Most people think they are better listeners than they are. We listen at about 25 percent efficiency. And, although most people agree that good listening is essential, very few seek to improve their listening skills.

It was the best haircut, all for the price of $37. I was reminded of a powerful life lesson: Letting go of expectations often leads to a much happier existence.

We have no idea what’s going on with people and what their level of gravity is for any given situation. In business, life or family situations, our response matters. People notice.

We can have, on average, 150 “meaningful” relationships. However, social media is changing the game. How many people are you “friends” with on your social media platforms? How many of those people do you interact with outside of your social media?

Great leaders are not, in fact, focused on themselves, but are focused outside themselves.

I like to think of integrity as a boat. If the boat’s got you, then you can relax knowing you are being held. You can be highly productive and get from one point to another. Or you can use the opportunity to enjoy just being on the water.

Being happy isn’t always about decisions. There are habits we can cultivate to encourage it, but happiness is simply more elusive for some people.

In fairness, looking inward, introspection, is all scary business. We want to know the source of our particular anguish, yet we are hesitant, fearing confirmation of our worst fears about ourselves.

Jung’s “shadow” describes those aspects of the personality we repress. There are parts of ourselves that we don’t like, — or that we think society won’t like — so we push those parts down into our unconscious psyches.

It’s like an iceberg. The part above water is our communication. What we don’t see or share sometimes is what is underneath the water.

There was no note, no vase, no one there to tell me what was going on. Just the flowers in their plastic packaging…

My role in brand extension required new ideas, products and markets. In one company, several of the other executives were dead-set against anything I came up with.

It is an opportunity to unlearn, to strip away, to let go of my addiction to knowing things, to stop straining to figure out why things happen. There is freedom in returning to our real purpose.

I came down with Covid, and the fog it created in my brain hampered my ability to form coherent paragraphs.

I would notice the branches become barer and the resentment start to surface. I was actually getting mad at the trees for losing their leaves. The victimhood is cringe-worthy.

Why do we feel we have to glaze over the truth if it doesn’t sound good? Do we forget that we are all in this together, and part of our human experience is to feel sadness, joy, struggle, happiness and the full range of emotions?

I knew there was no more pleading my case. The action to take was clear. I needed to have this conversation…

Should you have the good fortune to achieve a measure of success in your professional life, it’s tempting to sit back and get comfortable. But rest assured, the market and your competitors are not relaxing!

I have typically thought of my best as working the hardest, going the extra mile and speaking up when I have an idea. However, it occurred to me that perhaps there were other, seemingly opposite ways for me to express my best.

The culture of approaching a discussion as if it’s a battle of wits and the winner gets a prize extends well beyond the microcosm of my family.