Written by Steve Martile

"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide."
~ Napoleon Bonaparte

You know what I’ve found to be one of the biggest obstacles to achievement, progress and real success? The ability to decide. And not a half-ass decision, but a real committed decision where you commit to something and then go and do it.

When I decided to leave my full time job in 2008 to pursue a full time career as a coach, it was one of the most gut-wrenching decisions I've ever made. It was a difficult decision and maybe the craziest decision I've made ever - at least that's what my parents, my family and most of my good friends were telling me.

They thought I was nuts. To leave a really good-paying job to go and chase some dream to become a successful entrepreneur was insanity.

It turns out it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I absolutely love what I do and I’m having a blast doing it.....Read more »

Written by Ken Keis

"Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant."
- Stephen Covey
Author: First Things First

Any of the following sound familiar?

"I want to spend quality time with you, but I have to work. I have this deadline and it needs to get done. I know that you understand the situation."

"I can’t seem to find the time to exercise. I know it’s important, but after 10 hour days I simply don’t have the energy for it. Maybe when it gets slower."

Today’s society has progressed to the point where in some work environments unless you operate with urgency addiction you are negatively judged. You are seen as a slacker not willing to pay the price for success and not committed to the cause. However it can also be a way that we feel exhilarated and useful. If it gets strong enough we get addicted to the perpetual motion and being busy becomes the goal.....Read more »

"Rick, you never finish anything you start." Rick told me later that this comment from his wife temporarily crushed him. But it also opened his eyes. He couldn't deny it - she was right.

And he'd never even realized there was a problem.

Thinking back over the years, a pattern came into focus for him. He saw the long trail of abandoned projects littering his life, and at that moment, he came face to face with one unavoidable fact - Ellen was right; he DIDN'T finish things. Strange: she could see it easily, but he never had until she pointed it out.

One reason he couldn't see the pattern was that he always seemed to have a good reason for his quitting, and that's where his thoughts were focused, on the reason rather than the results.

Sometimes it would be a matter of needing more information before he could proceed, but he never seemed to follow up strongly enough to find the right information. It never seemed to materialize. Other times his interests would shift to some new activity. Still others, he'd have to stop because the whole project had turned out to be more complex than he'd expected. Always, there was a reason.....Read more »

The movies have it wrong, you know.

You remember, don't you? Darth Vader keeps urging, "Come to the dark side of the force, Luke."

But evil just about never approaches you in such a direct, easily recognized way. No, it'll sneak into your life sideways, under the pretext of "this is for the greater good" or "you want to help our cause, don't you?"

Back in 1995 the Aum Shinrikyo group in Japan released sarin nerve gas in subway cars in Tokyo. Within minutes people were dead and hundreds were incapacitated.

It didn't take investigators long to close in on the perpetrators, a rapidly growing "new religion" headed by a nearly blind ex-"salaryman" and spiritual guru.

The Aum members who planned and carried out the sarin attack were described by shocked friends and family members as quiet and unassuming; usually highly intelligent. A few were even elite graduates of Tokyo University, Japan's equivalent of Oxford or Harvard.....Read more »