Love as the antidote is not a new revelation. It’s in every religion, it flows from every noted guru and thought leader, rings through in countless songs, poems, novels, movies, and plays. Love consistently inspires us, makes us want to move mountains, and even give up our lives for it. But why then are we so hard pressed to actually apply it to our lives in a more pure form? And why have we not figured this out after literally thousands of years of human creativity, philosophy, and religion?

Love Is Too Simple

Its simplicity renders it difficult to grasp and actually apply to…

Imagine two eight-year-olds playing on a playground. Then the two have a dispute. Let’s say an argument over who gets the ball. One pushes the other. The other wrestles the first one to the ground. They kick and punch each other, and then a teacher comes to the rescue. She pulls them apart and marches them to the principal’s office. They receive all manner of lecturing and punishment. Parents are called, detention, restriction of privileges, etc. And we tell them, “This is not how we solve our problems. We don’t fight each other; we talk things out.”

What we don’t…

Training is an active process that we consciously engage in. We train on a job, watch instructional videos, go to a class or seminar, read a book, participate in a webinar, go to a conference, etc.

The act of entrainment is something entirely different and is actually much more important to our personal and collective development than any active training we can take part in.

Entrainment can be described as following along, leading to, feeling into and incorporating within. It’s similar to an invitation, but it’s more than that. An invitation is passive until acted upon. …

The recognition of personal growth is not just a case of patting ourselves on the back and saying good job for the work we’ve done so far. It’s also the awareness that the mountains we’ve yet to climb are attainable and within our reach.

If I climb a hill today, I can climb a larger hill tomorrow, and within a short span of time, I can climb a mountain. With each mountain I climb comes the courage and confidence that I can continue to climb mountains of ever-increasing dimension.

But we won’t have this courage and this confidence if we…

This past August, the Business Roundtable, a group of roughly 190 CEOs from some of the largest companies in the U.S. issued a landmark announcement on the purpose of a corporation — essentially proclaiming the death of Milton Friedman economics. The Business Roundtable is not a group of eco-conscious, granola-eating CEOs but rather the leaders of the most visible, revered, and at times reviled brands, and they’re saying they/we need to change.

Signed by 181 CEOs, the proclamation states that business needs to work for the benefit of all stakeholders, including “customers, employees, suppliers, community, and shareholders.” Much has been…

John Lennon once sang,

“Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.”

Those words (co-written by John and Yoko) have rung throughout the world for nearly 50 years. Many, however, have considered the lyrics to be idealistic and far-fetched. But there is a simple recasting that is not so far-fetched nor impractical.

“Imagine all the people doing their work, their careers and vocations, in alignment with their true calling.”

Maybe not so lyrical sounding, but…

“In a world of increasing commoditization and advancing technology, brand will become more important than ever,” Gary Vee said in a recent video.

Brand is everything if we intend to shun commoditization, because if we “race to the top,” (to use Seth Godin’s narrative) we accomplish that by doing work that matters, and how we communicate our work to the world is through a brand identity that has been intentionally crafted.

Things like consistency, design quality, and wordsmithing are super important, but the brand is the foundation that sets in motion the specific narrative, personality, and tone, and the values…

There is a simple and powerful slogan related to overcoming a life challenge that applies equally as well to brand building. It’s called the “Three A’s”: Awareness, Acceptance, Action.

Merely becoming aware of a life challenge is a great first step but accomplishes nothing if we don’t progress to acceptance, and then into the action of making a change. The wisdom of this slogan is that true action does not naturally occur in an effective way unless we take the important middle step of acceptance, because awareness tends to be more intellectual, while acceptance is felt.

How Does This Apply…