How To Live (not merely exist . . . )

People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take. – Emma Goldman As we pause in the United States to have cook-outs and watch fireworks, let’s take a moment to reflect on what our Independence Day is all about. Back in 1776 Thomas Jefferson gave us…

So many people talk about balance in terms of life and work. I have to say, “balance,” as so many think and talk about it is – to say the least – mis-guided. First off, balance implies a 50/50 apportioning. You don’t balance something with 78% of one thing and 22% or another, or 60% and 40%, or…

Hope isn’t a strategy, but it is an awfully good tactic. – Seth Godin The above is from a short, but sweet, blog post. So many people think that because most of the things that are achieved are small, that small goals are the only ones that are realistic – the only ones worth pursuing. Wrong. That’s…

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” – Warren Bennis I love this quote because it doesn’t make leadership something only CEOs or Presidents do. It democratizes leadership. Leadership is in many ways (merely) a lofty term for goal-setting and goal-achievement. Most people understand leadership as being able to persuade and rally others…

Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip. – Winston Churchill Sure, this quote is dripping with sarcasm and is both clever and funny, but it raises an important point (by way of absurdity . . . ): How tactful are you?…

It just occurred to me that maybe I’ve never really understood “motivation.” Oh sure, I’ve learned that it’s better to be inspired than motivated and better to motivated than coerced. But what is motivation, really? Motivation isn’t something real or actual. It’s a word that describes what happens when one puts a motive into action….