For many years nineteenth century English physician Edward Jenner worked to find a cure for smallpox. After studying many cases, he reached an impasse in his thinking. Then he reversed his perception of the problem. Instead of focusing on people who had smallpox, he switched his attention to people who never had smallpox. He found that dairymaids rarely got the disease. It turned out that most dairymaids had had cowpox, a similar but usually nonfatal affliction. Cowpox had served to "vaccinate" its victims against the more dangerous small pox. This led to Jenner’s concept of "vaccinating" people. You might [...]

My wife Sylvia loves not only the concept of quantum leaps, but the practice of it. She sees no reason to waste time when you know what it is you want. She dives in fearlessly to accomplish goals. She's the type of person who will work all night to finish a project, once she's started it, rather than space it out over two or three days. It's her style and it works for her. I marvel at her ability to get things done. I always rest assured when she is championing or leading a project. I know it will get [...]

There was a study conducted many years ago that had a profound impact on me; I was in fact staggered by what it had found. The study was a very simple one. The researchers asked a number of seven-year-olds if they considered themselves creative, and ninety-five percent answered that they did. They then asked a number of adults in their early to mid twenties the same question, and only seven percent replied that they thought they were creative. What had happened? How did the percentage drop from ninety-five percent to seven? What had happened to us as adults to change [...]

All of us will have times in our life when we are required to lead or champion a cause. Knowing and applying the ten practices below will assist you greatly in that challenge when it comes. Interestingly enough, not only do these practices work in leading others, but they also apply in pursuing our own goals as well. Next month I will take these same principles and show you how we can apply them in our individual lives, but for this month read and absorb these time-tested and proven practices of success in a leadership role. 1. Have a large [...]

There is a common misconception that taking risks is … well, risky. But the truth is that taking risks is no more risky than playing it safe, or maintaining the status quo. In fact, often by failing to innovate, make changes and move forward in different areas of our lives, we open ourselves up to the possibility of stagnation and falling behind. It’s all perception. How we see ourselves, our lives, our world, our intimate relationships with the countless circumstances that surround us, determines how we make decisions and choices. And often our perceptions of reality do not match [...]

Hero worship shouldn't disappear with adolescence. It can and should be a lifelong source of inspiration and motivation for us. Many of the most famous and influential people we know let great men and women shape their lives well into their own adulthood, and so can you. Long before he ever became a Beatle, John Lennon idolized many of the old rhythm and blues greats, people like Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. He had their pictures on his wall and used them as inspiration when he first began playing guitar. In this way he could influence his imagination by conceiving [...]