Day Ninety-One of 365 – Questions Worth Asking
Questions are some of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal. Well phrased, well positioned questions open doors, reveal hidden truths, invite collaboration, sharpen our focus and create contexts for clear communication. Approximately twenty years ago, a friend of mine told me, “Mark, statements merely tell but questions sell.” What an insightful statement! […]
Day Eighty-Nine of 365 – Writing a New Story!
Do you ever become weary of the story you live? Do you ever wish that things would change in ways that would give you more control over your future? Do you ever wonder what keeps you running head on into the same obstacles over and over again? What if there were a book or story […]
Day Eighty-Four of 365 – That Tough Thing . . . You Know The One!
That “though” thing . . . you know the one! We all have that “tough” thing on our plate – that thing that we wish would go away or diminish in importance. We approach that tough thing in many ways – ignore it; pretend it doesn’t matter; cover it up; make excuses for it; “forget” […]
Day Eighty-Two of 365 – From Awful to Action in Four Simple Steps
Do you know folks who tend to overreact to seemingly minor or innocuous events? They seem to go from zero to 100 in a matter of seconds when “100” is the worst case scenario – a catastrophe. Another word for this reaction is “awfulizing.” The Psychology Dictionary says that awafulizing “refers to an irrational and […]
Day Eighty-One of 365 – “Go On! I Dare You! Take A Stand!”
This particular snippet has its genesis in a couple of separate yet parallel pieces I’ve published in another place in the past. After reviewing these two thoughts, I felt compelled to combine them into one complete article. On this Eighty-First day of my 365 day writing challenge, I find myself drawn once again, to clarifying […]
Day Eighty of 365 – When Winning Is Losing
We live in a culture that worships winning and winners. We believe that winning and winners drive everything of importance in our world. This obsession with winning and winners colors and clouds everything we do. It drives our systems – educational, religious, political, corporate, social. We write articles about winners. We make movies about winners. […]
Day Seventy-One of 365 – When Life Overwhelms
Wading in waist deep gulf or ocean water can have a tremendous calming effect. Losing yourself in the undulations of a serene surf can create a sense of peace and tranquility. All of this is great until the ocean’s other personality asserts itself. You know what I mean. Without warning, a “rogue wave” appears from […]
Day Sixty-Eight of 365 – “You Can Only Be Where You Are!”
On Day Sixty-Eight of my 365 day writing challenge, I have elected to employ a rather odd saying I use from time to time to remind myself and others with whom I work that the only place I can do anything of any significance is the place in which I find myself. The saying goes […]
Day Sixty-Four of 365 – When Praise and Worship Is Not Praise and Worship
Right off the bat, I know that I open myself up for criticism when I address a subject like praise and worship. I know that and yet, I feel compelled today to write about it anyway. Let me share a brief personal history to provide a little context. I grew up as an Assembly of […]
Day Fifty-Nine of 365 – The Nature of Courage
Every day I work, I witness people of courage moving through life with deliberate, focused intent. Whether the examples come from the student population at school where I work, clients in my private practice or various colleagues, I am reminded of the power of Courage! Never before in my lifetime has there been more need for […]