For 12 years, I served in the Army Reserve as a trombone player. Even though I was a military musician, I was still a Soldier and had to complete a series of leadership development courses over the years to learn how to lead and manage people. The first course was the Warrior Leader Course, which was […]
Blog
How I Used Artistic Expression To Overcome Performance Anxiety
I read Dr. Gilreath’s comment again. “Dr. Parsons would be disappointed in you.” I had just finished my jury, a type of final exam for music majors in which you perform a piece of music for your professors. From what I remember, most music majors hate juries. Why? Imagine performing a piece of music in […]
Viagra, Cialis, And The Art Of Listening
This week, I went to New York for work, arriving on Sunday afternoon. I spent the afternoon sipping beer and reading on the hotel patio. Unsurprisingly, I got got hungry around dinner time and decided to try the restaurant at my hotel. During the course of my meal, I struck up a nice conversation with […]
Why You Should Eat A Frog This Week
When was the last time that you ate a frog? I ate a few big frogs last weeks and felt amazing afterwards. You see, I just finished a book called Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy. In the book, Brian talks about the importance eating a metaphorical frog every day. What is a “frog”? Put simply, a frog is […]
My farewell to arms, my last day as a Soldier
On March 15, 2004, I joined the United States Army Reserve as a 19-year-old kid, ending my military career on March 14, 2016 as a 31-year-old man. Today, I became a civilian again after 12 years of military service. For 12 years, I served with some of the finest people that I have ever known. […]
Why Don’t We Talk About Negotiation?
Last week, I sent you an email to my newsletter subscribers, asking them to answer two questions: What are the biggest challenges that you face with negotiation? What do your family and friends think and say about negotiation? I received some great responses from a number of people. Here are a couple of examples. From Nina: 1. […]
Should I stay or should I go? Ending your military career
Every man and woman who has ever served in the military has asked themselves the question. While simple, it is one of the most difficult questions that you will ever have to answer as member of the armed forces. Should I stay or should I go? Why are you reading this article? Because you are reading this […]
MONEY: Master the Game by Tony Robbins
On October 15, 2014, I received an email from Tim Ferriss about Tony Robbins‘ latest book: MONEY Master the Game. Tim, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, and The 4-Hour Chef, wrote of the book: I thought to myself–really? Another book on money? Ugh. I prepared to be bored, especially since I think of myself as an experienced […]
Choose Yourself by James Altucher
A few months ago, I read an article called “How to Sell Yourself” on the Social Triggers blog. In the article, Derek explained that he hosted his first live workshop and invited James Altucher to speak at the event. Derek felt that James’ presentation was so good that he had to share it on his blog. […]
The Brand Within by Daymond John
Daymond John is an investor on Shark Tank, a popular reality TV show on ABC where hungry entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of equally hungry “sharks” looking to make money. Born to humble beginnings, Daymond John hustled his way from the streets of New York City to the top of the business world by creating one of […]