I had a breakthrough experience back in January. I was on a two week writing-solitude retreat, when I woke up one morning with crystal-clear insight in when, how, and why I get stuck when I am writing. It came in the form of the process I personally need to follow. I can’t say that these [...]

Sometimes sending an email is really stupid. I know, my Mom tried to teach me that calling someone or something stupid is not very nice. But, I can’t think of any better way to say it. Simply put, there are occasions when you are being stupid to send an email.

A friend said to me, "Some days I feel like I spend my life clicking keys on a keyboard.” Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with email. I use it all the time. It gives me a simple way to share information, ideas, and documents. But, every time I open my mail software it feels like I am putting my lips up to a fire hose. What is a manageable way forward?

This afternoon I will willingly walk in the doors of what I have started calling, “Kerry’s House of Pain.” I know that the front of the building reads “physical therapy,” but honestly I think that is Latin-based code for "place of torture."

At 7:14 this morning, a phone call told me that a very good friend was shot and killed last night. Emotionally I’ve spent the day vacillating between shock, sorrow, anger, and indignation. There are many things I could tell you about my friend, but since you don’t know him I need to write about the personal reflections I cannot escape.

I want to talk about having goals and plans. I think they really matter. I am not compulsive about them and don’t let them rule my life, but for me they are essential to living an intentional life. However, there are some complicating factors. How do you balance having goals with being sensitive to the ongoing leading and direction of the Spirit?

Remember being scared of the “boogie man” as a kid. Far from the fuzzy lovable “Monsters Inc.” version, the real boogie man spooked a lot of kids. Lurking in the closet or under the bed, he was there to pounce—whatever that means. I’d like to suggest that inertia is like the boogie man. When you postpone something that needs to be done, allow the backlog of unfinished tasks to accumulate, fail to make a decision, or procrastinate the start of a new initiative, the gravity of inertia grows geometrically.

Picture the scene. Here I was, trying to explain the problem of a 30-year-old analog TV in a flat-screen high-def digital age to a technologically illiterate senior citizen who is almost deaf. He just doesn’t have the categories.

Drift happens. It happens in all areas of life and it happens in marriage. Last week we celebrated our 32nd anniversary with one of the most important annual traditions in our lives. So, before you get lost on how people as young, hip, and fun as we are could be married that long, check out my blog on the tradition of our little black book at aboutLEADING.com.

It is December 30th and that means we are in the red-zone for the annual “get your life together” rhetoric calling for New Year’s resolutions to fuel personal growth. But, what do you do if you don’t buy into this annual opportunity for a fresh start? What if you would rather avoid another attempt at [...]