Messy love

  I like order in my home.  Clutter drives me crazy.  Especially other people's clutter. I'm not great at maintaining a clutter free world.  But I do my best.  Well, that's wrong.  If what I do is my best.  My best sucks.  Let's say I make an effort. I am great at being a hypocrite though.  When the little order that exists in my home is disrupted, my boxers get bunched. Last week, I walked out of the bedroom.  Went past the sleeping girls.  Walked past the guest room.  Then to … [Read more...]

Is this the most powerful wealth multiplier?

  It's been a long time since I let my fingers feel the keyboard.  Not including emails, status reports and other organizational pink slime ... my fingers haven't roamed freely in a while. The longer my fingers went without furling words into the world, the more reasons I came with for why they could not do so.  Standard stuff ... not enough time, no space for peaceful thought, not the right time, etc. All the excuses were bullshit.  They always are. Don't believe me - let's … [Read more...]

Are You a Time-aholic?

  Hi.  My name is Eric.  And I'm a time-aholic. I have a time problem.  I abuse time.  Afterwards, I stumble through a time hangover, blacked out wondering what I did for the last few hours. It's easy to let time slip away when you haven't identified how you want to invest it.  It's hard to know how you want to invest it if you don't have investment goals. Our investment goals define how we invest our money.  If we're retiring soon, we might work to preserve what we have with a … [Read more...]

What are you thinking!?

  The world changed. Work is different. Companies are different. The economy is different.Knowledge is different. Buying is different.Childhood is different. Learning is different. Family is different. Friendship is different. Liking is different. A lot is different. Are you still thinking the same? Related articles The Power of Negative Thinking Why Data Will Never Replace Thinking How to Make Huge Decisions … [Read more...]

Have you taken this secret vow?

I pulled into traffic on northbound 75.  I felt my phone vibrate as I took my place in a lane.  I reached for my phone.  Looked at the message.  I started responding immediately. Did the text require an immediate response?  No.  Was it worth endangering myself and others?  No.  Was the topic remotely urgent?  No. Then why did I let the distraction take over? A - Because I could.   B- Because the transaction would be immediate.   C- Because rules and consequences don't apply to me.   D- … [Read more...]

4 Keys to Amaze Your Customer

    Last week, Jen "asked"  me to donate it. The time had come.  I had to say goodbye to my old friend.  The 98 Lincoln.  It had 260,000 miles on it.  And it had a few issues.  Some larger than others.  The Lincoln had sit in front of the house for a month.  I hate to say goodbye. I called the Dallas CAN Academy.  They support education for students who struggle in traditional learning settings.  One way they do this is by taking donated cars. They provided one of the … [Read more...]

4 Reasons To Kiss When You’re Angry

  Jen told me about a friend who hadn't kissed her husband in 4 days.  They were angry with each other.  That seemed odd to me.  It seemed like they were dooming themselves to fail. It's Easy to Stay Angry.  It's Hard to Move Forward. It's easy to get angry with someone.  It's easy to embrace our anger.  And it's easy to become justified and obsess about how we're right and they're wrong.  It's hard to get past it if being angry is what you focus on. There are so many people and … [Read more...]

The 3 Keys to getting ahead

  He built a successful firm that helps people who are in a jam with the IRS.  He also built a successful water company.  And he's paid his mortgages with rental income for nearly 50 years. I sat across from him.  He finished his lunch -  A homemade sandwich and cheetos.  We talked about what he learned along the way. He said three things: "Show up every day - not just physically, but mentally and emotionally - and committing to make the business just a little bit bigger and … [Read more...]

Are you in the Rabbit Hole?

  Mobile devices.  Text messages.  Email.  Unintentional side conversations.  Web research that turns into an Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole.  It's no wonder it's easy to get lost doing nothing (results) while doing something (activity). It's easier than ever to live walking in circles day after day.  We call each step progress.  Yet the steps lead to nowhere. Then we mount the excuses for why we're not getting anywhere.  Too busy.  Too much to do.  Too tired.  Not enough time. … [Read more...]

Is it time to wake-up or go to sleep?

  I wandered the kitchen lethargically.   My face was long.  Jen asked what was wrong.  "I'm exhausted." It was dinner time.  I was starving and didn't feel like cooking.  I avoided starting a meal for 10 minutes as I wallowed in my tiredness and "don't wanna-ness." Two hours later, Jen said she was exhausted and ready for bed.  I told her I was wide awake.  She was perplexed, "Two hours ago, you were telling me how tired you were."  I said, "I was tired.  I woke-up when I cooked … [Read more...]