Jordan Spieth performed very well as a professional golfer until 2018. Expectations placed on him were very high—so high that his performance waned…until last spring. After winning his first tournament in three years, he made a profound passing comment in a press interview: If I’m feeling free, I’ll love what I do. And if I
As I scanned my fall calendar earlier this week, all I could think was, “Woah, there’s a ton on there.” An all-company meeting, several client engagements, coaching youth football and softball. And on top of all of that, we’re doing a house project. I felt a sting of anxiety…and then said to myself, I’ll find
Jennifer began her day with a well-crafted to-do list and good intentions. She ended her day exhausted and deflated. If she worked in a vacuum, maybe she’d have gotten through the list and felt accomplished. That’s not real life for her though. Too many things come at her during the day — email questions, childcare
After a year of doing all meetings virtually, I have discovered many essentials to making virtual meetings more productive and engaging. Beyond my own meetings, I’ve trained hundreds of leaders in the past year on how to reduce boredom, multi-tasking and burnout in virtual meetings. Of course, some virtual meeting fatigue and frustration is inevitable.
Several weeks ago, I sat at my desk literally propping my head up, willing my eyes to stay open and completely drained of energy. All I wanted to do was fall asleep, which surprised me because I wasn’t getting less sleep than normal. So what was different? I realized my mind had been heavily processing more
Every day, retired U.S. Army general Stanley McChrystal wakes up at 4 a.m., shaves, exercises for 90 minutes, takes a five-minute shower and then goes to the office. He doesn’t eat anything until dinner because, “It just makes me feel better,” he says. “My body has gotten used to it, and so if I eat
You can treat everyone well. But you can’t invest equal time in every relationship. The reality is that time and energy are limited. And that can lead you to have surface relationships with everyone. But your limits can also become the impetus for you to get really clear about who and what you’ll focus on.
Despite the strain, I love the predictability of the events that mark this time of year: Thanksgiving Day football and the family meal that follows Faith holidays (For me it’s Advent, our annual tree cutting, the annual holiday card and Christmas.) Year-end financials and planning for next year The annual Dale Carnegie Convention These and
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin affirmed the reality of human limits when he wrote those words. And I affirmed this reality when I recently reviewed a six-week time analysis of my schedule. I had been letting people down. The time analysis revealed why. I
Recently, my friend and colleague Matt Norman wrote about mid-organization leaders and the critical importance to the success of a company. Matt’s insight regarding the need to free these leaders from being task doers so they can focus on leading and developing their people is spot on. After reading that post, I was reminded of lessons learned
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