OneSharpSword

Let’s talk goal setting, for real. Not wishes, but getting stuff done.   Whether you’re guiding your team or guiding yourself, whether you’re managing up, managing down, or focused on your own accomplishments, you need to look at three key things:   What were the expectations you have or had about a certain thing (or performance goal)? What outcomes are you getting? What support is neede...

Remember how good it feels to go through your closet and get rid of old clothes that you’ve been hanging onto for “someday.” You liked them, but they no longer serve you. Just as you would clear out old, expired food from your pantry, you need to do that with old, expired thinking patterns and styles.    What thoughts might you have to get rid of in order to let new thoughts in?   W...

Are you “livin’ the dream” or maybe you’ve given up on your dreams? I know I’ve let go of a lot of dreams along my journey. They were entertaining. They served me at the time, and like a loved one’s passing, I’ve grieved the loss of what was.   I don’t shoot photographs on film anymore. I don’t do martial arts kicks quite as high or as quickly as I used to.   I’ve changed. My body has ch...

Andrea T Edwards always knew who she was, even as a teen. Strong and outspoken, she grew up in Australia and seemed to find a way of fighting for what’s right in the world. Or, perhaps, how to make the world a little more right.   She found herself in tech and in PR and Content Marketing, but that’s not what drives her. On today’s podcast, we dove into Freedom and we discussed social issues i...

It’s said that if you put a frog in cool to luke warm water and ever-so-slightly turn up the temperature, the frog won’t notice as it becomes acclimated to the higher temperature. When, at some point, the frog ends up in boiling water, it’s too late.   Kind of gross, I know.    And we do that to ourselves a bit, don’t we? We tolerate and tolerate and tolerate until we’re buried by s...

I just got back from a root canal. WooHooo!!! Such exciting news. No, not really. And no one should become an expert patient when it comes to having root canals done.    Still, practicing anything that isn’t something you look forward to makes it easier and builds expertise.    I’m an expert dish-doer. I can just get ‘em done. I don’t look forward to it and I also don’t run awa...

Paul Glover calls himself a Recovering Scoundrel. He notes that he is a recovering trial attorney who is also a convicted felon.  He works in leadership and workforce development with an emphasis on legacy building and his story of incarceration parallels the human condition.   Having grown up in three different locations, with a mother who was married seven times and a father who was ma...

Relationships are tricky.    Growing through a dysfunctional attachment to and dependence on her sister, Amy was shaken awake when her big sister was killed in a car accident. She recreated the dependence in the relationship with her husband, a relationship that lasted 25 years, though both knew it was “fine” and really not quite right.   She grew into learning about BOUNDARIES. Suc...

Wait, what? Yep - it’s this simple: Hope Is NOT A Strategy!   We wish for things. We hope things will get better.    And that’s based in a MindState of fear and lack.  What’s your state of mind when you wish or hope for things to work out? You’re basically afraid that they won’t. So you “hope for the best.”   What if you took charge of the EXCELLENCE in your life?   T...

Here’s a man who has been on stage in one of the most famous productions in the world and you’ve probably never noticed him. And that’s the point. No, he’s not some ninja or a camouflaged stage hand.    Antuan Magic Raimone is a Universal Swing, a dancer that can play the part of any of the dancers in any of the productions across the country. He’s been in In The Heights and he was among...

Based on my blog which got A LOT of great response, here are some key points to keep in mind as you watch/listen to this episode -  It’s not only exhausting, it’s ridiculous to want to be liked by everyone.   It’s important to be who you are, authentically. Trying to be something you’re not for the sake of trying to fit in is exhausting and delays the emergence of the real you.   Wi...

Two race cars are finely tuned, side by side, they’re efficient and they are at the starting line. One has been racing for days on end and has approached the starting line low on fuel. The other has been pulled off the track, tuned up, fueled up, and has been readied for the new race. Both are efficient. Only one will be effective.   You can burn the energy you have at an efficient pace, and...

March 1st was my mom’s birthday. She passed away 16 years ago. And, I miss her. Today I wanted to honor her by talking about some of the lessons I got from her while growing up. Pretty simply, they are: Be Kind - it doesn’t take much to just be a good human. Don’t say anything that’ll make waves just for the sake of making waves. On the other hand, don’t hold things in, either. My mom did hold thi...

We tell ourselves and others to make “good” choices, but we really don’t know whether a choice is good or bad until we see what the outcome is. You might be thinking that of course there are good and bad choices. The reality is that a decision or choice is just that. It’s a decision. It’s neither good nor bad. The outcome is what we judge and even that isn’t good or bad. The question is, will head...

Jennifer Kem grew up in the plantation town of Wailea, HI. As the young descendent of Filipino immigrants, she was a studious introvert. Her grandmother, a great influence, had her reading the business section of the newspaper, giving her a very important lesson early on: “You can think beyond what’s around you.”   Jen generously shares her story, taking us from childhood, through her MBA at...

We sure do talk to ourselves an awful lot, don’t we? For everything we do, all the chatter we allow, everything we eat, all of the relationships we engage in, ask this simple question: Is This Love?  You’re worthy of giving and receiving love. You are worthy of filtering out of your life anything that doesn’t feel like love - from the clothes you wear to the food you eat to the self-talk you...

Most people know Chase Tucker as the soft-spoken beast who does treadmill and strength training on Peloton. He’s so much more than that! Born from parents who struggled to make a life here, Chase recognizes a responsibility from his legacy. His mom was moved here from Haiti when she was four years old. And though she didn’t speak English and was ridiculed while growing up, she became a pediatricia...

“How much worse could it get?” I hear people ask that question as if it’s a cosmic challenge. And the Universe says, “here, hold my beer!”   We can see the bad all over the place in the world. We can get sucked into the bad, horrible news.  We could choose worse.   OR    You could choose to be a beacon of light in the darkness knowing that any amount of feeling bad for wha...

You’ve got goals, that’s great. And, from the last podcast, you know I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions.   I am a fan of goals, though. And I’m a fan of micro-goals. Moving toward your Desired Outcome (or what I call your EPO - Envisioned Positive Outcome) a little every day.   Here’s how to make that happen - it’s the same way that you’d set a GPS! You have to know where you’re...

Resolutions don’t stick for three key reasons You have to give something up It’s hard; being consistent is hard Doubt creeps in and you wonder whether it’ll all be worth it. It’s a waste of imagination as you might as easily imagine it being worth it beyond your wildest dreams.   So, what to do instead?    Pick a word - what word will you live into, incrementally, every day? Health...

Happy New Year!   You have a choice - to get through another day, month, quarter, and year. Or, to choose to grow and lift those around you every single day.    How do you want to start your day? How do you want to end each day?    Are you just getting through, living in fear and lack? Or can you step into your day, knowing you’re making a difference and embracing growth a...

Sarah is an actor and playwright out of New York, who started acting and dancing when she was nine years old, performing her whole life.  In the past decade, she’s written four plays.   Sarah is compelled to write and then gives herself freedom to write simply with her message in mind.  She notes that her belief in herself, without the attachment to outcome, is part of what’s made h...

Felicia teaches us that the dash between the dates of birth and death is what we need to celebrate.    As an events planner and after seeing that funeral homes were simply templated, Felicia wanted to find a way to personalize each person’s life celebration.  In normalizing death as a part of life, she discovered the Death Positive Movement.   There are so many ways to celebrat...

The holidays can be stressful. Here are five M-A-G-I-C tips for successfully managing any gathering, whether it's with family at the holidays or a team meeting. Learn more https://waynepernell.com/ Thank you for listening to One Sharp Sword!  Be sure to also check out Wednesdays With Wayne for quick, fun, and inspirational mid-week reading.  www. WaynePernell.com/blog    

What does the guy who used to be known as The Get-It-Done-Guy who happens to be an MIT engineer and Harvard MBA have to teach us about becoming extraordinary?  A lot, naturally.   Stever Robbins was raised in a travelling commune. With such a different background, his approach to life, politics, and economics gives us a perspective worth pondering.     Stever and I couldn’...