Pete pulled me aside and said, “I wish I could tell stories like you, but nothing interesting happens to me.”
I told him, “Everyone has interesting things happen to them that can be turned into stories.” He smiled and said, “Like what?”
Browsing CategoryLeadership
The World Rewards the Resourceful – The Better Newsletter #102
My friend Jen sailed competitively through college and tried different careers but nothing “stuck.” So, she and her parents found a beautiful yacht and invested their savings to buy it so she could start her own charter business.
A Crucial Crossroad – The Better Newsletter #101
When I lived in Hawaii, I went to the beach with my friend on New Year’s Day.
The winter surf was booming, and although we were both strong swimmers, we stood on the beach wondering, “Should we go in… Shouldn’t we go in?”
What’s Your BIG Idea – The Better Newsletter #93
Have you ever wanted to give a TED talk on their main stage in Vancouver? Where, as curator Chris Anderson says, “You’ll have three giant screens behind you and 1,200 of the world’s most interesting people in front of you!” If you’ve ever wished for that, now’s your chance.
“If Only Someone Had Told Me…” The Better Newsletter #87
Journalist Rita Braver once interviewed Steve Martin on CBS Sunday Morning. Steve is a genius, yet based on their discussion, he wasn’t a very happy man.
Your Message Matters – The Better Newsletter #86
People often tell me, “I’m a business owner, not a speaker.” “I’m a consultant, not an author.” “I’m a non-profit leader, not a social media influencer.”
I reply back with, “I hear you! AND, if we want to impact more people, we must be all of these!”
Is Your Bandwagon in the Garage? – The Better Newsletter #85
Captain Ray Ashley had a dream of building a replica ship, the San Salvador, as a project for the San Diego Maritime Museum.
He made a brilliant decision to build it in PUBLIC (right by a busy freeway near the airport) instead of in PRIVATE (where it’d be out-of-sight-out-of-mind).
Your Purpose is Calling – The Better Newsletter #84
People talk about finding their calling as if it exists out there somewhere. I think our calling – doing work we love that matters – emerges from doing and pursuing things that matter to us. It’s not found, it’s forged.
What Fires You Up? – The Better Newsletter #83
What a joy it was to be interviewed on John Lee Dumas’ pioneering podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire. John and I talked about how having something specific on our calendars gives us IKIGAI, a Japanese word for “purpose, a reason to get up in the morning.”
Pass the Eyebrow Test – The Better Newsletter #82
The first year of the Maui Writers Conference, a woman walked out of her pitch meeting with tears in her eyes. I walked over and asked her, “Are you okay?” “’No, I’m not okay…”