Can you believe we just finished the first week of September? How did that happen? Wasn’t it just Christmas 2024? Time seems to fly by so much faster than when I was younger. This week I spent some time with long-time clients and friends. Their daughter, off to her second year of college, is ready to conquer the world. Last summer, she interned for us; just a fantastic young woman. Together with her parents, we discussed where they were personally and financially. Things are going well. We discussed how all the planning we’ve done over the last two decades is […]

This was a week that I’m sure we will all remember forever. I don’t usually talk politics.  I think everyone is entitled to their own belief system, their own opinion.  I have always believed that freedom comes from proper discourse and mutual respect. We don’t all have to agree, but we must respect each other’s voice. What happened this week to Charlie Kirk is not what America stands for. Both sides need to calm the rhetoric down. Charlie was 31 years old.  He was thoughtful and had this own belief system.  Which we are all entitled too. He debated vociferously. […]

When was the last time you gave someone else praise? ‘Told someone how great they were? Expressed gratitude for their effort? I have always believed in being the “black velvet” behind the stone. Let me explain. When you go to a jewelry store, the focus is always on the diamond or that shiny stone. But without the black velvet behind the stone, that jewel would never show its true potential; the glow, the sparkle. I have been blessed in my career and in my personal life to always have that black velvet around me – people who supported me and […]

How do you get to be so good? It’s all in the recovery ; how we recover from mistakes. I read a very interesting article on parenting recently. The message was how both parents provide different guidance. Mothers, for example, are there to nurture and be there to say, “It’s ok.” Fathers, on the other hand, are there to push the child, make them feel safe, and to help the child build that recovery from mistakes mentality. Both parents are equally responsible for how a child grows and becomes an adult. All this may seem obvious to most, but it’s […]

My grandfather died at 62 of Parkinson’s disease. My father died at 62 of Parkinson’s Disease and Paranoid Schizophrenia. By the time my grandfather was 35, he was having trouble playing catch with his son. His body had already started to fail him. Focused on his business (and a whole lot of gambling), he never spent much time with his son. Instead, he chose to write letters to my father as his method of sharing his thoughts on life, academics, sports, or just the choices he made in general. When I was in my early twenties, before my father lost […]

Steve Jobs once said, “When fishermen cannot go out to sea, they repair their nets. In simple terms, even if you’re not doing your main thing, always do something that relates to your main thing.” Do the main thing. Or always work on something that supports and enhances that main thing. That’s true focus. Look, there are days I don’t feel like I’m very productive. There are even some days when I feel like I don’t want to do much of anything at all! I just am a little burnt out; I need to rest, I’ll tell myself. But all […]

My son and I have had a challenging relationship these last few months. We’re butting heads and just not really getting along, which totally bums me out. He’s now 10, and I know he is trying to figure out his way, gain his power, and be his own man. I never had a father around. I never even had much of a male role model until I was 18. So, this is all new for me. I was sitting with a friend and longtime client the other day at lunch, and decided to share what was going on with me […]

I heard a quote the other day that struck me. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” This really resonated with me. It is so easy sometimes to compare oneself to others. (Even if we’re just comparing our real lives to their “highlight reel” on social media.) They have this or that. This person had more success because he had this advantage or that. They had parents who helped or had a naturally better market. Taller than I am! Whatever. At the end of the day, you are good enough.  Your expectations are what they are, and you are exactly where […]

I was speaking with a friend and client of mine this week who is dying, suffering from a terminal disease. It was very interesting and insightful to hear about the things that matter most to him now near the end. I was shocked by some of what he shared, all that he told me. He’s been very successful in his life – a titan in business. But the feeling that he could have done more with his family, for his family, really haunts him. He cannot get that time back. It’s gone. And soon he will be, too. It’s sad […]

Just because you don’t agree with someone or something, it does not make you right and the other person wrong. Discourse and listening help perspective. That is where we begin to learn and grow. In today’s world, that has never been more important. Conflicting views are where we begin to learn. Different perspective is how we grow and begin to understand how others think and feel. Again, we do not have to agree.  But we should respect how that person feels. A few nights ago, some friends and I got into a spirited discussion about all that is happening around us. […]