It’s that time of year when many students go off to college.  I have three students in my life who are going off to college.  I’ve been fortunate that they came to me for a little advice.  I want to share some life lessons that anybody can use in their life.  My job is to write about ideas for life.  Whether you are getting ready for college, graduated years ago, or never set foot on a college campus, you can adopt these principles of life.

College meant a lot to me. It really pushed me to find my place in the world.  This was important for me because of the added layers of challenges that my disability presents.  So, when I write about college understand that it was a particularly special time and place for me.

These are the nuggets of advice that I wish knew and embraced. 

1. Not vocational training.  A mistake that many people make, and that I made is that college is not meant to be a place for...

This week the sports world and the world at large lost two icons – Bill Russell and Vin Scully.  Both had very illustrious and successful careers.  Most of all, they were just good guys.  As a fan of the Dodgers, I enjoyed listening to Vin Scully followed his career.  Mostly, I know of Bill Russell through anecdotes.

Russell played for the Boston Celtics, the rival of my Lakers, and he dealt with the tumultuous racism of the 1960s.  On one occasion his house was even vandalized.  This type of situation could have easily led to Russell becoming jaded or bitter.  Russell didn’t give into that natural tendency.  Instead, he remained true to himself, rose above the nastiness, and was an all-around good guy.

Now, my beloved Vin Scully.  I was at my uncle’s house when Kirk Gibson hit the homerun that won Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.  That was the first time I fell in love with the Dodgers and...

I consider myself a lifelong learner.  I’m always learning about something and asking many questions. As previously stated I really like to learn.

Learning is a journey that is not always a straightforward and linear path.  From the time you are first aware of something, to the time that you embrace or incorporate it into your life takes time.  Being exposed to the information and really embracing it may take weeks, months, or even years.  There was definitely information that took me years to embrace.

This is where the internet comes in.  When you search for something, the internet gives you suggested content that you can consume.  It’s good to have questions.  It’s even better to look for the answers.  Basically, be curious.  Let the questions and search for answers lead you to more questions and more answers.   This is the good kind of rabbit hole.  It’s just fine to get buried in the search for...

At least a couple of times a year I write about gratitude because it’s not only a feel-good topic, but it’s a principle of success.  Our primitive brains are wired to see threats and be extra sensitive to what could go wrong.  In old times, when we did not want to be an animal’s lunch, this was a useful tactic, but now it can hinder your progress.

Oftentimes, there are more imagined negative outcomes or issues associated with going after a goal than actual negative outcomes.   In other words, anybody can talk themselves out of anything great.  Even if you meet someone that you are attracted to and would consider making a lifelong partner, you can point to the divorce rate, focus on the person’s flaws, or any other reason you can drum up to keep you from making a commitment.

Another concept that I often think about is that no matter how many challenges we face, we all can look at the flip side.  No matter our situation, it can always...

Our lives are never totally balanced.  We have to deal with distractions, priorities, goals, and challenges.  If we are not careful, we can easily lose balance and never get it back.  Just like anything else in life, we have to make sure that our goal is to find balance in our life.

Many mornings before I start working I read books.  I always have a few books in the queue waiting for me.  Primarily, I read self-development and marketing books.  These books help me in my life and in my business. 

Recently, I have been busy on a project.  So, I have been neglecting this habit of morning reading. This new project could be a game changer.  However, instead of reading, I find myself researching and asking a lot of questions on YouTube and myself.  

One morning, I decided that when I got to my computer, I would open a book and read.  I told myself not to check emails and not to open YouTube.  All I did was turn on Pandora...

As we settle into our lives and achieve a modicum of success, it’s easy to stop growing and make big assumptions about what it takes to succeed or, at the very least, to maintain our lifestyle.  We base these assumptions on how we feel life should be, not how it really is. 

Sometimes this “settling” can cause one to stop.  It may be that there is no longer a push to keep growing and expanding themselves or maybe it’s just that one ceases to keep learning.  Whatever the stop looks like it will most likely result in: not growing yourself, not listening to any new information, or just proclaiming that they figured out everything.

This is a recipe to become rigid and narrow in one’s thinking.

One part of the success journey is to never stop growing, always assume that there’s something new and exciting to learn, and know that you can always improve your life. 

Remember that the Fourth of July has deep and important meanings.  It’s not only about food, fireworks, and sales.  It’s about independence.

My family immigrated here so I could have a good life or a life at all.  The U.S. has provided me amazing and awesome opportunities.

Don’t forget not to take this independence for granted or this independence as a given.  We always have to affirm our independence our rights and other privileges.

I want to give you two quick and powerful ideas.

Idea #1

I absolutely love creating content, writing, and developing frameworks.  However, I haven’t been writing very much.  I’ve been working on business development, marketing, and sales. 

Oftentimes, what we need to do is not what we want to do.  Put your focus on what you need to do today to get your life on the right trajectory.

Idea #2

In the book, The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday tells a story about Charles Schwab who often took interviewees to a restaurant for breakfast. Unbeknownst to the interviewee, Schwab would have the manager intentionally mess up the order.  The point of this exercise was to determine how the potential new hire would react to adversity.

Success is not about how you react to good times.  It’s about how you act in not so good times.  Every single challenge or every single tiff should not derail your day or derail your...

I just had two amazing adventures.  First, I spent the week in Hawaii with my extended family.  Then I went to the Dodger game where I witnessed Tyler Anderson take a no-hitter into the ninth inning. 

In order for me to take part in these experiences I have to first travel through the San Fernando Valley. If I want to get to the beaches of Hawaii, I have to go through the Valley.  I can go another route, or technically, I guess I can take a private plane.  If I want to get to Dodger Stadium, the most direct route takes me through the Valley.  To get to some of the best times of my life, I first to go through the Valley.

This year, I have been thinking a lot about how most successful journeys are filled with unbelievable challenges that you will not even think about.  Plus, my disability presents even a couple of more layers of challenges.  For example, when I’m at home everything is sent up for my needs.  When I travel, I need even...

Find people and interact with them so that you can live an amazing life.  We are all interdependent on ideas, and strategies, and we can’t achieve success by ourselves.

The learning process and the feedback loop involve emulating others and getting advice.

Being a good recruiter and being able to positively interact with others is one of the most important skills that you can have.