I was driving into work early this morning when I was following a car that had “You’re Loved” and a big heart written in huge letters on the back window. Now maybe somebody wrote that on the person’s window because that person needed to know that they are loved. But maybe the person driving that car wrote it on there so that I (or anyone else that saw the sign) know that I am loved. In any case, it worked. Just by seeing the sign, it made my morning a...

  How many times do we settle for good when we can have better? What is the price we pay for settling for something, instead of pursuing something better? There is nothing wrong with living a good life, but there is also nothing wrong with living a great life.  What separates the two? Thinking Big– We have the tendency to think too small, to underestimate our capabilities. Think of the biggest possible outcome, then think a little bigger. Be willing to make lots of mistakes on your road to success– Mistakes are...

I love riding motorcycles, especially on a smooth, winding canyon road in the middle of a nature-scented summer evening.  On a motorcycle, on the odometer that measures the engine’s RPMs, there is a red zone.  When you rev the throttle, and the needle for the RPMs increases to the line where the black meets the red, you are said to be red-lining the bike.  The black zone is safe.  The red zone is not.  That’s not to say that anything will definitely happen i the red zone, but it might. As...

“If everyone were cast in the same mold, there would be no such thing as beauty.” - Charles Darwin   Do you really know who you are? Do you know who you're not? Maybe, just maybe, if you can figure out who you are not, you can get closer to figuring out who you are? Perhaps, if you crumble away those things that you know are definitely not you, you can find the essence of who you truly are. As you think about these questions, ask yourself if these things are NOT...

All of us get the opportunity to deal with difficult people. Whether they be managers at work, family members or even neighbors, we are not immune from having to interact with people that are so different than us that they rub us the wrong way and make it difficult to even be around. One of the things that I’ve learned is that these people can be ‘master teachers’ for us. We are told in an number of scriptures to love our enemies. It’s easy to love those who love us, but...

In aviation or sailing. A chart is plotted, the direction is set, and then many small adjustments are made along the journey, due to divergences from the course. External factors like wind can blow us off course for a minute, but we learn to adjust and move forward. In the stock market, the same thing happens. When an investor sees a divergence, it’s a sign that there will be an adjustment in the market, so the investor uses this knowledge to adjust their portfolio accordingly. The same thing can happen to us...

The success and value of a person’s life is in what he can contribute to enrich the lives of others, whether by example, service, or content.  Examples are people like Victor Frankl and Nelson Mandela, who, through their own struggles and self-conviction give us something to aspire to. Examples of service are people like Mother Teresa, who believes in her mission, and tirelessly fulfills it, day-after-day, helping one person at a time. Examples of content are the many authors like Ralph Waldo Trine, Thoreau, Emerson, and CS Lewis, who nourish...

I remember somebody telling me “when two people are of the identical opinion, one person is redundant.” It got me thinking of the value of differing opinions. There is huge value in a company having diverse perspectives with their people, just like a basketball or football team has diverse skillsets for different positions. Whenever I come in contact with someone who sees things differently, here are a few things to keep in mind, to make the most of the opportunity:     Don’t pre-judge– This can be difficult, especially since you may have...

I just read an article on CNN (http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/10/technology/facebook-news-senate/index.html?iid=ob_homepage_tech_pool) where a senator, John Thune, in South Dakota is demanding (I thought the government was to serve the people, not to be their master) to know who is approving trending topics on Facebook. Once again, the government oversteps boundaries. It's none of their business. Why are we wasting taxpayer dollars on someone who puts their nose in other peoples business? I get Facebook for free. It's very valuable and provides an amazing ability to connect with friends around the world. If they want to...

My 24 year old nephew and his wife decided to live on the road for the past seven months. They wanted to see the country and live life deeply. I recently asked him how things were going and what were the biggest things he's learned out on the road, and this is what he shared with me (sharing with his permission): "We started out on Sep 1st of last year, so 7 months now? We plan on doing this for about a year, but we’ll see. Living like this definitely has it’s pros/cons,...