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I haven’t written this column in a while. I have used whatever excuses I had to – I was too busy with other things, I had “writers block”, etc. But in the meanwhile, I have been inspired several times by the writings of my two friends, Dr. William Northcutt and Clayton Hayes, both regular...
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In today’s digital landscape, the battle for truth has become more critical—and complicated—than ever. We are living in an age of misinformation, where the news media, once a trusted gatekeeper of facts, is now entangled in a web of half-truths, sensationalism, and outright falsehoods...
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Do you know anyone who always seems to have bad luck? Nothing ever goes right for them. Conversely, have you observed people who always wind up OK despite what befalls them? What differentiates these two types of people? Their attitude, thoughts, and actions are as different as day and night...
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My friend Vaidas recently sent me a video an American had made in Tokyo about a business through which you can rent an older man for friendship. There’s nothing nefarious about it: you can’t involve the guy in illegal or dangerous activities, and it’s not an escort service, not prostitution.
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Much frustration results when a person tries to be someone who they are not. When this happens a number of factors are at play. Pressure to conform to the expectations of others, the desire for acceptance, and the yearning to emulate the lifestyles of others are some of them...
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In my day, high school seniors were known for three things: borrowing their parents’ cars, sleeping through the first period, and hoping their "C+" in Algebra II would somehow get them into college. Fast forward to today, and this new generation of seniors is making us all look bad—seriously...
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I say it, you say it, and we know it’s true—we need to turn off our devices and spend time in the real world. We get so disconnected from the Earth and our lives. We live in a virtual reality. What we think of as reality is an elixir of lies that has drugged us into thinking our lives are...
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Remember the good old days when someone actually helped you with things? You'd walk into a store, and a friendly human would ask, “How can I assist you today?” Now, you're more likely to get, “Please use the self-checkout!” from a machine that somehow manages to sound both helpful and...
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Some people have ambition while others don't. But ambition isn't required for happiness. So, does ambition serve a purpose? Ambition is beneficial when it originates from your own desire. Ambition can be detrimental if it is externally imposed on you by another person...
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Not long ago, people would confidently declare, "That'll happen when pigs fly!" It was shorthand for "never," an amusing way of saying something was utterly, completely, and spectacularly impossible. Fast forward to today, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if there’s a startup somewhere...
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" He who never made a mistake never made a discovery." - Samuel Smiles Although no one wants to, we all make mistakes. It's virtually unavoidable. Mistakes have a stigma associated with them. To many people, mistakes are synonymous with failure, and no one wants to be labeled a failure...
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Ah, the 4-way stop—the intersection where time stops, logic crumbles, and humanity's faith in each other is truly tested. It's like the Bermuda Triangle of traffic, where even seasoned drivers with GPS assistance lose their bearings and suddenly forget how to function as rational beings. If you’ve...
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Around 2000, I traveled to Cape Town, South Africa for a wedding. It was less than a decade after Apartheid ended. My family and I stayed at a friend of a friend’s luxurious home. It sat on a high hill in a wealthy neighborhood. Exquisitely built into that hill, the house offered amenities like I’d...
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As a reader of this column, you are striving to improve your life. You want to attain your goals and bring your dreams into reality. You want to break through your self-imposed limitations. So you follow all of the advice in this column. But you think nothing is working. ...
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Why do you have an aversion to certain people? Even if you are a saint, not everyone will be in harmony with you. There are various reasons why you may dislike a particular person. It may be because someone dislikes you, treats you rudely, disagrees with you, takes advantage of you, is...
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There’s a peculiar phenomenon that strikes those of us who wear glasses—a mysterious occurrence that defies logic, common sense, and sometimes even the laws of physics. I'm talking, of course, about the inevitable moment when our glasses, those delicate and essential tools of vision, vanish into...
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When I retired from teaching, I declared, “I will never attend another honors or graduation ceremony”—not because I didn’t enjoy the recognition of students and their thrills, but rather because self-inflated, long-winded speakers made me wish I’d brought a dart gun to put them down. However, as a...
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Are you a S.N.I.O.P.? A S.N.I.O.P. is a person who is susceptible to the negative influences of other people. This is a common syndrome. We all desire approval from others. Everyone has grown up being conditioned to be concerned about what others think...
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Sometimes people erroneously equate quantity with success. Unfortunately, there are those who are impressed with how much, how big, how expensive, or how many. There is a notable difference between quantity and quality. Look at a handful of coins. A dime is smaller than a nickel, yet the dime is...
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On a train from Newbern to Chicago, you met a Japanese envoi to the United Nations on his way to meet his son. His English was bad, but your Japanese was non-existent. He was also an artist and drew pictures to fill in the language gaps. He drew a picture of his wife, four children still at home,...
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Everyone enjoys being comfortable. Being safe, secure, and happy is a basic human desire. For the most part, we prefer the known to the unknown, the predictable to the unpredictable, and the risk-free to the risky.
However, bringing goals to reality requires us to leave our comfort zone. This...
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Ah, summer is about over. The season of sunshine, beach trips, barbecues—and, of course, the annual invasion of the most persistent and infuriating creatures known to humankind: mosquitoes. These tiny, whiny, bloodthirsty terrorists are still around us with a vengeance, and it seems they’ve...
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When someone is successful, they are more visible than when they were struggling along their path to attain their goals. Few people draw much attention while they are confronting challenges and overcoming numerous obstacles.
When a person has reached the top of the mountain and is standing on the...
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In an increasingly digital world, where face-to-face interactions are often replaced by online connections, the importance of friendly, helpful neighbors cannot be overstated. The simple act of neighborly kindness—whether it's lending a cup of sugar, helping with yard work, or simply offering a...
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No one is perfect. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Those who are most successful, build on their strengths while striving to overcome their weaknesses. It's not unusual for a trait that initially appears to be a weakness to be a strength. I came across the following parable which nicely...
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One sunshiny morning, I met a friend near the State Gazette offices. He wore his usual work clothes, a suit and tie, and as he approached, I said, “Wow, you look like a million dollars.” He had never been what I’d call fat, but formerly, he carried a few extra pounds, and he’d shed them. ...
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As careful as you may be, you will make mistakes. Although it’s not possible to live mistake-free, there are effective strategies you can use to recover from your mistakes. Let’s start by considering the basic causes of mistakes. You are impatient and act too quickly. ...
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As we face three more months of hot air campaign rhetoric from the mouths of our two presidential candidates, a familiar pattern emerges.
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The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back is an illustration of what can happen when you feel overwhelmed. Each straw by itself is irrelevant. Yet, the cumulative weight of enough straw can be unbearable.
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Are you a dream maker or a dream breaker? The category to which you belong will strongly influence the direction your life takes, your level of satisfaction, and the type of impact you have on other people. Most of us aren’t even aware of the distinctions between dream makers and dream...
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*I love writing my to-do lists. I keep one for work; one for home.
*It’s the first thing I do at home, the first thing I do at work.
*I especially love my home to-do list on weekends. After breakfast, I drink a second cup of coffee and enumerate my day’s plans.