I recently read a book by Carol Dweck called Mindset.  In this book, Professor Dweck describes that there are only two types of mindset: fixed and growth.  Studies in human behavior have also determined that these are the two types of mindsets within humanity.  Each is described below, but first, let's define mindset – mindsets are beliefs about yourself and your most fundamental qualities such as intelligence, talents, and personality.  Let’s explore the two types:

The Fixed Mindset – This is the person that believes their intelligence or talents are fixed traits.  They focus on measuring their intelligence or talent instead of cultivating and developing each.  They believe that talent alone will determine their success.  This belief couldn't be further from reality.  Fixed mindset are the glass half-empty, “it is what it is” type of people.  They are the killjoys of the world.  Limited...

In the beginning, there was darkness.  Then there was an explosion and you burst onto the scene.  From the beginning, you have been living your story.  Since you began to experience the world, you have been telling yourself stories.  Let’s face it, you have mainly been lying to yourself.  Trapped inside ourselves, we are obsessed with ourselves.  I call these stories or lies, our personal narratives.  Our craving for significance triggers our ego to inflate the importance of the encounter or experience.  We want validation and recognition from others for the challenges we have faced.  The cultural narrative has shifted from personal responsibility to abdication of responsibility.  The media, government, and business communities tirelessly work to propagate this abdication of responsibility.  They can’t be blamed for this behavior because they bought the story too!  If they realized that the narrative they spread...

Happy New Year!  Do you want to thrive in 2019?  To thrive is to progress toward or realize a goal, despite or even because of conflict.  It also means to grow vigorously.  To thrive requires some consideration, a positive attitude, and action.  However, to truly thrive, we must serve others.  Science has proven, and your memory of the happiest times in your life might also prove that we are most satisfied when we are serving others.  To live in the service of others is tremendously gratifying for both parties but even more so for the deliverer.

What do you envision when you think of the word “thrive”?  The thought makes me think of a smiling face, energy, and the image of a person with their hands over their head in victory.  I also visualize sweat and toil.  In order for a person to thrive, they must have the right mindset.  I typically don’t like to use the word “must” because I...

As we near the closing of the year, my hope is that you are gearing up for your most successful year in 2019!  Success in life is no accident, it is a choice.  My definition of success will vary from your definition of success - the key here is to have a definition!  These 7 fundamentals can be expanded many times over but my intent is to keep it simple.

Emotional Intelligence - This term essentially defines our ability to put ourselves in the other person's shoes.  We can better demonstrate empathy when we see from the perspective of the people we interact with everyday.  I believe this to be the one of the most important qualities we can develop.  Daniel Goleman coined the phrase and his books offer critical insight to developing this characteristic of successful people.  Every day we interact with people - being able to connect with those people emotionally will help you lead a more satisfying life and you will have more...

Have you ever failed?  I sure have.  For years, I dipped tobacco.  I started when I was in 8^th grade because it was the “cool” thing to do.  I attempted to stop dipping at least 20 times over the years until I was able to finally kick the habit.  In pondering why I had failed so many times, it occurred to me that the reason was mostly due to my lack of commitment to the process of quitting.  To be certain, I had all of the usual excuses – stress, timing, peer pressure, etc.  At some level, I saw myself as a dipper.  Now it is clear that my lack of commitment & limited field of view were my downfall.  Stress is an excuse that we all love to latch onto.  From my own experience kicking the tobacco habit, I quit the day I left Michigan to move down to South Carolina with my wife to start a business.  It was incredibly stressful but I was committed to changing my life and that made all the difference.

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Hacking is all the rage.  We are obsessed with shortcuts in our country and culture.  Take this pill for this, do this 30-day program for that.  The goal with hacking should be to increase our effectiveness and well-being.  Instead, we use it to receive more leisure.  More leisure in a culture that already averages over 5 hours per day watching TV and 2 hours watching the social media feed, is that really what is needed?  When considering the implementation of a new hack, check to see if it will increase or improve any of these conditions in your life:

Freedom – Will this hack increase my personal freedom?  The most commonly considered freedom is the freedom of time.  The greater the freedom to use your time, the more likely it is you will be satisfied with your life.  Time freedom is also work freedom.  Work freedom means you are able to spend your time doing what you do best and where you bring the most value to the...

Are you addicted to problems?  Seriously, are you addicted to problems?  I ask twice because it is important to actually consider the question.  The majority of people are not honest with themselves regarding questions that are inconsistent with how they desire to perceive themselves.  I've said it often, but it is most important to be honest with oneself.  You might ask “How will I know if I am addicted to problems?”  The first clue is that your life is full of them and if the quantity of problems begins to dip, you manifest more of them.  “How do I manifest problems and why would I?”  The house needs cleaning, laundry is piling up, yard needs mowing, late for work, kids are sick, garage needs cleaning, someone cut you off, spilled coffee on your new suit, dog threw up everywhere, low on groceries, PTA is tonight, coffee maker is broken, kid needs braces, kid needs glasses, kid needs to be two places at once, need a...

To live with gratitude is to be humble.  To me, it is also to be in awe and wonder.  Humble because of a deep appreciation for life.  Especially life in the U.S. where everything we desire is at our fingertips.  This gratitude is an appreciation for the number of souls that are a part of every luxury we are able to experience.  Water is a luxury.  We turn on a faucet and safe, drinkable water flows.  It is crystal clear and free from disease.  The number of people that are or have been involved in making that crystal clear, disease-free glass of water is humbling.  The designer of the filtration and purification system that takes the water from non-drinkable to drinkable.  The hundreds of people that built the equipment.  The construction workers that built the facility.  The power that allows it to function is generated at a power plant.  The power plant is a massive undertaking with thousands of contributors.  I...

Are you who you think you are?  On the surface, the answer seems obvious.  If you have not taken the time to contemplate the answer to this question with a pen and paper, there is potential that you are living someone else’s life.  The majority of people see themselves through the eyes of others.  The image we have of ourselves is that of our spouse, friends, parents, and coworkers.  We are always projecting an image to the world in an effort to get the world to see us in a certain way.  This creates conflict and stress that too often goes unnoticed and manifests itself in the form of mental illness and disease, or just unhappiness.  Our image to the world has been a creation of our ego.  The ego is vulnerable and childish.  It always seeks its way and gets angry when anything externally contradicts or conflicts with its image.  Tiger Woods is an example of someone projecting an image that was in conflict with their...

What is success?  Is it an amount of money?  Is it a title?  “What is success” is not a new question.  Intuitively, we know that success is an individual pursuit.  Unfortunately, too often we contemplate our success through the eyes of others.  We pursue a vision that we don’t own.  If we realize the vision, the feelings we anticipated upon arrival are shallow and short-lived.  Now what?

I recently broke out my journal and asked the question, what is the most common train or characteristic of some of the most admired “successful people”?  Think Warren Buffet, Mother Teresa, Michael Phelps, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, or Richard Branson.  All of these admired success stories had different starts.  Their success came in different ways.

My thought then transitioned to the people I most admired in my own life.  The not-so-famous success stories that command the same level of respect...