There are moments in life that remind us what perseverance really means.
One of those moments came not long ago at a New York Islanders hockey game. The crowd was buzzing. Cameras rolling. Then, from the tunnel, came 104-year-old World War II veteran Dominick Critelli.
He lifted his soprano saxophone and began to play the national anthem.
Critelli shows us how perseverance works.
Continue Reading “The Beauty of Perseverance: A 104-Year-Old Veteran’s Anthem of Strength” A friend recently told me, “I feel like quitting. I’m tired of being told things will work out in the future, that relief is out there somewhere. Just give me the keys. Drive away. Leave everything behind.”
And then I told him the amazing turnaround story of Edwin Booth, the brother of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
If anyone could ever justify quitting, it was Edwin Booth.
Continue Reading “How the Best Keep Going and Never Give Up” I love jazz in the holidays because it soothes suffering while lighting a path to joy.
And yet, the music was born out of sorrow in slavery.
Listening to jazz with slavery in mind recalls the pain of our African American sisters and brothers.
“The foundation of the United States rests on the sweat of my people.” Duke Ellington
But, good jazz makes its way to deliverance.
Five claps take us there.
Continue Reading “How Jazz Music Brightens Holiday Hope in Five Claps” Whatever hole or pit you’re in is not permanent.
Unless you want to stay there.
And many folks do.
The deeper the hole, the greater the resistance.
But anyone can climb out if they open three hatches.
Continue Reading “How To Blow Out of Your Hole” Extreme crises require extreme advice.
That’s why I flew to New Orleans in 1996 to get Fortune 500 CEO advice about a scary problem.
Ultimately, the problem was mitigated because of a tip from my father-in-law, E. L. “Chick” Williamson who was Chairman and CEO of the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company (LL&E).
I use this tip over and over to survive catastrophes.
You can too.
Continue Reading “The #1 Piece of Advice You Need from a Fortune 500 CEO”