Many  business success stories were created by the willingness to endure  multiple failures and on many levels. Public failures. Small failures.  Epic failures. The learnings from them can lead us to greatness. And  that’s why we should celebrate our progress through the five levels of  failure.

What if the reason you give in to distractions isn’t what you think? (I recently confronted this eye-opening truth in myself.) The way we talk about distraction, especially digital distraction, has changed a lot in recent years.

We see what the big players are doing to us as they mine our attention for profit. We say we want focus on work and be more present with loved ones … then can’t seem to stop the mindless scrolling.

We set personal rules, wear noise-cancelling headphones, and install web-blocking apps. And yet, they don’t seem to work very well.

So, what’s really going on here? Listen up as I share Oliver Burkeman’s insightful explanation from his recent message in The Imperfectionist in:

BUSINESS GENIUS | Episode 405: The Truth About Distraction

Are you less than thrilled with the results of your marketing? Frustrated because it feels like you’ve tried everything and nothing is working out the way you’d hoped? If so, it could be you’re missing critical pieces of the process.

The good news is all marketing tactics work! Provided they are well matched to your business objectives, used at the right time, and executed correctly. But before selecting any tactics or tools, you need to think about the four critical marketing systems every business has to have. That, and more in this episode!

Einstein.  Possibly the most misquoted figure in history! Do you put your  reputation and credibility at risk by using misattributed (or  unattributed) quotes in your marketing, presentations and social media?

There are so many things you probably think Einstein said (because  these quotes are everywhere on the internet) that he never did!

The quote that is as fake as most celebrity weddings …  The quote which is one of the most over-used clichés of all time …   The quote made famous in thousands of memes featuring Einstein  that  actually was taken from two books published in 1983 (28 years after he  our pal Al died) …

Are you guilty of giving Einstein credit for things he never actually said in quotes you share on the internet? Find out here:

BUSINESS GENIUS | Episode 403: Things Einstein Never Said (and who actually did)

PS Credit for this episode’s content belongs to news junkie and history buff Kathy Copeland Padden who published her research on Medium. Thank you, Kathy!

Independence through entrepreneurship is the goal of most business  owners. And freedom often drives choosing it over taking a job. Clarity, confidence and clients are needed on the road to success. But their role pales next to the must-haves: courage, patience and resilience.

Clients don't want to work with people who are perfect, the want to work with people who are real and not pretending to be something or someone they aren't! In this episode, discover how something you learned in your childhood is interfering with your business success and what you can do about right now to make competition irrelevant in a crowded marketplace. And at the end I share the one thing you might be tempted to do that seems like a great idea, but isn't.

An email from the Daily Stoic reminded me that given how terrible most of the Roman emperors were, you might think that Marcus Aurelius was universally loved. Of course, this is not true. Plenty of people hated him, plenty of people thought they should be in charge and not him. (In fact, one of his best friends betrayed him in a terrible coup). It’s a given that all successful people attract haters. It’s not a matter of if, but when. That’s why you must prepare now rather than waiting until your first hater comes along. This episode deals with how to handle it.

Most people prematurely cut off idea generation by immediately judging whether an idea belongs in the cabinet in the first place—by evaluating what’s reasonable, what’s probable, what’s doable. As a business coach, this is one behaviour I must quickly help them unlearn for their own benefit. In this episode, I share insights from business genius Ozan Varol, author of Think Like a Rocket Scientist which, by the way, is a really great read. Ozan is a master of weaving interesting stories from real life to support better ways of thinking and working. Here's how he explains why it’s important to shut down your mind to be better at creating.

Herbert Freudenberger defined burnout in 1975 as emotional exhaustion, decreased sense of accomplishment, and depersonalization. Essentially, when we burn out, we’ve been caring too much for too long, seeing a lack of impact from our actions, and burning the empathy candle at both ends. Sadly, it’s an experience many entrepreneurs know all too well as Tara McMullin knows from having surveyed and talked to hundreds of business owners about this very thing. In today’s episode I’m sharing some of her findings and thoughts about it.

Tara McMullin, Founder of What Works wrote todays’ thought provoking inbox inspiration. Somehow I missed the weekend Twitter post showing new toys like Fisher Prices’ My Home Office and the Vlogger Kit offered by Plan Toys. Tara sent me an email this morning discussing them in depth so, naturally, I have to share some of her Business Genius wisdom with you and I bet it’ll get you thinking about this too!