5 Strategies for Living a Simpler, Fuller Life
About eight years ago, I did a little experiment. I wanted to find out if it really is possible to do business from anywhere in the world. So I packed my family off to Rome (one of my favorite cities) for a six-week “working vacation.” I not only learned that,…
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The Greatest Gift to Leave Your Grandchildren
You’ve probably heard the phrase “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” It describes how wealth earned in one generation tends to be lost by the third. This is a common phenomenon. Avoiding this fate is a core theme in the Bonner & Partners Family Office newsletter. How do you hold…
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Are You Guilty of Thinking This Way
Most people are prone to the Golden Age Fallacy. This is the feeling that earlier times, often our childhoods, were simpler, safer, and happier. Today, fundamentalist terrorists threaten violence to Western cultures… ethnic cleansing has devastated African communities… financial markets seem shaky… governments are paralyzed by political gridlock… We could…
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Who is in Your Scene?
My wife Claudia asked me, “What took you the longest in your life to understand?” I don’t know if I understand anything in my life. I don’t say this with self-modesty. Every day I learn something where I say to myself, “why didn’t I learn that before?” But I know…
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Choosing the Best Possible Life
Someone once said that the three most important decisions in life answer the following questions: 1. What are you going to do? 2. With whom? 3. And where? I thought that was pretty nifty when I first encountered it 15 years ago. Today, I still think it is practical wisdom…
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The One Simple Question That Leads To Success
When you encounter a problem or frustrating situation, what questions do you ask yourself? I used to ask the following: Why am I so unlucky? Who can I blame? Why am I so stupid? How do I make sure I don’t look bad? Why is life so unfair? I now…
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How to Sit Down and Start Working Right Away
Let’s paint a picture of the average knowledge worker. They get into work around 9, and after putting their bag down at their desk, they stumble into the kitchen still a little sleepy, and reach for coffee. They get to their desk. And then they spend oh, about 30 minutes…
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What NOT to do at Work
During college, all I wanted to do was become a Navy SEAL. I won an NROTC scholarship, got accepted into training, and was ready to start my career as an operator. Unfortunately, once I got into training, I realized I didn’t want to become a SEAL, and I quit. Not…
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Recovering the Value of Leisure
Like you, I’ve spent a big part of my life doing and accomplishing things. It’s been both challenging and fulfilling, whether it was during my time as a high school teacher, a pastor, campus chaplain, or presently, as a life and leadership coach. For over four decades I have been…
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#1 Lesson From Dad
My father spent a lot of time in silence. As a farmer he worked many long days alone in his International tractor cab, plowing, sowing, and reaping in the fields.Before I was old enough to start school, I spent many hours with him there. Our family couldn’t afford childcare and…
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The Story of Two Marines in the Path of a Truck Bomb
Two years ago when I was the Commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 “The Walking Dead,” and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi. One battalion in the closing days of their deployment going home very soon, the…
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How to Talk About Money in Your Marriage
A female client once told me that she got her money the old fashioned way: by divorce. It’s a funny line that reflects the traditional thinking of the man as the breadwinner in a marriage and the source of family wealth. But the truth is that times have changed. Today,…
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