I don’t know what it is about the human spirit that often finds itself restless with the status quo. I’m not talking about ingratitude, that elusive never-pleasing, never-ending quest for affirmation, money, power, control or prestige. That, I’m certain, is a condition of the human heart searching for fulfillment outside the Creator. I’m talking about reaching a point in your career, business or even in your relationship with your family that by most standards would be considered successful; however, deep inside you know you could do better. You’ve settled for good when you know you could be great. I’ve been through this cycle so many times in my professional life: I reach a new comfortable plateau and decide that there’s nothing wrong with setting up residence there. After all, my reasoning goes, this is a much better plateau than the one before and some would love to have it. But…

I just finished my long run, usually 10-12 miles, on a beautiful cool Fall morning in Nashville. And as I finished feeling great I said, “I’m a much better runner during my Fall runs because of the miserable sticky summer runs.” But as I considered the implications, I realized that’s not only applicable to my run, but also to the rest of my life. I can move faster in my business,  and in my relationships because of enduring and getting past troublesome spots, much like an endless run on a hot and humid southern morning. I can enjoy seasons of growth and harvest because of the lessons conditioning I learned through the rough days of just “plowing through” in life. In your business or personal life, what season are you in? How are you dealing with it?

Fashion Friday tackles one of man’s most troublesome fashion issues: pants. Nothing will make you look bad faster than ill-fitting, unfashionable pants. This dilemma is unique only to the American male (the rest of the world has moved on about 10 years ago.) Pleats or no Pleats, that’s the question. That’s an easy one for me: No pleats. First of all, the US is the only country left where yo can find pleated pants for sale outside the Goodwill stores. But let’s put that tidbit aside since, we Americans value our uniqueness and strong individuality. Blah, blah, blah. If we disregard fashion trends and focus on what looks best on a man, the flat-front trousers would win most every time.  Here’s the problem with pleats: 1. BBS. Big Bottom Syndrome. Pleats put extra material around your waist thus creating a larger-than-real-life look. Trust me, but most of us don’t need…

Yesterday I spent the morning interviewing college kids for a video project my company is working on in partnership with Living a Better Story Foundation, Belmont University and Donald Miller, the author. It was a culmination of a 21-day program where Belmont’s Sophomore class attended Don’s lecture a few weeks back. At the end of the lecture, students received an envelope with either 5, 10 or 20 dollars. They were asked not to spend the money on themselves but to pray first and then seek to help someone else with the money by the end of 21 days. I honestly didn’t know what we were going to hear, but I certainly didn’t expect what I got. Interview after interview I heard stories of how prayer led to the realization that this “given” money was God’s. “But so is everything else I have,” said these students, “including what I thought was…

I got a called from Gwen this afternoon. We had our first teenage car accident. Our 15-year-old son had just backed up his mom’s Infinity SUV into a neighbor’s mailbox crushing the truck’s bumper and destroying the mailbox on his first attempt at driving after getting his permit on Friday. “We just spent two thousand dollars on body work this summer! How are we going to make him pay for the damages? ” were the first words out of my mouth. I was furious and my main concern was with the cost of fixing the car and the mailbox. It wasn’t until later, much later, that I thought about my son, his feelings and the trauma he might be facing. Now as I reflect on today’s event, I so wish I had reacted differently. Even after all the years of reading the Bible, listening to numerous messages, reflecting, praying and…

Traditional publishing is not what it used to be.  The digital revolution has now reached book publishers and for the first time ever, electronic titles outpaced hardcovers on Amazon.com. Publishers everywhere are downsizing, and even long-time NYC headquarters are being moved away from the city to cheaper rent  in nearby Connecticut.  Christian publishers are not exempt from this industry-wide shake up. I’ve sat through many meetings, taught seminars and have consulted with several different Christian publishing houses. I believe the Church is going to play a key role, if the role, in keeping publishers afloat.  However, publishers better deploy the right strategy or they won’t prevail. Over 56 million people attend a Christian church  (excluding Catholics) every week in America. That’s a lot of resources needed for preachers, teachers and small group leaders,  and a lot of money for publishers and content providers. With the digital revolution flattening the distance…

There are some rights of passage in life I look  forward more than others. During my run this morning, I noticed that I might have been going through yet another stage. I’ve heard we become more “eccentric” as we age. I’m not wealthy enough to garner the title of “eccentric.” I’m just getting old and peculiar. Here’s a few signs that point to my aging status: I can’t run, workout or pretty much leave the house without at least 800 milligrams of ibuprofen, metabolic and thermogenic enhancers and a couple of pills I’m not even sure what they do but I’m afraid to stop taking them. I must check the weather as soon as  I wake up. First I was just interested in the local weather, but it has now expanded to cities all over the globe including entire regions in the Pacific rim and western Europe. My growing fascination…

There I sat hearing the same lame excuses I’ve heard for the past 12 months from the staff of a very large not for profit: “we can’t do it because IT told us it would take 5 years before we can have online registration and payments.”  Are you kidding me!? It’s been over 8 hours since our meeting and I’m still outraged at the ridiculous notion that a multi-million dollar organization cannot, let me rephrase, will not figure out how to make something as common as an online sign up forms work system wide. Sadly, in this case,  IT is killing the organization. I sound like a broken record on this issue, but marketing should drive your web strategy and not IT. Really.  Your online presence lives or dies on the end-user experience. If people can find what they’re looking for, if they can intuitive navigate the site and complete…

My friend didn’t know why his social media strategy was not as successful as that of one of his peers who, in his words, “is just killing it!” I didn’t have to think at all to answer that question. The answer was simple and obvious: it’s because he’s engaged and you’re not. If you have a public presence online whether you are an author, speaker, actor, politician, reporter, pastor, CEO or housewife, I’m convinced that’s virtually impossible to have an impact-full social media presence if you delegate your message solely to an assistant or to a marketing company. In full disclosure, my company, The A Group, often designs, implements and manages social media campaigns, but we’re very careful not to do what only our clients can do: be themselves. And when they abdicate that privilege, results are never what they could be. If all your posts are about your product,…

Truth is not always pleasant, fun or convenient, but it’s always necessary in life. Without the truth of a working compass, we would be desperately lost. Without the truth of a mirror, we wouldn’t know we have spinach stuck between our teeth or an embarrassing case of bed hair. And yet, our culture continues to find ways to make us feel better about ourselves even at the cost of the truth. Last week I learned about “vanity sizing.” It’s been a known practice in women’s fashion, but it’s now part of men’s as well. In order to make consumers feel better about themselves, and potentially buy more merchandise, designers are selling items that are purposely mislabeled to seem smaller than they actually are. And I’m not just talking about half or a size difference. Old Navy, for example sells pants labeled 36 inch waist that are actually 41 inches. Marketers…