My favorites, readers’ favorites, and a little about me as a human — Four years ago, I was gathered around a campfire with a few friends, and I told my buddy Alex that I wanted to be a writer someday. He asked what I had written lately, and I (shamefully) said, “Well, I haven’t really been writing anything, but I want to at…

Quotes have a unique ability to capture wisdom in a few memorable words. These ones are worth living by. — The best quotes contain a world of wisdom in a couple of sentences. Each of the 25 quotes below can be used to build a life worth living… “Not wanting something is as good as having it.” -Liad Shababo This concept has been around for thousands of years. Supposedly, when…

I grew up going to church every Sunday. My family sat in the same pew every week: the third one from the front on the left-hand side of the sanctuary. All of the regulars at our Baptist church knew it was our pew. It was “ours” every week except the…

What I wish I could teach my younger self — Today I turn 35, which feels really old. I think self-reflection is important, so I’ve been reflecting on the lessons I’ve learned these past three and a half decades. Here’s what I wish I could teach my younger self (in no particular order)… 1. Don’t worry about what you can’t…

I’ve hosted hundreds of meetings, and this tip has saved me a lot of time and frustration — After I finished facilitating a meeting a few years ago, my boss asked if I could stay in the conference room for a few minutes so he could give me some feedback. I’m usually pretty good at hearing tough messages, but I’m sure my…

Struggling to kickstart a journaling habit? Give Bullet Journaling a shot. — I was always better at buying journals than using them. From the ages of 10 through 25, every time I saw a cool-looking journal at Wal-Mart or Target, I’d snag it with the optimistic intention of starting a journaling habit. After all, I’d always heard that journaling was a good…

Book a cabin, yurt, or Airbnb to get away from the busyness of life and reclaim yourself — If your computer or WiFi stops working, your resident IT guru will encourage you to unplug or reset the device. Supposedly the system needs to go offline for a minute so it can then come back online and begin functioning properly. That’s easy enough for computer hardware, but what’s the…

I learned the hard way that it’s best to involve your team in decisions — For a short period of time, I was the most reviled person on my college campus. It was senior year, and I had just made the biggest leadership mistake of my young life. At the time, my school had two long semesters with a short, six-week “winter term” sandwiched in…

Practical tips, examples, and ideas for leaders and managers — “Culture” is tough to define and even tougher to build. It’s the elusive secret sauce that keeps employees engaged, effective, and enthusiastic. But what is culture really? Here are the three best definitions I’ve found: Culture is the spoken and unspoken norms of how we do things here. “Culture is…