On The Air: Life Lessons From Chubby
If you’ve been reading my articles over the years, you know my dad (Chubby) was a huge influence on my life. Most every Saturday morning he took me to breakfast at Perkins Pancake House in Cincinnati, sharing his life wisdom while I inhaled pancakes. I’ve received 1000s of emails over the past 13 years with kind […]
The Spiritual Wind Beneath Your Wings
A friend told me his kids start school this week. Seriously? August? My summer breaks weren’t over until Labor Day. Seems like that was 100 years ago. When I mentioned this conversation at the office, one of my remarkable employees, Sonal, suggested that I write this week’s article about the advice parents give kids when […]
When Ignorance Is Bliss
CONFLICTING SIGNALS Do you ever sense that someone is thinking differently from what they’re saying? They smile. They say nice things. But you feel like they are not being sincere. You perceive they are either unhappy with you or trying to pull something over on you. MICRO-EXPRESSIONS Conflicts between what others say and what you […]
Why Old Folks Are Better Gamblers
LEARNING FROM MISTAKES Studies show that as we get older we tend to take fewer risks. One reason is because we are more thoughtful. We scrutinize risks more thoroughly. We’ve learned from our mistakes. SITUATIONS IMPACTING RISK We all tend to take fewer (and less risky) risks in five situations: (1) after we get married, (2) […]
Innovative Remarkability
We all want to be good at what we do. Some of us strive to be the best. But what if our goals were loftier? Not better. Not the best. What if we strived for innovative remarkability? Being the best is doing it better than others. Innovative remarkability is more. It’s doing it different, accomplishing what can’t be […]
Costco Soars by Breaking Rules
Would you have bet on Costco? Dank atmosphere. Limited selection. Wooden pallets. Pay an annual fee for the privilege of shopping. It’s contrary to every established rule of retail. Yet it worked! Costco now has 770 stores, 245,000 employees and $140 billion in sales. The secret to its success? Breaking the rules. The inspiration for Costco […]
I Lucked into Being American
Have you ever thought that you’re lucky to be an American? One of my best friends, Dave McLurg, recently became an American citizen. While having dinner last week, Dave told me that taking the U.S. oath of allegiance was one of his proudest moments. Born in Canada, Dave first visited the U.S. at age 10. […]
Avoiding Black Holes and Vacuums
It’s happened to me. It’s happened to you. We got sucked into black holes: other people’s vacuums. In other words, we’ve all been sucked into a vacuum. In high school, I asked the prom queen out on a date. She turned me down. Wasn’t even polite about it. My friends and I knew she […]
Who You Do Not Want To Be
Are you happy with your life? At 13, I thought I was. Then Chubby proved me wrong. Chubby was my dad. Plump as a kid, his childhood nickname stuck. I remember the day vividly. We sat across from each other in a dark red, shiny booth next to the window. Chubby and I were at […]
Big Mission with Chicken Soup for the Soul
My friend Mark Victor Hansen has a big mission with Chicken Soup for the Soul. Mark and I go way back. I hired him back in 1989 to give a motivational talk to my real estate firm just after I started it. Mark was a struggling speaker at the time, virtually unknown. He needed work, […]