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Archive for April, 2014

Aesop, Hockey, and You

Years ago, Aesop warned about the dangers of getting complacent. He told the story of the hare and the tortoise, in which the hare raced out to a big lead over the plodding tortoise, decided to take a nap, and woke up just in time to see the tortoise cross the finish line first. Aesop […]

How to Win Your Own Boston Marathon

Only two people can win the Boston Marathon, and that leaves out most of us. But anyone can win a much more important event, namely, the one we call life. To do anything worthwhile, you must do three things, and they’re exactly the three things marathon winners do. First, you must start. This involves a […]

How to Reach Your Potential

Do you have potential? Having potential can be good news or bad news for you. Good news because the word “potential” comes from the Latin word “potens,” which means power. You have the power to do things! Bad news because, as a coach once said, “Potential means you haven’t done it yet.” So let’s go […]

How Jordan Spieth (And You) Can Improve

Now that we know that Jordan Spieth can play, we will find out if he can learn. Early signs are good. “Saturday and Sunday, there were definitely nerves throughout the rounds, but that’s just going to happen,” Spieth said, reflecting on the last two days of the Masters. “The most important thing is channeling that […]

Great Ideas That Could Have Been Lost

What do Thomas Edison, Lil Wayne and J.K. Rowling have in common? Note-taking! Writing down their thoughts helped make them all successful, and it can do the same thing for you. Take school for example. My friend and co-author Rob Gilbert says the quality of a student’s notes will correlate strongly with the student’s grade. […]

How to Get More Out of Practice

The other day I watched a school baseball team practice. With bat in hand, the coach worked with the outfielders, hitting fly balls for them to catch. This was a ritual that goes back well over a century. But something was missing: the effort to get better on every play. Every ball that came off […]