Stop Complaining, Start Leading

Marcus Aurelius — leadership mindset (on complaining)

Marcus Aurelius on what complaining costs Most people think venting relieves stress. What if it does the opposite? What if every complaint is chipping away at your energy, focus, and ability to solve problems? Marcus Aurelius understood this: “That’s what you’re doing when you complain: hacking and destroying.” Modern psychology confirms what the emperor knew […]

Shiny Object Syndrome

Marcus Aurelius — shiny object syndrome in business

Marcus Aurelius on running straight I used to think my biggest problem was time. Too much to do. Too many problems. Too many exciting ideas. Too many opportunities. If I could just work harder — wake up earlier, plan better, push through — I’d finally make real progress. My biggest problem wasn’t time management. It […]

What Your Business Says About You

Marcus Aurelius — your business reflects you

Marcus Aurelius on what your work reflects back In the early years of running my home health agency, I poured everything into it. Long days. Late nights. Weekends spent handling paperwork and managing the endless moving parts of the business. It was demanding. I didn’t mind. In many ways the business was a reflection of […]

Stop Overthinking, Start Testing

Marcus Aurelius — testing business ideas

Marcus Aurelius on choosing and moving Marcus Aurelius wrote: “So make your choice straightforwardly, once and for all, and stick to it. Choose what’s best. Best is what benefits me.” You’ve been sitting on that idea for months. You’ve researched, planned, tweaked, and second-guessed every angle. Meanwhile, someone else with half your knowledge has already […]

Is Your Business Really Living?

Marcus Aurelius — business growth vs stagnation

Marcus Aurelius on what existence isn’t “Just teach her daughter an exercise program and get out of there.” Those words changed a lot for me. I was working at a so-called nonprofit home health agency, caring for a patient who had suffered a massive stroke. She could only use one side of her body. She […]

A Business That Makes You Happy

Marcus Aurelius — building a business you enjoy

Marcus Aurelius on what success is actually for You started your business for a reason. Freedom, maybe. The chance to work on your own terms, choose the projects that pull you in, spend more time with your family. Or financial security. Or the chance to make a real difference for the people you serve. Somewhere […]

The One Thing That’s Always in Your Control

Marcus Aurelius — controlling what you can in business

Marcus Aurelius on where your power is Two business owners face the same problem. Their biggest client suddenly leaves. One panics. They scramble to replace the lost revenue, making rushed decisions that weaken the business further. They cut prices. They chase any client they can find. They spend sleepless nights stressing over what went wrong. […]

Acting with Intention

Marcus Aurelius — acting with intention in business

Marcus Aurelius on how to use the time you have Most owners I talk to assume they’ll always have more time. Time to scale (eventually). Time to launch the next thing (maybe next year). Time to figure it all out (once things slow down). They don’t. The owners who grow and the owners who stay […]

Win Where Others Aren’t Competing

Sun Tzu — niche business strategy

Sun Tzu on hitting where they aren’t looking “Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends, hit him where he does not expect you. To be certain to take what you attack is to attack a place the enemy does not protect.” — Sun Tzu You lower your prices. Customers still choose the bigger […]

Notes from Donald Miller and Mike Michalowicz on Coaching

Two coaches discussing how to run a coaching business

I listened to a conversation between Donald Miller and Mike Michalowicz on coaching as a business. Mike has been a successful coach himself for years and now trains and certifies other coaches in his methodologies. He’s worth listening to. Here are the things from their conversation that stuck with me. Why people hire coaches. Mike […]

Habits and Practices to Grow Your Business

Habits and practices that grow a small business

I was thinking this weekend about a coaching client of mine. He’s growing the business while still making room for his life. Family vacations. Workouts. The small things that matter to him. Watching him do it got me thinking about the habits that build a business that’s worth growing. Here are thirteen of them. Some […]

What Hiking Taught Me About Business

Mountain trail at sunrise representing the journey of running a business (on hiking)

Hiking in the mountains is one of my favorite things. I do it whenever I can. Over the years I’ve started to notice that the same mistakes show up on the trail that show up in business. When you’re new to hiking, most of your attention goes to the next rock or root. You spend […]