Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You

The above quote is advice from Eleanor Roosevelt on how to overcome fear.  As a child, she was consumed with fear and self-doubt.  Feeling she was a disappointment to her parents, she dedicated herself to overcoming her fears.  Her success at doing so set the stage for her to become an extremely successful American First…

All Of Us Need To Serve As Instruments Of Validation

USA Today recently commented on the last episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show.  The article Oprah as saying, “I’ve spoken to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all 30,000 had one thing in common: a need for validation.”  Validation reinforces a positive sense of worth in people and makes them feel really good about…

Smiles And Kindness Will Serve You Well Wherever You Go

I just returned from a trip to Bogota, Columbia where I gave a presentation on my new leadership model to a Latin America business forum.  I stayed at a wonderful hotel that was part of a Columbian hotel chain and I was the only person staying there who wasn’t fluent in Spanish.  When I arrived…

Happiness Really Is Contagious

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal cited research that showed our social networks—family members, friends and acquaintances we regularly interact with—strongly influence how we feel.  For example, when one person is happy, the members of their social network are 25% more likely to be happy.  Furthermore, this influence can even spread though online…

Attracting Luck

The Wall Street Journal recently carried an essay written by Scott Adams, the creator of “Dilbert.”  The essay contained some sound bits of wisdom on how to become successful based on his personal experienced.  One of his points was to “Attract Luck.”  Mr. Adams went on to say, “You can’t manage luck directly, but you…

Serendipity Is One Of Life’s Most Exciting Rewards

Serendipity is the accidental discovery of something wonderful while you’re searching for something else.  I remember once searching through a set of files looking for a particular letter and found a check for $1,200 that I had long forgotten about—I was ecstatic.  Recently, a group of researchers that included author Clive Custler, were searching for…