I’m a big fan of the actor Nick Offerman. I haven’t watched a ton of episodes of the TV show Parks and Rec, but his character is my favorite on that show. I also enjoyed his relatively small, but memorable, role in season two of The Last of Us, and…
During the early part of my career, I adopted several mantras to help me get through stressful work situations. One of my favorites was, “This, too, shall pass,” which I would say to myself when I had a major deadline approaching. It’s quite powerful, because it’s true when it comes…
I recently spoke with a group of my company’s up-and-coming professionals. Most of my talk centered around the kinds of things I always talk about in my speeches from my book, Six Simple Rules for a Better Life. Because it was a business event, I decided to add some thoughts…
The fourth of my “Six Simple Rules” is “Be Organized,” and a To-Do list is one of my keys to staying organized. I’ve written about to-do lists in my book and more than once in the blog, such as here. I’ve also written that one of the secrets to my…
One of the many things I learned from my father during our time working together, was to not be shy about getting outside help. To me and one of my buddies at work, it seemed as if my dad never met a consultant he didn’t like. In many cases, my…
Last year, at the end of a virtual presentation to participants in the Year Up program (a wonderful program I have been speaking at, and donating to, for many years), the event moderator read questions posted in the chat. They were good ones, so I'm sharing them here, with my…
My career has mostly focused on business development (aka sales) and I have been an active “networker”. I was recently introduced to a cleverly constructed networking organization that groups people who are looking for similar customers. I sat in on a sample session (virtual these days) and greatly enjoyed it.…
About 30 years ago, my wife and I moved with our first-born into an apartment located five minutes from my office. At first, I loved the idea. A five-minute commute was essentially no commute at all. After years of much longer commutes, I was thrilled. A year later, we moved,…
In the pre-COVID world, my daily work routine involved many meetings outside my office. I love being with people I know, and meeting new people. In the shelter-in-place world of COVID, I work all the time in my office (now located on one end of my dining room table), and…
I don’t like wasting resources. Money, food, and time come quickly to mind as the most obvious examples. Recently, I realized I have learned how to make better decisions by understanding the interaction between these resources. The net result is a positive impact on my happiness. For example, last summer…
I’ve written often about making time for the important things in your life and shifting from an “I don’t have the time” mindset to an “I didn’t make the time” one – not only because it’s a good way to look at the situation, but also because it’s true. We…
I have been greatly influenced by the writing of Stephen Covey, the late author of Seven Habits for Highly Successful People. What I learned from his ideas have been very important for my time management. Essentially, his message, as explained by the first three of his seven habits, is this:…