We are all constantly faced with decisions. In many cases, these decisions are divided into two areas: Things that will make us happy now versus things that will make us happy later. If life were a three-day weekend, it would be easy to make the right choices, but we have to balance getting the most we can out of today while planting seeds that will make us happy tomorrow. Recently, I read about an incident involving my late friend and mentor, the legendary basketball coac

Right now we are nearing the full swing of summer. Trees are lush, flowers are in full bloom, and stores and farmer's markets are starting to burst with fresh produce. The tendency may be to focus on the product of summer, the fruit. But summer is a time of growth. If you garden, then you know that there's a lot that goes into growing vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes and raspberries. First comes the soil prep, then the planting of seeds or root stock, and then the conti

Commitment is freedom. Most people see commitment as the opposite. Thus the reason many people are afraid of marriage, a steady relationship, or even giving the company they work for all they have to offer. People with this mindset are always looking for something better and searching for more while they settle forwhat they have. They see commitment as giving up what might be or could have been. They view commitment as a thing to avoid because it is best to "keep their option

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." - Abraham Lincoln What an incredible quote from Abraham Lincoln, so much wisdom in one line. I don't know about you, but when I read this for the first time, I completely agreed. Proper preparation sets you up to win in life. After I read this, I began to think, "How often do I actually execute this level of diligent preparation?" In our society today, we are running at such a fast pac

How do you take sixty to seventy high school guys with widely differing degrees of athletic ability and mold them into a winning football team? That's what Coach Doug Wilkins of Denville, New Jersey did for forty-four years, winning twenty-five consecutive seasons from 1985 through 2009, along with eight state championships. Coach Wilkins didn't start out that way, though. With a losing first season, he knew something needed to change. This is the first of three newsletters t

Picture a mason jar. If I fill it to the brim with rocks would you say it was full? Most people would say yes. Then I pour pebbles that slide in between the rocks. Is the jar full? Then I pour in sand and the sand fills in even more of the supposedly used space. Imagine your big dreams; the things that are attached to your purpose. Those things are your rocks. Your pebbles are the things in your life that are also significantly important but not the end all of everything like

Who is truly comfortable with receiving feedback? Do only things that make you comfortable move you forward? Get used to receiving feedback, and embrace it, so that you can use it as a tool in your life. Feedback helps us in making course corrections. Someone else's vantage point can enable us to see blind spots in our lives. Feedback can also foster relationships. Opening up lines of communication, through feedback, can allow those around you to feel more connected with you

Have you ever had a moment where something happened, and you reacted sharply? Have you ever had a circumstance that started out slightly irritating and before you knew it you were fuming? I believe what fuels this fire is a cycle I like to call the “Justification Spiral.” Let me use an example. Say your manager requests that you turn in a project by a certain date. At first, you feel a time crunch. The date is inconvenient for you, but you think you can squeeze the project i

There are two very different facets of leadership: doing the right thing and doing things right. What is the right thing? A right thing is something that is in alignment with a person's purpose. The difference between having a significant life and a successful life is knowing what your purpose is and how it fits into the greater scope of the world. Moreover, it's important to be clear about your purpose for the day. For example, if you receive a phone call it may be a nice ca

Who is still beating themselves up for finding yourself in the 3 R's? Or upset that you instantly made up a negative meaning to a situation? Maybe for you it is that you are still arguing to "Be Right" when you can see beyond that vantage point. That's great news! It means you are still human! It is not about whether or not you fall back into pairs of old sunglasses, but how quickly you can remove them. The shorter your rebound time is, the more efficient you will be. Don't b

Think back. Why did you originally choose to attend Klemmer & Associates trainings in the first place? Were you looking for something more in your life, perhaps in the form of relationships, achieving goals, blasting past personal barriers that were hindering you? In our a previous blog we talked about a graduate, who had achieved a lot of his goals, yet still felt unfulfilled. Maybe you can relate to this graduate, having also tried to remedy that feeling by reaching for hig

How do you communicate when you are angry with someone else? As discussed in If How-To's Were Enough We Would All Be Skinny, Rich, & Happy (page 52), there are responsible and irresponsible ways to handle resentment and let another person know that we are upset. When we are not used to expressing our anger or have allowed it to bottle up over a period of time, our communication typically takes on negative tones. Honest communication that is non-responsible may be manifested i

Leaders know there are prices and benefits for everything The prices–or what you have to invest or give up– are not always so obvious...

Leaders change their viewpoints and assist others in doing so to reveal their blind spots Ophthalmologists are eye doctors. They have a...

Leaders set the context for their organization Write the following word down and brand it on your mind: CONTEXT I am going to suggest...

A major key to transforming belief systems comes from emotional experiences, which we strive to provide at Klemmer seminars. But another...