The 2020 pandemic is an excellent opportunity for us to reflect and reset our course. The first two sections of the Reset article series focused on reflection. The reason we begin with reflection is to embrace reality. We discussed how living in denial of the reality of our lives will only result in regret. To live a meaningful and fulfilling life requires that we accept our current situation, identify our preferred situation, determine our next action to begin progressing toward the vision of our better future, and evaluate our progress. These are the four steps to running your race instead of the rat race that society has programmed us to pursue.

Accept your current reality and be grateful that you have a choice to decide your future. Accepting reality requires reflection. In previous articles, we covered strategies for reflecting that included journaling, meditation, walking outside, and exercise. Try to avoid casting judgment on yourself. Judging during reflection will create...

The next level on Maslow’s pyramid involves our psychological needs. We can exist on the first level with food, water, and shelter (physiological). However, if we live in fear of abuse, our basic needs will never be satisfied. Abusive parents, spouses, caretakers, and institutions inflict psychological pain every day. In many cases, the abuse occurs in plain sight. For me, this is the saddest and most disturbing level on the pyramid. Safety and security is a right of all humanity, yet a disproportionate number of people around the world never experience it. Imagine living your entire life in fear. Most of us can’t conceptualize living in real fear for one’s safety each day. The reality is that many people in modern societies live in a self-made prison of fear every day. They are obsessed with what they don’t have or afraid they will lose what they do have. They tell themselves stories and visualize or focus on what they don’t want. Most fear is...

Major always overwhelms the minor. Most people focus on the minor aspects of life and get crushed when the major occurs. How have you held up during the COVID-19 crisis? How will it help you prepare for a future crisis? There is one lesson we can learn from politicians (I stress, only one!) – never let a crisis go to waste.

Here are a few facts about our “spend more than you earn” society:
-According to CareerBuilder, 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
-Nearly one in 10 workers earning $100K or more live paycheck to paycheck.
-25% of workers don’t save a dime of their paycheck.
-75% of workers are in debt.
-62% of Americans don’t have enough money saved to live for three months without income, according to Magnify Money.

Why is the wealthiest nation on the planet flat-out broke? Here is a short list of the major factors resulting in our poverty:
-We are sold “deserve” from birth. Parents, politicians, and corporations tell us we can and...

My daughter, Margo, came into the kitchen where my wife and I were talking.  The look on her face was a clear indicator that something had happened.  She explained that her twin sister, Josie, had crashed her bike.  Before we had time to respond, Josie gingerly walked into the kitchen carrying her helmet.  She had road rash head to knee.  Her cheekbone, lip, and nose all had a visible injury.  My wife quickly took charge with the antiseptic spray and shower to wash the wounds.

Altering Reality

Margo and I remained in the kitchen.  I asked her what had occurred and she began to explain.  Josie was on the sidewalk, heading down our steep neighborhood hill.  Her speed exceeded her ability.  She lost control, hit the curb, and flew off of her bike head first.  Margo had attempted to immediately come to retrieve us but Josie asked her not to do so.  She had a plan.  Turns out, she had not been wearing her helmet.  If...

As parents, we expect the truth from our children.  As a spouse, we expect the truth from our partner.  If we are part of an organization, we expect the truth from our peers or management.  When things happen that are not fully explained, doubt creeps in.  Trust begins to break down.  The more time that passes, the more difficult it becomes to fully trust again.

We expect the truth from every person unless we think it will be unpleasant.  We say we want the truth and become angry when it does not meet our expectations.  At times, there are few things more painful than accepting reality.  We hear the truth and explode with anger or tears.  What we put into the world is what we get back!  If you want the truth, you must regulate your response.  This does not mean that when your child admits to stealing or smoking, you passively accept their actions.  It is wise, however, to celebrate the truth.  The truth is rooted in...

Parents celebrate a child’s first words.  There is anticipation for the words that follow.  Contrast a child’s first words with the first words of an average, everyday conversation.  It is highly likely you have never considered how you begin a conversation.  Do you open a conversation with a derogatory statement or a positive statement?

Here are a few ways people initiate conversation:

Negative Nellie – “This place has the worst service.”

Our first words set the tone for the remainder of the conversation.  Why do so many of us begin a conversation with a negative tone?  Negativity sells.  Ever wonder why news headlines have a negative tone?  The media understands the psychology of people and we are far more likely to pay attention to a negative headline versus a positive one.  Negativity sells and we instinctively know it, so we tend to initiate conversations with negativity to increase our chances of...

Each morning, I take a few minutes to write a paragraph about someone or something I am grateful for in my life.  Recently, I wrote about how grateful I am to be a father.  I asked myself how I could be a better father and what my children should expect of me.  It occurred to me that I had not been intentional about the values and qualities of character I most desired to develop in my children.  So I started writing and came up with 11 values and qualities that resonated with me.  My reason for sharing these qualities with you is in hopes of inspiring you to take the time to write down the qualities of character you most hope to inspire in your children.  The next level is to intentionally role model those qualities every day for your children.

Unusual Kindness

I want my daughters to have a big heart and a strong desire to help others.  The essence of kindness is generosity toward others.  I want their kindness to shine through in every action...

Leadership and parenting are nearly one and the same.

Let’s take a look:

Tough Decisions

All decisions have consequences, but tough decisions have consequences that impact lives beyond our own. Tough decisions involve others and likely will not be popular because they will require the near-term pain of change. Parents might decide to pull their child out of their current school and put them into a different learning environment. The reasons could be for academics or peer shifts. The easy answer is the status quo. No change. As a parent who wants to lead, the decision to change will be difficult. As a leader, the decision must be made to give the child their best chance for their future.

As a business example, let’s say there is a company division that has been underperforming. This division is no longer part of the core business and efforts to get it on track have not worked out. The division employs 50 people whose families are relying on the salaries and it has been a...

All that exists is energy.  The heart of every atom is energy.  Everything is made up of atoms.  One hydrogen atom contains enough energy to level entire cities.  Think Hiroshima.  Energy in physics, is defined as the capacity to do work.  Despite the fact that energy is in all things, it can seem illusive.  You come home exhausted from a long day of work and collapse on the couch.  Suddenly, an emergency arises that requires your immediate attention and without hesitation you leap into action.  In reflection, the energy was always there but you were unaware of how to tap into the additional capacity.  Some humans can run 100 miles without stopping.  How?  You could run 100 miles but choose not to, and that is okay.  I could run 100 miles but choose not to do so.  We don’t lack capacity to do extraordinary things.  We lack an understanding of how energy works to power all aspects of our lives....

The amount of information available to us online or in the bookstores discussing the topic of happiness and the pursuit thereof is overwhelming.  Despite the abundance of content available to us on the subject, our society as a whole continually struggles to discover its “Happiness”.   What is happiness?  According to Webster’s some apt synonyms are pleasure, contentment, satisfaction, well-being, enjoyment, and many more.  Where does happiness come from?  It is a state of being.  Here is the struggle for most of us – we pursue happiness as though it is an object of our desire to be received upon completion of the next task.  When we get this or after we achieve that, then we will be happy.  This is what media and marketing desires of us.  Never be content or satisfied with what you have but continually stress & strive for what you don’t have because that will make you happy.  We are constantly...