention, are sufficiently congenial…

There’s a fundamental difference between the things you do every day, every single day, and the things you do only when the spirit moves you. One difference is that once you’ve committed to doing something daily, you find that the spirit moves you, daily. Rather than having a daily debate about today’s agenda, you can…

As destructive as gossip is normally, turned on its head it can be an incredible force for good. A recent e-mail from Darren Hardy described the power of reverse-gossip: talking about people, behind their backs, in a positive way. Read about it here.  It’s akin to (a definition of) true generosity: giving to someone who really…

It’s college graduation season. There are going to be many commencement speakers giving advice and ideas to fresh-faced 20-somethings about to go to go out in the “real world.” I want to challenge you to imagine that you’re graduating too. What would you say to yourself if you were transitioning from one phase to another?…

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.” – Tom Peters A mentor of mine once said that how you do one thing is how you do everything. While I don’t buy into that notion completely (only 99.999%), I do use the idea as a guiding principle — and it informs my…