“There is nothing new under the sun.” If he had never made another statement, this comment would have proven Solomon’s wisdom. Each generation goes to great lengths to convince itself that their generation is the worst and most depraved one yet. But the fact is human nature is pretty predictable. Conflict among humans has been around as long as there have been humans. In frontier…

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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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Success is not determined by our hardware — it is usually determined by the software that we’re running. Most people have perfectly capable hardware…normal intelligence and decent health. The difference between winners and losers is in the software they run. By software, I’m referring to the things we tell ourselves, the way we choose to look at the world around us, our internal motivation, and…

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Life is a beautiful path of stepping-stones — each experience can be linked to the next—much like stepping-stones across a stream. One of the best ways to assure defeat and depression is to approach life with an all-or-nothing attitude. That is, if you don’t get the whole cake — you won’t enjoy the party. Sure, I believe in striving for excellence, but there’s a difference…

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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 put out the most effort. While the old saying “practice makes perfect” may not be literally…

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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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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. Then suppose I told you…

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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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How many times have you gone away from a conflict feeling as though nothing beneficial happened? As an executive coach, I’ve found five important reasons why attempts at conflict resolution often fail. 1. Rabbit chasing. The easiest thing to do in a dispute is to get off message and begin chasing rabbits. If two account executives, Ron and Janice, are feuding over how to best…

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I fly a lot. 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 was flying from Chicago to Nashville with an angry flight attendant. As a matter of fact, she bluntly announced, “I’m in a bad mood!”—and she…

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