I had a conversation with a dear friend of mine recently that had a profound impact on me. She had just come home from a two week trip to Israel, where she stayed on the same kibbutz she’d visited many times throughout her life. When I asked her how her trip was, she said, “Mike, … Read more
I got an email a few months back from a woman on my ezine list who shared a great saying that she loves – “If it’s worth doing, it’s even worth doing wrong.” I laughed out loud when I got it and have been thinking about it ever since. What a great message. A little … Read more
When you hear the word “lie” what comes to mind? “Lie” is a pretty harsh word that most of us have strong reactions to. I’ve been thinking a lot about lying recently especially since Congressman Joe Wilson yelled out “You lie” to President Obama a few weeks ago when the President was speaking to a … Read more
In the past week and a half, two important people in my life have suddenly passed away – my friend Kevin Carlberg (the brother of my girlfriend from college) and Gail Cohen (my dad’s first wife and my half-sister Rachel’s mom). These deaths have been shocking, sad, and painful for me. And, in the midst … Read more
How do you react when dealing with a crisis? When I’m faced with a crisis myself, I often go into “survival mode” – doing anything and everything I can to get through it. In other cases, I may simply deny that the crisis exists, hoping that it will just go away on its own. While … Read more
How much money do you make? How much debt do you have? How much money do you spend each month? How much money do you have saved? How do you feel about money in general and yourself in terms of your financial situation? These questions, and others like them, are about as personal and intimate … Read more
Do you like to know things? Would consider yourself a “know it all,” controlling, or anal in any way? All of these things, among many others, apply to me and many people around me. Why are we so obsessed with knowing everything? While there’s nothing wrong with knowledge, learning, and understanding – our insatiable desire … Read more
How well do you trust yourself, I mean really trust yourself? For most of us, myself included, self-trust is tough. We have a tendency to second-guess ourselves, not listen to our gut, or hang onto negative memories from the past when we’ve made mistakes or “bad” decisions. These things and others make it difficult for … Read more
Talking about authenticity is a heck of lot easier than actually being authentic, believe me – I know. For the past few years as I’ve been working on my new book and talking about authenticity in my workshops and keynotes, I’ve done a lot of talking about what it means to be real, authentic, and … Read more
How often do you not say or do something because you’re worried about how it’ll be perceived? For most of us, myself included, this happens all the time – more often than we’d like to admit. We live in a culture that’s starving for authenticity. We want our leaders, our co-workers, our family members, our … Read more
