by Michael Neill | Sep 24, 2012
This past week, I read one of the most intriguing books on success I’ve come across in several years – Frans Johansson’s The Click Moment. In it, he makes a compelling case for the random factor and the role of unseen forces in almost every great human accomplishment.
Through a series of disparate examples from the worlds of business, politics, music and more, Johnansson demonstrates the futility of attempting to predict the future success of any endeavor based on strategy, marketing, or even a track record of past results…
by Michael Neill | Sep 17, 2012
At about 3am on Sunday morning, Nina and I woke up at a high altitude campsite in Sequoia National Park to the sound of a bear snuffling around outside our tent. Nina was understandably terrified; I, for whatever reason, was completely calm as my mind engaged in an internal debate between attempting to scare him away or staying still, knowing that in either case the odds of him being interested in us were somewhat limited…
by Michael Neill | Sep 10, 2012
Last week I was speaking with a very successful new client when he asked me to share any insights I had into what might still be holding him back in his life. After a few moments of reflection, I told with him that he was one of the bravest and most courageous men I had ever met – and while that was unquestionably a virtue in some areas, it was likely to be holding him back in others…
by Michael Neill | Sep 3, 2012
My wife and I are hitting that age where everyone around us seems to be experiencing some version of a mid-life crisis. A few marriages have ended, some are floundering, and others are just drifting along in a coma-like stasis of school runs and Facebook statuses and working later and later at the office just to stay on an even pace towards nowhere in particular…
by Michael Neill | Aug 27, 2012
A complete stranger came up to me at the mall on Saturday with his young daughter in tow and a clipboard in his hand, and I quickly busied myself on my iPhone in hopes that he’d go away without too much of a fuss. Unsurprisingly, he persisted and somewhat apologetically gave me his pitch. For 365 days, he had decided to go up to complete strangers and ask them two questions about the world. He would then take their picture and post their answers in a blog. Would I be willing to be day 349? …
