The most important teacher I’ve ever had wasn’t in any school. Instead, Bob Conklin was an entrepreneur, writer, and speaker who passionately cared about people and believed fervently that we humans were capable of great things.
Although he was extraordinarily inspiring, he bore almost no resemblence to many of the people who identify themselves as motivational speakers. Bob was both a compelling storyteller and an empathetic listener.
This wise and gentle man quietly enticed me into the world of personal growth and self-discovery. He suggested books, urged me to sign up for seminars. For that, I am forever in his debt.
Spending [...] Continue Reading…

When I was pruning my library, I came across a book called The Way of the Traveler by Joseph Dispenza which I had never read. After spending time reading it last night, I’m wondering why I didn’t make the pleasure of Dispenza’s company sooner.
He talks about travel as a journey of self-discovery. Many of the things he says are equally true of self-employment.
He writes, “Acknowledging the necessity of material provisions—especially money—is the great reality check of travel. The  challenge in preparing financially is to not allow money, or the lack of it, to limit your journey.”
Believing that our dreams [...] Continue Reading…

For thirteen years, Dominique Browning lived a fast-paced life as editor-in-chief of Conde Nast’s House & Garden magazine. Days were spent in a frantic office while evenings were for social events where she was expected to schmooze (do people still schmooze?).
One Monday morning she arrived at her office and learned that the magazine was folding; she and the staff had to clear out by Friday. What followed that unwelcome news is the stuff of her book Slow Love, which bears the wonderful subtitle How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas & Found Happiness.
It’s the story of a [...] Continue Reading…

When I woke up this morning, I had a whole new idea about the August theme for this blog. The word that was shouting in my head was Alternatives. “That’s interesting,” I thought. It was not at all what I’d been planning to write about.
I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. For the past several weeks I’ve been weighing the alternatives of staying in Las Vegas or moving to California. So the process of decision making that comes into play when considering alternatives has been vividly playing in my life.
In case I wasn’t convinced that this was a timely topic, I [...] Continue Reading…

Several months ago, I began to see lists of 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me popping up on blogs and on Facebook. Everyone I read was intriguing in its own way, but I hadn’t considered doing one myself.
Then I had a bout of insomnia last night and amused myself by composing a list of my own. When I got up this morning, I decided to give it a try.
While none of these things are secrets, there may be a few surprises in it. After you read it, you may want to try writing one of your own. I [...] Continue Reading…

A couple of weeks ago, I got a message from Julie Hanson, a longtime Winning Ways subscriber, from Glasgow, Scotland, whom I first met when she attended a Making a Living Without a Job seminar there.
Julie said she was headed to Las Vegas and wondered if we might connect. A few days later, we located each other under the Chihuly ceiling at Bellagio.
A lively lunch followed and I learned that she’s one of the leading authorities on seasonal yoga, which I knew nothing about. She gave me a copy of her beautifully done, self-published book 5 Seasons.
She said coming [...] Continue Reading…

While I’ve made no secret about the fact that I spent several years of my life as a genuine self-help junkie, I haven’t talked much about how that led me to quit working for others.
Even though I’m still not certain about all the rewards of that exploratory journey, the biggest gift was discovering things about myself that had been buried, hidden, or ignored. I began trusting my own instincts and came to realize I needed to act on those things I’d uncovered.
Most obvious of all was that I had no business having a job. Not only would I be [...] Continue Reading…

Last week I began packing for my upcoming move. Since books are a huge part of my personal possessions, I decided to begin with a small bookcase.
I had almost finished when I noticed a copy of Marianne Williamson’s A Return to Love tucked away in a corner. Since I’m attempting to be ruthless about weeding my collection, I almost put it in the discard pile, but then noticed I had flagged a couple of passages.
After I checked them out, I began browsing in the book, which I hadn’t looked at for several years, and pretty soon I was rereading [...] Continue Reading…

Dreams are extremely fragile—especially in their early days. Dreams need to be nurtured and surrounded by support. Unfortunately, there aren’t many parenting manuals for dreambuilding.
Here are a handful of easy  ways to get your dreams off to a great start.
1. Passion must be present. While a dream may be born in passion, it’s up to you to keep it alive. If you’re half-hearted and lukewarm about them, your dreams will never come true.
One way to keep passion high is to spend a few minutes every day visualizing the successful completion of your dream. How does it look, smell, taste, [...] Continue Reading…

Last week, my six-year-old granddaughter Zoe came for five days. It was my great pleasure to take her to see Mystere, her first Cirque du Soleil show. For the next three days, the music from the show played whenever we were in the car and Zoe recalled (perfectly) what scene each song accompanied.
The rest of her visit was filled with lots of art projects. This is obviously a girl who gets up in the morning asking herself, “What can I make today?”
On Saturday morning she begged for a return visit to Michael’s for more supplies. I relented because I’m [...] Continue Reading…