Brilliance is a Breakthrough

  Think of  people you consider historically brilliant.  People who created dramatic impact on the course of history. How many asked for permission?  Not many.  Why? Brilliance breaks through ... Conventional Wisdom Expertise Reactionary Thinking Bureaucracies Stagnant markets Mediocrity Reasons it "won't work" No No No way No Brilliance doesn't ask.  It becomes. What are you becoming? … [Read more...]

Is It Time To Overcome This Guilty Pleasure?

      If they say no,  you're justifiably frustrated... It's not your fault we're not doing it.   They didn't give permission.   You tried, right?Seeking permission can just be an escape.   An abdication of responsibility.  A guilty pleasure. If they say "yes" and it goes wrong,  they own the decision.   They should have seen it would not work.  What were they thinking!? If they say "yes" and it does work ... You're brilliant!  And it's a good thing they … [Read more...]

What Could You Achieve With Crushing Authority?

  Rob started telling me about the cool stuff he was producing at work.  His team is building things that would cost millions to buy.  I was impressed with what his team accomplished.  I asked him his secret. His team saw problems.  They created solutions.  Rob's job was easy.  Just say "Yes." No one told them to do it.  They just did it.  Rob let them.  More than that... he encouraged them. Rob didn't try to manage his people (or their tasks).  He led his people and their … [Read more...]

Do You Inspire Others? And Why It Matters.

    The opposite of inspiring  is uninspiring.  Brilliant observation, I know. What does being inspiring look like?  Passion, commitment, perseverance. What does being inspiring create in others? Engaged emotions Provoking new thought Motivated behavior What does being uninspiring look like?  Indifferent, undecided, yielding. What does being uninspiring create in others?  One of three things: Nothing ...  if we're lucky.   Being uninspiring becomes … [Read more...]

What We Frequent Becomes Our Frequency

  George, a rebel pastor I know talks about how we talk in terms of, "When I have X (Money, House, Car, Spouse) , then I'll do Y (Start a business, go to school, have a baby) and then I'll be happy."    He turns it on its head.  "When I am happy, then I'll do Y, then I will have X." What we frequent becomes our frequency.  A tuning fork vibrates when it is struck by the frequency its tuned to.  We are like adaptive tuning forks.  We vibrate at the frequency of what we are surrounded … [Read more...]

How do you know if it’s too late?

To ... Take more risks.   Begin to exercise.  Eat healthier.  Spend a night together with your family.  Have a beer with a friend.  Ask her out.  Say I'm sorry.   Say I love you.  Buy her flowers.  Cook him a steak.  Buy him flowers.  Cook her a steak.  Manage your boss.  Manage your boss's boss.  Write a thank you note.  Quit your job.  Start a business.  Say hello to strangers.  Throw clay to make a lopsided bowl.  Sing karaoke.  Eat something you don't recognize.  Skydive.  Start a blog. … [Read more...]

A quick way to kick ass

I was late. Again. The bruises on my ass sore from me kicking itagain. If my shower was shorter. If I hasn't taken my timeshaving. If I hadn't hit snooze. I would be there.A word whispered in my ear. "You are here." I was in my car.  Driving.   Alone.  No where else. No matter where you'd rather be - you are here. Fighting that realityis an invitation.  For guilt, frustration and dissatisfaction.I sit at the light. The clock strikes the time I wanted toarrive. The traffic at the next light … [Read more...]

Want This Year to Be Easier? Read This.

  We scurried out of the house.  We just scored an hour with Jen's parents watching the girls.  A huge sigh of relief for both of us. It was in the 30s outside.  I said, "Let's walk."  Jen said, "It's too cold.  I'll need to get a hat and gloves if we walk."  I shrugged it off.  We hopped in the car and started driving.   I got to the light.  I realized how silly the objection of getting a hat and gloves was.  Walking 20 feet to get hat and gloves wouldn't have been a … [Read more...]

Is this the most powerful wealth multiplier?

  It's been a long time since I let my fingers feel the keyboard.  Not including emails, status reports and other organizational pink slime ... my fingers haven't roamed freely in a while. The longer my fingers went without furling words into the world, the more reasons I came with for why they could not do so.  Standard stuff ... not enough time, no space for peaceful thought, not the right time, etc. All the excuses were bullshit.  They always are. Don't believe me - let's … [Read more...]

Are You a Time-aholic?

  Hi.  My name is Eric.  And I'm a time-aholic. I have a time problem.  I abuse time.  Afterwards, I stumble through a time hangover, blacked out wondering what I did for the last few hours. It's easy to let time slip away when you haven't identified how you want to invest it.  It's hard to know how you want to invest it if you don't have investment goals. Our investment goals define how we invest our money.  If we're retiring soon, we might work to preserve what we have with a … [Read more...]