If you click on the link within his Tweet, you'll get step by step instructions for how to embed a Tweet, just like I did his. I must note, however, that my Twitter page and options look a bit different from what he describes. For example, on my Twitter page, it says "Expand" rather than "Open." But otherwise, it works just fine.

Why would you want to embed a Tweet rather than simply re-Tweet it? 

Well, adding it to your blog gives you a point of reference and much more space to share your opinion or analysis of that particular Tweet, such as I'm doing here. It also gives you an instant graphic to make your own post stand out. And, it gives readers of your blog access to that Tweet and its link far into the future, while a re-Tweet gets lost in cyberspace within minutes, if not hours. Have you used this technique? Has it been effective?

Follow me on Twitter. Sign up for more free newsletter. Invite me to speak to your group. 

Imagine my surprise and dismay when I hit the "publish" key on one of my recent blog posts, only to find that when I viewed it in my browser, the entire side bar of my blog page was gone.

The blog post was there, along with the previous posts. But the side bar with all my information about my website, photo, newsletter sign-up form and other special offers were no longer there.

Clearly, there was a serious glitch in the software, but there's been no real explanation. And no quick fix.

I was upset at first, but I've decided that this is a perfect opportunity to rebuild my side bar. Over time, it had grown a bit stale. It needed a face lift.

The point is, when problems arise, they may be the perfect opportunity to reassess what you have and where you're going. You may not have initiated the change, you may have to spend time and effort to fix the problem, but you just might end up with something better.

Problems don't come with attitude. We impose the attitude onto them. Decide to profit from today's problems.

For more insights like these sign up for my free newsletter. Book me to speak at your next meeting or special event.

Don't promote who you are so much as what you can do. In other words, make your marketing and promotional messages about how you can help someone solve their problem.

When the focus of your materials is how your skills and experience will help someone else save money, hire better people or improve their bottom line, promote all you want. If, however, the focus is only about your past titles and awards, your message looks self-serving.

So, don't be afraid to spread the outrageous truth about yourself or your organization. But be sure it's focused on how the other person will benefit.

For more insights like these, sign up for my free newsletter or have me present a workshop for your team. Follow me on Twitter.

We all get stuck occasionally, unable to come up with that next good idea or solution to a problem. We've got a challenge right around the corner and can't think of a good way to handle it. We get writer's block.

What to do? Here are three tips.

Do something different

I was out doing yard work this weekend, absorbing the sunshine and getting my hands dirty. It's a great change of pace. As I was edging along the flower beds, I realized how easily thoughts seemed to flow. I got the idea for this post.

Get more sleep

Those of us who are early risers and like to push the envelope often pride ourselves on how little sleep we need. Well, that's just hog wash. There's so much research showing how the body and the brain need to be recharged each night. Sleep is like fuel for your mind. The more sleep, the better you think.

In fact, allowing yourself more sleep allows your subconscious to work on ideas and produce solutions. Once I was preparing for my role as Master of Ceremonies for a big fundraising dinner. I was trying to come up with some funny lines that I could use as I began the program. One night, I awoke and had 3 or 4 good ideas. I got up, jotted them down, and went back to sleep. 

Chunk it

Don't try to write the entire memo, speech or project all at once. Start with one idea. If it's a speech, I like to think of the stories that I'll be using and how I will apply them to the main point in my outline. I work on just that one story, regardless of where it appears in the speech. That usually prompts me to keep writing, and pretty soon, the speech is finished.

How about you? Where do you get your good ideas?

For more insights like these, sign up for my free newsletter. Follow me on Twitter. Check my speaking availability here.

Just about everything in life boils down to the choices we make.

Think about your attitude. You get to choose whether to accept or reject someone, whether to get (or stay) angry, whether to be positive or negative. It's your choice.

Think about your role as a leader. You can choose to micromanage everyone else's job, or you can allow others to do what they do best and support them along the way. You can choose to stay focused on the future, or you can get bogged down in fighting yesterday's battles.

Think about your work. You get to choose how you'll spend your time each day, how productive you will be and how diligent you will be at the hard tasks that ultimately determine success or failure.

Think about your relationships. You get to choose how much you will give, how much you will give up, how you will spend your time with someone (or whether you will spend any time at all). If you're separated by miles, you choose whether to write or call.

Life is tough and things don't always go according to plan. We can be dealt a terrible hand. But, in the end, we have a lot more power than we might think. We get to choose our response.

For more ideas like these, sign up for my free newsletter.

Learn more about my speaking availability. Follow me on Twitter.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously said during his time as White House Chief of Staff, "You never want a serious crisis go to waste." He went on to say that a crisis gives you "an opportunity to do things that you could not do before."

We can apply that to life in general, especially when it comes to failure. None of us wants to fail, and yet it's often the pathway to future success. It presents opportunities to do things and see things that otherwise would not have been possible. Failure is even better if you can incorporate the following three elements:

Failing at the right things, learning from failure and sharing your story.

Failing at the Right Things

If you're going to fail, fail at something big. Try something worthwhile. The risk-reward ratio is important here. By trying something big and failing, you still benefit from having been stretched and shaped by the ordeal. The bigger the ordeal, the bigger the impact of the failure on your life.

Learning from Failure

Don't just pick yourself up and move on. You must reflect on what went wrong and see how you might have done things differently or how your misjudged the situation. This is not self-pitty or wallowing in regret. It's bold analysis and reflection that can yield powerful lessons.

Sharing Your Story

The only thing that tops learning from failure is to pass on what you learn to others. But, don't just tell them the lesson, give them the whole story. Tell them how you felt, what you sensed was happening and how you came through the situation. Your story can be of great comfort to someone going through a similar situation or a challenge to others who need to see that even failure can have yield positive results. Telling your story also helps you process the experience more deeply.

It's only normal to want to put failure behind you just as fast as you can. But, don't miss out on its hidden benefits. Don't let it go to waste.

When is enough, enough? When is it time to quit, pack it in, go home, try something else?

I wish I had a quick answer, but I know that our dwindling attention span makes it more and more difficult to "stay with it." If we don't see instant results, we assume we won't ever see any. As a follow-up to my previous post about beating the clock, this is an enormous challenge.

It's why marketing is so difficult. You don't really know if you're spreading the word as effectively as you can. You're not sure your message is getting out there quickly enough, or if you even have the right message.

Diets are another example. We don't instantly lose 20 pounds, so we go off the diet within two weeks.

The secret is having the confidence that you're right, that your diet or marketing plan is on the right track. It requires more time, not less.

So, when you're tempted to throw in the towel, ask yourself if you still believe in your plan or vision. If you do, hang in there. Give it some more time. Success might be just around the corner.

Success typically doesn't happen overnight. It's really the result of daily progress. Take Michael Hyatt's post about his new book, Platform. He says he blogged for almost three years before he had a significant following.

Knowing that there's really no such thing as an overnight success, time is the huge variable. How much time will you devote to any single task or objective? How much time will you devote this week to the goals you really want to achieve?

As many experts have pointed out, you have just two choices with time. Either you can spend it or invest it. If you spend it watching television, it's over. If you invest it by reading or devoting time to a worthwhile cause, the time is still gone, but at least you have something to show for it.

Use time to your advantage, realizing that wasted hours turn into wasted days, which turn into wasted months and even years. I'm posting this on my 54th birthday. It's hard to believe the time has "flown by," but it has. I'm sure you can relate.

Start now to be more intentional about living each day with more focus and purpose. Invest it, and reap the benefits. It's the only way to beat the clock.

You've been doing the same things in the same way for a long time. One day tends to blend into the next. Routines are well established. Life is predictable.

That likely describes all of us at one time or another. But, as we know all too well, routines can become ruts. Before we know it, we're stuck. 

The problem is complacency. 

Complacency is not always easy to detect because by its very nature, it sneaks up on us. Everything seems to be going rather well. 

At first glance, this might not seem to be a problem. Yet, left unchecked, complacency becomes a thief, robbing us of future success and prosperity.

So, the first step in battling complacency is to recognize it. Perhaps chief among its characteristics is that we're overly satisfied with life or with our career, perhaps even a bit smug. We're not looking ahead. We're looking at maintaining what we have.

Second, we must recognize that we can change our state by changing what we think, our mindset. Complacency tends to creep in when vision and purpose are lost. We miss opportunities because we're no longer engaged. 

Third, we must break out of complacency by finding a new spark or challenge. It's not merely a case of breaking up your routine, but finding something new to tackle or accomplish. That could mean a new challenge at work, or embracing a new personal goal.

Solomon said, "Fools are destroyed by their own complacency. (Prov. 1: 32)." The smart thing to do is recognize it and do something about it. 


Get more information about my speaking availability. Follow me on Twitter.

Here's the problem. We're prone to tell ourselves half truths, lies and fabrications. We make up a false reality and then act on it.

How do we make up these stories? We rationalize away bad behavior. We focus on the negatives of our circumstances and we come up with any number of excuses for not succeeding.

If we believe all of those lies, we're in trouble. If we stop and recognize them, we can begin to move forward and accomplish our goals.

It's great to believe what you tell yourself, as long as you're telling yourself the truth.