Insights & Strategies for a Purposeful Life

Problems! We all have them. They vary by size, duration, intensity, and focus. You walk out to your car. It's tilting a little funny and you notice that one of the rear tires is flat. You think, “Oh, great! I don't need this today.” Your mind automatically goes to how

We usually make resolutions because we want to change something in our lives, we want to improve. We believe that by making this change, our lives will be richer and we will be happier. So, why doesn’t everyone make resolutions? Changing means messing with our auto-pilot and that takes us

This might be a misnomer – can we ever really balance it? Maybe the goal here is to be clear about priorities. Do you want to have everything balanced, or do you want to spend most of your time where it matters most at the right times? One way to

Why do the holidays become stressful? Often the answer to that question is that we get tied up in all of the “to do”s and “by when”s that are implied in getting everything done. The holidays are for people, not the other way around. Let's look at an acronym that

This has been a very popular topic for my recent trainings and keynotes, and has a profound implication for leadership. Think about your own thinking for a moment and notice that whenever you are in a conversation, communication, or interaction with another person, your focus is somewhere. Paying attention to

A couple in my office recently heard me say, “You need a new marriage.” She looked at me with surprise in her face, they were paying me to help them save their marriage, not to tell them they need a new one. “Keep your spouse, ” I responded, “and get

“Buy now while supplies last! Get while the getting is good. All good things must come to an end.” There is never enough. Never enough good deals. Never enough stuff in our closet or garage. Never enough time, money, love, attention. Sometimes we operate in a constant perception of scarcity.

You've heard it before right? Happiness is a choice. That can sometimes be offensive, especially when I'm not feeling happy. What are you saying? That it's my fault?! The thing is, until we see it as a choice, it's not. This is because of a process in our own mind

Have you wondered how to stay positive when things are so hard? Our mind is an amazing tool that, when properly used, can assist us to stay in positivity mode no matter what. Take ten minutes to give yourself the gift of understanding how to operate the equipment of your

How sure are you that six o'clock is coming? Pretty darn sure? How sure are you that you will be around for six o'clock? Almost as sure? Yes, six o'clock is coming, and most likely we are going to be around for six o'clock. I used to think that there

Just be yourself, because everybody else is taken. I first encountered this message on the profile of a young Facebook friend. Now Alex Boye' has captured it in a song. This inspired me, so I thought to pass it along to you. Thanks for being who you are – nobody

Do you have a hard time listening to or watching the news? If you are like me, you have probably noticed and been troubled by the barrage of negativity and hate that has pounded us in the mainstream media. Police versus citizens, black versus white, Clinton versus Trump, us versus

As you may know, I have been preparing for several months now to host the World Hopecast, which is happening this week! My sweetheart, Vicki, shared with me a thought that I wanted to pass along. She asked me a question that got me thinking about the difference between hope

Why can it be so hard to stay positive? Why is it so easy to get sucked into the negativity trap? Unless there is some force to the contrary, Mother Nature’s default is downhill. Mountains erode, buildings crumble, roads deteriorate, bridges eventually collapse. Rain falls, hits the ground, and flows downhill.

Immaculée Ilibagiza crouched beside seven other women in a cramped twelve square foot bathroom in Rwanda for three months, being careful not to make a sound so the bloodthirsty Hutu killing raids would not discover them and thrust their bodies onto the piles of rotting corpses that were Immaculée’s family

This is the simple phrase that was printed at the bottom of a card that my friend Logan handed me when we bumped into each other at baggage claim as I returned home from the National Speaker's Association Convention in Washington, D.C. No flare. No pretense. Just a promise. Bound by my

How do you feel when life dumps on you? How would you like to feel? Focus right now on any tough situation you are going through. Now, without minimizing what you are facing, consider these two ways of looking at it: –  Things should have been better and are about

We are creators by nature. Many religions promote the idea that humans are more than just a creation; they are actual offspring of the Creator. As a child of the Supreme Creator, what would that make you? A creator. It’s not that you can become a creator someday, you already are a

One of the labels commonly assigned to something that creates discontent is “problem” – which bears its own stigma. We dislike discontent. We hate problems. Or do we? Perhaps we think we don’t like problems because the vast majority of us have been conditioned from childhood to feel that having

Necessity is the mother of invention. Difficult situations inspire ingenious solutions. I share a story in the first chapter of my book where I was stuck in the muck, frustrated, worried, dissatisfied. It was while in this state I finally saw how my own thinking was getting in my way,

How to Develop Positive Attitude: Three Basic Steps Step One: Find the good in what is. The whole idea behind Pathological Positivity is that there are up sides and down sides to everything. What is, is always between better and worse. It could always be better than it is now,

Do you hear the voices? Some people get a little nervous when I ask them this question. I’m a shrink, and I’m asking if you hear the voices? But we all hear them. You might even hear one right now saying, “What voices? I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

From a positive psychology perspective, our mind handles two very distinct tasks – evaluation of what is, and creation of what is to be. Powerful creation starts with and is powered up by what we do in the evaluation mode. When we find the good in what is, we are

To manifest great things we must do a little more work than we may have anticipated, but less than we fear. Remember, stuff just sits there until you move it. Water runs downhill until you add pipes and pressure to alter its course. Cake ingredients are just ingredients until someone