A number of years ago, as I was getting ready to self-publish my first book, I went to lunch with the president of a financial company who had booked me to speak at his company’s annual meeting. As we ate, we discussed my new book, Shattering the Glass Slipper, in which I debuted the concept […]
Archive | Encouragement
Some Kidding Aside – Program Yourself to Innovate
When I was in second grade, my teacher assigned my class to create our own science project. Like most kids at that time, I went straight to the World Book Encyclopedia to search for ideas. After a while, I spotted a scale that looked like it was within my ability to build. My chief obstacle […]
Some Kidding Aside – Breaking News
I was riding the bike trails with my neighbor, Mike, at Fort Yargo State Park on a beautiful November afternoon in 2008. I hate to admit it, but Mike must have been in a lot better shape than I was, because after only five minutes of riding with him in the lead, I noticed that […]
Some Kidding Aside – Are You Trying to Go Out of Business?
It really isn’t what you say, but how you say it, isn’t it? I just received a letter from the Post Office notifying me that it is time to pay my annual bulk rate mailing dues. I was expecting the letter but what I wasn’t expecting was the verbiage it contained: Dear Charles Marshall, Your […]
Some Kidding Aside – Choose your family dynamic
Choose your family dynamic There is a little Mexican restaurant near my house that has a great all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch bar. So, the other day, right after church, I took my wife and kids over to see how much damage we could to the owner’s bottom line. As we ate our lunch, I noticed the […]
Some Kidding Aside – When a person chooses poorly, they are, in effect, choosing the bad consequences that come bundled with their decision
Quite often the easiest choice is the decision that is based on an emotional bias, rather than intellectual reasoning. Take a moment and think about all the bad decisions you have made in your life. Think about the wrong turns, the bad relationships, the money mismanaged and misspent. Is it not true that the great […]
Some Kidding Aside – There is no “happily ever after”, real life always continues and the story never ends
We all get one life and this is it. There is no “happily ever after.” Real life always continues and the story never ends. There never is a place in any life where all struggle stops and happiness is a perpetual state. Sometimes there are seasons of respite from struggle, but those are usually all […]
Some Kidding Aside – Rather than focusing on what is wrong, focus on what is right
By far, most people perform better if they are surrounded by people who believe in them rather than by people who are constantly pointing out their faults. Rather than focusing on what is wrong, focus on what is right. Remember that there is a tremendous difference in believing in a person and believing in a […]
Some Kidding Aside – Do not think of success as the realization of a level of material or emotional gain, but as progress
Fairy-tale thinking, its symptoms are fantasizing, irrational expectations, inactivity, and misplaced effort. It always results in frustration, confusion, anger, hopelessness, and ultimately, a wasted life. Fairy-tale thinking is the philosophical belief that someday, without doing anything, something wonderful is going to happen that will allow us to live happily ever after. The first step toward […]
Some Kidding Aside – I believe that we are capable of more than we know
I heard fitness expert Jillian Michaels once say that most people have no idea how much they are capable of because they don’t push themselves. It’s easy to apply this principle to personal development, but do any of us bother to apply it to our jobs and businesses? How far will you push yourself for […]