I have a friend who travels quite a bit for work. The good news is he uses it as an opportunity to visit with friends and family along the way. The bad news is that means he still has a lot of reports to complete from wherever he lands.

One of the things he mentioned to me was that when he was visiting, it was a challenge to complete these reports because the people he was visiting kept talking to him.

My wife recently came up with a mantra I keep hearing: “Amplify the Positive”. That makes a lot of sense to me because it really focuses less on the actions and more on our reactions.

In our industry (and in most of our personal lives too), this is very helpful to keep in mind.

Today I’m working on a plan but it’s not working out the way I expected it would. Yes, these things happen and they happen quite often for many of us. The bigger question is now what?

Not only does my answer depend on what is not working out -- More importantly, why isn’t it working? Let’s assume you prepared for the event and had a fair expectation of what would happen based on some level of past experience.

This month I learned that not only is May 5th a day to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (and my anniversary), it is also World Password Day. Yes, I agree this might be a bit of a stretch to consider it a holiday BUT it is a great reminder to think about your passwords once each year.

The topic I want to focus on for this month is red flags. This is a common term we use to describe something that catches our eye. I've always thought of this as the red fabric being waved in front of the bull to catch his attention. When the bull sees the red, he immediately focuses all of his attention on it.

What do you do when you have more to do than you have time to get it done? This is something I seem to ask myself all of the time and I’m constantly changing my answer, based on the situation. I guess it really depends on what else is going on too.

Here is an example of a day many of us juggle: You’re trying to get everything done at the office that will lead to the next advancement in your career while keeping up your home, feeding the family a healthy meal, and still getting the kids to the next birthday party and swim lesson.

The question on my mind at the moment is when does feedback cross over into telling someone how to do their job?

I am a big believer in open communication and all of the effort that goes into it. I think it is a big factor in determining if a relationship -- personal or business -- flourishes or flounders.

There is no way I could write an article this month and not talk about the recent blizzard. The bigger question is what to say about something that is so equally beautiful and humbling. The winter weather tends to drive us all inside, where we hibernate from our communities a little bit.

As everyone is reading this in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, you are likely doing one of two things: Either relaxing and recharging or scrambling to fit everything in before the end of the year.

That’s what makes this week so unique every year.

The leaves are changing and there’s the smell of campfires in the crisp Fall air. That means the kids are back in school, the summer vacations are over, and it’s time to get back to our regular schedule.

For some people that may be a disappointment, but I actually find it comforting.