Years ago I heard a story from a motivational speaker named Jim Rohn that forever changed the way I thought/think about tipping. I can’t remember the story exactly as he told it but the following re-creation makes the same basic point. Jim had a mentor named Mr. Shoaff who one day asked him, “Jim, when […]
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When You’re Overwhelmed, Focus on the Next Smallest Action That’ll Move You Forward
If you want to achieve anything in life, the idea of a quiet, easily-paced life, is a fantasy. It doesn’t exist. Likewise, a day where you accomplish everything you need to accomplish is a myth as well. In fact, if you ever complete everything you need to accomplish in a day, you’re aiming way too […]
Refuse to Waste Time and Energy Worrying About Things You Can’t Control
How often do you waste time and energy worrying about something? It could be about what someone else thinks about you. It could be about whether someone will say, “Yes” to your request for a date. It could be about an upcoming text or exam. It could be about what college you’ll be accepted to. […]
Don’t Wish Something Hard Was Easier, Wish You Were Better
Life is hard. Learning a new language is hard. Building a new relationship is hard. Getting a big project done in half the time is hard. Learning calculus is hard. Resolving conflict is hard. Finding the right person to spend your life with is hard. Building a great marriage is hard. Starting a new business […]
If You Really Want to Achieve Something, Make Sure Every Step You Take Is in That Direction
If achieving what you want to achieve were easy, everything you want to achieve would come true simply by you thinking about it or desiring it—but that isn’t how life works, is it? Just because you want to lose 10 pounds doesn’t make it so. Nor does simply desiring to get an A or being […]
If You Want to Win More Arguments, Learn How to Logically Construct Them
Virtually every day of your life, you’re going to be engaged in an argument with someone. Note: I’m not talking about arguments in the sense of being angry and yelling at someone. I’m talking about arguments in the classic sense where you’re trying to influence someone to agree with you and you’re doing that by […]
If At First You Don’t Succeed … You Modify
Do you ever find yourself putting a lot of pressure on yourself to succeed? Or do you ever find yourself worrying about what might happen if you don’t succeed or you don’t win at whatever you’re engaged in? Well, if the answer to either of those questions is, “Yes,” don’t worry, you’re normal. We all […]
If Someone Somewhere Is Succeeding At What You’re Not, Own That You May Be the Problem
As you’re hopefully picking up in these letters, there are only a handful of issues that will hinder your success more than excusitis and blame. Unfortunately, the natural tendency for most people when they’re not succeeding at something is to look for a reason why they’re not succeeding at that thing. For example, I can’t do math […]
First You Make Your Choices, Then Your Choices Make You
If you were to ask me, “What are the five to ten most important lessons everyone should learn early in life?” one of them would undoubtedly be the title of this post, “First you make your choices, then your choices make you.” Why? Because it would eliminate excusitis and not taking responsibility from the lives […]
Build Your Reputation As “The Person Who Gets Stuff Done!”
If you want to get ahead at work, regardless of whether this is your first job at a fast food joint or your tenth at a Fortune 100 company, there are few more important reputations you can acquire than this one, “She/He is the one who gets stuff done!” Despite what you may have heard, […]
