Start Being Your Best

I’ve always been fascinated with psychology.  The human mind is an amazing entity that no one truly understands.  I don’t even know why I do the things I do sometimes, so it’s no surprise to me that there are plenty of mysteries still left to discover about how we think, what we...

I’m hoping I haven’t offended anyone (too much) by that headline.  Does anyone self-identify as a “hippie” anymore, anyway?  We’ve all got a picture in our head, though, right?What I’m thinking of are people that are a little bit out there:  they might play a l...

Here we are at the end of October.  I have to say that this is probably my favorite time of year.  I love that the weather’s getting colder and the days are shorter.  Does that mean I’m emo?Anyway, here’s what we covered this month on Start Being Your Best:Develop Your Reputatio...

Here’s another TED video I’d like you to take a look at.  In it, we get to hear the consequences of allowing your life to become monotonous, and one very unique way to deal with that issue.Stefan Sagmeister owns a design studio in New York that’s garnered a lot of commercial and...

Had an interesting article emailed to me by reader Marty.  It was called “Be Lucky – It’s An Easy Skill To Learn“, and it was great.The premise, as you might expect from the title, is that being lucky (or unlucky) is something that you control.  Sure, random events occur i...

As I’ve mentioned previously, when I started this blog, it wasn’t really to garner a huge following.  Oh, sure:  in my crazy dreams I’d think about being a full-time blogger once in a while.  But, realistically, I started just as an outlet for some pent-up creativity.  I was usi...

Back in 2001, I joined the Army.  I did this because of 9/11.  However, I knew I wasn’t going to just take any old job they wanted me to take.  I specifically wanted to be a linguist.I had always heard that the US military had one of the best language schools in the world, providing “...

I want to start a new periodic series here on Start Being Your Best called “Reader Spotlight”.  We’ve got  a fair amount of people who read this blog regularly, and I’ve had a chance to correspond with some of them that are making a commitment to being their best.  If thes...

Ed. Note – There are affiliate links in this post.  That means I will get paid a commission on any sales that come from you clicking through a link and purchasing a book.  So help a brother out, huh? I don’t think it’s much of a secret that I’m a fan of personal developme...

For those of you who may not know him, Leo Babauta of Zen Habits is one of, if not the, most respected personal development bloggers on the planet.  What he’s done over the past couple of years at zenhabits.net, writetodone.com, and mnmlist.com is nothing short of amazing.  All three are in...

A few months ago, I posted a bit of a rant called “Return to Decency“. It was motivated by a couple of negative experiences I’d had with some folks who were younger than me.  Even in the age group that I’m a part of, it seems some folks weren’t trained how to relate ...

Good grief, it’s supposed to be 90 here today.  I don’t know what the weather’s like where you are, but here in the great state of Idaho, it’s been officially autumn for a week and it’s still hotter than blazes.  I’m ready for fall to be here.  Who’s with...

Read an outstanding article in the Atlantic magazine entitled What Makes Us Happy? the other day.  I mean, this was really interesting.It was about a researcher, George Vaillant, who had devoted his entire career to a study conducted at Harvard.  He and his team followed a group of men who had gr...

I hope this doesn’t come off as a lame cop-out of a post, but I need some help from you folks.  I’ve been struggling to write lately.  I still have ideas of things to write about, so I wouldn’t really call it the dreaded “writer’s block”.  I’m just not re...

The most frequent comment I get from people who correspond to me is that the blog is “extremely personal”.  People enjoy the fact that I’m not setting myself up as some expert on the subjects of personal development and leadership, but that I just write from the heart about topi...

Some of you may remember that I mentioned I was heading on vacation this past week.  You’re actually reading this on my first day back from a week in Iceland with my wife (which was awesome, thanks for asking).Travel can be one of the best activities you can do for personal development purp...

I have a bank account with the largest bank in the US.  You’d expect everything to be standardized across their branches.  However, there’s one state that’s different than all the others.  For some unknown reason, Idaho (where I live) is on a different computer system than all o...

When times are tough, people feel a need to seize any opportunity that they see.  Whether it be a job for the unemployed or a sale at the grocery store, scarcity prompts us to act quickly.  That’s just human nature.More often than not, this is a bad choice.Because of our inability to mental...

If you are in the habit (like I am) of blowing by the videos embedded in blogs that you read, please don’t skip this one.  It’s quite engaging and only about 17 minutes long.In this video, Alain de Botton talks about the definitions of success and failure in today’s society.  He...

So, here we are, at the unofficial end of summer.  Next week is Labor Day, the kids are back in school, and football season is revving up.  Why is it still 90-100 degrees every day?  I know I’m in the minority, but summer must be my least favorite season of the year.  If it wasn’t for...

I’ve spent the month of August up to my eyeballs at work.  Normally, my work life is fairly laid back.  By that, I mean that I’m usually out the door by 5, or very soon thereafter.  I don’t have to check my email at night or keep tabs on what’s going on all the time.  It&#...

I find I’m often frustrated with my work and the lack of opportunities I have to take on positions of leadership.  Due to the nature of the company that I work for and the industry we’re involved in, it’s simply not feasible to have finance personnel leading cross-functional tea...

I’ve got something that I need to admit to everyone reading this.  I’m a fake.I constantly fail at putting into practice what I preach on this blog.  Ask my wife.Not just that, but there are times when I feel as though I fake my way through just about everything in life.At work, I&#82...

For years, I lived in the future.  Always looking ahead to what was in store for me just around the corner.  That shiny new do-dad or relationship would finally push me into contentment.“If I can just get a promotion, maybe I can start paying down my debt…”“Man, if [girl's...

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be financially secure lately, and what kind of responsibilities that brings.  Probably because of the Get Rich Slowly audition, I guess.  Although, being a financial analyst means money is never really far from my mind.I find that I often take...

Goodness, I’ve been writing an awful lot lately.  I’ve got the second post of my audition up today over at Get Rich Slowly, and I also have a post on 8 Ways To Motivate Yourself at Dumb Little Man.  Go check ‘em out.  And, thanks again for reading, folks.  I really appreciate it...

Had an interesting email from a reader this past week.  It got me thinking about a lot of the things I write about here.This reader has been experiencing a lot of resistance from Life lately as she’s tried to achieve some of the dreams she’d been working so hard for.  She’d been...

Just wanted to take a minute to let everyone know that the first of the guest posts I wrote for the staff blogger audition is up this morning.  If you’re interested in personal finance (or even if you’re not), you should go check it out here.Related posts:Exciting Announcement! (At le...

Ed. note – Been a while since I did a book review around here.  Although this isn’t a proper review of the entire book, I don’t know if I could recommend this book more highly if I spent 2000 words detailing every chapter.  You really should pick it up if you’ve not read i...

Serendipity – an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.I’ve mentioned before that I spent some time in the Army.  I’ve also mentioned that I didn’t enjoy my time with that organization.  I’m not a very good “take-orders-without-being-told-why&#8...