In 2008, my good friend Jeff Dykstra* faced significant fear of the unknown. He’d already taken a huge risk leaving the private sector and moving his entire family to Lusaka, Zambia, in 2006 with World Vision. Now, he was only a few months away from finishing his commitment in Africa. His next career move weighed
What scares you? What do you avoid? Or what would you avoid if the opportunity arose? A big speaking engagement? Starting a business? Telling your boss what you really think? Leaving your job? Selling something? Fighting for a cause? Many things can scare me. A lot of them came to the surface for me and
I was part of an ugly exchange a few weeks ago with a delivery driver in my neighborhood. One that taught me the importance of being better instead of bitter, a phrase you may have come across before but paid little attention to until a certain scenario brought it to light. I’m embarrassed to tell
This post was originally published on December 14, 2016. It was updated on June 25, 2019. I recall a weekend that was distinctly difficult for me as a parent. Despite the hardship, I gained a valuable lesson on perseverance. We attended my son’s first wrestling meet, and he was up against two tough and experienced
(Guest post from my good friend Isaac Vogel) Do you ever find yourself wanting to find personal freedom from the pressures and challenges of life but don’t know where to go? This past fall, our family made the pilgrimage west to South Dakota, aptly dubbed a state of “Great Faces, Great Places” in homage, of
My dear grandfather Morris Norman passed away last month. He loved golf. And he would have loved to have seen Tiger Woods win the 2019 Masters tournament. I loved sitting next to my grandfather on the couch as a child, watching golf on television. He’d often comment about the character of the players. “That guy
What’s something you need in order to feel OK? What keeps you balanced? Is it approval from others? Your health? Productivity? Being organized? Being right? Winning? Financial security? All of these can be good things. But because you need that thing to stay balanced, you’ll run into a problem when someone starts to pull it
I got in the Lyft at 2:52 pm near Providence, Rhode Island. My immediate thought was Can I trust this guy? The driver, Joe, was a strong, heavy guy with sleeves rolled up exposing his fully tattooed arms. He wore a beanie style winter hat and was playing Motley Crue loud in his old, worn
About ten years ago, our company decided to make MLK Day a company holiday. (Many companies in the U.S. elect to work on this day.) We intentionally made this choice to honor and reflect on the character, example, and message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And so this week, my family and I watched
I have this recurring nightmare. It’s like the one where you are late for class or show up at school in your underwear. In my dream, I’m presenting to a large group of people and no one can hear me — or wants to. Everyone in the audience is either distracted, obscured behind physical barriers,
Matt Norman is president of Norman & Associates, which offers Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central US. Dale Carnegie Training is a global organization ...READ MORE