In my last post of the year, I shared my process for planning the new year. In summary, instead of resolutions, I set themes. Themes are not goals to achieve. Rather they are words that help guide and shape the year. I first wrote about this concept in my 2005 book, Goal-Free Living. And now it is […]
How do you spend the first week of the New Year? For many, it is back to the grind stone, picking up where you left off in 2017. The new year becomes an extrapolation of the past year. My intention is to use the new year as a chance to innovate and create. Therefore, I […]
The other day I decided to check “broken links” on my website. Basically these are links from my site to other sites. In most cases, these were articles I referenced, books I promoted, or interesting people I highlighted. Since 2006, I have posted over 800 blog entries. ( I started my website back in 2001) […]
Owning your own business is not for everyone. There are ups and downs. Joys and heartaches. Wins and losses. Ebbs and flows of income. There have been moments when I was unsure when the next paycheck would arrive (it’s happened more often than I’d like to admit). And although there seems to be an endless number of […]
Professional speakers are always trying to justify their fees. Admittedly, it can be a substantial investment for a one-hour keynote. With that being said, for larger events, the cost of breakfast is often times more than the cost of the speech. While that may be true, some professional speakers have the crazy idea that it […]
Over the years I have been to a lot of conferences – either as an attendee or as a speaker. At most events, the formal education portions ends by 7pm, usually quite a bit earlier. A banquet or gathering in the bar typically follows. I recently attended a magic convention with 700 magicians. Unlike most […]
In my last post entitled “When you are the best, you should be worried,” I talked about the importance of comparing yourself to the right people (or the right companies). The day after posting it, I saw this cartoon which advocates practicing (specifically for musicians, but it could apply to anyone).
Should you ever give away your services (or products) for free? This has been an on-going discussion in the speaking community. And recently I found that the same debate is taking place in the magic community. There are some of my speaking colleagues who are adamant that no one should ever give a speech where […]
In a recent blog entry, I discussed how changing the questions you ask can change your results, which in turn can change your life. Not too long ago I gave a speech whereafter someone in the audience asked me how this approach to asking questions could be applied to raising children, in particular his high school […]
Back in the early 90’s, while working for Andersen Consulting in New York City, I was asked to give a presentation to a client project team that was creating a complex software system. They were struggling with the testing process. The project team was told that I was one of the Firm’s foremost authorities on […]
