Becoming a person with hope—defeating discouragement and building a new future—is always a result of raising seven hope factors, which I call The Seven:

1. Recharge your batteries. Nobody does well running on empty.
2. Raise your expectations. Life really can be far greater than anything you’ve known.
3. Refocus on the future. Don’t look back; concentrate on what you can become.
4. Play to your strengths. Be yourself; everyone else is taken.
5. Refuse to go it alone. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.
6. Replace burnout with balance. Variety refreshes, restores, and reenergizes.
7. Play great defense. Learn to respond to bad news in great ways.

Building The Seven into your life will increase your hope level dramatically. And when that happens, anything is possible.

Continue reading →

Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes how everybody thinks. That happened in 1995 when Daniel Goleman released his book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Goleman hit the nail with his head! He accurately described something that deep inside we all knew was true—some very smart people don’t do well in life because they don’t have a clue how to relate to people. For the last twenty years, people have understood that someone’s EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient) is as important to success in life and relationships as their IQ (Intelligence Quotient).

Great book—brilliant idea! It just didn’t go far enough.

Continue reading →