Six Questions To Answer If You Want To Turn Your Passion Into A Business

Six Questions To Answer If You Want To Turn Your Passion Into A Business

Turning your passion into a business isn’t easy, but it can be done.

I have this conversation with aspiring entrepreneurs all the time. They show up at our meeting with a lot of energy and a lot of hope. What they don’t have is a lot of clarity about how to get started, or even if it’s an idea worth pursuing. Here are six questions I ask them in order to help them get clarity on both. (more…)

Three Simple Steps To Getting Back On Track With Your Fitness

Three Simple Steps To Getting Back On Track With Your Fitness

“In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these two means, man can attain perfection.” ~ Plato

I am constantly reminded in my own life how connected my mind and body are. As my days fill up with work and other stuff, I tend to sacrifice my workouts. See, much of my work, writing, respond to emails, and coaching clients are quantifiable tasks. It’s easy to see if I’ve completed them or not. Skipping a workout, on the other hand, has no immediate visible repercussions.

What I find though, is that instead of my life getting less frantic when I skip my workouts, it becomes more frantic. (more…)

14 Key Learnings From Over 5000 Hours of Leadership Coaching

14 Key Learnings From Over 5000 Hours of Leadership Coaching

When I got my first coaching client in 2009, I had no idea that leadership coaching would turn into a career. But just last week, I was calculating my coaching hours and I found that I have coached over 5000 hours in the last six years. That got me wondering what are the most common, powerful lessons clients have learned in our sessions. Luckily, I write those down. At the end of each meeting, I ask each client to identify the most powerful lesson or idea from that meeting. I boiled over 3000 key learnings down to these:

(more…)

Stop Saving Them: Why You Should Give People The Chance To Fail

Stop Saving Them: Why You Should Give People The Chance To Fail

I don’t want to help my kids anymore.

I used to but now I’m over it.

A few months ago, I was on a bike ride with my two oldest (eleven and nine) and stopped by the creek to hangout and rest. They were tossing rocks and arguing about something or other. Annoyed at the bickering, I bet them $5 that they couldn’t get across the creek and back without getting their feet wet.

“Deal,” they said. (more…)

What I’ve Learned About Being A Man From My Three Dads

What I’ve Learned About Being A Man From My Three Dads

Boys without dads don’t have to follow the same rules as everyone else.

I could steal from my mom, cheat on tests or fight at school. I could treat people how I wanted.

My behavior wasn’t my fault. I’d been abandoned by all the fathers I’d had. I was damaged goods.

That was how I saw things most of my life. It wasn’t until my 30’s that I realized I had been telling myself the wrong story all along. I wasn’t a fatherless child. I’ve had three fathers who have each given me a gift which helped me grow into the man I am. (more…)

Asking For Accountability

Asking For Accountability

 

As if there weren’t enough people holding my feet to the fire, now my grade-school aged kids are doing it.

I asked them to.

The other day I was driving from the gym home and I started noticing how many people were texting while they were driving. I counted. In a seven mile drive I counted 15 people typing on their phones or reading while they were driving. There was a 16th woman who appeared to be watching a video her friend was holding for her as she drove. I didn’t count her.

I am not judging these people. I do it all the time..

My wife calls me out on it. She pointed out that the kids see me do it and soon they will be driving. They are learning by watching. I decided I wanted to change my behaviors. (more…)