Beyond Conventional Wisdom: Lessons About Health and Life You Won’t Find in Textbooks
As it is now the beginning of a brand new year, 2026, I have a little time to reflect on some rather important lessons that I have learned over the last several years. Basically, these are lessons that I have learned the hard way, not via conventional education. Because these lessons are so valuable, I will ask that you consider them to gems of understanding or stepping stones to success that are of greater value than the average textbook lessons can teach you. I will simply go over them with you as I have written them down, and I am somewhat shooting from the hip. Here it comes… You know that your health is extremely important, but did you know that drug companies make more money off you when you stay sicker longer due to smaller doses of drugs that absorb less into your body. Most drugs don’t absorb above…
Destruction Versus Productivity – The Two Systems That Drive Economic Growth
In the world of economics there are several systems that bring about the financial means and methods for future growth. Money as a tool makes the world go round, so seeing just how several methods bring about this economic growth is important to understand, but especially when focusing on two of the most important systems of growth. Let’s take a look at all of the known systems of economic growth before we delve into the two most prominent ones. Selling – As my father used to say, “Nothing happens without a sale!” Saving – This improves the world for the future both at an individual and corporate level. Stealing – This of course is illegal, but people and governments are well known for doing it and it does promote financial growth for some, while hurting others. It can come with a real backlash as well if the individual doing the…
15 Unseen Laws Behind Every Successful Life
Whether or not we see the 15 laws that drive us to succeed in life, they are undoubtedly at work in our lives, helping to shape our futures. This is a compilation of 15 laws that are likely the most active in the lives of very successful people. Because this could easily be a very exhaustive compilation with many explanations that would be quite boring to read through, I have tried to list these laws in a way that keeps the definitions to the minimum. Laws are generally boring to talk about, but since these laws deal with success, it is a bit easier to list them and give them some detailed explanations. So, without further ado, here goes nothing…Law number 1: The Law of Attraction: What you visualize, focus on, feel good about and define as your purpose, draws it to you. The Law of Sowing & Reaping: Sowing…
Rising Above The Hazy Ground Fog of Mediocrity To Soar Into The Sky of Exceptionalism and Success
What you focus on has a tremendous affect on the outcome of your day and future. In the world that we all live in, there are undercurrents of thought that would bring you into negativity and defeat. You could call this a haze of ground fog that tries to suck you into its level of thinking. Of course, when you walk around in a fog, your ability to see in front of you is highly limited. Walking in such a haze can cause your feelings to be affected about where you are and what you are accomplishing in your life. It is a very limiting perspective. When you are in such a haze, you mainly are focusing on the here and now versus what is possible for the future. Things look dim and discouragement may even set in. Really, this is a vision problem more than anything else. If you…
A Strategic Look at Romance in Chess and Life
I have a confession to make. I am an active observer of life in several ways but have found that the game of chess is the most unique and accurate way to understand life as it really is. As a very active traveler, I have found that chess is an excellent way to relieve stress and keep my brain sharp. The game also allows me to vent my frustrations by challenging my computer opponent. There may be many methods to stimulate brain activity and enhance the movement of neurons through existing neuropathways, as well as promote neuroplasticity. However, I have found that chess is one game that can contribute to these cognitive processes simultaneously, while remaining particularly thought-provoking and highly enjoyable! Before I go on with my understanding of chess as it strategically applies to life as I see it, allow me to say that I am not out to…
Keeping The Right Perspectives So That You Can Persevere and Gain The Victory In Life’s Battles
Beat ‘em, Beat ‘em, Like Antietam, so goes out the battle cry! It’s all about perseverance, as it is do or die! So, what does the Civil War Battle of Antietam have to do with your daily improvements and the multiplication factor of future successes? Well, if you look at what happened, not only was the one day battle a victory for the Union troops, but it turned back the Confederate troops from gaining future ground into the north, thus turning the tide of the entire war. If you have the right perspectives about life and persevere through your issues and difficulties, then you can win at life! Life is about wrestling with many issues, circumstances, and challenges that can be overcome, even when you don’t appear to be winning. Perspectives can change, as what may be going on, isn’t always the reality of things. Honestly, the Union troops out-numbered…
Focus, Faith, and Fruitfulness – How To Stay on Track to Achieve Your Goals
In a world of ever-competing focuses, there are many diversions and deceptions that can easily sidetrack us from our main goals. If your faith is grounded in truth and you have a very strong mind to accomplish something of great value, then you must focus very strongly on it in order to make it come to pass. Another way of looking at this is that you must believe something is possible before you can endeavor to achieve it. You must have an overcoming attitude about the problems that will inevitably challenge your progress and your faith as you move toward your goals. If you have counter-competing goals, “Plan B, C, D, Etc. goals,” then it is imperative that you either set them aside or eliminate them completely from the equation of your main focus. If you do not set these competing goals aside or eliminate them, then you will likely…
A Contemplative Comparison Of To Do Lists – Bypassing The Ascent Of Unpredictability In Life’s Mountain Climb To Find Peace In Downhill Skiing’s Graceful Descent
When you look at the difficulties and opportunities that face you in life, it is easy to make to do lists that make it feel like you are about to ascend a mountain. You know that the climb will be tough and that there are many factors that you won’t be able to account for. The terrain, the weather, the people you will meet along the way, and many other things are all factors that you cannot predict, regardless of your expertise in “climbing mountains.” You know that it is far more difficult to go uphill than to go in the other direction, so you set your mind like a flint to accomplish the task of going up the mountain. Climbing to the mountain top will be slow, and you lack the information needed for every unpredictable event. You prepare for the worst, hoping to God that everything will go…
‘Tis The Season To Be Jolly OR How Some People View Giving As A War!
Over twenty years ago I lived overseas in Japan as a conversational English teacher and discovered the most unique “giving tradition” that I have ever heard of! The people of Japan are known for being very generous, to the point of absurdity, at least when it comes to making their friends happy. This may be due to a general cultural weakness within the people of Japan. This is THE FEAR OF NOT MAKING SOMEONE HAPPY or The Fear of Offending someone whom you are supposed to be honoring. Giving honor to whom it is due is among the highest unspoken rules of etiquette among the people of Asia in general, but especially among the Japanese. Due to this overarching fear that inhabits the people of Japan, they have come up with a very unique method to defeating the consequences of this problem, which really can cause them to lose face…
What I Have Learned From The Wonderful Game Of American Football
When I was growing up, football was one of my favorite sports. Everyone played the game and definitely followed their favorite teams. Being that I was raised in Wisconsin, it goes without saying that I would be a Packer fan, and a very strong Packer fan I was…and still am… as the saying goes, “Once a Packer fan, always a Packer fan!” The long and short of the game is that you have to carry a pig-skin ball that has a rather unique shape across about 100 yards of grassy turf to the end zone and risk your life trying to do just that! I started out as a touch “Nerf” football street football player and became a real legend in my youth. Not to brag, but I was one of the fastest players, even on the tackle football team in the 7th grade, so to play football in the…