Have you ever sent a text message only to have it misinterpreted by the person reading it? Happens all the time. Have you ever given a presentation that you were totally prepared for only to have it fall flat? Happens all the time. Have you ever had someone ask you something like, “Why are you mad?” when you were not at all mad? Happens all the time. What is going on with these communications? The answer is the difference between knowing your message and delivering your message; those are two very different things. Effective communication is about using both. One of the main causes of miscommunication with the spoken word has little to do with the words themselves. Research done by Prof. Albert [...]

If I told you that Snoopy (yes, that Snoopy), was the main reason for the success I have had in my adult life, you might cock your head to the side, flutter your eyelids in disbelief, and utter a sarcastic “riiiight.” But it’s true. I have run several businesses, written and published a handful of books, been on air as a television broadcaster, won awards for my work in several different fields and helped countless people accomplish their own goals by bringing their value out into the world. And it is all thanks to Snoopy. Let me explain. From kindergarten to the third grade, I was a Montessori kid. If you’re not familiar with the Montessori approach, the education philosophy focuses on independence [...]

One of the greatest powers we have is the ability to have thoughts. Yes, sometimes those thoughts become negative or detrimental and they don’t serve us, but sometimes those thoughts are empowering and can take us anywhere. But have you ever asked yourself where your thoughts come from? Most of our thoughts are self-created; in other words, they come from us. We can learn something or hear something or see something, but everything that happens after that is created by you. Why that’s so important to understand is because your thoughts are your greatest superpowers, and you have the ability to make them your trusted advisors instead of your biggest critics. If you are the author of most of your thoughts, that gives [...]