Almost two years ago, I started martial arts training—a mixture of Eskrima, Pangamot, Pencak Silat. During the first few weeks of training, it became clear to me that there were several things about this art that were completely counter-intuitive. When you have no idea how to fight (I didn’t), your…

In 1983, I was a working as an editor for $35,000 per year at 60 hours per week. By accident (don’t ask), I enrolled in a personal improvement program that changed my life. As a result of that program, I decided to make “getting rich” a priority. A year later,…

Dragon Lady wanted to go on a date with me. Ugh. I was already battling my demons, and now I had to fight a dragon, too? This was not going according to plan. No, I was not traveling through Middle-earth with Frodo and Bilbo. It was November, 2007 and fifty-five…

The history of war and combat is filled with stories of men (and women) snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Impossible circumstances, unfavorable odds, somehow they still lead to almost miraculous triumphs. What I set out to do with my latest book was study the traits that make this possible and…

Here’s just a short list of the misguided (and even ridiculous) business start-up advice I’ve read recently: Create an instant-impact message that describes the chief benefit of your business. Put it on business cards and brochures. Hand out hundreds of those business cards and brochures at business functions and meetings.…

As a wise man once said, “I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it. I’m competitive by nature. Always have been. Always will be. It’s just part of my DNA. From as early as I can remember I’ve been…

If you’re broke and close to death, you have to start coming up with ideas. If you destroy your life, you need to come up with ideas to rebuild it. The only time I’ve been forced to have good ideas is when I was up against the wall. My life insurance policy was…

Gladwell, as I’m sure you’ve read, claims that you need to put in 10,000 hours to become an expert. But who has the time now, especially at this stage in life, to dedicate 1,250 working days to becoming an expert at something new, no matter how valuable it is? Fortunately,…

I promise I’m not writing this because I have a deadline. Or, well, I actually kind of am. See, I’ve found that my output depends almost entirely on my level of commitments (either internal or external). Consider it kind of a reverse Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law states that a task will…