Why You Need Painful Consequences

Why You Need Painful Consequences

As children, immediate consequences were a regular part of our lives. Step out of line at school and get detention. Step out of line at home, maybe you got grounded, maybe you got a smack. When I got busted, grounding was my typical punishment….although, my mom did introduce my butt to the wooden spoon a time or two when I got really out of hand.

It was the immediate, and sometimes painful feedback of those consequences that taught us what the rules were and made us take them seriously. And for the most part they worked.

But that’s not how it is as adults. (more…)

The Three Root Causes of Failure

The Three Root Causes of Failure

Failure comes in all shapes and sizes.

There are small failures, like the time in college when I had my new girlfriend over for dinner and served her a homemade strawberry milkshake that included chopped up bits of wooden spoon that I accidently blended in. I told her those bits were just strawberry seeds.

And there are big failures, like when I was the President of a mortgage company and lead it into bankruptcy, letting a lot of people down along the way.

But no matter the specifics or scope, all failures are the result of three root causes: lack of strategy, lack of effort, and lack of courage.

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