In tennis, No-man’s land is not the place you want to be. The space between the baseline and volley line, it’s where you’re likely to be chastised for standing (“Gupta, get OUT of no-man’s land!”) and where you’ll hit the least shots.
The problem with no-man’s land is that you reach too far to hit long [...]

How often do you think about the goal of your interaction with someone? Quite often we’re thinking about ourselves, what we can gain from this person, what exchanges we can make. We bring our assumptions and desires to the table to see what people can offer us.
Networking this way works, but more often than not, [...]

In Martial Arts there are two ways to meet an attack.
One method is to lean on your heels, waiting for the attack to come in. In this posture, all the weight is on heels. Ill-prepared to meet an attack, you usually lose because of your lax posture.
Or…
You get on your toes. You lean forward, knees [...]

The Ironman Triathalon doesn’t take just anyone. You not only have to know how to swim, bike, and run, but you have to be really good at all three to win.
The mindset of the successful Ironman competitor is simple. If you’re naturally talented at all three skills, you’ve got it made. You’re lucky and rare.
If [...]

We talk a great deal about shapes. Boxes and lines and filling vacuums. Drawing yourself inside or outside the box, stepping outside of the lines, and filling up space when there is space to fill.
I also hear “We’ve come full circle” which amuses me even more.
It’s interesting how these shapes describe simply and elegantly our [...]

Inspiration + *Perspiration = Realization
*in great quantities.

“Always be closing.”  The famous sales term never really entered my vocabulary until I started the http://www.squidoo.com/Alternative-MBA.
It feels like a deceitful, slimy idea. Inauthentic. Having an agenda, always on the lookout for the next opportunity.
Watching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9qY
I felt two conflicting emotions about this idea. On one hand, I’m turned off by dogma and the negative way of motivating [...]

Reading Zig Ziglar’s “Secrets,” I was amazed to find the story of the “Gloomy Gus” shoeshine man.
Seeing Zig approach the shoeshine station, Gloomy Gus asks “Well, I suppose you want the regular shine?” (as opposed to the “Best shine” or the “Spit shine” etc.)
Zig-(incredulously) “I can’t believe you said that! Why would you offer me [...]

A central tenet of Martial Arts is “Partners not Opponents.”
When you think of someone as a partner, there’s no aggression, no ego, no need to outperform. Instead, there’s teaching and learning, sharing to make each other better.
Working together like this helps both the skilled partner and the novice. The novice learns technique and skill through [...]

Two statements: same words, different lessons.
“Good is the enemy of great” and “Great gets in the way of good.”
If you operate at a good level and aren’t interested in overcoming the inertia it takes to be great, you’ll fall under the first category.
If you’re operating at a great level, but allow every detail to hold [...]