Stop Saying “Sorry” It used to bug me when I’d tell someone I was having a rough day or I’d stubbed my toe and they’d reply with, “I’m sorry.” “It’s not your fault,” I’d say. To say “I’m sorry” actually means, “I am filled with sorrow.” We equate “sorry” with...
One Key Way to Demonstrate Confidence In the face of crisis, you cannot stay calm without confidence. You can be apathetic. That’s nihilism, not calmness. That’s doubtfulness and uncertainty that leads to giving up—the complete opposite of confidence. True...
Mismatched Communication: Now What? Here is one of my favorite activities to do in presentations on differing communication styles: I have participants pair up and I pass out red and blue glass stones. I tell the people who have red stones, “You are under a...
When Your “Help” Leads to Harm In your professional life, your interactions with others directly affect the success of your business and your own personal wellbeing. In every exchange, you have choices: You can perpetuate bad habits or you can foster growth. Do...
One Tool for Handling Anger “I don’t know what to have for breakfast,” my daughter stated one morning, as if it was an accusation. Of felony. I gave several breakfast suggestions. She rejected them all. She wanted a certain thing we lacked ingredients for, and...
Don’t Be “Nice” I used to think of myself as a nice person. I don’t anymore. In fact, if people refer to me as nice, I cringe. It was a passage in Gavin de Becker’s book, The Gift of Fear, that first changed my opinion of this word: We must learn and then teach our...