The Best Opportunities Come In Times Of Maximum Pessimism
The first half of the 21st Century is a Fourth/First Turning period (See the Fourth Turning by Howe and Strauss).* This means that the olds ways of doing just about everything are quickly evaporating and being replaced by new ways. The faster we learn the new ways (or even creating some ourselves) the better for our […]
Do You Follow Clason’s Law?
As a self-motivated American Dream/Reality promoter and possibly even your counselor and mentor (I only take on this role if you are voluntarily reading my blog on a regular basis), I am getting bold and repetitive about financial autonomy—BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN YOU. I believe that you can solve your own problems and crises […]
Maybe Forrest Gump Was Right
Retirement. Most Americans are either ignoring this fact of life hoping it will go away, or facing its eventuality with fear and trembling. Based on a year’s worth of research, I am certain that 9 out of 10 people reading this blog fit that category. There is plenty of available data showing the hopelessness of […]
Being As Responsible As I Can
I have been thinking a lot about my mortality lately. No, I don’t have any premonitions, but Julia and I just updated our Revocable Living Trust and it always makes me think about my life, my relationships, and whether or not I am doing all I can for my family. My first job right after […]
The Difference Between Dissatisfaction and Hunger
So Stephen Palmer and I were attending a huge 3-day conference last week. During a break, Steve motioned me over and said, “you got to read this!” I was blown away! He really nailed it and I just had to share this with you. This is reprinted from Inspirational Weekly. Are you perfectly content with […]
The Sentence That Knocked Down the Berlin Wall (But Almost Didn’t)
This post is a reprint of the November 5 ,2014 article from the Intercollegiate Review. In retrospect, what event fails to suggest a certain inevitability about itself, conveying the sense that because it happened it had to have happened? Twenty-five years ago this week, the Berlin Wall finally fell. Of course it did. How […]
Basic Leadership Lessons From Lady Gaga
I was approached recently by a friend who was elected last year to his local city council. He was looking for a book on municipal government to help take a principled approach to the myriad issues he faces from property rights and valid zoning restrictions, to pet laws and public infrastructure, from Sunday use of public sports […]
The Failing American Dream: There Is A Cure
In April of this year, John Stossel wrote a thought provoking article about the ability of never quitting as being the reason America has been successful. I quote him here: In the USA, it’s OK to fail and fail and try again. In most of Europe and much of the world, the attitude is: You had your […]
A Whole New Take on “Selfies”
This post is a reprint from the Inspirational Weekly dated October 6th. Although the Oxford Dictionary officially made “selfie” a real word in 2013, the truth is that selfies are nothing new. Tina Issa wrote in the Huffington Post that “this selfie revolution is annoying. It has made people selfish and narcissistic.” Not so, Tina; […]
Funding Monticello College: A 21st Century Approach
Historically, most American institutions of higher education struggled to fund themselves. Non-profit institutions did not generally have mechanisms for generating revenue. Thus they relied on tuition, donations, and an endowment. Harvard, America’s first school, suffered this same fate. In 1636, without any endowment (the gift from John Harvard, the school’s name sake was quickly squandered) […]