Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough. Alain de Botton We’d all like to think that we’ve acquired enough knowledge to achieve success, especially those of us who’ve been in our industries for a minute. But time and again, experience teaches us (if we’re paying enough attention to notice) that we’re woefully deficient …

Too many of us, in our all-out sprint to achieve success, spend every waking hour working. Doing our job. Prepping for our next job. Working behind the scenes on our business. Marketing our business. Thinking about our business. All that work can be overwhelming, and will eventually lead to burnout. If we find ourselves stressed, not getting the rush that …

For better or worse, we find ourselves stuck in a hierarchical world, where we’re arranged according to our (perceived) importance. If we look around us, we can see people at different levels/stages of life and career, with those people at the bottom working to move their way up the hierarchy. In general, there are two different personality types we find …

If we’re not sure where we want to be, what we’d like to do, or in which direction we’d like to take things, we should look for some assistance and guidance. And who better to look to than the people we admire. We should use our friends and mentors as a type of “people compass” to help guide us toward …

Knowing that someday, maybe sooner, maybe later, we’re going to have to deal with a failure of some sort is a powerful thing. Denying that we’ll ever experience difficulty is a horrible way to run a business, as keeping our head stuck in the sand doesn’t do anything to protect our backside. Planning what we’ll likely do when setbacks occur …

Time. It’s tempting to think of it as a never-ending resource. But it’s not. It’s the most precious resource we have. How are we spending ours? Our trouble is not ignorance, but inaction. Dale Carnegie

We’ve all got things that we’d like to see changed. Stuff that should be done differently. Reforms that would make our lives easier. Changes that would be better for everyone involved. But, alas, we’re much too busy to get involved. Someone else will get around to doing it. Eventually. I’m sure of it. Doing nothing is always easier than doing …

We all try hard to advertise our businesses. Ideally, we’d like to do it in the most cost-effective way possible. (And free always seems to be the cheapest way!) So, many of us choose social media: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc. Anywhere we can get eyeballs on our product without spending a dime seems like a bargain! But is it …

We all love to tell stories of our bad luck. There’s an attraction to letting everyone know when we’ve been wronged by fate; when we felt we were on the receiving end of a bad beat. Misery loves company, and it’s an easy thing to share our misery with others. Somehow, we feel a little better knowing that we’re not …

If a reason doesn’t stop everyone, it’s (simply) an excuse. Seth Godin What’s our “reason” for not getting it done today?