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2016The Scary Flight Attendant…and What We Learned Together
As you may know, I am a professional speaker. Each year I travel nationally and abroad and speak about 150 times. Bottom-line: I fly a lot…about 100 flights annually. So, it doesn’t take me long to size up a flight attendant’s mood. This is an important skill because the flight attendant’s mood is a good predictor of how enjoyable the flight will be. Recently I…
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2016Successful People Are People Who Practice A Lot!
One of the lessons I’ve learned as I travel America speaking to all sorts of audiences: It’s human nature to desire success without effort. But unless you have a big inheritance (or a mask and a gun), that probably won’t happen. The ancient biblical proverb says, “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” The most successful people…
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20163 Simple Concepts…That Built a Multi-Million Dollar Business
In the spring of 1977, Bon and I determined to begin our own business…an ad agency in Nashville. But, due to terrible spending habits, I’d wasted all the money I’d earned in the three years since graduating from college in 1974. The only money we had was $4,000 that Bonnie’s family and friends had given us as investors in our new business. (To this day,…
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2016Welcome to the United States of Victimhood!
We are living in the age of the victim. We live in a culture that worships at the altar of the victim. Americans everywhere are looking for others to blame. If I trip in my neighbor’s yard—it’s his fault. If I hang out at Burger King until I look like a Whooper—somehow Burger King is to blame. On the surface this may be a comforting…
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2016Our Dirty Little Secret
Sssshh! Don’t tell anyone, but today there’s a dirty little secret in many of our homes that is robbing us of peace, damaging our witness, and destroying our spiritual vigor. Sure, this might be the introduction to an article about marital infidelity, internet pornography, or one of the other high profile problems. But it’s not. Instead, I’m referring to a plague that we rarely acknowledge…
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20166 Ways NOT to Lose Your Job
Like they say: There’s little consolation in being the best-looking horse in the glue factory. Knowing that many of our friends have lost their jobs is little comfort when you lose your job. So, let’s get ahead of the curve—and talk about how to stay employed. 1. Earn your keep. When we’re on the boss’ clock that means we should be working for the boss. Billions…
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2016The Ultimate Secret for Getting Things Done
There may be five, 10, or even 50 different ways to accomplish a task. But there is always only one best way to do anything. Successful people are those rare people who understand that there is always only one best way to do anything. And, it’s those people who find that best way to do something, then repeats that process over and over and over…
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2016How “Herd-Think” Kills Success
I call it “herd-think”…the tendency to do exactly what everyone else is doing. People fall into “herd-think” for various reasons: 1) They incorrectly assume that others are smarter. 2) They are too lazy to think for themselves. 3) They are afraid to take “the path less traveled.” Suppose I asked you to select a number between one and a 100….
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20163 Truths Successful People Understand…That Failures Never Figure Out
Successful people tick differently from other people. They see things differently. They process data differently. They approach challenges differently. Here are 3 truths that successful people live by. Success Truth #1: Not Everyone Is Going to Like You—Get Over It! Successful people are true to themselves. They set high standards of performance and integrity. But, they don’t allow others to define them. Most of us…
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2016Want to Resolve a Conflict? Here are 4 Things Not to Do.
As I write this, Bon and I are in Dubrovnik, Croatia for a series of speaking engagements. Yesterday, we had the day off…and an opportunity to visit this most beautiful Mediterranean coastal city. However, the peace and calm were abruptly halted when three men began a very load argument in the middle of the old city street. After several moments, things calmed down. But, once again,…