No matter how bad things are today, tomorrow they will get better.

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Go back through your life and discover that hope is what sustains us until relief arrives.

The Beatles producer George Martin was a big part of their success.

He did what many in power would not do – he let them be.

Strange, talented, creative.

Managing people can be the fine art of letting them manage themselves because The Beatles were in the capable hands of George Martin who kept his capable hands off their talent.

This is the essence of good management – both being there and staying out of the way.

Warren Buffett says successful people have one two-letter word in common.

No.

No is like yes for people who take on too much, have weak boundaries and who get lost in other people’s work.

Buffett goes further.

He says no to almost everything.

A clear way to look at this advice is to think of getting in your car and taking off on a trip.

Even if you know where you want to go, you can’t turn at every intersection or you will never get to your destination.

The struggle is to understand why you have too little confidence.

And so the search becomes all-encompassing and self-directed.

Finding more confidence by obsessing about not having enough rarely works.

Empowering others is palpable, an instant confirmation that your actions can make a difference.

The next time you need a jolt of confidence, ask this:

What can I do to make someone else’s day better?

Get back in touch with the power to do good.

Kobe Bryant spoke publicly and lovingly about his Lower Merion, PA high school teacher who taught him a key driver of motivation:

“Rest at the end not in the middle”.

Bryant joked that sometimes he actually listened in school – judging from his basketball career, he really listened.

Making ourselves miserable because of something that happened in the past is useless.

What happened then has already occurred, we cannot change, edit or alter it.

If you want to put regrets, insights, awakenings and everything that seems to occur as a result to good use, look forward.

The past is a guidebook.

What to do.

What to do differently.

What to let go of.

What to embrace.

Regretting the past just feeds more regrets.

Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it – why not put life’s lessons to work in the future?

Embrace fear.

Turn it into something powerful.

Let it inspire bravery.

Make every fear thought transformational.

“It’s okay to be sacred.  Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave.”

1. Before getting out of bed November 25, think of 3 people who love you.
2. Then think of 3 people who are the most in the world to you.
3. Wherever you go to celebrate or whatever you do, smile at 3 people without saying a word.
4. Find 3 people you can catch doing something awesome like making Thanksgiving dinner, spending time with you or making some kind of sacrifice – say something publicly to shower them with the appreciation of others.
5. After losing a loved one close to this holiday, I decided to display a picture and tell someone about them so they could be with me that day and in the future (it was my mother and I told how she made broccoli in garlic and olive oil every Thanksgiving).
6. Before bed, love yourself by thinking of 3 things that you are proud of doing and then close your eyes.

In the days of vinyl, the record business used to say this about a song or album:  if it’s in the grooves, it’s a hit.

Yet the same thing is true of other things where substance is more important than anything else.

Good relationships are based on shared values but you don’t have to have the same personality – in fact, we know that opposites often attract.

A great career is not usually the one that pays the most money.

When searching for satisfaction, look first to what’s already there – “in the grooves” – instead of trying to become something different.

1. Self-doubt multiples exponentially.
2. There is never a reason to talk yourself down – even a mistake does not make you incompetent so avoid damaging thoughts when things go wrong.
3. You are your own advocate – it isn’t necessary to accept criticism or criticize yourself to be better.
4. Love yourself before asking someone else to.

With all the things that bombard us, it’s hard to get in the right headspace to do certain important things.

Interesting thing about radio and TV talent – they can snap right into the right headspace no matter what happens in the outside world away from the studio.

I knew a radio newsperson who was fired from their job and was asked to work their entire shift – the one that would be their last.

They did it – professionals have a way of rising to the occasion even under duress.

I think of that example a lot when I am finding it hard to get my mind focused on what’s in front of me through all the distractions.

A positive attitude does not require everything to go your way.

Be concerned about the people who are here, not the ones who have chosen not to be.

So often in our lives we pursue the unavailable to the detriment of those who grace our lives.

Focus attention on those who are available to you in your life rather than waste it on those who are not.

It just sits there until you open it.

You wouldn’t leave a birthday or holiday gift unopened and expect the joy and to experience the excitement of what’s inside and the same is true of every new day.

Those who complain about how bad things are aren’t seeing that special gift of life that is often left opened.

Given the choice of trading your problems for someone else’s, time after time people choose to keep their own problems.

So, every day is a gift if it is opened and enjoyed.

Otherwise it’s a missed opportunity.

Why do we resolve to make changes on New Year’s Eve instead of before the end of the year?

The average person gives up on their New Year’s resolution by February 1 — 68% say sooner than that.

New Year’s resolutions should be made before Thanksgiving so there are at least 30 days to change the habit and achieve the result.

Then at New Year’s you can celebrate accomplishing your goal with 12 full months ahead to enjoy the intended benefits and zero likelihood of giving up on it before January 1^st.

• A small room can be a wide world – embrace it
• Authentic never goes out of style
• People can hear a smile without seeing it
• In life, your mic is always on – act accordingly
• The secret to effective public speaking is to feel like you’re talking to one person at a time
• It’s what’s between the music that counts – in radio and in life

• The secret to staying motivated is to constantly measure progress.
• Nothing succeeds like success because nothing keeps us motivated more than seeing progress.
• Winning or accomplishing is never the result of one thing.
• The Atlanta Braves were the unlikely winners of the World Series but they lost 73 games and won 88 enough to win their division and make the playoffs.
• But it was a feeling team members say they had about winning it all this year not the actual number of games.
• It’s a series of many smaller steps in the right direction.
• Peak motivation comes when success is measured the way doctors take blood pressure readings so you know you are headed in the right direction.

• What’s really odd is that people play the lottery expecting to win – they even bet money on it.
• The odds are always against them.
• Yet we find it difficult to bet on ourselves where we often expect to lose.
• Betting on you is more of a sure-thing than buying lottery tickets.
• The payoff is greater when we expect ourselves to succeed the way we believe we’re going to hit the lottery.
• And it’s cheaper.
• If you can believe your odds-against lottery bet every time you buy a ticket, you can believe in yourself every time you need confidence.

• When I was a professor at USC, I asked my music industry students to listen and compare music from each generation going back to the 1940’s until present and describe what the songs were saying.
• For example, love songs in the 40’s were different than when rock and roll came along or when hip-hop arrived.
• Then I asked them to pull the generations together and describe what each generation’s music had in common – many times they were getting to the same thing but in different and refreshed ways.
• The process of looking for what things have in common helps train us to deal with difficult people.
• We know the differences – what do we have in common. Keep looking until you find something.
• Dealing with difficult people has less to do with over emphasizing areas of disagreement which are likely not to change and more to do with things where you can agree.
• Justice Ginsburg didn’t at all agree with the politics of Justice Scalia and vice versa but that didn’t stop them from being friends where their mutual love of opera paved the way to maintain a warm relationship.

•  We forget that our car will not run without fuel, we have to eat to stay alive and rest when we get tired.
• Our positive mental attitude cannot exist without taking a break and refueling with positives not negatives.
• Time out for a pat on the back, a pep talk, a moment of courage, a good laugh.
• We are humans not digital devices, algorithms or robots.
• We run on encouragement, self-care, pride, confidence and conviction.
• More important than the coffee break is give yourself a break and feed yourself the things that keep the best of you going.

• It’s one thing when someone else darkens your mood and ruins your day and quite another when you let them do it.
• You are always in control.
• Walk away, shut them down, seek solace in someone positive.
• Just about everything that I have accomplished in life, others have doubted.
• Doubt is out.
• Get relief from belief.
• You will likely not be the ones tearing yourself down, but are you allowing others to do it?