Conflict. Tension. Confusion. Misunderstanding. Hurt feelings. These are all negative elements of relationships each of us has experienced at some point in our lives—whether with family, friends, or coworkers. On the flip-side, we’ve also experienced countless positive elements in our various relationships. Whatever their current state, the fact of the matter is that our relationships
Most of us live in a near-constant state of busyness. Between the demands of job and career, home and family, friends and colleagues, church and community—not to mention your own health and sanity—open schedules and zero commitments are a rarity. That constant busyness has become the norm for many of us, and we mostly do
Former United States president Theodore Roosevelt is credited with having authored this memorable quote: “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.” While Roosevelt’s words certainly should make you chuckle, I hope they also make you stop and consider the truth in
Some people are habitual procrastinators. It doesn’t matter what it is—doing the dinner dishes, paying a bill, or writing a term paper—they put it off until the last minute. But even if you’re not a notorious deadline pusher, it’s likely there are at least a few things you tend to procrastinate about. Maybe it’s starting
Do you remember getting growing pains as a child? Those mysterious aches in the leg muscles were anything but pleasant! Yet despite the pain and discomfort, something good and important was happening at the same time: we were growing! Whether as a child or as an adult, have you ever had to make a big
This weekend in the United States we will be celebrating Memorial Day. Memorial Day was established in the 1860s to annually recall and celebrate all American soldiers that have given their lives in service to our country. In honor of this national holiday, I would like to share a short story: There once was a
In case you haven’t noticed, life doesn’t always go according to plan. Even the most carefully planned strategies and very best intentions get derailed by the unexpected and the unavoidable. It’s not just the big things, like career paths and families, that don’t always turn out the way we’d envisioned; we frequently get derailed in
One of the chapters in the book I wrote a few years ago, Be An Inspirational Leader: Engage, Inspire, Empower, is titled “Be Teachable.” In it I wrote, “No matter their title, position, experience, education, or expertise, inspirational leaders know that they don’t know it all, and they remain open to learning new, different, and
