“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face,” Mike Tyson said. Sometimes, that punch isn’t literal. It’s life dealing you a blow. And it doesn’t even have to be major to knock the air from your lungs—just well-timed. I turned on my phone for the first time since my brother and I […]

April Fools brings to mind pranks, jokes, and humorous shenanigans. It gives us permission to take ourselves and our lives a little less seriously, if only for a day. But the truth is, we’re fooling ourselves all the time, with often harmful results. It comes down to our thinking. We tell ourselves lies in ways […]

Accidental soccer coach Ted Lasso is famous for telling his players to “be a goldfish.” Why? Because a goldfish has a ten-second memory and can’t dwell on its mistakes. That’s a plus, but there’s a downside. Research shows a connection between working memory and our ability to focus. “Individuals who perform well on memory tasks […]

Time is strange. It can move fast and slow at the same time—a month can feel like an entire year and (somehow) a single day. Last quarter is gone. You’ll blink and this next quarter will have disappeared. When it does, you might be left wishing you’d started with a plan. The good news? Now […]

Bad news first: You don’t default to doing good, hard things. You probably default to conserving energy and hedging your bets. It’s nature’s way of protecting us. But it’s not very satisfying, is it? Most of the time, it’s the struggle and sense of adventure a challenge presents that leads to the greatest personal satisfaction. […]

Fear makes a terrific short-term motivator. If a vehicle is careening toward you or a big branch snaps just behind you in a forest, the release of adrenaline and cortisol might just save your life. Fear is designed to keep us safe. And most of the time, it does a pretty great job.  But fear […]

You can live your life on purpose. It begins by creating a “Life Plan.” This won’t insulate you from life’s many adversities and unexpected twists and turns, but it will help you become an active participant in your life, intentionally shaping your own future.

Goals are, without a doubt, among the most powerful tools on the path to transformation. They clarify our destination. They focus our effort. They marshall our motivation. The result? They invite us to change. But goals, by themselves, aren’t enough. You can have successful days and even successful years and still fall short of a […]

Most people approach the future like someone armed with a machete in dense undergrowth: they find their way by trying to see past everything competing for their attention, knocking aside obstacles as necessary. The result? Wasted energy and lack of direction. Creating a plan for your life is like building a railroad: it provides a […]