by Travis Wright
I’m currently reading this great book on leadership, called Executive Intelligence by Justin Menkes. This book delivers many gems, such as this quote from Andrea Jung, CEO of Avon:

“Decision-making in today’s business environment is decentralized. Decisions are made at the local level, or at a functional or operating level. You can’t grow a business around two to three good thinkers anymore, because your success depends on quality decisions from people at every level- salespeople, marketing people, strategy people, and so on. Everyone has to be able to think smart.

If you don’t have the right amount of quality thinking in a complex growth company like ours, it is going to manifest itself in terms of marginalized discussions that rely upon wrong inputs and unskilled questions. And that’s what drags down businesses. Thats’s why companies don’t have good minds throughout their ranks get stuck at 100 million in revenue and don’t get to 1 billion.”

Executive Intelligence is a book for people who are leaders or looking to become a leader. Decide to be the best you can become. Find others with a similar outlook, then move forward as a collective team. There are no lone eagles. It is a nest of eagles…. all moving in unison.

Great book. Get it.

By: Katherine Westphal

Recently, I had the chance to see “The Secret” at http://thesecret.tv/, which proposed a startling idea: we create our experiences with our thoughts through the “Law of Attraction”. If this is true, then the TV could be a serious saboteur of our efforts to attract positive experiences. In fact, the TV could help attract very negative experiences into our lives.

What is the Secret?

The basic premise of “The Secret” is that we all create our experiences through our thoughts. Through the “Law of Attraction”, we draw experiences into our lives that match our thoughts. We literally manifest our thoughts into reality. It is a simple and empowering idea.

Unfortunately, there is a catch. If we focus our attention on our problems and the things that we don’t want, we create those realities, even though we do not really want them. If, for example, we worry about our debt and the bills we have to pay, we will create more debt, bills, and worry. If we focus on having money and being happy and grateful instead, we will eventually create that reality, at least according to the “Law of Attraction”.

If this law is correct, then it has some far-reaching implications for viewers of some of the most popular types of television shows. (more…)

by Travis Wright

Are you the type of person who has a lust for knowledge? Or are you the type of person who hasn’t read a book since high school? I would probably guesstimate that since you are reading this, that you are indeed a person who reads. Heh. It’s important for the longevity of your life and for your brain to continually put information in there.

I have a couple friends from high school who think that books and learning are the ‘debbil’. As a result, their productivity has gone down, the type of jobs they are qualified for are minimal, and their pay isn’t so wonderful. Yet, these guys really seem to “know it all”. Haha…

What is it about lack of information that makes some people know everything? Is it an epidemic? One of these guys, we’ll call him Bryant Smythe, hasn’t read anything in such a long time, and he is always telling his wife what a dumb-ass she is, and yet, she reads quite a bit. He won’t listen to advice from anyone, as he is the King. He recently lost his job, and is finding it difficult to find a new place of employment. As a truck driver, its hard to get a job with many traffic tickets. Perhaps with a more diverse skill-set and knowledge, his options would be more diverse.

Reading is essential for growing, it keeps our brains young. According to the book, (more…)

by Travis Wright

Sometimes it is just easier NOT to think. But to truly grow and move forward in our chosen path of life, we need to think optimally, and need to surround ourselves with others who truly make us think.

Its seems more and more these days, that deep thinking is a thing of the past. Most people have such shallow conversations, that it is literally mind-numbing.

“Did you watch [TV Flavor of the Season Show] Last night? Oh wow, it was so awesome and such and such did such and such with Whoever! Can you believe it! Wow, what a great show.”

Seriously, who cares? Its fantasy. Stepping into the TV realm is like checking your consciousness at the door and being 100% reliant on the cable providers to give you something nice to look at. This isnt thinking. It’s wasteful consciousness transference. (more…)