Blog

Burnout can manifest subtly, draining your energy, diminishing motivation, and impeding productivity. To safeguard your well-being, consider these effective strategies: Establish Boundaries – Preserve your personal time by delineating clear work-life limits. Resist the urge to respond to emails after hours and incorporate structured breaks into your routine. Prioritize Self-Care – A well-nourished body and […]

Let me begin with a disclaimer. I am going to use a term that many would consider a pejorative towards innocent people that don’t deserve it. Some of my readers will consider what I am going to say in this column to be unnecessarily mean, cruel, and rude. The offending word is zombie and I […]

It’s a fact that there is a great deal of unevenness in this world. We hear about the “haves” and the “have nots.” Much of that is due to things like effort, timing, who you know, and even luck. Yet it is the extremes that catch my attention. In May 2024, Forbes magazine published a […]

Building Your Power of Expression Steely, adj. Pronunciation: stēlē Meaning: Although this word can be used in the sense of resembling steel in color or brightness or strength (as in “a steely blue”), I prefer to use the term in the sense of a human trait that is coldly determined and unyielding, and/or very hard […]

Most of us squander the most precious resource we have – our time. A lot of this is due to poor planning. Sometimes it is due to a lack of clarity around our sense of purpose. And both of those remain our own responsibility. Let’s focus on the second one: having a lack of clarity […]

Donald Trump won the 2024 Presidential Election fair and square. He won the popular vote, he won all of the swing states, he won the electoral college, the Republicans maintained control of the House, and the Republicans snatched the Senate away from the Democrats. Although many Democrats deny this, the election was a blood-bath for […]

Sharon Stone, who starred in such movies as “Basic Instinct,” “Casino,” “Silver,” and “Total Recall” isn’t all that active in the Hollywood movie scene these days. At age 66, it’s been more than a decade since she’s appeared in film, and while her net worth is said to be roughly $20 million, it may be […]

Building Your Power of Expression Illusory, adj. Pronunciation: iˈlo͞osərē, iˈlo͞ozərē Meaning: This word refers to things that are based on an illusion; things that are not real. Usage: “The past two weeks have been a reminder that refuge can be illusory.” “The concept of money might be the greatest illusory trick of all time.” “Some […]

I was delivering a seminar this morning. In my opening exercise, I had everyone share a management challenge they struggled with. One man stated that he struggles with managing his time effectively. I couldn’t address that in the seminar, but I will address it here. Remember those Russian Nesting Dolls? (You see them in the […]

Here’s a thought: Donald Trump was the most maligned person in politics ever since he announced his intent to run for high office on June 16, 2015. People lied about him, people deliberately tried to ruin his life, the media ganged up on him, people wanted him dead. It would be wholly understandable if Trump […]

There seems to be a lot of people wearing a mask of certitude. They claim expertise on matters and pontificate on things with an air of confidence that may or may not be warranted. Remember both James Carville and Bill Maher told the world, using different words, that Donald Trump would definitely, unequivocally, lose the […]

Building Your Power of Expression Parlay, v. Pronunciation: ˈpärˌlā, ˈpärˌlē Meaning: Although the initial usage of this word comes to us courtesy of the world of gambling, and conveyed the idea of turning one’s initial winnings from a previous bet into a greater amount by further gambling, it has taken on an additional meaning of […]

Two years ago, in Uncommon Sense Issue #298 (published on December 31, 2023) I wrote a piece in this very column titled “Explode to Greatness!” As we are now in a new year, I think some of the points I brought up two years ago bear repeating. Let’s review. First, you must regain control of […]

Most of you reading this won’t recognize the name of Debrina Kawam – that is, until I tell you a little about her. Often referred to informally as Debbie, she was a native of Toms River, New Jersey. You can see a photo of her from her high school years in the picture accompanying this […]

The best college professor I ever studied under was Richard Draper at Brigham Young University. I took a New Testament class from him in the summer term of 1983. During our June 7th class session we were discussing the writings of the Apostle Peter, particularly his 2nd General Epistle. In examining the 3rd verse of […]

Building Your Power of Expression Acidly, adv. Pronunciation: ˈasədlē Meaning: Anything communicated with bitterness or extreme sarcasm could said to have been done so acidly. Usage: “Is it up to you to make that decision?” she asked acidly. She replied acidly that she didn’t need his help, her tone clearly indicating her annoyance. He commented acidly […]

It may not always seem that you are in control of your life, but the truth of the matter is that you do have a startling amount of control over your life. You cannot always control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond to what happens to you. Today is December […]

As I discussed in both the Self-Development column above, and in the Shameless Plug segment below, I completed my goal for 2024 of writing my first book, The Leftist Hydra: How the Progressive Left is Undermining Western Civilization. The book itself has a chapter near the end that summarizes my views of how Leftism is […]

In an earlier era, I was very committed to giving out (and mailing) Christmas cards. I saw them as an opportunity to make a small difference in the life of the person receiving one. Over the years, I’ve gotten lazy in that operation. I give out very few, if any, Christmas cards. It’s not that […]

Building Your Power of Expression Germane, adj. Pronunciation: jərˈmān Meaning: When something is said to be germane, it is relevant to the topic under consideration. Conversely, if something is said to not be germane, the claim is being put forth that what was just said is irrelevant to the subject at hand. Usage: Your point is […]

People sometimes have their favorite quips to throw out at a moment’s notice. This can happen in many different scenarios: casual conversations, pick up lines when meeting members of the opposite sex (men are usually the guilty ones here), sales pitches, political pitches, you name it. The problem with pre-packaged pitches is that they lack […]

The wife of a close friend of mine, JB (a close friend in her own right) is really disappointed in the recent presidential election results.  Thus, she asked me to address the question: Why is it that so many Christians voted for this loathsome, creepy, villainous character, Donald J. Trump?  (She didn’t word it quite that […]

By habit, we often greet each other with the question, “How are you doing?” or some variation thereof (“How are you?” “How are things going?” “What’s going on?” What’s been happening lately?”) We generally don’t ask such questions with absolute seriousness. We’re just being polite. In many instances, we don’t really care how the person […]

Building Your Power of Expression Effusive, adj. Pronunciation: əˈfyo͞osiv Meaning: Any time you are expressing feelings of gratitude, praise, approval, or offering compliments in a way that is unrestrained, deeply heartfelt, or over-the-top, you are being effusive. Usage: She received quite an effusive welcoming upon her return. I couldn’t help it; I gave them effusive praise […]

Running circles around the competition is not all that difficult, truth be told. And I can summarize it in one word: Service! If you create a dynamic, a culture, where service to customers is outlandish, you’ll clobber the competition. Nordstrom has done it. The Ritz Carlton has done it. And you can do it, too. […]

I don’t like being wrong. At least not habitually. Yet I still reflect on Einstein’s pithy saying that “I am not interested in being right; I am interested in knowing whether or not I am right.” But here is something I hope I am wrong about. Donald Trump wasn’t hated by a large portion of […]

In covering a topic this sensitive, I begin by offering a faith-based perspective which comes from my Latter-day Saint community and theology, and I do so to get it out of the way as a sort of preface, because this journal entry is not predominantly about that – not about religion or faith or theology […]

Building Your Power of Expression Compunction, n. [usually used in the negative] Pronunciation: kəmˈpəNG(k)SH(ə)n Meaning: A compunction is a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows the doing of something bad. Think of it as a feeling of anxiety arising from awareness of guilt. It could also be thought of as distress of […]

There are several key elements for maintaining optimal health. Many of these elements are obvious and involve the human body. Flexibility, which can be maintained through regular stretching, is vital. Muscular strength is also key, and can be enhanced through resistance training, such as calisthenics or weightlifting. Very important is cardio-vascular fitness, which can be […]

“I say this in the most disrespectful way possible. I don’t care if you are my family. I don’t care if you are my friend. I don’t care if we have been friends our entire lives. You can literally go f*ck yourself if you voted for Donald Trump. If you are so sad about your […]