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Do you ever want to throw in the towel? “Throwing in the towel” is actually a boxing expression.  If a trainer saw that his boxer was being severely beaten, he would throw a towel into the ring as a sign of defeat.  It’s now a popular cultural expression meaning to quit or give up. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by …

“Well you’re bigger, but are you better?” My accountant uttered these profound words to me after our second year in business.  This was close to 20 years ago after I started my marketing agency in the spare bedroom of our home. Much to my surprise, we had done really well in our first year, and had moved to downtown offices.  …

Have you ever shopped at IKEA? Pretty amazing isn’t it?!  Where else can you buy a kitchen and put it together with an Allen Key. IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad when he was 17 years old.  The acronym IKEA is made up of the initials of his name, plus those of Elmtaryd, the family farm …

Did you ever participate in the Canada Fitness Awards in the 1970’s and 80’s? Back in the day the Canadian government launched a national fitness program for kids called the Canada Fitness Awards.  Apparently a fitness stat at the time was that an average 65 year old Swede was in better shape than a decades younger Canadian.  So, as a …

I was busted.  I could see the flashing lights in my rear view mirror and knew he was after me. I couldn’t believe it.  I was doing the speed limit… sort of.  The speed limit was 110 km/h and I was well within my 10% allotment. Everybody knows the police allow 10% above the speed limit. This wasn’t a radar …

We have 2 sons.  They are 13.5 months apart. For the most part they were raised like twins.  They would both learn things at the same time:  skiing, swimming, riding a bike, etc., Benjamin just learned everything a year earlier than David. Needless to say, they were very close growing up.  However, we learned quite early that we actually had …

I’m sure you know the song.  Even if you don’t know the song, you know the phrase.  What can’t buy you love? ‘Money’ of course. The Beatles popularized this expression in their 1964 hit, “Can’t Buy Me Love”.  “I don’t care too much for money, ‘cause money can’t buy me love.”  The song was written by Paul McCartney. The single …

“People join companies, but they leave managers.” Do you have turnover trouble?  If you are all too often losing good people then you have a leadership problem.  Come to think of it, if you are losing bad people then you have a leadership problem as well: you’re not hiring well, mentoring well or firing well. But if you just can’t …

I was beat like a rented mule, and close to being done.  This mountain was getting the best of me. We had dared challenge the might of the Monashee Mountains in a glorious region known as the Pinnacles – named for the towering granite spires that shot straight up like spiritual steeples in the cathedral of creation. It all began …

They found themselves sitting together in a dining tent at the base of Kilimanjaro – 10 strangers from all parts of the globe.  They were about to embark upon the adventure of a lifetime by climbing this African giant. “Why are you here?”, was the question that really got the conversation going. Ten people, ten different reasons. They had already …