This is a guest post by Alexander Ajede, a student at Fitchburg State University. I have heard the statement, ‘I don’t know what I want to do when I get out of school’ too many times. Often the people who profess this have pursued a degree solely to make a…
This is a guest post by Heather Gray, a student at Fitchburg State University majoring in English and Middle School Education. I have had a long-time struggle with criticism about my choices in literature. It has always seemed as if nobody understood why I wanted to read the genres I…
This is a guest post by Chelsea Carr “You did not listen to me!” The woman pointed at me from across the counter. “See? She listened… You did not listen to me.” Well, what can you say to that? Not much. Anyone working in retail knows that, to many customers,…
I enjoy public speaking and have for most of my adult life. I have also learned a great deal about how to be a better public speaker, in part from practice, and in part from reading I’ve done on the subject, and (as I wrote about in my book) my…
Late last year, I was fortunate to learn about 10 Steps to Finding Your Happy Place (and Staying There), a wonderful book by Galen Pearl. After reading the book, I had the pleasure of interviewing Galen—about the book, her life, and the 10 Steps. I'm grateful to Galen for taking…
When I started to write this post I was going to talk about what I read this year. Then I found myself thinking that I might have read more if I hadn’t watched much more TV than I have in many, many years. That led me to start thinking about…
Earlier this year, I was introduced to Victor Schueller. Before I knew anything else about him, I wanted to get to know him when I heard that he goes by the title, “the Professor of Positivity and Possibility.” I love that! Today, I’m sharing an interview I did with Victor.…
In May of this year, I wrote a post about a story from the early part of my father’s career. In Everybody Has a Story—What’s Yours?, I explained that we all have stories to tell; learning that can help others. Soon after that post was published, while speaking with a…
Steve Mankoff and I met during our freshman year of college, 32 years ago. On and off, for years, I’ve suggested that Steve kick his habit of drinking a huge amount of diet soda. Last year, he finally decided to try. I asked Steve if he wanted to share his…
I’ve been checking out an unusual and interesting online coaching system for personal development, called ProStar Coach. I recently spoke with the creator of this program, Denny Coates. He has some insightful things to say about habits and behavior change. That’s of particular interest to me, with my focus on…
I’ve written in my book and here many times that breaking down big tasks into smaller pieces is a critical secret to success in all aspects of your life. Breaking down large business goals into smaller components has gotten a great deal of play in the many business books and…
This summer, between his second and third years of college, my son, Jeremy, taught seventh grade math in a program called Breakthrough. Breakthrough is designed to help bright kids from underserved urban areas to reach their potential. In addition to helping these kids to “break through,” Jeremy had a breakthrough…