One week ago, a dear friend of mine‘s son attempted suicide. Incredibly sad. But I’m also incredibly thankful and fortunate that he didn’t succeed. In debriefing with one of our mutual friends on what happened, we began talking about all the pressure that these young people must feel. It must be even more as they’re just getting ready to start out in the world as young adults. Perhaps that pressure comes in the form of seeing the success of their parents and feeling, “How am I going to accomplish the same?” That hopelessness of inadequacy is probably even more pressing in […]

“There are three things that grow more precious with age; old wood to burn, old books to read, and old friends to enjoy.” – Henry Ford This week, I had the pleasure of seeing three of my old friends. While I don’t see them often enough, I truly value each of them and we definitely have history together. I’ve known each of them for more than 30 years. We all started in business together at different times and different places. But, somehow, these relationships haven’t changed. While distance has kept us apart, somehow, time has actually brought us even closer. I guess […]

The last couple of days, I’ve had the pleasure of playing in a golf tournament with a dear friend. Man, competition feels so good! Now, I am not good enough or skilled enough to win the event. But I love the feeling of just competing, trying to be my best, pushing myself, striving to win. And golf is such a beautiful game because it leads me to focus so intensely, in a way that I can only focus for short periods. As a society, in so many ways, we have forgotten that. In some ways we have adapted a “win at […]

I read something interesting in the Wall Street Journal a while ago: “The theologian Paul Tillich wrote about the difference between fear and anxiety. Fear is of something, you can name it and face it, and in the facing of it lift your own morale, show yourself what’s in you. Anxiety is amorphous; it doesn’t quite have an object, it’s a state. And so, it’s harder to shake and no empowering necessarily comes from it. A lot of people this year will have to break down a generalized anxiety into specific fears and deal with them courageously.” That clarity got […]

“We like you and we trust you,” Roger said to me. “It’s just so hard for us to let our advisor go,” Sally added. “He’s a friend. He knows us. But he has not taken good care of us, and he knows the way we feel.” “What would you do, Jeremy?” they asked. I thought about it for a moment. I empathized with them. They were in a truly difficult position – one we all find ourselves in at some time: a conflict between social convention and avoiding those uncomfortable conversations versus doing what is clearly best for us. And yet, the answer was […]

Michael Jordan once said, “I’ve never lost a game, I just ran out of time.” I couldn’t agree more. Read that quote again if you need to. Take it in. You never lose – you just run out of time or in many cases, we give up. Choosing to stop reaching, striving, and fighting is the only way we can lose. At the end of last year and through the first four weeks of this year, it felt like I couldn’t get a deal done. Not one. It wasn’t necessarily that people were saying no; I think I was just telling […]

One of my mentors once told me, “Manage your weaknesses but develop your strengths.” Many of us struggle with this equation, especially early on in our professional careers. We feel we need to work tirelessly on our weaknesses, ensuring our skillset is at least adequate across the board. Instead, the ticket to success is developing your strengths. If you’re 5’10”, the fact is you will never be 6’5. Manage and accept that. Sure, I encourage you to be who you’re meant to be, and I’ll never discourage someone from following their passion or goal, no matter where they’re starting. But be […]

The banker called him into his office on a Wednesday and informed the man that his business was no longer welcome at the bank. The banker said that the man “simply did not have enough equity.” Even though the business had more than doubled every year in each of the last five, the bank simply did not want to lend any more money (never mind that the lines of credit had been paid on time and kept at zero until needed). Feeling defeated, the man went down the street to visit another bank. Upon arrival and further discussion with the bank’s […]