A Hustler’s Burden
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Brian Kurian. And I am a bonafide hustler. Why I Am The Way I Am Often times I have moments where I sit back and reflect on my life. I think about why I am the way I am. I wonder why I have such a hard time unplugging...
Why Being in Your 60’s is the Ultimate Startup
Here you are, sailing along in your sixties. Maybe retirement is on the horizon. Perhaps it is not even a consideration, yet. But somewhere in the back of your mind might lurk the scary question: What’s next? Well, my friends, what’s next is the Ultimate Startup. One...
Dear Internet, Please Stop Pushing Me so Hard to Get Up Early
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin As I heard my Fitbit alarm buzz me awake at 6:15 am, I knew that I was just too wiped out to get up and go for a run, so I ignored it and kept sleeping. After all, this was a...
4 Tools I Use to Boost Productivity
How I take care of business and boost my mental health Iam disorganized. I am lazy. I am low on energy. I am all these things; but, I am aware of these things, and unlike many with the same traits, I put effort towards battling these weaknesses. Last month I wrote...
6 Activities To Keep Life Simple
As the population continues to grow, the more than a trend for less is developing. This sort of trend is a minimalistic lifestyle. That isn’t to say this movement is bad, in fact, it’s still a good move as we move away from less material things and focus more on the...
4 More Wonderful Myth Busters on Creativity
Remember these words: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:10,NIV).” I want you to know that some of the things you have been told about being artist are NOT true....
Start Fire To your Own Initiative
I am a procrastinator — a waster of time. I am sucked in by games on my phone, posts on Facebook, and the television. BUT I am a writer looking for inspiration in what I read and what I see and what I do. “An open calendar with short notes scribbled next to the dates”...
The Importance Of Being Self-Aware
Take an inventory of yourself and figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are. I will be honest with you my dear friends. I am absolutely terrible at a lot of things. No seriously. Here is a list of all the things that I am bad at: Algebra. Repairing things that...
At 65+: How to Unlock The Genuine Value of Lawn Mowing
I might as well start with a confession. I’m on the other side of 65 and until this summer had never mowed a lawn. Never. In. My. Life. Not in my youth in suburban Chicago. Not in my New Jersey-centered suburban life nor at the revered second home. I hardly thought...
Why Motivation Matters And Where to Find It
Motivation is described as interactions of both conscious and unconscious influences. It is the intensity of our desires or needs, It is influenced by the reward or value of our goals, It is dependant on the expectation we lay on ourselves and from our friends,...
This is What Happens When You Empower a Genius
“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” — Vincen van Gogh Heis considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt. In just under 9 years he produced some 800 works of art. And in 2015, his...
We Should Focus on Outliers More
What’s an Outlier? In my article on education, I mentioned how some students, often the systemically disobedient, tend to be some of the most intelligent. These individuals, outliers from the normal distribution in more ways than one, can be some of the greatest...
Are You Ready For the REAL New Year
That’s Sept 4th This Year, In Case You’re Wondering, And Yes You Need to Set Some Goals My Mom and I never liked summer all that much. Oh sure, there were those days where I lay on my back and breathed in fresh cut grass, or where I went blueberry picking in the field...
Do Millennials Really Need to Stop Whining?
“Millennials can be very hardworking, but it’s easier to tell the story of the ones who are entitled.” -Kathryn Minshew I feel like I know next to nothing about my own generation. The two-edged sword that is the Internet has allowed us to form in our minds what it...
And This Door Too I Shall Kick Down
In order to be successful in life, you will have to learn how to create opportunities for yourself. Have you ever felt trapped? Have you ever felt that you keep having to face one closed door after another whenever you are trying to make a better life for yourself? It...
Being Able To Face The Person In The Mirror
It all starts with having the ability to love and respect yourself. You can go through your entire life answering other people’s questions falsely. You can spend your days giving people half-truths. Everyone can get fooled by your answers. But here is the thing… You...
This is Why Searching for Your Passion is Unreliable
“There is no passion to be found playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” — Nelson Mandela “Should I be a professional baseball player or a movie star?” I once asked my younger brother. I made the inquiry as casually...
Why Are Your Beautiful Relationships Going Wrong?
What You Don’t Know That You Don’t Know Are you having trouble connecting with your partner? Are the times of conflict increasing and the times of joy decreasing? Are you wondering if your relationship is going to last? Relationships are meant to be an area that...
How to Take Winning Steps Toward Realizing Your Dreams
So You Can Live Out those Dreams Hidden in Your Heart What dreams may come depends on what steps you take. We can put our hope in receiving a windfall or wait for opportunities to drop in our lap, but I would venture to say neither is likely. When they do happen it’s...
Golden Rules For Start Up Entrepreneurs
A Must Have Guide 1. Marry Your Company And The Employees! 💑 Working harmoniously with your employees and co-founders is like getting married to them! Understanding and compromising are two important traits that can help your business run smoothly. 2. Have a ‘KISS’...
Live Leadership Lessons from The Front with Joe Cala
This week my guest is Joe Cala! Joe has over 20 years in business and leadership, Joe is a source of spiritual inspiration and daily motivation in positivity & sales strategies! Joe connects with people he ignites their passion, processes, powerful truths and helps...
Be A Person of Value, Watch Sales Skyrocket
“I HATE selling!” For some reason, people have this view of selling as if it is an unclimbable mountain. People the world over seem to be deathly afraid of selling and perhaps it is because we have had so many undesirable encounters with people trying to sell us...
You Can Only Achieve Success When You First Define It
“Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, “What road do I take?” The cat asked, “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it really doesn’t matter, does it?” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Some...
Dreams Can’t Happen Without Goals
For some reason when people find out I run 100-mile races, they all react the same way. After getting over the shock, the first question they ask is, “how in the world can you run 100 miles? I don’t even like driving 100 miles.” Since I am in sales and I know that the...
Does It Matter that My 6th Grade French Teacher Thought I Was a Failure?
I remember what happened like it was yesterday. After all, failure hurts. We were rehearsing for a 6th Grade French play. While I was waiting in the wings for my next entrance, I overheard my French teacher telling another adult that she thought I was the least likely...
What Are You Doing To Improve Yourself?
What actions are you actually taking to improve yourself? Most us have an idea of what we want to look like physically. We have an idea of how much money we would like to be making. Many of us even know what kind of a house we would like to live in and what kind of...
Plans Allowing Immediate Newness
What is Pain? “You mock my pain! Life is pain, anyone who says otherwise is obviously selling something!” William Goodman, The Princess Bride These are the kind of quotes that you repeat to yourself when every muscle in your body aches, your mind is twirling towards...
The One Question More Entrepreneurs Should Be Asking Themselves If They Want to Grow Their Company
That was the worst $600 I ever saved. In retrospect, I should have spent a few extra dollars more on the Nissan Altima I bought in 1992 and installed air conditioning. But I was trying to save as much as I could. At that time, my company was barely making any money,...
Three Things That Increase Influence | The Front
Leaders are leaders because they have influence! This video was such a hit, so by request… here are three things you can do to increase influence. If you engage actively, and spend the time to really work on or learn these three things, you can increase your influence...
Why Your Dreams Are Worth the Wait
And What to Do in the Meantime You have this dream. But it’s taking forever to happen and you’re not getting any younger. You wonder what it’s going to take to get there and if you ever will. You’re not alone. We like things to happen quickly. Don’t we? We despise...
How to get the mentorship of your dreams
Getting a great mentorship can be tough regardless of your profession, but especially for an artist Sometimes being an artist is hard. Being creative and having the whole world in front of you it can be difficult to really know what direction to go, even knowing where...
The Reason Why Having Courage to be Yourself is Revolutionary
“I am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I am; I am who I think you think I am.” — Thomas Cooley It sounds ridiculous, but I was once convinced the woes, worries, and wins I felt were uniquely mine; that no other soul, however, freed from ignorance or...
‘Heartcount’ over ‘Headcount’ – that’s all that matters!
If we look back — it all started with ‘Hands to work’ in the Industrialization era. Workers were expected to perform GIVEN tasks and that would be it. There were a select people putting their heads into things. It was an apt thing to do in that age, maybe. Then the...
Do not settle for anything but the BEST – from yourself!
Fortunate are those who gain realizations throughout the process of life and am glad to be one of those. Below is a snippet of one such realization — for you to read and let me know if you relate to it or even otherwise! Do not settle for anything but the BEST in...
Are You Aware of These Productivity Leaks?
Imagine you have a bucket of water. It’s nothing fancy really. It’s just a big ol’ bucket that you use to carry water around. Every person on the planet has a different bucket. Now, each day, you have a goal. Your goal is to carry the bucket full of water from point A...
Do You Know How To Turn Chores Into Games? Why Doing So Can Turn Your Work Into Play
Why do we like playing games so much? Why can’t we enjoy our work as much as we enjoy games? Why is it more fun to press buttons on a video game than on your computer at work? There are lots of different kinds of games, and no one game will appeal to everyone. But...
Self-Help Advice From the Guy Who Really Needs Help
Have you ever been reading one of those self-help books and you think to yourself “yeah, easy for you to write about how to overcome and succeed, you’re writing this on your yacht in the middle of the ocean because I’m stupid enough to buy your book” and then you hurl...
Are You Living the Entrepreneurial Dream, or Are You Chasing an Elusive Dream You’ll Never Achieve?
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur? Was it a teacher? Your mother? Something you saw on Amazon or Google? Do you even know? I knew back when I was around 12. My mother always wanted a doctor in the family and had visions of me becoming one. I had other...
How to Schedule Your Time Effectively (Even if You’ve Failed in the Past).
Like many people, I have big goals when it comes to time management. I WANT to be one of those people who reads 100 books a year and publishes three novels a year AND runs an active blog…who checks her social media notifications and promptly closes the tab 5 minutes...
Do You Want More Optimism in Your Life?
Here are five choices. Choices Made, Make Us. Pastor David Jeremiah says; “No one drifts towards holiness.” Since this statement is true, we then must be intentional about our faith and lifestyle. Therefore, my wife and I practice these five choices. We do this, not...
Why I Believe Everyone Can Lead an Intentional Life
And You Can Start Today “I believe everyone can live intentionally by finding purpose, creating direction, and taking action.” Jack Heimbigner Just over a year ago I started to get this itch. Something was really bothering me about people in my peer group and on...
The greatness of children
So, I was watching a Nike commercial for a Marketing Class. And, just as You-tube hopes and predicted I would, I clicked on a related video. Another Nike ad - and greatness. It was called Nike: Find Your Greatness And I think we can all agree that if there’s one...
7 Steps to Crunching Criticism
Everyone is impacted by criticism of some sort. But leaders and those who take risks with new ideas are commonly targeted. There is not much we can do to completely stop criticism. But there are some things we can learn, and there are ways of protecting ourselves from...
For Everyone Second-Guessing Themselves…It’s OK to Chase ‘Crazy Ideas’
Those Who Choose to Dream - and Chase Crazy Ideas Many people struggle between feeling obligated to look and act like the people that surround them and their inner voice that begs that they strive for and become more. Maybe they just need more crazy ideas. Those who...
Your Success is My Success
A Woman’s Worth I’m reading Marianne Williamson’s book this weekend. The name is the subtitle of this post. What insight, people! It’s one of those books from which you take small morsels of thought at a time and chew and churn to digest the message correctly. Written...
Social Media Marketing for Dummies – What people really mean when they talk about SMM
There seems to be a million people telling you how you can make money through SMM. Or how you should start your own SMMA(Social Media Marketing Agency) because it will get you mad cash. But before starting your agency you might want to know what Social Media Marketing...
How to stay motivated as an artist and overcome creative “dry spells”
I’m just gonna start out by giving you the answer so you can continue doing what you were doing: It is MINDSET. So there is this myth that artist can only create when they are inspired. You hear people talk about writers block or being stuck in general. The solution...
4 Things to do to Make a Positive Difference – and Maybe Change Your World
Do you want to make a difference in the world — or at least in your world? Do you want to leave a positive mark? Nehemiah made a difference that changed history — at least a little. And his life shows how you can make a difference, too. The story starts like this:...
7 Serious Challenges of Effective Leadership
And how to eliminate them... Although during my college years I’ve been among the list of ambitious people, I still never considered leadership to be as important as I feel it is nowadays. You may wonder: “What changed this?” Knowledge comes with experience. I...
No, really. You can achieve the esteemed Flow State. Here’s how
“But I need a quiet space and my favorite coffee cup and my dog at my feet and … “ No. You don’t. Don’t get me wrong. I used to believe it. But now that I know how to attain the flow state on a regular basis, I don’t fall for anyone who says they can’t achieve it....
Why Are Awkward Conversations So Difficult?
Hint: Because You’re Trying Too Hard Earlier this week I taught a course called “Is Management for Me.” The class was full of about 35 adults who work in various parts of the Ontario Government. There were people who were a couple of years from retiring, and there...
10 Ways to Become a Better Leader
Whoever said, “Traveling is beautiful but not as beautiful as coming home,” clearly wasn’t an out of work actor. About two years ago, after nearly a decade of schlepping from one cramped casting room to the next, I parted ways with the love of my life. New York City....
Seven Leadership Lessons to Help You Climb Higher
I was a 17-year-old teenager who went to college as far away as I could and stay within the US mainland. That’s how badly I wanted to get away from home. Here was a typical kid from Bronx, with all the common traits of growing up in that environment. I believe it was...
Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? Hint: Science Says We Are Incompetent
We can probably all agree that the world is becoming increasingly complex, with more and more “noise” thrown at us as an attempt at communication. The messages come fast and furious from all corners, and we react to those messages depending on our mood, what our...
Do you take pictures or photographs? What’s the difference?
Tips to go from good to great with your photographs. In the days of film photography, it was said the distance between a good photographer and a great photographer was five miles of film. That would be a lot of pictures, and that is the point. With the advances in...
What are You Doing with Your 1,440 Minutes? And Only 480 Minutes are in Your Eight Hour Day
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made out of.” — Bruce Lee It roughly takes me 30 to 45 minutes to get to work everyday. Once I am at work, the next 30 minutes is used to start my day. And then, I work for the next three to four hours. I...
Is Working From Home Worse Than a Regular 9–5 ?
Ah working from home. Every startup blog and the 4-hour work-week tell us that this is what we should be aiming for. It gives you freedom so you can travel anywhere you want while still earning money, you can work from your bed for god's sake! What could be better?...
Why Am I Awake at 5AM?
And why it may not be a bad idea for you too. “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Benjamin Franklin First, I am not going to try and convince you to be a morning person. So often, the ‘gurus’ tell us anyone can be a morning person...
How a Hollywood Screenwriter Made it Big by Knowing what NOT to Do
An actor who’d been kicking around Hollywood for nearly two decades decided to take a stand one day. After years of toiling away, he finally landed a small role on a series that turned out to be very popular. The only problem was, everyone on the show was making more...
Waking Up from Success
And Being Saved from True Failure I have always wanted to do something great. From an early age, I believed I was made to do something great. And yet, I have always been in conflict over what ‘great’ or ‘successful’ really meant. We all have this longing in our soul...
Escape from paradise | Enjoy a great career even if you are from a small town.
I spent half my career trying to escape small town journalism, and get a real job. Then one day, I realized I was already where I wanted to be. I live in a small town in Kansas. It is kind of remote. The town has around 12,000 people, and the next town is 15 miles...
Why Children Can Also Teach Adults Life Lessons
As a mom, I often find myself learning some significant life lessons from my children. Children are the best when it comes to teaching us how to tackle some challenges in life. They are so innocent, and with that comes a sense of purity and sincerity. Sometimes, I...
Hurry. But Hurry Slowly. How Intentional Urgency Can Help You Get Better Results
You bump into a colleague in the hallway. “How are you?” she asks. “Busy. So busy,” you reply with a shrug. She smiles a knowing smile and says, “yeah, me too,” and you both go on your way. It seems that no one smiles and says, “fine thanks” any more — it’s always...
Empower the Weak, Change the World
When we think about world change makers, we automatically think of the big names. Personages who have made history are the ones who left our world with significant changes and therefore are still remembered nowadays. When I speak to ordinary people like you and me...
Perfectionism was Exhausting and This is How I Stopped | Change starts with our thoughts
It was no use. He didn’t believe me. “No Dad, really. I did make all E’s.” (like A’s today). And if it wasn’t for Bob Haas telling the teacher I wrote on his report card, I would have had the money. Way to go, Bob! Okay, I shouldn’t have done it, but the mere idea of...
12 simple Ways to Become a Better Public Speaker
“There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars.” — Mark Twain We can learn a great deal from the Ancient Greeks when it comes to public speaking. The pioneers of theater and philosophy believed words held up the pillars of the...
One Simple Decision We All Make: Wreck or Ruin?
I have been having the same conversation with myself for the last year. - Are you strong enough to press on? - Would it really be so bad to just rest? No one is watching! - No, it is these moments of fatigue that count the most. Press on. At some point every week...
How to Deal Effectively with Intimidating Behavior in a Working Environment – Conflict & Confrontation | A closer look at an overlooked form of intimidating behavior
Intimidating behavior is a serious problem once it occurs. No one would like to face any form of intimidation: neither in our work environment, nor in any personal area. It truly affects our thinking and doing. When we define intimidating behavior, we notice the...
Unlock the Power of Scheduling Tasks to be Productive: Why Using a Calendar is Better than a To Do List
“I’m not big on to-do lists. Instead I use e-mail, desktop folders, and my online calendar.” — Bill Gates Calendars don’t seem to carry as much importance in our productivity in today’s work world. Everything seems to use calendars, but they don’t take president as an...
The Long-Term ROI of a Great Mentor
It took me a year, but a few weeks ago, I reached my goal for writing on Medium. After posting a title I knew would immediately turn some people off, I received the following message: “Damn it, you did it again: A productivity based article that doesn’t repeat the...
Leadership Lesson From The Trail
Sliding down the side of a cliff Instead of paying attention to the trail I was calculating in my mind how fast I would need to do this segment to catch up to my running partner who had gone ahead when I had stopped to “check my hydration level”. Suddenly my plant...
Why Your Expectations Are Killing Your Productivity
Spoiler Alert: Because They Are Stealth I had one of those A-HA moments a few months ago. We all have them — those moments where there’s almost literally a flash of light and you think or shout “HOLY CRAP THAT’S WHY THAT HAPPENS!” I want to share this particular one...
Generation X and Social Media (How to become more productive without giving up your use of the internet)
Social media use is the new hub of the 21st Century, and no generation is exempt from its addictive and obsessive over-indulgence. According to a 2016 result from the Pew Research Center, and published by statista.com, it was found that 96 percent of Americans ages...
Crash Course in Home Simplifying
One of the great laws of productivity is that a project expands to fill the time allotted to it. Thankfully, it works the other way too, and with a bit of concentration and a plan, you can tackle a seemingly huge project like “simplify the house” and make great...
How to Love the Home You Have
If you’re looking for more contentment at home, you’re in luck. There are many tiny habits that you can incorporate into your daily routine to help you feel happier at home. Even if your current house or apartment isn’t everything you desire, you’ll be more content...
3 Reasons To Not Settle For Freelance Work For A Living
Being an entrepreneur is a very demanding position to be in. I’ve talked about only some of the challenges that an entrepreneur needs to go through. The other big problem is finding a way to turn a profit. Now I’ve talked before about how easy it is to make a profit....
6 Useful Tricks I Learned After the First 6 Months at my 1st Work
I’m extremely happy about my first job. Let me tell you why. I just had my first 6 months at my first job and I can’t believe how time goes by so fast. A supervisor at my workplace once told me this: “You know you’re old when you feel like time slips by so fast.” He’s...
4 Best Practices to Run a Business Smoothly
Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or a budding one, how a business is run is important. In fact, how it is run can determine whether your business will sink or prosper. I’ve talked briefly about how the entrepreneur lifestyle can seem glamorous. How some people...
5 Benefits of Adopting an Experimental Mindset
Learn something. Try something. Improve something. Repeat. We have never been inundated with more information. Access to anything we have ever wanted to learn is a click away. We can learn from the greatest minds in the world by listening to Tim Ferriss. We can learn...
I am a survivor
... and so are you. “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” ~Helen Keller Reflect. I decided to make a list of all I have survived in my life. I doubt my list is exhaustive, but I am amazed by the length of it anyway. If you...
5 Steps to Train Your Brain to Focus
I confess…I’m prone to distraction. And it used to be impossible for me to stay on any one task for more than 10 minutes at a time. There were just too many things competing for my attention. It would start when I was writing and had to do a little research. I love...
Inspire and Motivate Yourself to be Uncommonly Productive: What to do when you hit the wall.
The wall. Everyone knows it. They hit the wall - the productivity wall - at some point throughout their day. First, we try to power through. Then we take a break, go for a walk, get some coffee. And yet, we cannot seem to breakthrough. Suddenly we are considering...
How to Have Conversations with Meaning
Regardless of if you are confident in your own skin or not, this is a guide to build your confidence but also to have conversations with purpose and growth behind them. Have you ever had conversations that have gone nowhere at all? I’m sure you have online all the...
Want to Be More Productive? Build a Writing Routine Using These Brain-Based Principles
“Truth be told, it turns out timing and planning are everything!” I had a list of articles that needed to be written, a book draft to complete, and I’d been sitting at my desk for what felt like an eternity, barely making a dent in my list. So I got up to stretch my...
Here are 5 Morning Rituals That Make You Feel Great
Practice these every day for awesome feels and great productivity. Let me ask you a question: Do you have a morning ritual? Of course, you have. But does that morning ritual make you feel great? Every day you routinely wake up and you go through it on auto-pilot. You...
When The Road To Daylight Is Through The Gloom
I know where I am. I look ahead to where I want to be. Each step must take me closer. It’s hard. Sometimes, like today, I feel that I will just die with things left undone, unsaid, and unfinished. That my fear will come true and my memorial will be, ‘Well, at least...
Turn the Page
Bad Results I was coming off three bad races in a row, two DNFs (Did Not Finish) and a DFL (Dead Fricking Last) and I was beginning to think that maybe I needed to retire from this trail racing/ultra running thing and run normal distances like the marathon or...
The One Thing to Avoid Doing on Social Media
There are many types of approaches to grow your business, and that’s alright. But it’s this particular approach that bothers me a lot and I’m not alone in that. Many marketers and influencers a like have said this tactic doesn’t work. Here’s how to break that habit,...
Leadership Thoughts From the Treadmill
Treadmill or Dreadmill? Treadmill runs are my least favorite way to get exercise but when it is -13 outside with a foot of fresh snow, the outdoor running needs to take a backseat. At least that was what I was trying to convince myself as I ran on the dreadmill....
How the 80/20 Rule Increases Your Productivity and Multiplies Your Margin
In 1848 a man by the name of Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto was born in Italy who would provide the world with one of the most intriguing rules of time management and productivity. The 80/20 Rule, better known as the Pareto Principle, denotes this simple reality:...
How to Properly Create and Follow Through With To-Do Lists
Ah, to-do lists. Think of them as you will, but to-do lists are as frequent in my life as post-it notes (and believe me, I love using post-it notes). For myself, to-do lists are incredibly important to my business. My business is quite literally run by a to-do list....
Get Off Your Ass And Do Something
A Productive Way of Life In the early stages of running my business, I was someone who struggled with working. Procrastination was a common theme for me and I also succumbed easily to distractions. For several years that was my life where I did minimal work and...
Don’t Be Safe. Be You.
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” — John A Shedd Recently a friend and I sat down to catch up. One of the questions I wanted to make sure and ask him as our conversation continued was what he thought about some of the more recent...
How I’m Using Post-it Notes to Stay Productive
A confession on why I find post-it notes so helpful and I can’t live without them anymore. The first week of January I vowed to clean up the space that I’m working in. But over the past few weeks, my desk is warmed with tiny pieces of coloured paper. From written...
Stop Complaining and Comparing
Start accepting and contrasting. Have you wasted your life complaining about not having enough? Not doing enough? Not experiencing enough? Have you wasted time comparing yourself to an old classmate via Instagram or Facebook? Oh, look at him on his fancy new...
Make the Most of Time
My pillow and warm blanket kept me, hostage, longer than I should have let them. Thank goodness for the snooze button that allowed extra time for cozy sleep…until I had to scramble to get up so I wouldn’t be late to start my day. Time. I want it to linger on the...
Focus, Correct, Expand: A 3 Step Strategy to Expanding Quickly
How to achieve massive growth and staying productive by managing these three aspects in your business. Last week I spoke about the many issues that Subway is plagued with. But one of the massive issues that have backfired Subway is the fact there are so many...
Planning Ahead For What’s Really Important (To You)
Editorial note: I wrote this several months ago, why I didn’t publish it — I have no idea. Maybe I was afraid of the backlash. Afraid my “friends” trying to make as much money as they can wouldn’t appreciate my philosophy. Maybe I was embarrassed that I want to live a...
One Thing You Can Do to Make It a Good Year
No matter what your circumstances are, you can make this a good year. We welcome every new year with a celebration. It’s easy at the beginning of the year to call it happy and expect good things. Will it last? If we don’t do something we’ll find ourselves with a good...
Breaking Hidden Rules Made Me More Productive
It was all about breaking a hidden rule Finish I recently read a book called Finish by an author I follow, Jon Acuff. In it, he talks about the reasons we don’t finish the projects or goals we set out for ourselves, and he offers research-driven, practical advice to...
What We Can Learn About Productivity From Subway
2017 was the year the Subway branch store of nearly 27,000 stores strong in the US in 2016 plummeted to 25,835 by the end of 2017. Today we’ll look into some of the causes of that, but also how we can use this news to increase our own productivity in our own lives....
Instructive Life Lessons from My Cat for the New Year
It’s a New Year and everyone’s getting on the goal-setting bandwagon — including my cat. It’s remarkable! It’s not like she walked up and made the announcement to me. You know felines. They like to think they are subtle and unobserved unless they decide it’s time for...
Environment Makes the Difference: My Low-Stress, No Fuss Method to Clean My Home
Control your external environment and set the tone for your internal environment. Creating a small space of beauty It was three months past my initial diagnosis of depression, and I was finally starting to feel better. I wasn’t on medications yet, but the classes,...
Magnetic Motivation
Shaping our goals and visions to pull us into the future we want now. Pizza is now off the menu. Got to battle the bulge a bit so I can’t eat pizza anymore. The cheese has too many calories (and what is pizza without melty cheese you can sink your teeth in?) and the...
The Only New Year’s Resolution You Need to Make This Year
As we embark on a fresh beginning to 2018, many begin to make at least one New Year’s Resolution. Here are some things to think about as you consider yours. Make 2018 amazing! You want 2018 to be an amazing year, right? It will be the year you say, I made it! I did...
6 Principles to Empower Making Decisions
Our daily decisions matter. We have all made decisions we regret — some immediately, some down the road and some continually! How should we make decisions in our daily lives? How can we be sure we are making the right decision? There is a solid process for making...
Reflections on a Michelangelo Quote
“If you knew how much work went into it, you would not call it genius.” It took over two years for one of the most revered artistic geniuses in history to complete his statue of David. But the fact he was a genius didn’t mean he didn’t have to do the work. He still...
How to Simplify Your Work Space to Improve Creativity
Want to improve creativity? Maybe your workspace is holding you back. Creative types are messy, right? We get that reputation a lot. When I’m up to my eyeballs in a project, my office can be downright chaotic. Creative people tend to keep a lot of stuff because we see...
How to Find More Time for What Really Matters
Rethinking how we think about our time Ever wonder when you're going to find time for, well anything? What if an abundance of provision fell from the sky each day like manna? Would we grab it and save it? What if we were guaranteed the same amount every day — an...
Save Yourself Some Time, Here’s How to do Christmas Shopping Right
My solid strategy for Christmas shopping never changes from year to year and since applying it, Christmas shopping has been a wonderful experience for me. I want to share this strategy and how it can also tie into living a more positive life. As I’ve said before,...
I’m Not Setting Any Goals This Year
Maybe you shouldn’t, either This is the time of year that every personal development writer starts using a dirty, four-letter word: Goal. And the tips they give for setting and achieving goals are consistent, evidence-based, and solid. Almost without exception, they...
4 Ways to Join the Start-up World
In order of increasing difficulty. Have you ever considered joining a start-up? Do you have a great idea that the world can't live without? Maybe this will inspire you to join the start-up world. I’m from the Greater Toronto Area, and when I’m not listening to Drake,...
The Most Important Thing I Learned From My Former Mentor That Changed Me Forever
In business it’s vital to have a mentor, however, not everyone is suitable to be your mentor. I learned that with my first mentor when I went into in business, but I learned something else that’s equally important that has changed my views drastically. Today I’ll...
Creating a Plan to Achieving Your Goals
What does it take to actually complete or achieve goals? It is the end of another year and everyone is talking about goal setting and life planning. Why? Because we want to live the best years of our lives now. Every year, people set New Years Resolutions and goals...
3 Tips for Choosing Your Holiday Pace
The sprint towards Christmas is now on. How ready are you for the month of December? Is your calendar jammed packed with activities, traditions, work-related obligations as well as shopping to-dos? How will you choose your pace for the holiday season? Lately, I’ve...
Why The Holiday Season Is Perfect For Self Improvement
My personal thoughts on the holiday season, but also why it’s perfect for diving into self-improvement right now. I also share a guide on how to ease into self-improvement activities around the holiday season. December, the month where everyone has a lot of mixed...
3 Reasons for Respecting the Gift of Time
Have you ever heard of the man or woman that seen running alongside their bicycle? A passerby asks “Why are you running alongside your bicycle?” The ‘running’ man or woman replied: “Because I don’t have time to stop and get on my bicycle.” Have you ever felt like...
This Is How You Did It — How One Idea Brought You Here
A simple guide that explains how the rich and successful have gotten to where they are now. This is by following some of the actions that the successful and rich took to get to where they are today. Moreover, I outline what one must do to achieve these things. It’s...
Focus on This 1 Skill to be a Better Man
Hey, Man! Let me ask you a question: Are you where you want to be right now in life? You likely answered “No.” to this question. How do I know? Because you’re young and you’re a dude. You don’t have everything you want in life, yet. But, what if you could? What if you...
21 Tips and Tricks to be More Productive
Over the last month, can you think back to what your work hours have been? Have you been settling into the traditional 9 am to 5 pm job? Or more than 40 hours a week? Do those hours feel excruciatingly stressful or productive? Our work cultures today, seem to work us...
How to Do What You Don’t Want to Do
I’ll ask the obvious question first: Why would you want to do what you don’t want to do? Why even discuss doing what you don’t want to do? The answer is, quite simply, not that simple. If you’re feeling stuck and tired of procrastinating, this is how to do what you...
How to Keep Busy Teens Involved in Music
It is a busy time of year in music studios and school music programs. As a parent and teacher, there are countless concerts, performances, and end of year events. They are all great opportunities but honestly, it can be a little overwhelming sometimes. It’s also the...
How to Wait on the Turning Point When We Can’t See What’s Coming
It never fails. I’m in the turn lane with a clear view of oncoming traffic. I’m calculating in my mind where the break is. The turning point. Then, as if a wrench falls from the sky, another car pulls into the opposite turn lane. Now I can’t see. My view is blocked. I...
How To Go From Just Setting Goals, To Achieving Powerful Growth And Changing Your Life
How to begin acheiving growth How I went to talking about goals and setting them for the sake of attention, to crushing my goals, and sparking massive change in my life. Today, I share a guide that outlines my old thought process, why it was wrong, and the changes...
13 Survival Tactics Every Pastor Must Use When the Sky is Falling
Proven techniques to help you survive a church crisis. Every pastor knows ministry isn’t for wimps. If any occupation epitomizes the phrase “only the strong survive” it’s ministry. There’s no escaping the bulls-eye on your back. -Criticism, spoken in the back...
Want to Produce Great Work? You Don’t Need More Tools, Motivation, or Discipline.
Here’s the Solution Instead. If you’re struggling to get to work on your dreams, it’s tempting to think you need more information, more strategies, and more “tools to succeed”. After all, it’s easy to convince ourselves we don’t have what we want because we’re lacking...
Lose Weight Faster than Ever
No such thing as “fast”. Millions of people will see that headline and they’ll be reaching for their wallets and minds faster than a snowball in an avalanche. We want to lose weight, have that perfect body, be healthy and we want it fast and easy. Sadly though there...
These 5 actions will make you a better human
No question. Sometimes we just get by. But, in our finer moments, most of us wish to become better human beings. Why is that even important? Consider the English poet John Donne who proclaimed, “No man is an island.”* Do you think Donne could have even imagined our...
5 Easy Ways to Beat Negative Stress
Positive Stress versus Negative Stress We can experience positive stress or negative stress. Yes, we can experience stress in two forms indeed. Negative stress is obviously the one that we want to reduce and keep under control. In this article, we are going to focus...
How to Increase Sales when Persuasion Isn’t Cutting It.
"What are YOU gonna do about it!?" Increase Sales?! Frank’s tone implied, When am I going to stand up for what I believe in and will benefit kids? An urgent call interrupted a day in the mountains before his brother returned home. The team lead had to share her panic...
Do You Deserve Money?
Revise your relationship with money! Let’s talk about money! Yes, you’ve got me right! Yes, I know it is often considered a “dirty word” by idealistic, spiritual, and non-materialistic people. But how about “cleaning it up” together? I call myself a creative and many...
The Art of Pulverizing Excuses
Having Less Excuses, And Far More Action So far this week on my blog I’ve been sharing pointers and tips revolving around excuses. From finding more options to finding someone that can help you. But all in all I’ve been dancing around how exactly do we pulverize our...
How Not to be Held Captive by Fear
The wind howled. The rain pelted. The thunder cracked. The sky grew darker. Then bang… I used to fear a lot. As a matter of fact, fear kept me from doing many things. I didn’t like to eat at a restaurant alone or even with my kids. I didn’t want to travel anywhere by...
How to Relieve Stress and Anxiety
Stop everything you’re doing right now. Just stop, relax and think for a moment. Are you busy steamrolling ahead? Are you in a rush, racing against time to get things done? Do you feel anxious? Well….stop! It’s time to find out how to relieve stress and anxiety….once...
The Elephant That Will Not Forget to Boost Your Productivity
When young, the thought of a wild animal having a part in one’s life and growth were fanciful. Yet, for a shy, timid 10-year-old standing in front of the class, it would have been a defining moment. How your superman Dad had brought home a wild animal. A Lion, Bear,...
Know How Create, Share And File Will Make You More Productive
Beginning of Evernote In 2007, Evernote began and launched its first service in 2008. The inspiration behind the program from the beginning was ‘keeping simplicity’. Similar to other start-up companies, they experienced both great growth and a few difficult days. Jump...
3 Productivity Techniques Help Work-Life Balance
Getting Things Done. Have you ever marveled at sportsmen and women that get to the top of their profession? I am amazed at how simple they make everything about their sports look. I wondered “how were they successful?” and realised it’s to do with their technique....
How to Find Your Quiet
We live loud, busy lives. Going all the time on the outside with noisy minds on the inside. How can we find any quiet spaces in our lives? How can we calm our inner world? It’s not easy but I found a way. And if I did, you can find your quiet too. Every day I have a...
How much can we believe our negative thoughts?
If you feel like you are swimming against the current and your arms can’t move, your voice is strained, and every good thing you do produces only more bad. I want you to stop. Drown for three seconds and get to know how close to death you are because negative thoughts...
Great Joy in the Middle of a Brutal Week!
What a week! During this seven day stretch: two friends died, my mother is in the hospital, my wife had surgery (and I do all the housework, laundry, meal preparation and so on until she is fully recovered) and I am dealing with a persistent and sometimes debilitating...
How to Overcome the Failure Myth
What exactly is the Failure Myth? Let’s break it down… First we’ll tackle the confusing mixed messages regarding failure. Optimists look at failure as a teacher and friend. believing failure teaches us things like try again, be persistent, never give up — spinning it...
What You Practice Today Is Not Important : A Music Teacher’s Manifesto
I use the Suzuki Method to teach the violin. Your child may be learning through a different style. They may be learning something completely different than music. You may be learning a new skill yourself. The following idea still applies. I could fill a whole book...
6 Things Introverts Hate
Living in an extroverted world is painful Being an introvert in an extroverted world is painful. My mom told me this story, so it must be true. “You were about five years old, and we were sitting in our car, waiting for the pedestrian to cross the street. Just as she...
Writing: My 3 Step Process for Getting Started
Sometimes getting started is the hardest part of writing. I’ve participated in a few writing challenges where the goal is to complete a certain number of words per month. Writing something everyday is key for me to be able to reach goals like this. Sometimes because I...
What Happened When I Ran My First Kickstarter Campaign
Don’t let the lack of money stop you from pursuing your dreams Kickstarter was never at the top of my list. I never saw it coming. “You should do Artprize,” my brother’s father-in-law tells me. “What’s Art prize?” I ask. I’d never heard of it until that moment. “It’s...
A Lesson in Life’s Messes
Life is messy. Some of you may read that line and think, “Duh Brandon. I think you are a little behind.” Truth be told, I might be. There are times (and they come way more often than not) that things do not go exactly as planned. Our plans may conflict with someone...
Press On
Let’s face it. There are days when we all have to do hard things we just do not want to do. It’s not always easy to get up in the morning. You may have had: a restless night a child kept you up a bad dream “baggage” carried over from yesterday or any number of...
The World’s REAL Currency
Regardless of what the media want you to believe, the world only has one currency. Yes. One. Can you guess what it is? Probably not. Euro? No. Yuan? Nope. Dollar? Not that one either. It’s not Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other crypto-currency. So, what is it? You use it...
Want to Kick Year-end / Holiday Stress? Think a Step Ahead
Planning is the key to success, regardless of the time of year. October is nearly over, and whether you’re ready for it or not, so is 2017. This time of the year can be stressful — that is if you don’t think a step ahead. Have you ever heard something obvious put in a...
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You are What [Who] You Listen to
Whether you believe me yet or not, you may be enslaved by the radio. Stop! Take that colander off your head, I’m not talking about that kind of radio enslavement. (The government would shut me down for sure if I started talking about… Wait… Um… Nevermind.) What I’m...
How to Reach Your Full Potential
You don’t have to settle for second best. It is within your ability to reach your full potential. Every human being has the ability to reach his/her full potential. That’s what you’ve been created for. Your purpose in life is to reach your full potential. So what is...
How To Improve The Quality Of Your Life
“Can you improve the quality of your life?” What would your answer be that question? Can it even be considered to be a fair question? Or have you made peace with the idea of “what’s meant to be will be”? Have you given up on all your dreams and have you accepted the...
5 Step Crash Course in “I Believe”
Sometimes I discount their ramblings because of their tender ages, because what can they teach me? They take me to task on the matter of “I Believe” and teach a valuable lesson. School of Life It feels like I am perpetually in school. It is the joy of learning...
