What do you want? Have you ever had that thought? Hmmm. What do I want? Broad question but let me give you the favorite answer – survey says: Ding! Happiness! 97% said they just wanted to be happy. The other three percent wanted to be rich because they thought that would buy happiness…. What makes us happy? What do we want that would make us happy? Something from the world? Nah – that all wears out eventually – planned obsolescence,...

Having the courage to step to the plate will take you far. The sky is the limit where you can go. But what if you are having a hard time mustering up the strength to step to the plate? I will never forget it. As a kid I grew up skiing, and then in my teenage years decided to give snowboarding a shot.  I had some experienced snowboarder friends and told them about my interest. Of course they encouraged me, gave me all the tips on what gear...

I recall a story from Dad when I may have been a young teen. Working in a construction office, there were always salesmen coming in to peddle some gadget or other, and giving gifts to the people who might be in charge of buying for the company. Dad never took any of these gifts, thinking perhaps that although he was responsible for a lot of the company finances, he didn’t actually do the buying. Maybe some of the other guys weren’t in...

I sat sinking into my theater seat, watching Andy pull away, heading towards his unknown future. He was leaving behind his toys. Tears ran down my cheeks. My son, who will become a “teen” in a few weeks was leaning forward in his seat, and sniffling. He had tears, too. I doubt that his tears were generated from the same depths of the cask that mine might have been, but they were of the same vintage. I went to Toy Story 3D on Father’s...

I recall those trucker style hats that have the adjustable bands on the back. As a little youngster playing tee ball, I thought those bands were awesome. If only life wasn’t like those bands, where everything had a one size fits all approach. Not everything has the cool adjustable band like those hats, but one element does: communication. Mastering the art of communication is a life long challenge, and one that no one masters ...

Growing up my mom would always tell me, “you get out of it what you put into it.” I never realized she was giving me perfect Personal Branding Tips.  At first this didn’t make sense to me and I’d roll my eyes, and move along. But over the years it clicked one day and I had a paradigm shift. It is true. It stands true in the general sense of the phrase, and also if applied to a specific topic. In the case of personal branding...

Believe it or not, I’m sitting here thinking about bubble wrap, and how it applies to us as humans. Bubble wrap is an interesting thing. You look at it you see there are hundreds, or even thousands of bubbles to pop and you think ooh if I could pop even one of those than it’ll pop! You get a little reaction and a little reaction there. It’s fun. Who doesn’t like to pop bubble wrap? If you don’t then there is...