No one walks the path of self-improvement in a perfect way -- unless, of course, every path is perfect, even in its challenges, roadblocks, stumbles, etc. The principle lessons we all get to learn are ones of awareness, intention, accountability and "response-ability."

• Awareness: what are you experiencing in your life...

If you have been following these posts for some time, you will have noticed an ongoing theme of personal "response-ability." This notion is powerful in making the best of any number of negative circumstances that may have impacted you. (If you're new to the column, I...

Are you suffering from work-life balance issues? Has your job overtaken your life? Do you find yourself working evenings, perhaps even weekends, to keep your head above the water at work? Are you struggling to find quality time with your family and friends?

If so, the challenge may not...

Last week's article, which asked if positive thinking really works, raised quite a bit of interest amongst a diverse group of readers. Some found the subtle differences between positive thinking and positive action, between an ambitious goal and a pipe dream, to be quite useful. Others wound up...

My article last week on self-imposed limitations inflamed the usual suspects, who generalized the notion into some kind of diatribe against taking whatever positive steps you can when faced with difficult circumstances. Of the many critiques I could have chosen to reprint, this one from "Averyavenue" seems to...

I recently had the opportunity to visit Thailand in the company of several well known travel journalists, including Johnny Jet. Not being a travel journalist myself, I found the four days together to be quite illuminating as well as hysterically fun. The one thing we all had in...

Over these many years of helping people move from whining to winning, I have remained resolute in my focus that each of us is capable of far more than we typically give ourselves credit for. As I have pointed out in many ways, you can have the results...

"Are you a winner in your life, or simply a whiner?"

How do you respond hearing or reading this? The first time I heard this simple yet powerful question, I found myself defending, explaining and justifying my lack of personal results, something I referred to as "dexifying"...

Last week, I posted an article about the apparent need so many feel people to defend, explain and justify themselves. I was a bit surprised by how many people viewed the article and how widely it spread across the Internet. For the most part, readers seemed to resonate...

Why do some people seem to be forever defending, explaining or justifying themselves? Do you enjoy being around this person? Are you one yourself?

Quite the opposite from the critics who have been the subject of recent articles on complaints and criticism, this person becomes tiresome not because...

Diane Sawyer recently appeared on Oprah Winfrey's new "Master Class" series and shared a simple yet powerful perspective on criticism that she learned from a series of interviews with women about marriage. One of the women responded to Diane's questions with something so powerfully simple that it should...

Last week's article focused on how Wael Ghonim, a marketing manager for Google Inc., used a Facebook page to help ignite the social and political revolution in Egypt. This week, I'd like to build on this powerful demonstration of personal choice by looking both large and small at...

Wael Ghonim, a marketing manager for Google Inc., is widely credited as the administrator of a Facebook page that helped spark what he called "the revolution of the youth of the Internet." Whether or not we can trace the remarkable turn of events in Egypt solely to Wael...

Have any work-related stress these days? Imagine doing even more than you already are and winding up both more relaxed and with more energy. Sounds beyond counterintuitive, I know, but bear with me. What if it were true? What if some of the stress you feel in everyday life were...

Do you know people who belong to the Ain't It Awful Club? Perhaps you are a member yourself. You know the members of this club -- they gather to play one-downsmanship: "You think that's bad? Wait until you hear this one!"

Unless you really are a charter member of the...

Have you noticed that there are signs of possible life in this most difficult of economies?

I suppose that could depend on who you are or where you are to some degree. However, no matter where you are or what your current situation might happen to be, you will...

With the combination of fear, violence and mean-spirited rhetoric arising from the tragedy in Arizona, it is ironic, if perfect timing, that today would be Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Throughout the 1950s and '60s, Dr. King inspired many in this country to imagine a world where freedom, brotherhood...

We have all heard enough gripes, complaints and blame-game finger-pointing to last us a lifetime. At least, most of us have. Some people still insist on trying to complain their way into a better situation. It's almost as if they think that blaming someone else for their predicament will actually...

Whenever I post something about how you might be able to work around life's challenging situations, some readers inevitably resort to trashing the idea as some kind of "drivel" or "snake oil." I know it's hard for many to imagine that these ideas about taking control of what...

Do you see any chance that 2011 will be free of the roadblocks, frustrations and unexpected twists and turns that seemed commonplace the past couple of years? My guess is that you have about the same chance of that happening as the proverbial snowball in hell.

What are you going...