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Storytelling
When you tell a personal story, make someone else the hero.
This Week's Story
Over the years I’ve attended countless meetings, conferences, workshops, and speeches. Somewhere along the way—I’m not even sure where anymore—I learned one of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever received as a storyteller. It may have been…
Read the storyRecent from the notebook
Storytelling
Comparison doesn't just steal our joy. Sometimes it steals our participation.
People have been telling me for years that I should sing. Sometimes it's after church. Sometimes it's after a speech. Sometimes it's after…
Running
Old age doesn't begin when your hair turns gray. It begins the day you stop showing up.
The January air was cold enough to make you question your sanity. As I stood at the starting line of the Mansfield Run for Your Heart race,…
Running
We often discover our greatest supply only after making a greater demand on ourselves. Don’t let your first limit become your final destination.
This morning, somewhere around mile three of my run, I found myself back in an economics classroom. Funny how that happens. When you’re…
Personal Growth
Most of our biggest challenges are too overwhelming if we try to tackle them all at once. But almost anything becomes possible when we simply focus on taking one more step.
Every year my nephew, Lemuel, calls with the same invitation. “Uncle Michael, are you coming to Seattle for the stair climb?” I know…
Leadership
Extraordinary lives aren't usually built by extraordinary moments. They're built by ordinary habits repeated with extraordinary faithfulness.
Every morning at six o'clock, my alarm clock and I have the same little disagreement. The alarm says, "Time to get up." My body says, "I…
Family
The values our parents instill become the foundation we build our lives upon—and that foundation carries us farther than talent, luck, or circumstance.
One of the things I can tell you about life is that a good foundation matters. When we look at a building, we admire the architecture, the…
Family
The things we wish were different about ourselves are often perfectly fine just as they are. Perspective turns embarrassment into gratitude.
When I was a youngster, I spent a lot of time worrying about things I couldn't control. I worried about my height. I worried about my…