You can live your life on purpose. It begins by creating a “Life Plan.” This won’t insulate you from life’s many adversities and unexpected twists and turns, but it will help you become an active participant in your life, intentionally shaping your own future.

“I haven’t seen you in forever. We should get together soon!” How often have you had this conversation with a friend you ran into at a birthday party or going for a jog in the park? It’s been months since you’ve seen one another and, unfortunately, it’s looking like it might be a few more […]

If you’re a reluctant goal setter but want to reach for something more this next year, hold onto these four truths to overcome resistance.

It’s possible to break the cycle of setting goals you eventually give up on. To create compelling goals, avoid these two actions.

Recently I had an idea for one of my coaching clients. It was a fundamental change to her business model that I knew would 10x her business and provide her with more personal margin to focus on her health and most important relationships. As we talked, she got excited about the possibilities. But almost immediately, […]

Writing your goals down is one of the most important actions you can take to obtain the life you want. Sadly, most people don’t do it. Here are five why reasons you should.

For all of the champagne, new diets, and gym memberships folks are about to experience, only about eight percent of resolution-takers succeed in attaining their goals. What goes wrong? Any number of answers might hold a kernel of truth, but I’d offer the following: New Year’s Day is not a real new beginning. Much as […]

Does this one ring a bell? You, reader, are your own worst critic. Your penchant for nitpicking every detail and harshly critiquing your accomplishments makes it difficult for you to make progress or sometimes even get simple work done. If it doesn’t apply to you or someone close to you, then you have a great […]

Big goals are often the seed for big success. Monica Louie knows this firsthand. The Facebook ad expert launched a new company and set an audacious goal of earning $100,000 her first year in business—despite having made only $8,000 the previous year with another venture. It was such a big goal, in fact, that a […]

Before starting Praxis, Isaac Morehouse needed an investor. He didn’t need an investment of money or of time. He didn’t need a website built, a curriculum designed, or a market analyzed. What he needed was an investor of passion. He needed someone to believe as firmly in his vision as he did, someone “to believe […]

History affords countless examples of great leaders made greater by the inspiration of a spouse. Of course, there are also plenty of seemingly successful leaders in the past who had bad marriages too. But in certain historical cases, you can see clearly how a long-lasting marriage helped turn a person into a giant in their […]

I hear this all the time: “My husband or wife doesn’t understand me. We are so different. We don’t really have anything in common. How can we make this work when we don’t see eye-to-eye?” In the midst of conflict, it’s easy for us to forget the real reason that opposites attract–because it’s good for […]

I have a confession to make. It’s that time of year again: Everyone is talking about setting goals, New Year’s resolutions, and how this year is finally going to be different from the last. For most of my life, I resisted—no, actually I rebelled!—against the whole idea of goal setting. I hated the very word […]

If you are late to the game in making your New Year’s resolutions, I have an idea for you: Don’t do it. New Year’s resolutions may be as old as the Babylonian empire, but that doesn’t mean they are very effective. Millions of Americans make New Year’s resolutions every year, but research says most of […]

Studies show that most New Year’s resolutions flop a month or less after we make them. Gyms all over the country are banking on it. They have far less capacity than the year-round passes they sell to strivers who begin the year intent on changing their shape, but who give up after a few weeks […]

Are you making a New Year’s resolution this year? It’s quite likely you are, as surveys conducted in recent years show that something like 40 percent of Americans make one annually. And what are they resolving? Last year’s Marist study, the annual gold standard of New Year’s resolutionology, showed that their number one goal was—good […]

One New Year’s resolution I frequently hear from people is that they want to read more books. Makes sense if you consider reading a key component of personal growth and development. Ray Edwards recently wrote about his reading goals here at MH&Co. He planned to read fifty-two books in a year. Instead, he read seventy-six! […]

One key for designing the future we desire is self awareness. A study study by Cornell University and Green Peak Partners found it was the single greatest predictor of success among executives. That goes for most of us. Our lives have many domains. Consider your spirituality, psychological and physical health, family, friends, and work. It […]

“You have Parkinson’s Disease,” said the doctor. It was September 22, 2011—the day before my 46th birthday. While not usually fatal, Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease. This means it inevitably worsens over time. There is no cure. I was suddenly facing the prospect of limited mobility as my future unfolded. In the movie Shawshank Redemption, […]

Imagine you’re in a sailboat on the open ocean. You have a map and, after looking at several different options, you decide where you would like to go. Now what? Do you hope the wind and waves will get you there? Or, do you use the sail and rudder to direct your boat to the […]

It was a year ago. I had dozens of people working for me. My business was losing money every month. Everyone thought I was successful, but I was stressed beyond belief. I was racing toward a meltdown. After bootstrapping my company to seven figures, I was now living in the stressful reality of running a […]

I’ve always done my best to keep up with the latest research in goal achievement. I not only want to learn from it myself, I also want to distill the lessons for fellow leaders. But the tricky thing about science is that it often causes us to reevaluate our assumptions. That reevaluation can be uncomfortable, […]

Few of us run races at the Olympics or score touchdowns in the NFL. But we all play a metaphorical sport in our professional and personal lives. Simply put: we want to succeed and thrive. To win, we must set big goals and work toward effective and influential results. Problems seldom arise from our goal-setting […]

“Positivity” tops my Strengths Finder test. So I like to celebrate—often. But does celebration fuel progress? Will it produce greater results? From my experience, yes. It does so by bringing three powerful byproducts to you and your organization, all of which are vital for growth. 1. Celebration brings energy Purposeful celebration brings an energy to […]