Tag Archives: failure

Don’t Lose Hope. You Never Know What Tomorrow May Bring.

I laid down to take a nap after 9am church this morning and stayed asleep until just a few minutes ago (nearly 9pm!). Clearly my body needs sleep so rather than writing a blog tonight I’m going to repost an article I wrote for Forbes back in 2015 titled “Don’t Lose Hope. You Never Know […]

You Don’t Know How Strong You Are Til Being Strong Is The Only Choice You Have

“You never know how strong you are…until being strong is the only choice you have.” Over the course of my adult life I’ve gone through some really hard things that at times have been so painful I didn’t know how in the world I would ever be able to get through them. There’ve been days […]

It Is Not The Critic Who Counts

The other day I was talking with a college student pursuing their degree in entrepreneurship. They shared that they were feeling discouraged by a nasty message they’d been sent by a fellow student criticizing their entrepreneurial efforts. My response was to advise that in my experience people who tear you down like that are feeling […]

Enjoy The Scenery On Life’s Detours Because You’ll Probably Take A Few

“It’s worth recognizing that there is no such thing as an overnight success. You will do well to cultivate the resources in yourself that bring you happiness outside of success or failure. The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive. At that time, we turn around and say, yes, […]

Defining Success

How do I define a successful day?  For me, a successful day is one I can come home from knowing that I did my very best, I gave it my all, I made good choices that upheld my integrity and that I treated others with kindness and respect.  That is a successful day.  Every other […]

Remember Who You Are And What You Stand For

All through my growing up years as I would run out the door of our home, my mother would yell the phrase “Remember who you are and what you stand for”. I would guess I have heard that phrase literally thousands of times as a child. Most days she said it I would roll my […]

Everyone has a history that can be used to inspire others

Everyone has a story…a history…a series of failures and mistakes that have shaped them into the person they are today.  I, for one, believe we shouldn’t be ashamed of our story. Our story is what helped us become the person we are. That story is what taught us great life lessons that we might not […]

Get Up And Win The Race

One of my very favorite poems, that has helped me through several difficult times in my life, was written by Dee Groberg and is titled “The Race” (I am posting it below…it will inspire you to never give up…): “Quit! Give up! You’re beaten!” they shout at me, and plead.  “There’s just too much against […]

Is There Even A Chance?

It’s so easy to give up before we even try…especially when you start thinking through all the barriers you are going to have to overcome to accomplish something. Your head starts spinning with the “well I probably couldn’t make this work” or “I wouldn’t know how to overcome that” etc, and before you know it […]

Some Words Of Advice Are Timeless

Some words of advice are timeless…the words in this poem qualify as such… Wear Sunscreen  -by Mary Schmich Wear sunscreen.  If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than […]

A True Leader is Worth Following

Tonight Amy Rees Anderson is the keynote speaker at the Utah Wonder Women event (which seems fitting given that everyone refers to my mom as Wonder Woman) on her new book “What Awesome Looks Like:How To Excel In Business & Life” so I, Dalton Anderson (Amy’s son), offered to write today’s blog post for her, so […]

If Anything Is Worth Doing, Do It With All Your Heart

“If Anything Is Worth Doing, Do It With All Your Heart.” – Buddha That advice in Buddha’s quote has been both a blessing and a curse in my life. It’s a blessing in that I have followed it religiously – if I do something I give it 100% and then some. I jump in fully […]

Fail Upwards Baby!

(Guest post from Dalton Anderson)  If I were to write a book on my life, the title will definitely be “Failing Upwards”. I define failing upwards as using the lessons life teaches you to improve your situation. For me, that’s been a whole lot of failures that have taught me and prepared me for the […]

Learn From The Wisdom Of Those Who Have Experience

“When you are willing to listen and learn, some of life’s most meaningful teachings come from those who have gone before you. They have walked where you are walking and have experienced many of the things you are experiencing. If you listen and respond to their counsel, they can help guide you toward choices that […]

Getting Over A Painful Experience Is Much Like Crossing Monkey Bars

“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing the monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” – C.S. Lewis Last week was a difficult one, but this week my grandson is out of the hospital and he’s back home again with his parents and he appears […]

You Were Meant To Fly

Recently I had a conversation with some young women who shared feelings of discouragement after they had been told that they needed to accept certain limits on their choices for the future. I was so frustrated because I know firsthand those limits don’t exist and those young women can achieve all of the goals they […]

Sometimes People No One Imagines Anything Of Do The Things That No One Can Imagine

“Sometimes it’s the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.” I love that quote from the movie The Imitation Game and I love what the meaning of the quote conveys. To me it stands as a reminder of two things: One:  We should never underestimate people. We should never pre-judge another […]

You Have To Be Odd To Be Number One! (This Will Pump You Up!!!)

“You have to be odd to be number one.”  -Dr. Seuss If you want to get SUPER PUMPED UP at the start of your day then listen to the audio in this video. It is an AWESOME way to start your day and get all fired up to get out there and be willing to […]

Choices And Consequences

Life is full of choices. Some are easy choices and some are hard, but the upside of choices is they are always ours to make and no one can ever take that away from us. However, the downside to choices is that while we get to make them, we don’t get to choose what consequences […]

Communicating Like That Isn’t Any More Effective In Getting What You Want As An Adult Then It Was When You Were A Child

“I’m gonna hold my breath until you give in and give me what I want!”  Now there’s a communication tactic we learned as children was never effective in getting us what we wanted. All it did was make our cheeks turn blue and give us a pounding headache. Never once did it actually get us […]

Come What May, And Love It

Years ago someone gave me a little plate that reads, “Come what may, and love it.” It is a quote that came from a fantastic story told by a man named Joseph B Wirthlin in a talk titled the same in which he shared: “When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have […]

What are you going to regret more?

Sometimes we have to stop and ask ourselves: Which will we regret more? Doing it, and having it not work out in the end? Or not doing it, and wondering if it could have? And which feeling seems like it would be worse regarding the decision your trying to make – Looking back and thinking […]

Stand Up To Your Full Stature, For That Is The Way Of The Strong

“The real tragedy is the tragedy of a man who never in his life braces himself for his one supreme effort, who never stretches to his full capacity, never stands up to his full stature. To lie down and moan and whine about limited opportunities is the part of weaklings. To grasp the opportunities at […]

There is no such thing as a perfect parent

“There is no such thing as a perfect parent so just be a real one.” – Sue Atkins Without a doubt the hardest job on the planet is that of being a parent. The stakes are so high because every mistake you make as a parent affects your children and you realize that so you […]

We Are Stronger Than We Ever Knew

C.S. Lewis once said that “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”  I’ll freely admit that sometimes it can take serious effort on our part to remember that our extraordinary destiny will someday come to fruition if we just hang in there and we don’t let the hardships stop us. These last few months it’s taken me more effort than […]

If your future self could speak to you…

I have been out in Washington DC for the last few days and I was reminded of how beautiful Virginia is.  I lived in Vienna, Virginia when I was a teenager in High School and during this visit I was able to drive past the house I used to live in while I was there […]

Don’t Just Talk About It – Get Out There And Actually Do It!

Over the years I have had a lot of college students and young entrepreneurs who have asked to meet with me to seek my advice about different business idea they have come up with. I couldn’t count the total number of people I have met with over the years to hear their idea and then […]

Pretend You’re In Magic Land Where Everything Is Guaranteed To Be Successful – What Would You Do?

If you could do anything you wanted and be 100% positive it wouldn’t fail, what would you do?  Have you ever asked yourself that question?  Try it…it’s an interesting exercise to do with yourself. I was talking with a friend tonight about what they want to do with their life business-wise. I asked them what […]

What I’ve learned over the last 46 years

Tomorrow I will turn 46 years old. 46…why does that sound SO old?  I suppose its because I remember as a child looking at adults who were 46 years old and thinking “they are SO OLD” 😉 Most past birthdays I have dreaded getting another year older, and I suppose there is a big part […]

Why We Do What We Do – From Exposure To Thoughts To Actions

Do you ever consider why we do the things we do? Why do we do the good things we do and/or why do we do the bad things we do?  The answer is simple – we do what we’ve thought about. And we think about what we’ve been exposed to. What we surround ourselves with […]