I arrived with great suspicion at the baseball card shop on 98th and Lyndale last week, hauling five years of my childhood from the trunk of my car to the feet of the shop’s owner. I was burned by baseball card trades in my childhood, so I fully expected this guy might try to take
Competing priorities are very evident when dealing with a two-year-old. Adults compromise, negotiate, persuade, enforce and request. Two-year-olds demand. Responding to those demands requires great diplomacy. Two-year-olds don’t have patience for unsatisfactory answers. And they don’t take the high road by letting you off the hook. One night last week, my two-year-old told me she
Four months ago, I began something that, although it didn’t start out that way, ended up being an experiment in gratitude. Initially, I was responding to my own frustration that I couldn’t seem to remember the things that others cared about. I’ve been carrying so many things about myself in my own head that it
I arrived home from work feeling very self-satisfied. I was on a roll. “How was your day?” asked my wife. “Great.” “Why?” “I got everything done that I wanted to.” And then she asked me this: “Is that how you measure the quality of your day?” Oh my, I thought. I certainly do. I mean,
Are you aware of how the tone of your communication impacts others? It might be far more than you think. In a recent study, researchers at the University of Southern California analyzed the acoustic features of couples’ dialogues and, based on that analysis, were able to out-predict marriage therapists on which couples would remain together.
Dale Carnegie famously wrote: “It is better to be interested than interesting.” And it’s true: Connections are made more through genuine curiosity than impressive credentials. That said, if you’re not at all interesting, people won’t be as responsive to your interest in them. Are you always as interested and as interesting as you could be?
Collin Barr has a framed vision statement behind his desk that reads: Solid Business Builder, Great Community Builder, He Made a Real Difference. As a market president for a national construction, development and property management company, he has indeed built and made a difference. Like many successful leaders, Collin pushes the limits of his schedule
“He’s gone.” Even now, more than seven years removed from the day, Cory Wessman can still picture the doctor’s grim face as he shared the news that Cory’s son Micah had died. Each of us has a story, narratives that shape who we are as human beings. Sometimes, our most difficult stories to tell are
In her TED Talk, The power of vulnerability (the fourth most-watched in the series, with 28 million views and counting), Brene Brown discusses research showing that we build connections, contentment and credibility when we “show up as we really are.” And “as we really are” is wounded—vulnerable. Maybe not right at this moment. Perhaps you
I’ve recently been determined not to go to any boring parties. No boring family gatherings. No dull small talk at events. No hoping to find an early exit to a conversation. That’s right. I’ve decided that I only want to spend time with interesting people. I suppose I could try to seek out these interesting
Matt Norman is president of Norman & Associates, which offers Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central US. Dale Carnegie Training is a global organization ...READ MORE