Lisa Earle McLeod

Do you like paying taxes?

I own my own business, which means I write quarterly checks for my taxes.

I confess, in the past I didn't enjoy paying them.

We have a meeting every Friday afternoon to go over the cash flow, the receivables and the projected...

Do you struggle to get things done? Be honest.

We all procrastinate. Whether it's putting off the challenging phone call or trolling Facebook when we should be writing a proposal, we all avoid certain tasks.

For me, it's writing. I'll call every client and send every email I possibly...

Beyond food and shelter, people of all ages have two core emotional needs: connection and meaning. We want close personal relationships while we're on this planet, and we want to make a contribution that outlasts our stay on it.

Our deepest desire is to make a difference, and our...

I'm the worst waterskier in my family.

My younger brother whips back and forth like a pro, hitting the outside buoys on the slalom course and leaning sideway until he's practically parallel to the water.

My dad has been a hot shot skier since he was 8.

What if other people could read your thoughts?

What if your boss knew what you were thinking during meetings? What if your spouse knew what you were daydreaming about during dinner? What if your coworkers and customers could hear your internal dialogue all day long?

Guess what? They can. They...

Do you know exactly where you going to be a year from now? How about two years from now?

If you think you know exactly what the future holds for you, you're wrong.

The truth is, you don't know what your work situation will be like in two years,...

At some point in your life you have a wake-up moment. It's that instance in time when you quit going through the motions and actually think about your life and what it all really means.

My first big wake-up moment occurred at my mother's funeral. I...

Almost everyone has a home office, but almost no one has a good-looking one.

I used to hate my home office, but several years ago I had an epiphany.

I was about to order new dining room furniture. I'd spent months browsing magazines and...

Why do people fail?

Is it because they're lazy or incompetent? Perhaps the universe conspires against us sometimes.

We tend to think of failure as catastrophic. It's a big, scary, horrible thing to be avoided at all cost. But the truth is -- failure is the ambitious...

Many people believe that the sole purpose of business is to make money.

They're wrong.

When you overemphasize profit -- particularly short-term profit -- you wind up creating a culture that underemphasizes customers.

Just ask the fine folks at Goldman Sachs.

Do you ever compare yourself to other people?

Of course you do. We all do.

People are always telling you not to compare yourself to others, but it's part of human nature. Humans are called "the comparing creatures." It's not always a bad thing. Here are three ways comparing...

Do you ever get annoyed with yourself for procrastinating? You knew you had the deadline; you had plenty of time to work on it. But there you are, at the last minute, scrambling to get it done.

Yet somehow, it always seems to get done. Doesn't it? Deadlines ignite...

There are two kinds of "I'm sorry." The kind where you feel bad for the other person, and the kind where you take personal responsibility for what went wrong.

The first kind of "I'm sorry" is easy. You say it at funerals, "I'm so sorry you lost your mom."...

Are you aggressive or assertive?

They might seem like the same thing, but they're not. Being aggressive turns people off, but being assertive is a critical skill for anyone who wants to have fulfilling relationships, personal or professional. You'll never get anything done if you don't know how to be...

Two weeks ago, I forgot to bring my contact lens case to the eye doctor. So they gave me one of theirs to store my contacts in during the exam.

It was much smaller than my normal case, which was the kind you get for free with the solution....

In an era where it seems like many companies have become heartless sweatshops grabbing for every nickel they can get and squeezing their employees for more and more, having a larger purpose still matters.

People have become jaded about mission and vision statements. Too often, they become meaningless platitudes put...

Have you ever heard someone say, "I should write a book?" Perhaps you've said it yourself.

I believe everyone has a book in them.

As an author, people often approach me with the "everyone says I should write a book" line. They then proceed to either tell me...

It's always easier to judge the past than the present. The problem is we tend to judge people by looking backwards without considering how things looked from their vantage point at the time.

It's easy for us to say that investing in a buggy whip company is a terrible...

Do you want to know the one thing that will make every single one of your relationships significantly better?

It's easy. If you think a kind thought, say it. Out loud.

How many times have you thought, "Wow, my co-worker is really great with customers" or "Gee, I love...

They slack off all year, avoiding chores like the plague, whining and complaining every time you ask them to do anything. Then, two weeks before the big guy comes to town, they're suddenly enthusiastic and eager to please.

I'm not talking about kids sucking up for Santa. I'm talking about...