I recently completed my transition out of a ministry that I led for two decades.  The transition took sixteen months from the time I informed the board that I wanted to leave until I handed the baton successfully to my successor. I learned two lessons right away: Boards are great at launching leaders, not so...Read More

Skills are essential, and some skills are absolutely essential.  Successful living demands them.  Out of the many skills, if you asked me to give you just one, I would pick… The Skill of Mastering Your Moods. There are other great skills, but without this one, happiness and contentment will elude you – no matter how...Read More

At the core of personal mastery is self-under-standing.  Transformation is about dealing with fundamental motives and causes rather than simply dabbling with symptomatic issues. Nurturing these 5 “self’s” will fuel your quest for personal mastery. 1. Self-Awareness. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is not as easy as it sounds.  To understand our personal surpluses and...Read More

Life has a way of pushing us over if we let it.  One of the main antidotes against being a pushover is to know what you truly want out of life.  The most difficult phase of life is not when others do not understand you.  It’s really when you don’t understand yourself. What do you...Read More

Some people take simple things and make them complicated.  As we become wiser we take complicated things and make them simpler.  This is what turns a good communicator, into a great communicator. We know what it’s like to have a professor wow us with complex ideas.  We might be impressed, but we remain disconnected.  That’s...Read More

There is no greater luxury than time!  Yet we can get so absorbed in taking care of our day-to-day obligations that we lose track of time.  We “manage it”, “waste it”, “spend it”, and “save it.”  We wish the time would come.  We wish the time would pass.  We see time fly.  We feel time...Read More

When we encounter discomfort we are faced with 3 choices:  Avoidance, Resignation, or Engagement. Avoidance has its place.  Why create discomfort where it’s not necessary?  How does one decide what is and isn’t necessary?  Going to school and work often create discomfort, but it’s necessary.  Exercising can create discomfort, but we know the benefits.  Medical...Read More

The crack of a bullwhip is one of the most attention-getting sounds we can hear.  It’s mostly associated with pain and punishment by both receiver and inflictor.  The crack! is the result of the light piece of leather at the end going faster than the speed of sound.  The sharp crack! is the breaking of...Read More

Jerry Seinfeld describes the difficulties procrastination causes in his standup comedy routine about going to bed: “I never get enough sleep.  I stay up late at night, ‘cause I’m Night Guy.’  Night Guy wants to stay up late.  ‘What about getting up after five hours sleep?’ That’s Morning Guy’s problem.  That’s not my problem, I’m...Read More

Nothing stands still.  Things get better or worse.  Let’s make this more personal.  We are either getting better or worse.  It’s a universal principle – starting with the Universe itself –that which doesn’t expand, contracts.  We are either going forward or backward. Stephen Covey referred to this kind of thinking as sharpening the saw.  Just...Read More