Personal Development for Smart People^TM

If you’re stuck living a life you wouldn’t have consciously chosen if you had it to do all over again, what can you realistically do about it?
The Black Hole
By “stuck” I mean truly, deeply stuck. You’ve got the stable job, the family, and the mortgage. But even though your situation looks pretty good from an […]

Have you heard the statistic that says, “80% of new businesses fail within the first five years?” That seems to be a favorite one for people to cite when attempting to discourage their friends or co-workers from starting a new business (with the best of intentions of course

If you found yourself unemployed today, would you want the job you have now? Would you be eager to apply for it?
What about your career as a whole? If you’d never worked in your current industry, would you consciously choose to work in it now?
Many people just fall into their current line of […]

Earl Nightingale’s The Strangest Secret is one of the most popular recordings on personal development, albeit one that’s 40 years old. Nightingale-Conant sells a CD of this recording for $19.95, but I picked it up as a freebie at a seminar I attended earlier this year. This particular CD contains some introductory material […]

What’s your greatest strength? Can you identify it?
I’m not saying your greatest strength is necessarily unique, and it probably won’t put any comic book heroes to shame. But if you can identify any strengths at all, then one of them must be your greatest (or at least a few are tied for first […]

Relationships are among of the most complex aspects of our lives, particularly long-term relationships such as marriage. Your relationships can elevate you to new heights or drag you down into the dumps.
But what if you’re somewhere in the middle?
What if your relationship is pretty good, like a 7 on a scale of 1 to […]

I’ve received many requests for adding downloadable audio content to this site, which is something I planned to eventually do since the time I started the site. I’ve worked out the basic idea for an audio content subscription service, and I’d like to ask your opinion on it.
The service I envision won’t be a […]

Many years ago I was listening to one of Brian Tracy’s audio programs where he recommended getting involved with some kind of trade organization, so you could surround yourself with potential mentors. He went on to tell his story of getting involved with his local Chamber of Commerce and how massively it catapulted him […]

Since I received positive feedback on Life Lessons From Blackjack last week, I thought I’d share some lessons I learned from poker as well.
Background
Again, feel free to skip the background story if you just want to read the lessons part. I only include this for the curious.
I first learned to play poker when I […]

I added another article to the free articles section called “Getting Organized.” This is an updated version of an older article called “Clean Up That Mess” which I wrote in 2000.
This article provides a basic method for cleaning up clutter and organizing any physical space, such as an office, kitchen, or garage.
I think the […]